Carol Echternach was a parent, an educator, and an advocate for people with Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorder. She was the former director of CalFAS, the California Fetal Alchohol Spectrum Organization, and she passed away a few days ago in her sleep.

She will be missed.

I did not know Carol Echternach personally, but I corresponded with her for this blog and I also have been reading her posts to the Russian adoption lists over the years. I think her presence on those and other adoption lists have probably educated and comforted thousands of parents who knowingly or unknowingly adopted a child with Fetal Alcohol Related Neurological Disorder.... more

It's funny, because while sometimes I feel like I bare many details about my life on this blog, going back over old posts I discovered I never finished our story of how things went when adopting Little J. So today I shall continue...

In the last installment we'd just been picked up at the Hotel Don in Voronezh by our Voronezh translator, Ludmila. Ludmila was an astonishing looking woman, especially compared to most Russian people, because she was tall, had long jet black hair, was deathly pale, and wore flashy clothes. She wasn't glamorous - she definitely had a certain tarnish... more

Last week I posted a review of the book Delivered from Distraction, a book about coping with ADHD in a positive way. Here's part 1 and here's part 2. One of the suggestions that the author gives is to try a form of physical therapy called Brain Gym. They... more

Hey there wonderful blog readers!

I am really hoping that someone who has recently adopted can help me out. The illustrator for my next book, Miranda Mueller is trying to illustrate a scene that takes place inside the American Embassy. I've been unable to give her any good photo references and my memories of what it was like in there are almost 3 years old...so I'm wondering if someone out there can give me a hand and describe what the chairs looked like inside the Embassy? Bucket seats? Benches? I can't remember.

And while we're... more

For doing anything besides sitting around my house, doing crafty projects and watching TV. This is me right now, July 3, 2006 at 1:09 p.m. EST.

Luckily, I don't have that much going on...like an adoption to take care of! All I have to do is a little blogging, a little business paperwork, a little laundry, childcare, make an attempt at employment, answer the phone, blah de blah de blah. But what if, on top of that, I had all that tiresome adoption paperwork to get into? What if?

How would I stay motivated?

I'd keep my eye on the prize, people, and that prize would... more

This is the second part of my book review for Delivered From Distraction: Getting the Most Out of Life With Attention Deficit Disorder, by Edward M. Hallowell and John J. Ratey. To read the first part of my review, click here.

Another treatment they recommend in addition to ADD medication and exercise is Essential Fatty Acid supplementation. Most people... more

Several weeks ago when we took Little J to see a Clinical Social Worker one of the things she suggested we do was read a copy of Delivered From Distraction, subtitled "getting the most out of life with Attention Deficit Disorder." She suggested it so that we could get some ways to deal positively with Little J's behaviors; she also suggested it so that we could find out more about alternative/complimentary therapies for ADD.

I thought the book was... more

Today is my boy's 4th birthday. Happy birthday, Little J!

He did not want a party. Instead, we are going to a water park next week. Grandma and Grandpa are coming over tonight to celebrate with us. Little J requested a chocolate cake with green chocolate frosting and a tractor on top. Luckily I am not a traditionalist when it comes to cake. He really wanted a grocery store cake but I don't do grocery store cakes...so he'll have to get a cake full of mommy love.

We got him sensory-related presents: a hop ball for balance, stretchy bands (like the kind you use in exercise class)... more

Today I helped a friend do some work on her house. We had a nice time doing our sister-work and then my friend served a lovely lunch. With us was another close friend, whom I'll call K. Over the course of lunch we were talking about our kids and about various issues and the topic of Little J and our search for adequate evaluations for him as well as my strong suspicion that he has ADD came up.

"Oh, I don't believe in that," K. said.

"You don't believe in ADD?" I asked.

"No. I mean, if they think he has it are you doing to give him that stuff? Whadayacallit? Ritalin?"

"If... more

Yesterday my kids and my husband all had afternoon naps and I settled down with a lovely mystery novel, as I haven't read anything non-adoption or book review related (I write book reviews, too) in weeks and weeks and weeks. That was nice. Everyone slept, including Little J, and I got an hour and a half into my novel.

Then I woke the kids up so we could go to the gym. All was well and good until we got into the car, then Big J, who must have been in a philosophical mood, starts up. "How many brothers and sisters does Little J have?"

"Ummm. 5," I answer. Why does... more