Parenting is SO Entertaining!!!

Ah yes...the joys of parenthood. Below are some recent pictures and stories that finally made it off of my camera. Enjoy!

For those of you with kids out there, you know that sometimes it's hard to get privacy. I forgot to lock the bathroom door one morning, and look what was waiting for me when I got out of the shower!

It's hard to tell, but Jared is holding his Nintendo DS, and fell asleep while playing his Pokemon game. Yes, he's sleeping with his head and knees resting on the couch!

Also another odd place to take a nap...Meghan fell sleep on the chair. How can this even be comfortable?

It's been a very cold spring this year. Here's Mariah getting bundled up for her walk.

Ah, yes, JEALOUSY! What Mariah has, Caleb wants.

Here's Mariah looking cute, as always!

Ah yes, Caleb decided to put his own toothpaste on his toothbrush this time. As you can see, he missed the brush and got his face, instead!

It's hard to see in the picture, but this is just another example of Caleb smearing something all over his face. I'm not even sure what it is!

Meghan decided that she wanted to pout. Trust me, we see this a lot. She's 4, going on 14!

Mariah really loves her brother, Jared. Yesterday, she started crying when he left the room. She just stares at him everytime he's around.

Sorry, I can't get the caption below the photo for this one. The kids really love their little sister! Next time, I'll include another one of Caleb and Mariah...he, too, just adores her!

Another Crappy Adoption Article for You to Ponder...

ABC News has an article on Guatemalan adoptions. You can read it by following this link.

http://abcnews.go.com/International/story?id=4787761&page=1

There are, unfortunately, numerous articles like this out there. This one, however, really struck a nerve, so much that I wrote back a comment AND e-mailed ABC News, too. I fear that someday, someone is going to meet Caleb and make some comment that he was "bought" or was a "black market baby." THIS IS NOT TRUE! Here is what I said to ABC News:

I am only going to comment on this article (there was a lot of debate in the comments section about what was better - international or domestic adoption. I personally feel that every child, no matter what race or from what country, deserves a home). I find it full of blanket statements and sensationalized nonsense that does not paint a fair picture of Guatemalan adoptions. Here are some inaccuracies that I can site without even doing any research.

1. My child - no child - should be compared to a piece of fruit. To say that children adopted from Guatemala internationally are "the country's second-most lucrative export after bananas" is absolutely insulting. My child was not exported. Shame on you for making such a comparison.

2. You quote Norma Cruz. We did not pay anywhere near $50,000 to adopt from Guatemala (and our adoption was completed in 2008). The fees that we payed to our attorney included foster care for 14 months, diapers, formula, clothes, toys, medical care and immunizations, etc. Additionally, our attorney had to file multiple amparos and even a constitutional appeal for our case, and we did not pay any extra fees for an unbelievable amount of court action that was required to get our adoption case completed. Additionally, we were never asked for extra money, not from the mother, bureaucracy, and as I mentioned already, our attorney, even for the extra legal action that was required for our adoption. Finally, we were never guaranteed a healthy baby. We had to sign documents, understanding that there was a risk that our child was not healthy - that there were no guarantees.

I feel terribly for the women mentioned in this article, and pray that they find their missing children. However, I think that ABC news would be doing more of a service if they could publish pictures of these missing children, to help locate them, instead of casting doubt on ALL Guatemalan adoptions, as I feel you have.

Of course, I can only speak for our child's adoption, and not all Guatemalan adoptions. However, I find it hard to believe that our adoption was the minority, and am appalled that stories like ours aren't even mentioned in articles like this.

I KNOW THAT A LOT OF ADOPTIVE FAMILIES READ THIS BLOG - PLEASE FEEL FREE TO GIVE ABC NEWS A PIECE OF YOUR MIND IF YOU FEEL SO INCLINED!

Okay, I'm going to BREATHE now!
Kris

Great Article, an Update, and More...

I ran across this from another blog. I thought it was a great article for you to read. Not trying to be political or anything, I just thought it was good:

Recently, one of the members wrote a post concerning the "Do's and Do Not's" of adoptions. This is specifics on what you should not ask or say to an adoptive parent and/or child. Adoption is a very unique journey of the heart. It is sometimes looked upon as an act of charity or kidness, however, I have found it to be quite the opposite in my personal case. I am the one that feels privileged to have been chosen as the mother of my child. I have been given the honor of parenting these loving, caring precious children. Although I will never personally know the extent of "why" he was given up for adoption, nor can I tell you "why" we were the ones intrusted with raising him, I thank God for the distinct opportunity of doing so. Everyone has the opportunity of growing their family differently. That's part of having freedom and choices. We were blessed with biological blessings and now have the honor of raising an additional angel. We don't differentiate biological or adopted children in any way and truly wish others wouldn't ask "which are mine" because they ALL are MINE"

1.Please do not introduce our child/children as "Our adopted grandson/nephew/friend,etc."
2.Please do not make any racial jokes of any kind, no matter how "harmless." There are noharmless jokes.
3.Please love and respect our child's birthmother.
4.Please do not comment on how you could "never give up your own children." Especially never in front of our child. You are indirectly giving your opinion of our child's birthmother.
5.Please see our children as individuals.
6.Please do not make any racist comments about any OTHER race.
7.Our child does NOT owe us anything. Our child is NOT lucky to have us. He did not ask to be born. He certainly didn't ask to be adopted. We are the ones who are lucky.
8. There really is no such thing as "race"; we are the human race. There are different cultures and ethnicities.
9. Just as there are different types of people, there are different ways of building families. Adoption is another way and is not a better or worse way of building a family than biologically or any other way. It's just different
10. Positive adoption language is needed to change the world's perception of the people and families involved.

Okay, update time!
Caleb is doing very well. He now freely calls me Mom. Or rather, yells MOM whenever he wants something. Although he is learning new words everyday, he of course cannot yet talk in sentences. However, since Jared and Meghan obviously can talk, he's learned to yell out MOM and then babble out a sentence, so that he can "sound" just like his older brother and sister. He thinks it's cool, and he gets really mad if I don't acknowledge his "sentence" everytime he does it. Even though it gets old after the tenth or twelfth time, it's still pretty awesome.

Mariah is doing great as well. She's a very happy, smiley baby! The other 3 kids really enjoy her, now that she smiles at them. Sometimes we have to peel them off of her!

Jared is getting ready to turn 7 later this month. We cannot believe it, he's getting so old, so fast!!!

Finally, Meghan is doing well, too. She has quite the attitude at times! She informed us the other day that she is the "boss at daycare." Keith asked her if she could lower our tuition costs if she's the boss - LOL. Believe it, 3 kids in daycare is KILLING us...thankfully Meghan will go to school in a year, so in 12 months or so, we'll only have the younger 2 in daycare, PHEW!

Finally, please keep the families who are still in the process of adopting their children from Guatemala in your thoughts and prayers. Those of you who have followed our blog know the torture we went through to bring Caleb home. The situation in Guatemalan adoptions is not any better, and thousands of children are being kept from being adopted while things are worked out. It is so incredibly sad!!! http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/americas/7385122.stm

Take care, everyone!
Kris and family