Thursday, March 31, 2011

Resource Thursday - Cooking With Your Toddler - Part II

Last week we blogged about the importance of exposing your child to the wonderful world of cooking.  This week  we will share recipes you can make with your toddler.  Bon Appetit!

Sources:  http://www.familyplayandlearn.com/

Banana Bugs Recipe


Ingredients:
1 peeled banana
Fruit Loops Cereal
Raisins
Thin pretzel sticks

Directions:
Put 1 or more Fruit Loops onto a pretzel stick. This will be Buggy's tail, so place it onto the back on the banana . Now put Fruit Loops Cereal onto the ends of 2 pretzel sticks. These will be the bug's antennae; place them on the front of the banana. Then put 2 raisins in front of the two pretzels for the eyes. Next, take 2 pretzels sticks and break in half for 4 feet and place in the middle of buggy. Add additional legs and your child will have a centipede bug.
 
Ant Logs (Ants on a Log) 
Ingredients:
Celery Sticks
Peanut butter
Raisins

Directions:
Remove the strings from celery stalks and cut into 3 or 4 in long "logs". Spread peanut butter on the celery sticks place raisins on top in a row for your ants.


Mud Balls


What You'll Need:
1 cup of peanut butter
1/4 cup honey
1/2 dry powdered milk
1/2 cup raisins
crushed graham crackers
chocolate milk powder

Directions:
Mix all ingredients in a bowl and form into balls. Place a little chocolate milk powder on a plate and roll the balls around in the powder. These can be refrigerated and eaten for snack later or immediately.

Fun Salad


What You'll Need:
1 head lettuce of choice
15 cherry tomatoes
20 baby carrots
Oyster Crackers
Large Salad Bowl
Strainer
Dressing of Choice

Directions:
Remove leaves of lettuce and place in strainer. Run water over lettuce; moving leaves to be sure gets cleaned. Lay lettuce on paper towels to dry. Place cherry tomatoes and baby carrots into strainer. Run water over them using your hands to move them around to be sure they get clean. Place tomatoes and carrots on paper towels and dry. Tear lettuce leafs into large but bite size pieces and place into bowl. Add carrots and tomatoes. Hand toss. Add oyster cracker in place of croutons and serve! Salad may also be chilled until serving time.

If you are interested in searching for more recipes and suggestions, just google "cooking with toddlers".


Hope Cottage is the oldest nonprofit, non sectarian adoption agency in Dallas. Since 1918 Hope Cottage has been building and nurturing strong families through counseling, education and adoption services.


If you have questions about adoption, please call Hope Cottage at 214.526.8721.

If you are a woman facing an unwanted pregnancy and would like to talk to someone about adoption, please call Hope Cottage at 1.800.944.4464 or 214.404.4546.

Wednesday, March 30, 2011

The Power of Words

Use them carefully for words have more power than atom bombs    Pearl S. Hurd


Whoever wrote "sticks and stones may break my bones, but words can never hurt me" was a liar.   There.  I said it.  The rhyme well meaning adults tried to teach us as we were doing that hiccuping, gulping cry when a friend said something mean,  is wrong.  You know the cry I am talking about -  that cry that builds from your toes and issues forth from your soul. 



 Words can hurt. 
 Words do hurt. 
Words spoken decades ago still hurt. 

Often times, in the world of adoption, words are uttered not to be hurtful, but merely because someone just doesn't know.  And sometimes they are uttered by those closest to us.  Not because they don't love us, just because no one has bothered to help them learn positive adoption language.

As the song says "Let's start at the very beginning...." which is a very good place to start. 
  • Say "birthparent" instead of "real parent". 
  • Say  "terminated parental rights" of  instead of "give up"
  • Say "made an adoption plan" instead of "gave the baby away".   Giving away is what you do to old clothes, something you don't want anymore.  Birthparents make an adoption plan because they love their child and want the very best possible for him/her.
  • In the same vein, say "to parent" instead of "to keep".
  • A child is not "taken away", the courts have terminated parental rights.
  • A child is "a child placed for adoption", not an "unwanted child".
  • A child is "born to unmarried parents" not "illegitimate".
  • A child "was adopted" not "is adopted".
  • A "search" is made for birthparents.  They are not "tracked down".
  • Parents are just that - parents, not "adoptive parents".
  • A child is just that - your child, not an "adopted child".
Don Miguel Ruiz said  "Use the power of your word in the direction of truth and love."   Spread the good word. 

