Do any of the children adopted by "celebrities" have the emotional and behavioral issues we have endured with our children? I've never heard a celebrity speak out about PTSD, RAD, ODD, etc. with their adopted child. I'm not saying it hasn't happened, I've just never heard it.
I realize many adopt infants, but some adopted older children.
List of adoptive parents off of the top of my head:
Angelina and Brad
Hugh Jackman and his wife
Katherine Heigl and Josh Kelley
Sandra Bullock
Tom Cruise and Nicole Kidman
Kirstie Alley
Madonna
Mary Louise Parker
Meg Ryan
Julie Andrews
Cheryl Crow
Calista Flockhart
Diane Keaton
Sharon Stone
Rosie O'Donnell
Steven Spielberg
Jamie Lee Curtis
George Lucas
Barbara Walters
Denise Richards (making news now)
I know there are many, many, more.... just don't recall them off of the top of my head. Crazy for there to be that many, with multiple adoptions for some, and to not recall a "negative" experience they've had.
For your fun reading pleasure: Celebs that were adopted...
Monday, July 25, 2011
Saturday, July 23, 2011
Monsters...
Since MK came to us (almost a year ago), she has always had bad dreams. I have doctors notes dated to before her time in care that state she would bang her head and rock all of the time. We still have those issues, but not nearly as frequently.
This weekend we are in Savannah, GA to meet my parents and pick up my younger sister for her to visit us in NC for the next 3 weeks. Naturally, we decided to stay in a hotel to visit with family for the weekend.
Last night, I barely slept. About every 20-30 minutes, MK would thrash around and bang her head violently in her bed. I was HEART BREAKING!!!! She literally looked like she was have a seizure at one point.
Finally, around 5:00am, I crawl into the bed with her to comfort her and help her get some sleep.
I don't know for sure if this happens nightly, my husband said it does. I just makes me so sad that despite all of the happy days we have, at night, she is haunted my memories of "bad" times before us. What do you do when the monster your baby dreams about isn't a "monster", but rather their birth family?
I asked her this morning and she said she just kept having bad dreams about her birth parents.
This mama is feeling so lucky to have such great kids, but I really wish I could make all of the bad go away. I guess as parents we all do right?
This weekend we are in Savannah, GA to meet my parents and pick up my younger sister for her to visit us in NC for the next 3 weeks. Naturally, we decided to stay in a hotel to visit with family for the weekend.
Last night, I barely slept. About every 20-30 minutes, MK would thrash around and bang her head violently in her bed. I was HEART BREAKING!!!! She literally looked like she was have a seizure at one point.
Finally, around 5:00am, I crawl into the bed with her to comfort her and help her get some sleep.
I don't know for sure if this happens nightly, my husband said it does. I just makes me so sad that despite all of the happy days we have, at night, she is haunted my memories of "bad" times before us. What do you do when the monster your baby dreams about isn't a "monster", but rather their birth family?
I asked her this morning and she said she just kept having bad dreams about her birth parents.
This mama is feeling so lucky to have such great kids, but I really wish I could make all of the bad go away. I guess as parents we all do right?
Monday, July 18, 2011
This Move ROCKS!!!
Moving to NC is about the best decision we've ever made. I love it here! There is so much to do (hence the lack of blogs lately).
Most of all, we've made all of these new great friends! With kids! And my girls finally know what it's like to have a neighbor to play with.
Speaking of my girls... have I mentioned how amazing they are doing? I mean absolutely, completely, amazingly different kids than the kids I blogged about a year ago.
This move was very much a fresh start for all of us as a family. They have new names, a new school, new house, new parents... and it totally freed them!
They are just incredible.
With that said, we are going to be starting back into therapy soon. Not because of anything in particular happening, but we need to keep their medications in place, and continue to build their skills at managing their emotions so that within the next 18 months we can wean them off of their anxiety medications. Their doctor is supportive of staying on for now, and if we remove them and have issues, she is more than happy to keep them on longer, but we're hoping by that point they will both have the security and confidence to be weaned.
So yea... I don't have much else to say I guess... school has started, they love their classes and teachers. I love their new school.
We're all just really happy! A year ago, I didn't think we'd ever get to this place we're all in...but we did! The H-A-R-D work paid off!!!! As we all know though, our work is never done!
Most of all, we've made all of these new great friends! With kids! And my girls finally know what it's like to have a neighbor to play with.
Speaking of my girls... have I mentioned how amazing they are doing? I mean absolutely, completely, amazingly different kids than the kids I blogged about a year ago.
This move was very much a fresh start for all of us as a family. They have new names, a new school, new house, new parents... and it totally freed them!
They are just incredible.
