Adopted: our son is coming home! | Your Baby Booty

*Oh mamas, this story will melt your heart and give you the goosebumps! A special thanks to Heather for sharing her adoption journey with us.

***

Adopted: our son is coming home!

by Heather Franklin

My mother taught me at a very young age that adopted children were extra special because they had two Mothers that loved them. One that grew them in their belly & one in their heart. At the age of 5 I declared that I was going to marry Tom Selleck, Magnum PI, and adopt 63 children. I understood that there were children who needed mothers, that I wanted to be a mother & that adoption was the perfect solution.

In 2003 I met & married a man who shared my convictions on how to build our future family. We met married young. I was 18 & he was 21.? As young college students we began our family by adopting (many) cats & dogs ? rather than children.? In the spring of 2010 I was aching to start a family. We began taking classes through the local foster care agency with the intention to adopt an older child. Early in the process my husband was offered admission & a teaching position at Rutgers University & I was offered admission to a Doctorate program. Moving from Oregon meant that we could not adopt at that time through foster care because these children have ties that need to be maintained.? We decided to explore International adoption and came across the website Rainbowkids.org. This site provides a wealth of information & offers a waiting child registry.

One day while browsing the waiting child registry, I found Kofi. Kofi, or ?Calvin,? as he was referred to was a 3 year old little boy living in a children?s home in Ghana, West Africa.? As soon as we laid eyes on him we knew he was our son. I immediately contacted his agency, Faith International, & submitted our application.? Traditionally, families have to complete home studies prior to placement with a specific child but in our case we were given Kofi?s placement immediately. What this means is that he was removed from the waiting child registry & we began the long process of adoption.? The date we began the journey to adopt Kofi was June 23, 2010.

Over the course of the following two weeks, we packed up our home in Oregon, had pre-adoption physicals, fingerprinting & arranged for our home study to begin as soon as we arrived in New Jersey.? On July 13, the day before we left on our cross-country move, I found out that I was pregnant.? People?s first response to this is usually something like ?that?s what always happens ? as soon as you give up you get pregnant? but, we never intended on reproducing so this was quite a shock to our system.? So I drove cross-country with 3 dogs, 3 cats, a barf bag & a lot to think about. Abandoning our son Kofi was completely was as much out of the question as terminating the pregnancy- so I convinced myself (and my husband) that going from zero to two in the same year while pursuing a graduate degree was going to be the best adventure ever.

We arrived in New Jersey the end of July 2010 & began our home study the first week in August. This process took approximately three months. We took classes, had visits with a social worker, had four different sets of finger prints taken, submitted tax & financial documents, wrote wills, gathered letters of recommendation, provided birth certificates/marriage license/vital records/insurance documents, etc. After our home study was approved we began the process with homeland security to adopt a child.? We submitted our request to adopt an orphan, called an I-600, in November 2010. I gave birth to Booker on March 9, 2011 & when we returned home on March 11th we were informed that our I-600 had been approved.

Next, our dossier packet which provided every detail of our lives, was sent to the Ghanaian adoption court. Luckily, the Ghanaian courts moved quickly & we were given a June court date. Because Yellow Fever vaccinations cannot be given to infants or breast-feeding mothers & are required to travel in Ghana, Derek went to alone.

Derek told me that he loved him the second he saw him. Kofi is a bright & funny child who was ready to come home to his mommy, baby & fire dog (our dog is red). They were able to spend a week getting to know one another, at the children?s home, before their appearance before the adoption court.? Kofi was adopted June 21, 2011. From there, Derek & Kofi traveled to the U.S. Embassy which was 6 hours away. They spent the next two weeks trying to rush the process to bring Kofi home before Derek?s visa expired.? Here we had no luck. Kofi had to go back to the orphanage & Derek returned to New Jersey.? We have been in a sad state of limbo for months awaiting word from US immigration that we can bring Kofi home.? We are able to speak to Kofi on the phone but are unsure how much he understands (we hardly understand ourselves).