Tuesday, March 29, 2011

Picture Tuesday - Sitting Pretty Part II

Enjoy pictures of some of our Hope Babies - "sitting pretty". 











Hope Cottage is the oldest nonprofit, non sectarian adoption agency in Dallas. Since 1918 Hope Cottage has been building and nurturing strong families through counseling, education and adoption services.



If you have questions about adoption, please call Hope Cottage at 214.526.8721.



If you are a woman facing an unwanted pregnancy and would like to talk to someone about adoption, please call Hope Cottage at 1.800.944.4464 or 214.404.4546



Thursday, March 24, 2011

Resource Thursday - Cooking With Your Toddler

Cooking with your child can be fun, educational (for both of you) and sometimes frustrating.  The togetherness of the shared activity outweighs any hassle there might be.  Preparing food and cooking together reinforces your child's language skills, teaches cooperation and prepares them for a skill that will serve them for a long time - how to feed themselves!  And if your child has turned his or her nose up at a certain "yucky" food, if he/she is the chef that dish might just be their new favorite food - because THEY made it.  Here are a few resources to help you turn your toddler into a miniature chef. 

Here are some things your toddler can do:  (source http://www.webmd.com/ and http://www.familyplayandlearn.com/)
  • Scrub, dip, tear, break, and snap (for example, snapping the ends off green beans)
  • Spread peanut butter on bread
  • Shake, spread, and cut with a cookie or biscuit cutter
  • Peel (some items), roll, juice, and mash
  • Remove husks from corn
  • Wash vegetables in a colander
  • Measure and pour some ingredients
  • Hand mix
  • Cut banana slices with a plastic knife
  • Wash and scrub fruits and vegetables
  • Wipe off the countertop
  • Rip lettuce
  • Shake plastic bags of different ingredients
  • Pour ingredients from premeasured cups
  • Stir or mix ingredients
  • Roll cookie dough
  • Cut cookies from dough
  • Whisk ingredients
  • Frost cupcakes (use a plastic knife or a small spatula)
  • Crush crackers and cookies to make crumbs
  • Dip foods that require dipping
  • Place cookies and other food on baking sheets or trays
  • Shape meatballs
  • Peel bananas
Let your child do the measuring over a cookie sheet or jelly roll pan - that will help contain the mess. 

Here is an article on Squidoo that gives helpful suggestions for making cooking with your toddler easier.  It offers suggestions on equipment to use and other tips.  Scroll further down the page to find suggestions for Mashable Foods to make with your toddler.  Kids like to "mash and moosh" things - why not take advantage of it!

Next week we will share "Toddler Friendly" Recipes.  Bon appetit!

Hope Cottage is the oldest nonprofit, non sectarian adoption agency in Dallas. Since 1918 Hope Cottage has been building and nurturing strong families through counseling, education and adoption services.


If you have questions about adoption, please call Hope Cottage at 214.526.8721.

If you are a woman facing an unwanted pregnancy and would like to talk to someone about adoption, please call Hope Cottage at 1.800.944.4464 or 214.404.4546.

Wednesday, March 23, 2011

When You Are Ready, Call Hope Cottage

If you truly want to impact the life of a child, consider adopting from the Foster Care System.  And when you are ready to do that, contact Hope Cottage at 214.526.8721.  If you need a little convincing, watch this video from AdoptUS Kids. 





Hope Cottage is the oldest nonprofit, non sectarian adoption agency in Dallas. Since 1918 Hope Cottage has been building and nurturing strong families through counseling, education and adoption services.


If you have questions about adoption, please call Hope Cottage at 214.526.8721.



If you are a woman facing an unwanted pregnancy and would like to talk to someone about adoption, please call Hope Cottage at 1.800.944.4464 or 214.404.4546.

