LIFESTYLEWILLIAMSPORT SUN-GAZETTE

Sunday, November 4, 2007 EAnnouncements,Pages E-4 and 5

Lacy Phillipsbecomes brideof Adam Wilson

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Top booksBy PUBLISHERS WEEKLY

Hardcover fiction‘‘Playing for Pizza’’ by John Gr-

isham (Doubleday)

‘‘The Almost Moon’’ by AliceSebold (Little, Brown)

‘‘World Without End’’ by KenFollett (Dutton)

‘‘A Thousand Splendid Suns’’by Khaled Hosseini (RiverheadHardcover)

‘‘The Choice’’ by NicholasSparks (Grand Central Publishing)

‘‘Dark of the Moon’’ by JohnSandford (Putnam Adult)

‘‘You’ve Been Warned’’ byJames Patterson, HowardRoughan (Little, Brown)

‘‘Pandora’s Daughter’’ by IrisJohansen (St. Martin’s Press)

‘‘Bloodfever’’ by Karen MarieMoning (Delacorte)

‘‘Bridge of Sighs’’ by RichardRusso (Knopf)

Nonfiction-general‘‘Become a Better You: 7 Keys

to Improving Your Life Every Day’’by Joel Osteen (Free Press)

‘‘I Am America (And So CanYou!)’’ by Stephen Colbert (GrandCentral Publishing)

‘‘Deceptively Delicious’’ by Jes-sica Seinfeld (HarperCollins)

‘‘Clapton: The Autobiography’’by Eric Clapton (Broadway)

‘‘Come On People: On thePath from Victims to Victors’’ byBill Cosby, Alvin F. Poussaint(Thomas Nelson)

‘‘The Age of Turbulence: Ad-ventures in a New World’’ by AlanGreenspan (The Penguin Press)

‘‘The Secret’’ by Rhonda Byrne(Atria Books/Beyond Words)

“My Grandfather’s Son’’ byClarence Thomas (HarperCollins)

‘‘The Intellectual Devotional:American History’’ by Noah D.Oppenheim, David S. Kidder(Modern Times/Rodale)

‘‘The Nine’’ by Jeffrey Toobin(Doubleday)

Trade paperbacks‘‘Eat, Pray, Love: One

Woman’s Search for EverythingAcross Italy, India and Indonesia’’by Elizabeth Gilbert (Penguin)

‘‘Love in the Time of Cholera’’byGabriel Garcia Marquez (Vintage)

‘‘Water for Elephants’’ by SaraGruen (Algonquin)

‘‘The Wisdom of Menopause:Creating Physical and EmotionalHealth and Healing During theChange’’ by Christiane Northrup(Bantam)

‘‘Into the Wild’’ by JohnKrakauer (Anchor)

‘‘The Kite Runner’’ by KhaledHosseini (Riverhead)

“Skinny B——’’ by Rory Freed-man and Kim Barnouin (RunningPress)

‘‘90 Minutes in Heaven: A TrueStory of Death and Life’’ by DonPiper with Cecil Murphey (Revell)

‘‘The Memory Keeper’s Daugh-ter’’ by Kim Edwards (Penguin)

‘‘Three Cups of Tea: One Man’sMission to Promote Peace ... OneSchool at a Time’’ by Greg Morten-son and David Oliver Relin (Penguin)

Clever items make ‘hard parts’ easier

INSIDE THIS WEEK

Victorian Christmas set Nov. 17 in cityNext week’s cover story

READiscover . . . . Page E-2Crossword . . . . . . Page E-7Dr. Lori . . . . . . . . . Page E-5Support groups . . Page E-9

Page E-2

Page E-2

Recyclingpickups

Page E-2

Classic Ann Landers

Teethifier by Kidgear Inc.What it is: Michael Greenberg said he

knew he needed to do something when his2-year-old son began getting his rear mo-lars.

After searching the shelves at the su-perstores in the California town in whichhe resides, he decided to try his hand witha pencil and paper. His invention, he said,combines the protective shield of a pacifierwith a “Y”- shaped teether end that com-fortable reaches and soothes sore gums.

“Twenty teeth appear in a typical in-fant’s development and current teetherscan only reach the front teeth,” he said. “Iinvented the Teethifier to reach and mas-sage the other 12 teeth, including the dif-ficult-to-access rear molars.”

What I thought: I enjoyed the conceptof this product, however, it just didn’t workin my daughter’s situation. While the“binkie” style of the Teethifier is appealingto infants and helps them recognize it asan oral item and not a toy, it was just thatfeature that blew it in my house.

