Something that you may know by now about me is that I'm not exactly superstitious, but rather cautious - especially in terms of having children. I think we all know someone who was expecting a baby, ran out to register for things or even had a house full of baby items only to have to cancel the registry or return everything when the pregnancy was lost. Or those who had told everyone about the impending arrival of their newest adoption only to have the adoption fall through. We've all heard these stories - and maybe I've just heard one too many which makes me cautious when approaching the issue of adding children to my family.

My husband and I - on my request - didn't talk about a Hebrew... more

Adam's case was set to go to trial at the end of May, but for various reasons got pushed off. I am still waiting to hear about a new court date which I am hoping will be soon. As much as I obviously hope - for our sake - that the case will go to termination and we will be able to adopt Adam, it could still go either way. Regardless of what the determination is, I hope the case is decided soon so we can know what is going on.

Anyway, I met with his law guardian this week. When a case is in court to determine guardianship or issues of termination, a law guardian is appointed to represent the interests of the child or children in question.

Adam's law guardian discussed the issue... more

There is a Jewish idea that saving one life is equal to saving an entire world, for each person is unique and precious. There is also a great book of stories and lessons called "Saving the World Entire" by Rabbi Bradley R. Bleefeld and Robert L Shook. I was looking for this book online and then realized I had it sitting on my shelf all along.

There are, according to the book, about 100 parables from the Talmud - the collection of Jewish law (also referred to as the Oral Law). But the one from which the book takes its name was the one I was looking... more

Anna is four - or as she will put it, "almost four and a half," which I seem to recall makes a difference at that age. She is our eldest, and so we are of course making all our mistakes with her and sort of learning as we go.

This past Shabbat, we had lunch with friends of ours who have a boy about Anna's age. They had gone off to play for a bit and returned when they smelled dessert - a trait I believe all children are born with.

When the two of them came back, the boy started talking to me about skin color. He said, "it's not healthy to have dark skin." I suggested that no, in fact many people are born with dark skin and many people are born with light skin. We - this boy... more

There is a major principle in Judaism called Tikun Olam - literally translated as "fixing the world." We believe that acts of kindness towards others, helping those in need and working towards the greater good are all forms of Tikun Olam. It is a long held belief that we should leave the world a better place for our children than the way we found it. Synagogue youth groups or Bar/ Bat Mitzvah kids often do "Tikun Olam" projects - volunteering or raising money for one group or another. I wish that more kids would stick with their volunteer... more

All week I look forward to Shabbat - the Jewish Sabbath - which starts on Friday evening (18 minutes before sundown) and ends one hour after sundown (when 3 stars come out in the sky). Shabbat is an experience. It's amazing. It's everything I could describe and different for everyone. And if you've never had a "Shabbat experience," then you probably don't understand what I'm talking about, but try to imagine. Shabbat is the day when things stop - when I finally get some peace, some really good family time and some reflection. I don't go to work, I don't check my email and I'm not disturbed by telemarketers because I don't answer my phone.

When I'm having the worst and longest week... more

I did not get into my first choice college. Granted, my first choice was a 'reach' school for me, but I felt that I still had a halfway decent shot. Instead, I was accepted into a very nice college - albeit my second choice.

And then I got psyched. I read more about the college I'd be attending. I got in touch with current and former students. I started to map out which clubs and organizations I'd be joining, and what places were nearby for me to explore on the weekends.

Most importantly, when people asked me where I was going, I did not say "Well I applied to this amazing school and was rejected. I'm crushed. Oh - and I guess I'll just have to go to this other school that... more

One of the things I remember best from my childhood is having a million books at my house. Okay, maybe it seemed to be a million. I had my own books, my sister had her own books, I suppose my parents had their own books, and then there were the collective books of the house. We were all readers - my father made me read an article a day from The New York Times starting at the age of seven. Shabbat afternoons were for reading - actually any day or night was for reading.

And while my parents censored what we watched,... more

I think that there are points in one's life where you want to fit in - dress the same, talk the same, look the same and act the same as everyone else. At other times in your life, you may choose to stand out - kids often reach this point in the early teenage years or when they go to college - trying to find out who they are.

It is my belief that children who are adopted may be forced to make these decisions a bit earlier on, or at least are more conscious of the fact that they are making those decisions at all. I always thought that I'd be the parent that wouldn't give into requests from my child trying to be like the other kids in her class (example: Sara has Barbie shoes - I want... more

Okay, so now that I've talked about how not to take pictures all the time, I wanted to talk about something related that's on my mind right now. Since we all take lots of pictures of our family, we have to actually do something with those pictures. I blogged earlier on about some ideas for scrapbooking with your photos, but I feel that there is a bit of an in-between step. This post will help you - and... more