With that said, we are going to be starting back into therapy soon. Not because of anything in particular happening, but we need to keep their medications in place, and continue to build their skills at managing their emotions so that within the next 18 months we can wean them off of their anxiety medications. Their doctor is supportive of staying on for now, and if we remove them and have issues, she is more than happy to keep them on longer, but we're hoping by that point they will both have the security and confidence to be weaned.
So yea... I don't have much else to say I guess... school has started, they love their classes and teachers. I love their new school.
We're all just really happy! A year ago, I didn't think we'd ever get to this place we're all in...but we did! The H-A-R-D work paid off!!!! As we all know though, our work is never done!
Wednesday, July 6, 2011
Our Hearts Are Sad...
Over this past weekend, we found out a close friend of ours passed away. He and I met through work about 8 years ago, and he quickly became a good friend to my husband and I. They would play guitar and pretend to be able to sing. He and my husband were both fans of sci-fi. Just a good guy that could always make you chuckle with an off-beat joke.
"Uncle Sean" was also a photographer, and he was there the night we got engaged with a camera in hand (and we got engaged rather spontaneously), he was there to photograph our wedding, and just last month, we took a ton of family photos with him.
It's hard to imagine loosing a friend this early in my life. He was only 43 and died suddenly of a heart-attack while on vacation with his wife and friends. We didn't talk every day, or even every week, but we could always pick up right where we left off... we will miss you Sean! As both of my daughters said, "My heart is sad!"
I will leave you with my favorite photo of the girls and I, taken by him.
"Uncle Sean" was also a photographer, and he was there the night we got engaged with a camera in hand (and we got engaged rather spontaneously), he was there to photograph our wedding, and just last month, we took a ton of family photos with him.
It's hard to imagine loosing a friend this early in my life. He was only 43 and died suddenly of a heart-attack while on vacation with his wife and friends. We didn't talk every day, or even every week, but we could always pick up right where we left off... we will miss you Sean! As both of my daughters said, "My heart is sad!"
I will leave you with my favorite photo of the girls and I, taken by him.
Friday, July 1, 2011
New Doctors
The scariest thing about moving was loosing our professional support system. My personal support system is spread out all over the country, so I knew I would still have access to them. (Side note: Most of my personal support is by the moms over at http://therapeuticmoments.blogspot.com)
I joined a local trans-racial families group which led us to finding our new pediatrician. We had our appointments on Tuesday, and she is phenomenal. I was so concerned I wouldn't ever be able to replace our doctor in VA. Our new doctor is the younger, more energetic version of her though!
She is prescribing the girls medications, with an ultimate goal of trying therapy as well, and slowly weaning them from the anxiety medications in another year and a half. Which I am totally on board with trying, and as she stated, "If it doesn't work out, then we will continue until they are ready to be weaned."
She is so sweet and kind and very great with my girls. She is able to read between the lines when I speak with them in the room. She's even gone the extra mile to seek out great therapists for us.
One thing we have to do is get MK a vision exam. Her eyes are still not doing well even with the glasses. So we hope to get that fixed in the next few months. We are seeing a pediatric ophthalmologist this time, so hopefully that will contribute to a better result.
Overall, the move has been great. We hope the other house will sell quickly. The girls start school July 11th. So next week we will be shopping for supplies and getting them set for their first day. They are so excited!
I am training for a 5K. I'm doing the C25K program. I'm very excited and I feel so energized. I'm also watching what I eat and we are packing lunches and not eating out during the week. The only time the hubby and I will be eating out is on our date day.
I joined a local trans-racial families group which led us to finding our new pediatrician. We had our appointments on Tuesday, and she is phenomenal. I was so concerned I wouldn't ever be able to replace our doctor in VA. Our new doctor is the younger, more energetic version of her though!
She is prescribing the girls medications, with an ultimate goal of trying therapy as well, and slowly weaning them from the anxiety medications in another year and a half. Which I am totally on board with trying, and as she stated, "If it doesn't work out, then we will continue until they are ready to be weaned."
She is so sweet and kind and very great with my girls. She is able to read between the lines when I speak with them in the room. She's even gone the extra mile to seek out great therapists for us.
One thing we have to do is get MK a vision exam. Her eyes are still not doing well even with the glasses. So we hope to get that fixed in the next few months. We are seeing a pediatric ophthalmologist this time, so hopefully that will contribute to a better result.
Overall, the move has been great. We hope the other house will sell quickly. The girls start school July 11th. So next week we will be shopping for supplies and getting them set for their first day. They are so excited!
I am training for a 5K. I'm doing the C25K program. I'm very excited and I feel so energized. I'm also watching what I eat and we are packing lunches and not eating out during the week. The only time the hubby and I will be eating out is on our date day.
That's all for now! I will post more updates soon. For now I will leave you with a picture of the girls. From Christmas 2010
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