We made it a goal for my daughter to“kick the bink” by her second birthday. Wewere given a hint that worked like acharm. By cutting the tip of the binkie off(the part the child sucks on), there is nouse for it anymore. We tried it (but kept aback-up, of course) and, although she triedto get what was left of it in between herteeth, she eventually threw the binkieaway. What a moment of pride we all felt!

She wasn’t bothered by molars until

By GREG HAYESghayes@sungazette.com

AAdoption is a familiar wordamong millions of Ameri-cans. It is something weare faced with on thenews, late-night sponsor-ship programs and within

the Hollywood framework of celebrities,who are adopting their children from allover the globe.

Each year, November is recognized asNational Adoption Awareness Month.While many who adopt aren’t granted na-tional or notorious attention for doing so, itis a process that can change a family’s life— particularly in the case of local coupleWayne Palmer and Dr. Pamela Herring-ton, who adopted their daughter, AmandaAilei Palmer, now 3 1/2, from China onMay 9, 2005.

There are many reasons for couples toconsider adopting, and from which agegroup a couple may feel inclined to choosefrom. With all the paperwork and deci-sions, an agency is needed to step in to fillin the blanks.

“When a family contacts [FamiliesUnited Network] inquiring about adop-tion, we try to educate them about the pos-sibilities,” said Stephanie Hunt of theMount Joy Families United Network

(FUN) adoption agency, which has a localbranch in Muncy. “If the family feels theywould ultimately prefer to adopt an infantor young child, we help them explore ex-isting possibilities within our domesticand international adoption program.”

Palmer and Herrington wanted toadopt a child at an age in which theycould be involved in the early develop-ment of their child.

“We chose China because theyseemed to have the most expedit-ed and consistent process,” Her-rington said. “At the time ofadoption, the children from China areusually younger than through othercountries.”

When the process of adoption is com-plete, parental rights are permanentlytransferred to provide the adopter withthe full rights and responsibilities ofthe birth parent(s) — a process thatbegins not with the child but at homewith the adopting couple.

“We had to complete a home study,which is a thorough background checkof both parents by an official organiza-tion licensed to do so,” Palmer said.

The couple’s lives then became likean “open book.” Their financial, per-

There are many different products on the marketthat claim they will make life easier for parents. This“promise” is easier said than done.

Between diaper changes, feedings, crying infantsand exhausted parents, becoming a new mom canmake you ready to try just about anything.

I must say, many of these products really do meas-ure up. Try them for yourselves and let me know whatyou think! (See CLEVER, Page E-3)

Family recalls ‘Gotcha Day,’ whenthey adopted their daughter from China

PHOTOS COURTESY OF PALMER MULTIMEDIA IMAGINGIn the top photo, Wayne Palmer said this photo ofhis daughter, Amanda, and wife, Dr. Pamela Her-rington, is one of his favorites. Above, “Here’s ashot of what we think might be the first timeAmanda saw bubbles,” Palmer said. “It was onlya few days after we got her and kinda shows howmuch she came out of her shell.”

Wayne Palmer and Dr. Pamela Her-rington are members of a local group,Families with Children from China.

According to its Web site, Familieswith Children from China is a networkof parent support groups in the UnitedStates, Canada and the United King-dom with members who share the fol-lowing three goals: To support familieswho’ve adopted in China throughpost-adoption and Chinese cultureprograms; and to encourage adoptionfrom China and support waiting fami-lies; to advocate for and support chil-dren remaining in orphanages in Chi-na.

Locally, the chapter contact isBecky Hodrick-Shaible. The group

has many gatherings, including anannual “Welcome Home New Ba-bies Celebration,” a summer pic-

nic and a fall-winter event.

(See FAMILY, Page E-8)

sonal, criminal and healthhistories were carefully in-vestigated. Medical exams,fingerprinting and obtainingpassports all were a part ofthe system typically dubbedas the “paper pregnancy.”

“Families must be willingto provide extensive back-ground and documentationthat will enable the agency indetermining if they are quali-fied,” Hunt said.

In a seven-month timeframe following the clearanceof their paperwork in China,Palmer and Herrington wereassigned to the child theywould adopt. The child nor-mally is matched based onthe interests and looks of theadopting parents.

“Once we received the re-ferral, we had about sixweeks until we traveled toChina to meet our newdaughter,” Herrington said.“You are in the country forabout two weeks as you waitfor the adoption paperworkto process. On the fourth dayof our trip, we got Amanda.In the adoption process, thatday is referred to as ‘GotchaDay’.”

