Melissa Pandolf has never been one to let a few rules stand in her way. So when she and her husband, Doug, began the adoption process, the hopeful mother-to-be had her sights set on quickly welcoming two beaming babies to make the Pandolf house a family home. However, after three years; four trips to Russia; one trip to Washington, DC; and two plane crashes that threatened to bring their dream down around them, she came to realize that a bigger destiny awaited them on the other side of the world. As the adoptive parents of four Russian siblings, the young couple from Long Island learned the true meaning of family, and what it means to go the extra mile to give your children what they need. Beginning with the first meeting with an adoption agency, The Journey for Mama's Babies chronicles the Pandolfs' three-year odyssey to bring their babies home. From her naïve initial assumptions about the process to her ultimate hard-won savvy and resolve, Pandolf shares every key aspect of the experience, including the unexpected depression that can be companion to this emotionally wrenching process. With clear-eyed candor, the author recounts the ups and downs, the unexpected twists, and the backward loops that frequently punctuated their mission. Along the way, she and her husband were also faced with heartbreaking decisions that neither had anticipated, as their dream of two children quickly grew when a larger group of siblings presented itself. At the same time, the couple also confronted the demand for an ironclad resiliency due to countless setbacks, never-ending red tape, and a constantly shifting perspective on what it truly means to be a family. Still, their challenges only began when they finally were joined together in the United States, as the Pandolfs scrambled to help their children make the transition from speaking Russian to speaking English and help them adjust to their new surroundings. Enlightening, easy to read, and arrestingly honest, The Journey for Mama's Babies will captivate anyone who has ever navigated the intricacies of the adoption process or who cares about someone who has. Both inspiring and open-eyed, this tender, telling story of a family built across oceans, languages, and every imaginable obstacle will take hold of your heart, and make you hold your loved ones closer still.

Joseph Noshpitz was at the forefront of psychodynamic treatment and research with children and adolescents. These previously unpublished papers are introduced by experts who contemporize and contextualize the work for the modern reader.--[book cover].

I began writing to my unborn child as soon as my wife and I decided to have a child. Never could I have imagined what an amazing journey was set in motion. These intensely personal letters capture my hopes and fears as my wife and I progress through the various stages of IVF, our daughter's stay in the NICU, and our first year as a family. From giving my wife daily shots to staring at the various screens monitoring my newborn daughter, the book attempts to capture the emotions of a loving husband and father trying to be the man both his girls need. The book concludes with my honest, unadulterated reflections on having going through IVF and the NICU. My hope is that my candid sharing may help others gain a greater sense of the emotions involved in having an IVF or NICU baby.

In The Hidden Place, Vickie takes you on a rare journey behind the walls of a communist orphanage and the harsh realities of everyday life as an orphan. A journey that began with her “Yes” to God, taking her and her family to China, to serve the orphans living there. Vickie will share stories of the children she met, the brutal effects suffering and injustice had on them, and her determination to right the wrongs of injustice to orphans. Being sold out and obedient to everything God asked resulted in a ministry dripping in God’s favor and extravagant provision. Until one fateful night when a single event would change everything, and her life would never be the same. What do you do when: You know God could have changed or stopped something, but He didn’t? Nothing makes sense? You know you had faith, yet God didn’t answer your prayer? There is no happily-ever-after? In your season of deep grief and sorrow, you ask, “God, where are you and who is really in control of this battle? Those were the questions on Vickie’s heart when God answered her with His own question, “Will you come away with me to the Hidden Place?” In the Hidden Place, you will not only learn the answers to these questions, but you will experience God and encounter His Presence in ways you never have before as He asks you the same question: “Will you come away with me to the Hidden Place?”

This collection of prayers, blessings, lullabies, quotations, and NIV Scriptureis for new parents.

Providing both inspiration and education, this guide to natural childbirth offers 48 personal accounts of labor and delivery without medication. Revealing the many options women have beyond birthing location, the testimonials offer insight into the joys, concerns, and realities of natural birth. From delivering at home with a midwife and hearing the right words from a hospital nurse at just the right moment to describing a combination of the Bradley method and acupuncture at a birthing center and discussing a child's birth at home in warm water, this resource combines personal insight with referential information. A glossary of terms and a resource guide to books, magazines, websites, videos, and CDs, and listings of childbirth classes and instructors nationwide are also included.