Tuesday, March 22, 2011

Picture Tuesday - Sitting Pretty Part I

Enjoy some pictures of our Hope Babies as they are "sitting pretty".  Of course Hope Babies are the brightest, the cutest, the smartest and the BEST babies!












Hope Cottage is the oldest nonprofit, non sectarian adoption agency in Dallas. Since 1918 Hope Cottage has been building and nurturing strong families through counseling, education and adoption services.




If you have questions about adoption, please call Hope Cottage at 214.526.8721.



If you are a woman facing an unwanted pregnancy and would like to talk to someone about adoption, please call Hope Cottage at 1.800.944.4464 or 214.404.4546.

Thursday, March 17, 2011

Resource Thursday - Baby Equipment

Parent Dish  has great tips and suggestions for all kinds of baby equipment.

Stroller Buying Tips: Consider Safety, Ease of Use
Choosing a stroller can seem overwhelming unless you've determined what your needs are, so we talked to some experts to get stroller buying tips for parents.  Click here to read the rest of the article. 
 
Baby Cribs for Small Spaces
For space-strapped parents-to-be, pulling together all of these elements with limited square footage can be daunting. Does that tiny watermelon-sized baby really need a crib the size of a small hatchback? Fret not. There are plenty of space-saving baby crib options on the market these days to work with any budget. Click here to read the rest of the article. 
 
Blogging Baby Size Six: Baby products I thought I needed but didn't
Our purchasing bible was Baby Bargains. No way were we going to get suckered into buying things like wipes warmers and baby knee pads. Even though we tried our hardest to make informed purchases, we still made a few mistakes. By request, as a follow-up to my recent post on baby products I can't live without, here are six products that I was led to believe were absolutely essential, but turned out to be a waste of money:  Click here to read the rest of the article. 


Car Seats: What You Need to Know to Keep Your Child Safe
When it comes to choosing car seats for your kids, start your research in the garage.  Click here to read the rest of the article. 


What baby equipment was your favorite and why?  What could you have lived without?





Hope Cottage is the oldest nonprofit, non sectarian adoption agency in Dallas. Since 1918 Hope Cottage has been building and nurturing strong families through counseling, education and adoption services.


If you have questions about adoption, please call Hope Cottage at 214.526.8721.

If you are a woman facing an unwanted pregnancy and would like to talk to someone about adoption, please call Hope Cottage at 1.800.944.4464 or 214.404.4546.










 

Wednesday, March 16, 2011

Popular Baby Names - Now and Then

Three of our most recent placements at Hope Cottage have been given the name Grace.  It got me to thinking about baby names and what is popular from year to year.  One year while directing a children's choir, I had five, yes count them, five Brittanys in a group of 30 children. 

In the early years babies were given short names at Hope Cottage.  The reasoning?  Their names were written on their bottles and a long name would not fit on the bottle!  Makes sense when you think about it.

Here is the list of the top boy and girl names for 1918 - the first year Hope Cottage was open, followed by a list of the top boy and girl names for 2010 - 92 years later.

Top 10 Baby Names for 1918
Boys                                                                     Girls 
1 John                                                                  1 Mary
2 William                                                              2 Helen
3 James                                                                3 Dorothy
4 Robert                                                               4 Margaret
5 Charles                                                              5 Ruth
6 George                                                              6 Mildred
7 Joseph                                                               7 Virginia
8 Edward                                                              8 Frances
9 Frank                                                                 9 Elizabeth
10 Thomas                                                            10 Anna
                                   Source:  http://www.sixtyseconparent-wnc.com/
Top 10 Baby Names for 2010
Boys                                                                     Girls
1 Aiden                                                                 1 Sophia
2 Jacob                                                                 2 Isabella
3 Jackson                                                              3 Olivia
4 Ethan                                                                  4 Emma
5 Jayden                                                                5 Chloe
6 Noah                                                                  6 Ava
7 Logan                                                                 7 Lily
8 Caden                                                                 8 Madison
9 Lucas                                                                  9 Abigail
10 Liam                                                                 10 Madelyn
                                     Source:  http://www.babycenter.com/


Hope Cottage is the oldest nonprofit, non sectarian adoption agency in Dallas. Since 1918 Hope Cottage has been building and nurturing strong families through counseling, education and adoption services.