Palmer said that he andhis wife started the processin the summer of 2003.

“We figured Amanda wasprobably conceived about thesame time. Amanda was bornMarch 16, 2004,” he said,adding that she was 13months old when they gother on “Gotcha Day.”

“Adoptions are generally ahappy and exciting day forour children and families,”Hunt said. “In some cases,this may have been a long-awaited milestone!”

Palmer said there aremore requests for Chinesechildren than the govern-ment will allow, so China hastightened its requirements.

“They want younger par-ents, more financially secureparents, healthier parentsand two-parent homes,” hesaid. “China did allow single-parent adoptions but it ap-pears that has ended ... Chi-na only adopts out about7,000 children to the U.S. peryear but we understandthere may be as many as 1million orphans at any giventime. The one-child policy,which was set in effect tocontrol the population, isstarting to backfire.

“Boys are preferred formultiple reasons, one simplybeing the boy stays home andkeeps the parents in their oldage. This has already led to abig sex imbalance in boy-to-girl ratios and there will be ashortage of marriageablewomen in the years to come.”

For both Herrington andPalmer, the experience ofadoption left them with aninexpressible feeling of hap-piness and excitement some-how not reaching deepenough.

“We were amazed over thenext few days at how thischild with a blank look on‘Gotcha Day’ bloomed into alittle person, full of life, injust a few days,” Palmer said.“I don’t know if there are anywords that can describe thefeelings of finally becoming aparent after waiting twoyears. When she is finally inyour arms, the tears flow.Here is this little girl with ablank look wondering whoyou are and not understand-ing she now has two peopleto love her. Amanda bondedwith us very quickly and weknew we were blessed.”

For more photos and infor-mation about the family’sadoption experience, visitwww.palmermultimedia.com/China.

(From Page E-1)

Family recalls day when theyadopted daughter from China

For information about adopting,contact one of these agencies:

• Adopting.org — An extensive Web site offer-ing articles, information, statistics and resourcesavailable for those considering adoption to getstarted. Provides the history of adoption andcommentary from those who’ve adopted andhave been adopted. www.adopting.org.

• Adoption.com — Another broad Web siteproviding a variety of articles, resources, docu-ments and general information to those seekinginformation on the adoption process. www.adop-tion.com.

• Families United Network — Web site of thelocal agency that focuses on adoption, adoptionfrom foster care and becoming a foster parent.www.families4kids.org. Families United Net-work may be reached at PO Box 264, Muncy, PA17756, or by phone at 546-6777.

• America World Adoption Agency — Agencyused by Wayne Palmer and his wife, Dr. PamelaHerrington, to adopt their daughter. The Website highlights different regions of the worldfrom which a family can adopt a child.www.awaa.org.

Local agencies include:

• Eckels Adoption, 944 Vallamont Drive,Williamsport, 323-2520.

• Best Nest, 325 Market St., Williamsport, 321-9690.

• Hard Times, 460 Market St., Williamsport,601-3470.

NOVEMBER IS NATIONAL ADOPTION MONTH

National Adoption Day this year is Nov. 17

National Adoption Day, which is Nov. 17 this year,is a collective national effort to raise awareness ofthe 114,000 children in foster care waiting to findpermanent, lovingfamilies.

For the last eightyears, NationalAdoption Day hasmade the dreamsof thousands ofchildren come trueby working withcourts, judges, at-torneys, adoptionp r o f e s s i o n a l s ,child welfare agen-cies and advo-cates to finalizeadoptions and find permanent, loving homes forchildren in foster care.

National Adoption Day is celebrated every yearon the Saturday before Thanksgiving.

Source: www.nationaladoptionday.org/2007/index.asp

PHOTOS COURTESY OF PALMER MULTIMEDIA IMAGINGAbove, Wayne Palmer said this shot was taken in the hotel room in Philadelphia afterjust getting back to the states, a 24-hour trip. “We were all exhausted and fortunate-ly Amanda waited until then to get sick,” he said. “She had a 103 fever and had justdrifted off to sleep when I took this shot.”

LifestyleE-8 Williamsport Sun-Gazette, Sunday, November 4, 2007

In the top photo, Amandaposes during the recentMummers Day Parade inSouth Williamsport; and atabove, Palmer said he andhis wife only have abouttwo still images of the“Gotcha Day” shot. “Weshot mostly video and wetraveled light, as we didn’tknow what we were in for.”

Above, Amanda andGrandpa Palmer share Es-kimo kisses. “My dad wasalmost 90 when this shotwas taken; he just turned92,” Palmer said.