Last week, we received word that Kofi has been granted? a visa interview for October 24, 2011. Derek will leave for Ghana a few days prior, take Kofi to the interview, pick up the visa the following Friday & bring our son home on Saturday.

I cannot express my anticipation, joy & worry that all will go well. It has been a long journey.

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More about our guest writer:

Heather Franklin is a 27 year old Oregon native living in New Jersey.? She is a math nerd with a Master of Public Health in Biostatistics & Epidemiology currently debating whether or not to complete her Doctorate from which she is now on leave.? New mother to 3-year-old Kofi & 6-month-old Booker and happily married to Derek, an amazing artist, cook, handyman, husband & father.? In addition to child rearing, Heather spends her time tending to 4 chickens, 4 cats, 1 dog & a large garden.

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Source: http://yourbabybooty.com/blog/adopted-our-son-is-coming-home/

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Alternative Power: What Is Solar Energy? | News and Society

If you have got an interest in knowing how solar energy works and the way to cut back your electricity bills by exploiting it as an alternative power source, then facts about this form of energy is going to capture your interest! This energy is a replenish-able resource and one of the oldest system of energy usage. The simple fact of the case is that the sun?s rays are so powerful that if we are to convert that into energy, the Earth will never run straight out of energy for no less than another 4.5 billion years, according to. The sun never creates any dangerous derivative which could harm the environment.

In the early 1950?s, this energy was thought of as a replacement for synthetic energy resources. Further studies lead to the discovery that energy might be obtained through less-expensive sources. The clamor for this energy has grown seriously within 20 to fifty pc over the past twenty years.

Solar power can support home devices, lighting and water heaters. Nowadays, this kind of energy is more heavily priced, but in the future, with increased systematic research, it?ll cut down the expenses, and will increase its efficiency in the midst. By 2025, it?s expected to generate around 2.5% of the Earth energy demand thru solar energy. This makes it the fastest growing technology.

There are some essential details about this kind of energy that you should really know. It is measured in kilo watt hours, and one kilowatt=100 watts. One kilo watt hour equals the total amount of electric energy which is wanted to burn 100 watt lightbulb in a span of 10 hours. 866 kilowatt hours is the monthly consumption of a typical American household. The home power usage Survey conducted in 2001 shows that a annual electricity bill was around 2,000 greenbacks.

A lowering in unit costs has contributed towards an expansion in growth rates, making it an imperative energy resource. After the year 2k, solar energy has grown at an annual rate of forty percent. Solar power is moving at a progressive rate in the developing states too, as the employment of carbon-based fuel has doubled over a period of time.

Compared with this energy which is a continual alternative power source, standard fuel reserves are reducing. And unlike expensive power grids, setting up solar energy devices ( if you are going to make solar panels, for instance ) is simple. The disadvantage of fossil fuels is that the costs have gone up together with the price of transporting coal, gas and oil.

Source: http://www.jm64.com/blog-news-and-society/alternative-power-what-is-solar-energy/

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Source: http://kofusupek.amplify.com/2011/10/04/alternative-power-what-is-solar-energy-news-and-society/

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Saturday's Draconid meteors may be no-see-ums (AP)

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. ? Heads-up, meteor fans.

As many as 750 meteors an hour are expected Saturday, as Earth travels through streams of dust and ice from Comet Giacobini-Zinner. The comet passes through the inner solar system every seven years.

But the timing for viewing them in the United States is terrible. These Draconid meteors are expected to peak between 3 and 5 p.m. EDT, so the sun will obscure everything.

NASA space weatherman Bill Cooke suggests popping outside and taking a look once it's dark. You might get lucky if forecasters' timing is off.

And while the meteors will be falling during nighttime in Europe, Africa and the Middle East, a nearly full moon is expected to dull the spectacle there.

"The moon sucks. It's messed up meteor showers this year. Next year will be better," said Cooke, team leader of NASA's Meteoroid Environment Office at Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville, Ala.

It just so happens that this year's meteor showers are falling at or near the time of full moons.