If you have questions about adoption, please call Hope Cottage at 214.526.8721.

 
If you are a woman facing an unwanted pregnancy and would like to talk to someone about adoption, please call Hope Cottage at 1.800.944.4464 or 214.404.4546.

Tuesday, March 15, 2011

Famous Peeps at Hope Cottage

Everyone always wants to know if any "famous" people have been adopted through Hope Cottage.  Well, let's just say that ALL our Hope Babies are famous, in one way or another (along with being the best, the brightest, the smartest, the cutest babies ever!)  However, searching through the archives yielded a couple of results.  Below is an article dated November 30, 1921 memorializing the visit of actress Leona Powers to Hope Cottage. 



Roy Rogers and Dale Evans are probably the most famous Hope Cottage adoptive parents.   Roy was in town for a show.  One of his friends was on the board of Hope Cottage and insisted that Roy come down and see the beautiful babies of Hope Cottage.  According to our files, only one baby in the entire group didn't cry when Roy tickled her under the chin and he decided right then and there that baby needed to come home with him.  Roy later adopted another child from Hope Cottage.  Here is a picture of Roy and Dale at Hope Cottage in the 90's. 




Hope Cottage is the oldest nonprofit, non sectarian adoption agency in Dallas. Since 1918 Hope Cottage has been building and nurturing strong families through counseling, education and adoption services.



If you have questions about adoption, please call Hope Cottage at 214.526.8721.


If you are a woman facing an unwanted pregnancy and would like to talk to someone about adoption, please call Hope Cottage at 1.800.944.4464 or 214.404.4546.

Thursday, March 10, 2011

Resource Thursday - Reading is Beyond Fundamental

Reading to your child is important - let's just get that fact out of the way.  Prior to working at Hope Cottage, I was the Development Director for Literacy Instruction for Texas, a local nonprofit that teaches adults to read.  I have seen firsthand the hardship suffered by adults who cannot even read "The Cat in the Hat".  Adult illiteracy translates into decreased earning potential, sub par job skills, a higher chance of illiteracy in children of adults who can't read...  think about all the things you couldn't do if you couldn't read... no driver's license, can't fill out a job application, order off a menu.  And believe it or not, there are many college graduates who cannot read beyond a 3rd grade level if at all.

Do you know the benchmark used by the state of Texas (among other states) to determine how many prison cells they will need to build in the future?  By the number of children who are not reading on grade level in the third grade!  The greatest indicator for a child's success is having a parent who read to him/her.

It is agreed - reading is important to your child.  Here are some resources for parents on reading and your child.  Please share and READ TO YOUR CHILD EVERYDAY!

From Sixty Second Parent
   Reading to Your Newborn
   The Benefits of Reading to Your Preschooler
   Books Your Two Year Old Will Love
   Books Your Three Year Old Will Love
   Why You Should Read It Again

Where can I find "good" books to read my child? You might be lucky enough to have friends who give their favorite children's books as birthday and new baby presents. Your favorite childhood books are another way to start. Also check out Newbery and Caldecott award winners. The Newbery Medal was named for eighteenth-century British bookseller John Newbery. It is awarded annually by the Association for Library Service to Children, a division of the American Library Association, to the author of the most distinguished contribution to American literature for children. The Caldecott Medal was named in honor of nineteenth-century English illustrator Randolph Caldecott. It is awarded annually by the Association for Library Service to Children, a division of the American Library Association, to the artist of the most distinguished American picture book for children.

Reading Rockets offers another resource for book suggestions, including themed booklists and author interviews.

Check out Literacy Lava  - a downloadable PDF erupting with tips for parents and teachers, suggesting ideas for incorporating literacy and learning into our every day.

Hope Cottage is the oldest nonprofit, non sectarian adoption agency in Dallas. Since 1918 Hope Cottage has been building and nurturing strong families through counseling, education and adoption services.


If you have questions about adoption, please call Hope Cottage at 214.526.8721.

If you are a woman facing an unwanted pregnancy and would like to talk to someone about adoption, please call Hope Cottage at 1.800.944.4464 or 214.404.4546.

