Thirty-four years ago, we wanted to buy a dog. We had said we would wait until our new son; Matt was a year old and walking so the time had come. We had taken Matt to the “Nut Tree” which was a restaurant, gift shop, and a mini amusement park. While we were there, we fell in love with a dog we saw. We asked the owners “What kind of dog is that?” They responded that it was a Bouvier des Flandres. Our love of Bouviers started that day. Continue reading
We, as a culture, seem to be attracted to black and white opinions. We see things as good or bad, flower or weed, Republican or Democrat, yum or yuck, right or wrong.
As a parent it’s easy to be labeled as either the “go-to” parent or the “hard-ass”. Between Craig and I (generally speaking) I am the one who is more inclined to say “yes”.
But it really isn’t as simple as that… Continue reading
Craig swears that mom and I began planning for our baby girl when the airplane tires hit the tarmac when we returned home from adopting our boys from Russia.
He was right.
I can’t remember a time that I didn’t think about “baby sister”. Our family just didn’t feel quite complete. Our boys were perfect, but there was still someone missing.
This story is on a hearsay basis. In other words, I wasn’t there, but have had this story told to me several times and I think it is pretty funny and is one of my favorites for this family. Continue reading
Have you ever seen a family member naked that you shouldn’t be seeing or didn’t want to be seeing? Well, our family has a habit of seeing the wrong people naked and at inopportune times. Over the years, there have been multiple instances of this. Continue reading
March 20006
It’s been over a month since I’ve talked to my oldest son. Texts, messages, and chats go unanswered. His dad’s birthday has come and gone. Crickets.
Life has rarely been easy parenting Luka. We adopted him from an orphanage in Russia when he was 32 months old. The only thing we knew about his birth mother was that she was a registered alcoholic. He was a loving and sweet boy.
One of his elementary teachers noted about him, that although school was hard for him, he was the most determined and hard-working kid in her class. She was sure that that tenacity would pay off for him in the future. Continue reading
Looking back at some real changes in my life would certainly include the birth of my two daughters. I am going to focus on the birth of my second child, who I teasingly call my #1 #2. (Get it – she’s my favorite 2nd child) See I try to make everything even outlining the importance of their being. Continue reading
It was 2013 and I had been living as a single person for almost 5 years. Sam, our beautiful family black lab, had recently passed due to a horrible but thankfully quick struggle with throat cancer. I decided it was time to get another dog and this time, she was going to be mine. It was the first time I had been able to make a decision like this on my own. Continue reading
As an adoptive parent, I only occasionally think about how my kids are like and unlike me. I do see stories frequently about adoptees getting together with birth parents. They recognize all kinds of connections that they’ve never had before. Now they see someone else who loves golf as they do. Or they see where they got their long legs with knobby knees. Or they finally found someone else in the world who pukes at the taste of dark chocolate. Continue reading
I was 18 years old and sitting at Mom’s vanity doing my makeup. Mom came up behind me and put her hands on my shoulders. I looked from my face to hers and back to mine again and I started to cry a little. I said, “Oh My God… I DO look like you!” Boy, I sure know how to make someone feel like a million bucks! That’s just one way that I’m like my mom. Continue reading