Because the Draconids move relatively slowly ? 12 miles per second ? they're faint and the moonlight "really tends to wash them out," Cooke said in a phone interview.

The Draconids get their name from the constellation Draco, the Dragon.

In 1933 and 1946, the Draconid outbursts were major ? observers reported an astounding rate of 20,000 shooting stars an hour. An Irish astronomer described the 1933 episode like a flurry of snowflakes.

The next Draconid outburst after this one will be in 2018.

If you miss this weekend's Draconids, you can catch the Orionids on Oct. 22 ? remnants from Halley's Comet, expected to number 20 meteors an hour.

Then there are the Leonids in mid-November ? with as many as 100 meteors an hour.

"Unfortunately, the moon will interfere with them as well," Cooke said. "We just don't have any good luck, moonwise, this year."

___

Online:

NASA: http://www.nasa.gov/offices/meo/home/index.html

International Meteor Organization: http://www.imo.net/draconids2011

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/space/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20111005/ap_on_sc/us_sci_meteor_shower

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Canadian Wildlife Federation :: Climate Change Challenge

Keywords: climate change, caribou, Arctic
Age:
Subjects: Art, Business Education
Topic:
Skills:
Duration: 30 to 45 minutes
Group Size: 15 to 45 students
Setting: Indoors and Outdoors
Conceptual Framework Reference:
Key Vocabulary:

Objectives

? understand that all living things depend on healthy habitat, which includes food, water, shelter, and space;
? recognize that fluctuations in wildlife populations are natural because habitats undergo constant change and that nature is never in a state of complete equilibrium; and
? identify ways in which climate change may threaten the delicate balance of nature.

Method

Background

Climate change poses a particular challenge in the High Arctic. Here, where the Peary caribou roams, rising temperatures, shifting seasons, deepening snows, and other phenomena are threatening the tundra habitat. Habitat includes food, water, shelter, and space ? all arranged just right to sustain living things. If any of these components are missing, damaged, or altered, so is their life-giving value. Wildlife populations naturally fluctuate in response to supporting and limiting factors, which keep them within predictable ranges. This "balance of nature" is more like a seesaw than a state of equilibrium, and species' numbers constantly waver in response to an abundance or lack of habitat.

In this dynamic activity, students will experience how everything in nature is interrelated; how suitable habitat sustains living things; how wild populations wax and wane depending on the availability of food, water, shelter, and space; and how climate change could throw this delicate system off balance.

Materials

An indoor or outdoor area, such as a gym or playing field, in which students can run; a flip chart or chalkboard; writing materials; Bristol board; paper fastener; spinning pointer (plastic clock hand)

Procedure

(note: 4000 character text limit. 10 000 characters of text)

Extension

Evaluation

Ask the students to answer the following questions:

1. What are the four main habitat components?
2. What are some of the impacts of climate change on habitat? Give four examples.

Source: http://www.cwf-fcf.org/en/educate/resources/lesson-plans/climate-change-challenge.html

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Electronic Dartboards Are The Way To Go, Recreation And Sports ...

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'I am asleep' Jackson heard in slurring audio (AP)

LOS ANGELES ? Prosecutors played a recording Wednesday in which Michael Jackson is heard discussing his plans to build a hospital for children in a rambling, slurred conversation with the doctor charged in his death roughly six weeks before the entertainer died.

The recording was significantly longer than the clip played for jurors in opening statements last week. It ends ominously, with defendant Dr. Conrad Murray heard asking Jackson whether he was OK after his voice trailed off.

"I am asleep," Jackson is heard saying.

Forensic computer investigator Stephen Marx told jurors hearing the involuntary manslaughter case against Murray that the audio was recorded May 10, 2009.

Jackson is heard telling Murray that he wants to build the hospital after his planned series of comeback concerts. The singer tells the doctor that he is attempting to accomplish something that Elvis Presley and The Beatles did not.

"That will be remembered more than my performances," Jackson is heard saying. "My performance will be up there helping my children and always be my dream. I love them. I love them because I didn't have a childhood ... I feel their pain. I feel their hurt. I can deal with it."