Wednesday, March 9, 2011

Hope Cottage Staff Feature - Meet Kathy Cobb

Kathy Cobb
Kathy Cobb has amassed more than twenty years working the adoption world, having just celebrated her eight year anniversary with Hope Cottage in November AND working for Buckner for twelve and a half years before coming to Hope Cottage. 

Kathy's main duties at Hope Cottage are in what we call the Post-Adoption department.  In fact, she IS the Post-Adoption department.  When an adoptee calls in and wants to find out information about their birth family, he/she will talk to Kathy.  When a birthmother wants to reach out to her child, she will talk to Kathy.  If someone needs any documents related to their adoption, he/she will talk to Kathy.  In addition to her Post-Adoption duties, Kathy also serves as a front line intake specialist, working with all sorts of Hope Cottage callers, whether it be directing a pregnant woman to community services, making an appointment for someone to talk with one of our counseling staff or generally providing a kind, loving ear to someone who is in need.

Kathy herself is blessed with family - thirty five years of marriage has produced three children and nine grandchildren.  What little spare time Kathy has is spend reading and doing cross stitch.

Ask Kathy what she likes best about being at Hope Cottage and she has this to say:  "The thing I like most about my particular job at Hope Cottage is the wonderful people I get to meet through our services, the great stories I hear.  our Hope Babies are really just wonderful people. "  


Hope Cottage is the oldest nonprofit, non sectarian adoption agency in Dallas. Since 1918 Hope Cottage has been building and nurturing strong families through counseling, education and adoption services.



If you have questions about adoption, please call Hope Cottage at 214.526.8721.

If you are a woman facing an unwanted pregnancy and would like to talk to someone about adoption, please call Hope Cottage at 1.800.944.4464 or 214.404.4546.

Tuesday, March 8, 2011

Picture Tuesday - Celebrating Our Social Workers

March is National Social Worker Month.  Picture Tuesday today honors our Hope Cottage Social Workers who are there for our clients 24/7.  Cheers and kudos for a job well done! 



Sonyia Hartwell, MSSW

Brooks Quinlan, LMSW-AP
   



Jennifer Terry, LMSW

Cara Filipski, MSSW

Heather Hussong, LBSW

Logan Rosenberg, LCSW



 
Susan Mathews, MSSW



 

















 
Nicole Mahanay, MSSW

Meredith Bomkamp, BSSW


Linda Pouncy, LMSW, LCPAA



Hope Cottage is the oldest nonprofit, non sectarian adoption agency in Dallas. Since 1918 Hope Cottage has been building and nurturing strong families through counseling, education and adoption services.



If you have questions about adoption, please call Hope Cottage at 214.526.8721.

If you are a woman facing an unwanted pregnancy and would like to talk to someone about adoption, please call Hope Cottage at 1.800.944.4464 or 214.404.4546.

Monday, March 7, 2011

Gerry Garibaldi, Teen Pregnancy and Hope Cottage

We don't normally post on Monday, but every now and then you feel compelled to comment. 

Over the weekend, the Dallas Morning News carried a reprint of an article by Gerry Garibaldi.  The article originally ran in the City Journal, a quarterly magazine that covers urban affairs.  The article is entitled "Nobody Gets Married Anymore, Mister".  For many years, Garibaldi was a screenwriter in Hollywood and is currently a teacher in an urban Connecticut high school.  He points out that all the money in the world can't help what he sees as the main problem in our high schools.

"Here’s my prediction: the money, the reforms, the gleaming porcelain, the hopeful rhetoric about saving our children—all of it will have a limited impact, at best, on most city schoolchildren. Urban teachers face an intractable problem, one that we cannot spend or even teach our way out of: teen pregnancy. This year, all of my favorite girls are pregnant, four in all, future unwed mothers every one. There will be no innovation in this quarter, no race to the top. Personal moral accountability is the electrified rail that no politician wants to touch."

