Our family is about to be a legal family. We have waited 3 years to adopt these precious children and our time is finally here. Our adoption is set for Tuesday April 28th. We are all so excited and relieved that this day has finally come. The children are especially excited to celebrate this event. We have been talking about “adoption” for so long and now they can do through the experience. With Destiny, we have been saying that she is going to get a new last name and that she is going to be in the Wragge family forever. It’s hard to figure out how much of it she understands but I think she gets it. Jasmine is happy to be in a “forever family”. We call ourselves a forever family so she feels secure and knows that she is here to stay with us. Derek is happy about being adopted but probably doesn’t understand it completely. It will be a wonderful time for us to close this chapter of foster care and continue on our journey as a family.

Well, it’s that time of year again. It’s annual review time. This is the time when parents meet with their child’s education team to discuss their child’s progress and recommendations for next year’s program.The different options can leave parents feeling anxious and overwhelmed. I have a few survival tips for parents during these meetings.* Bring copies of your child’s current IEP and any progress notes or report cards so you can follow along when the teacher goes over his/her progress.