Three years ago we met a tiny girl from Gyumri… The girl The girl and her Dada The girl and her Mama The three of us …and a kitten Take the road less traveled, Beth
Adoption
The Commune of Motherhood
During the years when I longed to be a mama, but wasn’t, I felt like an outsider to a secret society: The Commune of Motherhood. I sat–metaphorically–on the sidelines at my neighborhood ‘Moms Night Out’ and ‘Mamas with Cameras‘, a monthly meet-up. I consciously chose to participate in both of these groups, despite my mama-wanna-be […]
A room of her own
April 8, 2012 This is the first time our daughter set foot inside her crib. Her crib in a room of her own. I’m sure it was a shock to her, arriving at this new, strange place with sounds and smells she didn’t recognize. Big Papa and I were elated to be in our home […]
Pampers and Pakhlava interview featured in SixSeeds
Pampers and Pakhlava is one of a number of blogs featured in the November SixSeeds.tv in celebration of National Adoption Month, which takes place each November. National Adoption Month started in 1976, when Gov. Michael Dukakis announced an Adoption Week for Massachusetts, and President Gerald Ford proclaimed a national celebration of Adoption Week. In 1984, […]
Serendipity
Putting together a room for our child-to-be and collecting many of the various and sundry things we’ll eventually need has been a bit by bit process. Big Papa and I have resisted doing up the bedroom entirely or purchasing some of the “big ticket” items (crib, stroller) only to sit and stare at them as […]
Eeny meeny miney moe
A couple weeks ago, I was telling an acquaintance about the infant boy with cleft lip who Big Papa and I visited last fall and talking about our decision not to pursue adopting him when we discovered that he also had significant cognitive challenges. After I finished my story she said to me “Well, at […]
Pampers turns one!
Happy Birthday Pampers and Pakhlava! Today my blog turns one. It seems like just yesterday I was sitting in front of my computer screen, forefinger shaking as it hovered over the ‘publish’ button. I’d never written about something so personal in such a public venue. This was a big leap. I was full of nervous […]
Can’t see the forest for the trees
Our adoption agency sent an email letting families know that the new laws regarding Armenian adoption have been published and there are several changes to update families on. They will be sending each family a personalized letter with their current status, place in ‘wait’ and details about how the new laws will impact them. All […]
One of three
“Are you adopted like I am?” the five-year-old son of our friend ‘S.’ asked another little girl while vacationing in Hawaii. Their poolside conversation along with a picture was posted on Facebook, and soon a bunch of us where chiming in on how sweet we thought the whole exchange was. A friend of S. mentioned […]
From Here to There
Kazakhastan, Kyrgystan, Taiwan, Marshall Islands, Ethiopia, Georgia, Armenia – what did I know about any of these countries before I entered the world of international adoption? When you’re nearing fifty, newly married for the first time and interested in adding a child to the mix, the learning curve for adoption is steep. Domestic versus international? […]