Which makes me glad  Hope Cottage offers free to area high schools and youth groups Teen Education in the form of ABCs of Adoption and TMAP (Teen Mentoring and Prevention).  With these two programs, we talk to teens about choices and how to avoid those life changing choices.  We talk about statistics affiliated with being a teen parent:  child most likely to be raised in poverty... mother mst likely to drop out of school... child most likely to drop out of school.  By the end of this calendar year more than 1,000 teenagers in the metroplex will have been through this training.  1,000 students that hopefully won't end up like Nicole and Jasmine. 

If you are interested in having Hope Cottage present one of our Teen Ed programs, contact Susan at 214.526.8721, ext 215.  There is no cost for the programs.

Hope Cottage is the oldest nonprofit, non sectarian adoption agency in Dallas. Since 1918 Hope Cottage has been building and nurturing strong families through counseling, education and adoption services.



If you have questions about adoption, please call Hope Cottage at 214.526.8721.


If you are a woman facing an unwanted pregnancy and would like to talk to someone about adoption, please call Hope Cottage at 1.800.944.4464 or 214.404.4546.

Thursday, March 3, 2011

Resource Thursday - March 3, 2011

Each Thursday the Hope Cottage blog shares resources for parents and adoption advocates.  If you have a suggestion for a resource, e-mail Chief Development Officer Leslie Clay at lclay@hopecottage.org


New Immunization Guidelines for Children     On  February 1, 2011 the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) released the recommended childhood and adolescent immunization schedules for 2011. These schedules are revised each year to reflect new and updated information for the use of vaccines licensed by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration.  Click here to read the rest of the article on ParentDish.

     Encouraging Creativity in Your Child
     Baking with Your Child
     Preschooler obsessions - what's normal what's not
     Why Peek-a-Boo Matters
     Visual Development and Your Baby
          

Here are a few articles from Hope Baby Robert Tobin.  Enjoy!
     "Guess How Much I Love You"
                a story illustrating the special bond between a father and son.
     The Caldecott Medal Unmasked
               includes a list of previous Caldecott winners. 
     It takes a village to raise a child; The importance of parent involvement in the classroom.

Hope Cottage is the oldest nonprofit, non sectarian adoption agency in Dallas. Since 1918 Hope Cottage has been building and nurturing strong families through counseling, education and adoption services.

If you have questions about adoption, please call Hope Cottage at 214.526.8721.



If you are a woman facing an unwanted pregnancy and would like to talk to someone about adoption, please call Hope Cottage at 1.800.944.4464 or 214.404.4546.

Wednesday, March 2, 2011

A Tribute



Today's blogpost is a tribute to those twenty five people who, on Saturday, attended the first of six training sessions at Hope Cottage. These sessions, know as PRIDE training (Parent Resource for Information, Development and Education) mark the beginning of their journey to adopt their children from foster care. We want to say thank you to these people. If you are interested in changing the life of a child by adopting from foster care, please contact Linda Pouncy at 214.526.8721, ext 216. We and the children would love to hear from you! Just say YES!


Hope Cottage is the oldest nonprofit, non sectarian adoption agency in Dallas. Since 1918 Hope Cottage has been building and nurturing strong families through counseling, education and adoption services.

If you have questions about adoption, please call Hope Cottage at 214.526.8721.

If you are a woman facing an unwanted pregnancy and would like to talk to someone about adoption, please call Hope Cottage at 1.800.944.4464 or 214.404.4546

Tuesday, March 1, 2011

Picture Tuesday - Bonnets, Berets and Boaters

Every Tuesday Hope Cottage, Dallas' oldest nonprofit, nonsectarian adoption agency posts pictures of  Hope Babies on our blog.  Today's theme is Head Bling - all kinds of bonnets, berets, boaters and chapeaus.
   
Gussie - 1920's
   
Bobbie - 1921




Bernice - 1919
 

Ford - 2003

 
JJ - 2010
 
Ellie - 2011
 Hope Cottage is the oldest nonprofit, non sectarian adoption agency in Dallas. Since 1918 Hope Cottage has been building and nurturing strong families through counseling, education and adoption services.

If you have questions about adoption, please call Hope Cottage at 214.526.8721.

If you are a woman facing an unwanted pregnancy and would like to talk to someone about adoption, please call Hope Cottage at 1.800.944.4464 or 214.404.4546.