In the last two weeks, we pulled our domestic portfolio. Our file had been 'active' & waiting since last October. This summer, we had been chosen & after 6 weeks of waiting, the birthmom changed her mind. Each state does have different 'rules' on how long birthparents have to change their minds. That process of 'losing' a baby we never held, was much harder than I would have thought. It was very hard on our children as well. We put our application in for an Ethiopian child the same day we pulled our domestic file. We adopted our youngest daughter (now 8) at 3 months. She's African American in our white family & longs for a sibling that looks like her, or at least doesn't look like us. To chose an agency, we went to some web boards that agencies are not allowed to go onto for honest feedback. We checked references, and also compared fees. They vary dramatically! We, too, have had attachment issues. We didn't know what they were & truly didn't expect them adopting her at such a young age. We're making progress. She doesn't look anything like me & I love her the same as the other children in my family. We're at the massive paperwork phase & all family members are so excited. There is definately labor involved in adopting...just a different type of labor & so very worth it.

We have similar issues with our daughter. How do you know what tests to ask for? What is a good starting point? Are the tests that are offered through the public school system worth pursuing? Having never experienced this with our other children, I feel at a loss of how to proceed.

My youngest daughter is 8, in 2nd grade. We're in our 2nd year of homeschooling. We do just the basics, and it takes ALL DAY. One Saxon lesson took 90 minutes last night. She's finally reading, didn't survive well at all in a classroom, one on one we do much better. I don't know where to go from here as I hate to have her labeled. But yet, I feel like I can't keep doing this. We adopted her as an infant, but know very little of her genetic family history. Does anyone have recommendations for testing, where to go from here?

They had Shurley in private school before we began homeschooling. How do we know where to start?

We're in our second year of homeschooling (8th, 6th & 2nd grade). I've been struggling with how much to include. My older 2 daughters are using Sonlight cores (no grammar really). I'm concerned we're creating a gap. Help?

Washington DC has been hands down our families favorite (16, 12, 10 & 7 at the time)