Ryan and Matt are trying to adopt a child. This site will be used to post updates, provide information for fundraising events, and an opportunity to assist in building their family.
As many of you know, I am a mental health therapist. I have worked with the homeless, those struggling with substance abuse, severe mental illness such as schizophrenia, trauma, and many other populations and diagnoses. But one of my favorite groups of people to work with my teenagers. I live for their blunt honesty. I... Continue Reading →
No-Drama Discipline Workbook by Siegel and Bryson I love the accessibility of this book. It is easy to ready and fosters parental insight without any shaming, but rather coaching and encouragement. Unlike The Whole-Brained Child Workbook, these skills seem to apply not only with elementary school children, but children across all age groups (no... Continue Reading →
The Whole-Brain Child Workbook by Siegel and Bryson This book a wonderful workbook for parents who have read The Whole-Brained child, has some base understanding of the concepts, but maybe lacking in confidence regarding application. One of my larger critiques of that book was a lack of parent support and focus on what the... Continue Reading →
No-Drama Discipline by Daniel J. Siegel, M.D. and Tina Payne Bryson, Ph. D I have to say, I really enjoyed this book A lot of the information is similar to that of their previous book (The Whole-Brain Child- see other review on this site), but in this one, the information seems to be organized in... Continue Reading →
June is Pride month. Throughout the month, I reflected on what Pride means to me. As you may have read in previous blog posts, I was a born-again, evangelical Christian attending a Puritan Christian school between two cornfields when I realized that I wasn’t straight. When I would reach out to others for support, I... Continue Reading →
We would like to thank Brooke's mother, Nancy, for answering our rather extensive interview questions. We would also like to thank Brooke for utilizing her interviewer skills. The video was too long to easily upload onto this site, so it was broken down into four separate parts. Additionally, a list of interview questions can be... Continue Reading →
The Journey of the Adopted Self: A Quest for Wholeness By Betty Jean Lifton This book is a must read for adoptive parents and adoptees, especially if they have chosen to go the route of a closed or international adoption. The book starts out with a description of a closed adoption and the feelings associated... Continue Reading →
Mother’s Day. When I think of the stereotypical American Mother’s Day, thoughts of cards, flowers, chocolates, brunches, and mimosas come to mind. It is considered to be a happy occasion. Almost like a special Valentine’s Day dedicated to the woman who birthed you. And why shouldn’t we recognize and celebrate her? Mother’s sacrifice A LOT!... Continue Reading →
Confessions of an Adoptive Parent By Mike Berry I have to confess that I am struggling to write this review. Let’s start off with the critique: I surprised by how much God, Jesus, and the Bible were referenced throughout the book. (this is 100% my fault, I must admit. I bought the book via an... Continue Reading →
Easter is always interesting in our home. Matt’s family lives in Latrobe, PA, which is several hours away, and more of my family lives in Colorado. This makes engaging in our typical Easter family traditions a bit difficult. However, about five years ago, we had an idea. We decided that since we weren’t able to... Continue Reading →
It Takes a Village 