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This week, our eldest son is camping with our church youth group. I know they will all be having the most amazing time away and we are so...

Last week marked a whole year since our little one came home. It seems like he’s been with us his whole life, whilst at the same time...

Birthdays in our house, much like many others I’m sure are an exciting, joyous occasion. Anticipation builds the closer we get, we get...

On Wednesday we had a lovely day, just the littlest member of our family and me.   I gave him a choice of a few different activities, but...

Our little one was adopted when he had recently turned 3. Prior to living with us, he had a number of homes, although was with his foster...

We have been very blessed by the dedication and hard work our adopted son’s foster carers put into to supporting his routines and general...

We recently attended our son’s celebration hearing, an opportunity to visit the courts to have a more formal ceremony of his adoption...

Recently in our family there have been a few things different from the norm. Across the past 5 weeks we have had three family birthdays...

Through working with the 2 – 4 age group, I’ve seen that so often little ones love to do things for themselves. They are highly motivated...

Today has been a tricky day for our little one. Lots of things have been difficult. He hasn’t wanted to have a drink or go to the toilet...

Our adopted child has had a number of moves in his short life (age 3 when he came home). This is the impact of assessment and...

While the first two elements of waiting for an adoptive brother or sister can bring about changes to family life, actually introducing...

Part two of a three part series on supporting birth children through the adoption process, for part one preparing your children for...

This is a three part blog based on our experiences of preparing our birth children at each stage of the adoption process. Introducing...

In my post - waiting - our adoption journey - I explained the processes of our journey but I felt that I should explore the element of emotions when waiting for your perfect match a little further. It can be a tough time. During our wait of nearly two years from approval panel, we expressed interest in a lot of children. This is when you can start actively searching for a little one to join your family. Children from all backgrounds and experiences can be explored within you

In my experience most children find it tricky to wait. There is always something important to ask, or say, or point out, and children love to share these things with those around them. Its so important that we give our children the time and encouragement to have their thoughts and opinions heard, but they also learn that there is a right time to do it. Children try all sorts of different ways to be heard, whether raising their volume, standing in the line of vision between tw

We adopted our little boy when he was three – a lively, confident, outgoing and sometimes strong willed, amazing little boy joined our family. He is an absolute joy and has slotted perfectly into our lives. 6 months down the line and with Christmas having recently been, I’m interested that I am still learning so much about him and how to care for him and I wonder if this will ever change. Potty training has not been as easy for us this time around. For my elder two, it was a

Prepare yourself that this is a longer than usual post, but I want you to have a clear view of just how long the process can be. I'm sure there are also some of you who may have experienced, or will be experiencing longer timescales too and others where the journey will be much quicker. While it was a difficult wait, we are so blessed to have an amazing new member of our family and he is very much worth all of that time. If you are waiting, I wanted to write this as you need

We are very lucky to have an amazing support network. One that is built of people who have known us for many years and those who have only known us a few. When you are assessed as part of the adoption process, one of the elements they ask you about is your support – those who might be able to offer you practical support – i.e pick up some shopping, and those who are able to offer you emotional support – i.e you’ve had a hard day and just need to off load. In all stages of lif

Toilet training has been entirely different for each child in our house. We had one who got it straight away, one who stopped then started and eventually got it, and one who is taking some time to grasp that he needs to go at all! Many people have written books or have podcasts on this topic, but I thought I’d share a brief overview of how we did it in case you find yourself here with us. For each of my children I’ve started with books. I think books are wonderful and the key