Author Archives: Ellen Cabot

About Ellen Cabot

Ellen is a wife and mother of three in the Tampabay area. She has been married for 15 years, and she and her husband are in the process of trying to adopt children from the foster care system. Ellen grew up believing that family is the most important thing, and that your family members are the only people who will always be there for you no matter what. Upon learning that there are children in the foster care system who never find a home simply because they are above the age of 7, she and her family decided that they wanted to provide at least one girl (maybe more!) in foster care with a warm and loving home and a family to call her own forever. Besides adoption, Ellen is passionate about (almost obsessed with) religion, and she enjoys spending time with her family, watching movies, and reading. She is excited to have the opportunity to blog about the adoption process for the community at Families.com!

Furnishing on a Budget

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We have always struggled with finding the cash to furnish our home. My husband and I don’t use credit cards, for various reasons, and furniture tends to be quite expensive! It can be difficult to come up with the cash up front for such large purchases. Some ways we have managed to furnish in the past include garage sales, estate sales, hand-me-downs from family and friends, newspaper ads, Craigslist… these are all commonly used, and commonly known and understood, ways of obtaining furniture at an affordable price. And you can get by fine using these options most of the time. … Continue reading →

An Introduction & Some Salsa Chicken!

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Hi there! I’m new to the food blog, so I thought I would take a moment to say hello! I am not a chef. I am only just now learning how to cook, actually. But I have recently embarked on a quest… a quest to find a healthier way to live, and to eat. Being a wife and a mother, I am naturally concerned with the way my family eats. After years of eating low cost, processed foods, I have recently started to learn more about the importance of eating more natural foods. Of course I always knew that eating … Continue reading →

The Adoption Process – Part I – Orientation & MAPP Classes

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How is the adoption going? Have you heard anything yet? Have you met the child you are going to adopt? How long does it take? So many people ask us these questions, so I thought it would be good to lay it all out here. This is not a quick and easy process; it takes a lot of time and a lot of work. Please keep in mind, also, that this process is actually quicker and easier for people who want to adopt older children, like us! This is an overview of the adoption process in our area, as we … Continue reading →

16 & Pregnant

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Teen pregnancy is a pretty serious topic, and it’s one that many parents have a hard time discussing with their children. As hard as it might be to bring up the subject, it must be done. However, how do you know your teen is listening to you? How do you talk to them in a way they will not only understand, but in a way that will really get through to them, that will really help them take to heart the realities of this issue? Let’s face it, teenagers think they know everything. They think they are invincible, they think … Continue reading →

Yes, they check everything!

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I found out today that I forgot to take the pets to the vet and forward their records to the adoption recruiter. She emailed me today asking for it. Oops! I try and stay on top of these things, and when it came to filling out all the paperwork, signing all of the consents, finding friends and family who would fill out references for us, mailing the reference forms out, turning in employment references… Man! I was Johnny on the spot! Then we turned in everything except the animal’s vaccination records, because they were due for shots soon anyway, and … Continue reading →

Normal childhood behavior? Or *adopted* child behavior…

So, I’m at the support group, and I’m listening to all of the stories, and the whole time I’m thinking… “My daughter has done that”, “Yep, my daughter has done that too”, “Oh, my other daughter pulled that one…”, and I find myself wondering… Are these stories really indicative of an *adopted* child? Are these behaviors really characteristic of traumatized children? Because my children have done that… and that… and that… and that. These are my biological children I am referring to. I love my children, and I am not saying that they have been all that terrible. Everything they … Continue reading →

Being true to who I am?

I have found myself in a situation, one which has potential to affect the adoption proceedings, and I haven’t a clue what to do. Unfortunately, I am going to have to be very vague here. This situation requires it. I might have to do something to help another member of my family. Normally I wouldn’t even hesitate to help out a member of my family… However, what may need to be done will affect our home study. It would likely result in our no longer being approved for the adoption. Since the idea of adopting itself was brought about by … Continue reading →

More of this, please…

One of our biggest questions that we ask in regards to older children in the system, one of the questions that led us to this adoption journey in the first place, is what happens when those children become adults? Where do they end up? The simple but depressing answer is… on the streets. According to statistics, 80% of homeless youth in this country are foster children who aged out. There is another answer, though… in jail. With no home to call their own, and no family to turn to, I guess we shouldn’t be surprised. Released from the system to … Continue reading →

Lessons I haven’t yet learned myself

Something happened tonight that has prompted me to consider a lot of unexpected thoughts and questions. I recently met someone through a website… a friend, a workout buddy. We meet a couple times a week and walk together, and recently she actually invited me out for a night with some of her other friends. I was so happy to feel like there was a possibility for this relationship to develop into something more than just someone I go walking with; I was thrilled to discover that it might have potential to turn into a real friendship. I don’t have a … Continue reading →

The Support Group

We found the support group for our area. I think I mentioned that already. We love it! At least I love it… I’m not sure how Tom feels about it. He had to miss the second meeting because he had to work, but he went to the first one with me. He didn’t seem to feel strongly about it one way or the other. Maybe it’ll grow on him. Maybe it won’t. We’ll see. The group has given us the chance to get to know a little about our post-adoption support coordinator, she coordinates the meetings. So she is there … Continue reading →