(In the midst of all my other writing projects, I’ve been writing down snapshots from Evangeline’s adoption in Ukraine :). Plus, November is Adoption awareness month, which got me to thinking …) In 2009, my husband Sergei, our older daughters Elaina and Zoya, and I all travelled to Ukraine to adopt a little girl we were to name Evangeline, who happened to have Down syndrome like our youngest daughter Polly. Our special needs adoption from
On coming out of depression One of the strangest things about coming out of a recent bout of depression is fighting myself not to fall into it again. And then re-learning how to do life. As I get healthier mostly by working on catching my thoughts before they catch me, focusing more on the things of God, seeing a therapist, and taking medication, I am shocked at how ingrained my depressive behaviors have melded into
What to do with a severe and profound label for my daughter with Down syndrome? I am immobile this morning. It happens with me, what with my struggle with depression, parenthood in general, kids with special needs, pre-teens with attitudes, hang nails, you know, big stuff. Sergei and I had a an eligibility meeting a few days ago with our daughter Evie’s (6 years old, Down syndrome, adopted from Ukraine) school regarding her services and placement.
10 things to say when a baby is born with Down syndrome Here it is, day 31 of blogging for Down syndrome awareness the month of October. Phew. I’m tired! A few weeks ago I posted 10 things not to say to a parent of a child with Down syndrome. Someone emailed me a day or two later. “My father and I were talking about your post about 10 things not to say to a