Before the summer of 2004, Karen June Grant was just one of those gifted crafters we all get to meet from time to time. "Just"? No, that's not the right way to put it: The woman has panache.

But that summer Karen began to evaluate her main source of employment, graphic and Web design. Like many of us, she took what I've come to call a "momventory" because she and her husband were going to adopt from Russia. "As we started to get closer... more

I put up this post the other day to dispel the notion that the Russian government has, somehow, acted deliberately to shut down adoptions. But I realized, in re-reading the item, that I didn't explain what is, and isn't, possible to do for a Russian adoption right now. So here goes:

1) Can I start a Russian adoption now? In a word: Yes. All the early paperwork takes place on our side of the globe, not Russia. So, spend some time ... more

One of the most useful things my adoption agency made me do, as I was working on my second Russian adoption in 2004-2005 was to create what I'll call a Russian Resources list: One document on which I collected all the Russia-related help I might need, from cultural to medical. If you're among the many prospective parents waiting for Moscow to finish the re-accreditation process, compiling this list can be a great, productive way to pass the time.

The object is to list everything you might need to help you and your newly adopted child settle... more

I was running a Web site when I did my first adoption, but Web software was so clunky at that time that I never would have used it for anything but work. By the time of my second adoption, I was seeing a few people using the Internet as a personal journal. But last week, when I sat down to compile a list of all the people writing about their adoptions from Russia on the Internet, I was simply astounded by the number of personal Web sites out there.

A blog--as these online journals have come to be known--can be a great way of keeping... more

The new gardening catalogs are arriving in force. Nourse Farms, Stark Bros., Seeds of Change, Burpee, White Flower Farm, Breck's, Van Bourgondien …

What does this have to do with adopting from Russia? They all kept me from going over the hedge during my second adoption.

My first adoption, in 1999, moved along faithfully from marker milestone to marker milestone like Thomas the Tank Engine. The agency said I'd have my homestudy approved at three months after I started, and I did. They said I'd get my referral at nine months... more