One of the things a child could possibly bring home from Ethiopia is a case of hepatitis B. Children will be tested for hepatitis while in Ethiopia, and you most likely will be aware of your child's hepatitis status. However, there have been a few cases of children developing hepatitis and not being diagnosed before homecoming.

Hepatitis B is actually more easily spread than HIV, by contact with infected blood, serum, semen, and vaginal fluids. Infants can get it from their mothers at birth or via breastfeeding. Hepatitis A and B combined sicken about 280,000 American travelers in any given year. For that reason, one of the recommended vaccines when traveling to Ethiopia is the... more

Don't miss this excellent article about Ethiopian adoption.

Also be sure to check out this project www.change4orphans.com begun as a bat mitzvah project of a 12 year old girl named Leah who is interested in helping out Ethiopian orphans. Now that's my kind of kid! I am currently on my second reading of "There is No Me Without You" and I have been almost in physical pain thinking of all the children in desperate need there right now.

And finally, here... more

The other hair products that I have tried in the last few weeks are from Blended Beauty. These products are petroleum-free and mineral-oil-free. The two products that I was able to try on my girls were the Satin Styles Detangler and the Light Down and Out Styles from the Blended Cutie child's line.

Both items have a nice mellow almond fragrance that is very pleasant. The Satin Style detangler seemed kind of watery to me, and it took a LOT to have any affect on my girls' thick hair. This might work well with a child with little less hair. But for detangling... more

I wanted to give you more feedback about the Carol's Daughter products now that I've had the chance to use them for awhile. The two products that I've used a fair bit are the Tui Hair Oil and the Tui Jojoba and Shea Butter Hair Sheen in a spray bottle.

I've reluctantly concluded that the two fragrances I've tried are just a little... more

I'd been planning to write about Black History month this weekend, but have been flattened by the flu. Thankfully I've got friends - friends who have already done a dynamite job with writing all about it. So I thought I'd point you to their sites and also add a recommendation of one book I've been reading.

First of all, Erin, our Transracial blogger, did a dynamite pair of posts on celebrating Black History Month with children. Part One & Part Two

Avery writes about an ... more

A gal born in Kenya whose blog I read (Twenty-Eight Celsius) shared this post which features a slide show of the braided hair styles she has created. If you're needing inspiration for different parts or ways to do corn rows, you'll love it. It took me forever to download via dial-up, but I consoled myself that the slowness of it gave me more time to study the various photos. Beautiful braids!!

One of the things I want to do with each of our adopted children is to take them on a homeland visit to see the country where they were born. We are hoping that we'll be able to do this when our kids are between the ages of 10 and 13 or so. Our Korean boys both turn nine this spring, and I've been thinking that maybe 2008 or 2009 would work for a trip back to see Korea.

How Old Should Kids Be?

Adoptive Families magazine had an excellent article on homeland visits recently and here is what... more

When you're working with curly hair, it is helpful to be able to identify just what kind of hair you're dealing with. Categories have been developed to give people general guidelines for dealing with the various types of hair. An even more detailed description of hair types can be found in the book Andre Talks Hair Type 1 is plain-jane straight hair, the kind people like me find deathly boring, and the kind many Black women would love to have. (Who knows why we can't just decide to like what we have?) Type one hair can be fine or coarse.

Type... more

I am working on a post about all the different types of Black hair, and how to tell what type your child has. But I keep getting waylaid by all these cool Black haircare websites. Wow, there's some interesting reading out there! I decided to do a few posts highlighting some of the most helpful websites out there. Today's feature is Motowngirl.

Motowngirl.com began as the personal diary of a gal who decided to go 'natural'. Years of chemical straightening had begun to thin her hair, and she was concerned about it. So she quit with the chemicals and began taking pictures of the growth of her hair. She's now had natural hair since 2001, and... more

Today in the mail I was thrilled to get some samples of Carol's Daughter hair products. I've heard quite a few people describe them as good, and am eager to try them myself. These hair products have no petroleum or mineral oil in them, both of which can build up and not be good for hair. I was sent three items to try out.

Khoret Amen Hair Oil This product smells strong and masculine to me. It almost reminds me of evergreen...or maybe it is... more