Earlier, Marx said he found evidence that Murray was checking emails on his phone in the hours before the singer's death.

Marx, an investigator with the Drug Enforcement Administration, also testified that he found emails and attachments sent to Murray containing medical records filed under the Jackson alias "Omar Arnold."

Prosecutors are trying to show that Murray was distracted and juggling multiple tasks when he should have been monitoring Jackson on June 25, 2009. Jurors heard Tuesday from several women who called and texted the Houston-based cardiologist that morning.

Marx said he also retrieved a voicemail message from Jackson's former manager, Frank Dileo, left five days before Jackson's death. Dileo said Jackson had an "episode" the previous night but didn't elaborate.

"I think you need to get a blood test on him," Dileo said. "We've got to see what he's doing."

Marx's testimony came as Murray's trial moves into its "CSI" phase, when jurors will hear from investigators and detectives.

The panel also will hear from Murray himself, though it will be through a more than two-hour interview that police conducted with the doctor two days after Jackson's death.

Murray has pleaded not guilty. He could face up to four years behind bars and the loss of his medical license if convicted of involuntary manslaughter.

Authorities contend he gave Jackson a lethal dose of the anesthetic propofol and other sedatives in Jackson's bedroom. Murray's attorneys say Jackson gave himself the fatal dose.

The government's case against Murray so far has featured dramatic testimony about frantic efforts to revive Jackson.

Witnesses in the past two days included several of the doctor's mistresses and his current girlfriend, Nicole Alvarez, who prosecutors say received shipments of propofol at her apartment on Murray's behalf. She said she never knew what was being sent.

Another woman, Sade Anding, told jurors that Murray called her at 11:51 a.m. on the day Jackson died but stopped paying attention to her during the call.

"I pressed the phone to my ear and I heard mumbling and voices. Like the phone was in his pocket. I heard coughing," she said.

___

AP Special Correspondent Linda Deutsch contributed to this report.

___

Anthony McCartney can be reached at http://twitter.com/mccartneyAP

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/celebrity/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20111005/ap_en_ce/us_michael_jackson_doctor

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Pros and Cons of Entertainment Units, Shopping And Product Reviews

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Polish Catholics see miracle in communion wafer (AP)

WARSAW, Poland ? Roman Catholics in Poland gathered Sunday for a special Mass celebrating what they see as a miracle: the appearance on a communion wafer of a dark spot that they are convinced is part of the heart of Jesus.

The communion wafer in question developed a brown spot in 2008 after falling on the floor during a Mass in the eastern Polish town of Sokolka. Two medical doctors determined that the spot was heart muscle tissue, church officials have said.

Bialystok Archbishop Edward Ozorowski said during the Mass that in history, the "substance of Christ's body or blood has become available to the human senses, and this also happened in Sokolka."

"For God, nothing is impossible," Ozorowski said.

The dark-spotted wafer was carried aloft in a reliquary by a golden-robed priest in a procession and was put on display in the town's church of St. Anthony as about 1,000 faithful looked on, according to a report and footage carried by the TV station TVN.

Catholics believe that the bread and wine that priests use during the sacrament of communion ? or the Eucharist ? are changed into the body and blood of Jesus Christ.

The wafer was dropped by a priest celebrating communion in 2008. In accordance with church practice, the priest placed the wafer in water to dissolve it. Several days later a nun found that the wafer had not dissolved completely, and found a red mark on it.

The nun's discovery sparked huge interest among the faithful in this deeply Roman Catholic country, sparking large numbers to flock to Sokolka. Though some believers consider the object miraculous, the Vatican is still examining the matter and has not yet officially decided whether to declare it a miracle, church spokesman Andrzej Debski said.

A group of rationalists complained about the matter in 2008, and called on authorities to investigate if a murder or other crime was involved if human flesh was indeed found on the wafer. Police say they have no evidence of any crime.

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/europe/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20111002/ap_on_re_eu/eu_poland_miracle_wafer

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