Love is meeting your sister and screaming. Love is meeting your brother and trying to escape from the screaming.

Almost one year ago, Nicholas and the Munchkin met. J, D, the Munchkin and JD came out for New Year's Eve to celebrate with us. Nicholas was just over one month old. The Munchkin wasn't really sure what to think of him but she did do a double take when she saw two babies in the same room when she assumed that there would only be one. I can still picture her face; it was priceless.

This picture isn't exactly one you'd find... more

Love is smooshing your brother's face out of the picture and smiling about it.

The Munchkin and I were taking pictures together and Nick crawled up on my lap to be a part of the laughter. I told the Munchkin that we were going to take one with Nicholas and she quickly smooshed her finger-nail painted hand over his face. The result is amusing at the very least.

Of course, then she apologized. After Nick started fussing as if to say, "What the heck? I just came to play!"

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Love is making faces together. Love is laughing about it. Love is time spent, silly as you want.

To fully understand this picture you must understand one thing: My Husband loves his Coccoa Wheats on a cold morning. In fact, he also likes them for lunch. Dinner. An evening snack. And even in the summer. He just loves Coccoa Wheats.

He doesn't share food well, either. If I were to ask him for a bite of his warm, chocolatey cereal, he would laugh at me. And, you must understand, he loves me a lot. He even got out of bed last night after we were warm and snuggly to get me a drink of water. But some foods, Coccoa Wheats included, are off limits.

That's... more

Love is getting a kiss from your older sister after you've opened all of your birthday presents. And right before she steals the ball you're playing with and makes you cry.

Love is beautiful. More importantly, love is real.

Love is peaceful, quiet hues in pinks and reds. Love is cuddling together. Love is being comfortable enough with one another to be this close. Love is laughing about the silly faces we make in the camera. Love is dimples. Love is big, dark brown eyes. Love is ringlets. Love is... just us.

For this love of ours, I am thankful. For her, for everything she is, I am thankful.

Happy Thanksgiving! Happy Love Thursday!

There's nothing more fun that a bunch of kids in a "Tubby Bath" as the Munchkin calls bath time. Surprisingly, this event went rather well in spite of the fact that both of the boys are reveling in their newfound abilities to stand up, even in the bathtub and everything ended with screaming. Well, the boys were screaming. Munchkin was playing with the Tree Frog and behaving like a super kid.

This was after an eventful morning with the boys as well. Nicholas... more

Let's take it back Old School!

This picture symbolizes a lot of "stuff" in our adoption. Yes, it's me, D and the Munchkin. But it's two Moms, together. It's a crazy, wriggly Munchkin, smiling and comfortable between the two of us. It's J & D stepping outside of comfort zones they were told to keep and welcoming me into their home and lives. It's me, stepping out of the advice that I should move on and forget, and embracing my role as a birth mother. It's all of us, coming together, for the kiddo in the middle of the shot.

It's also... more

Last night I had a treat waiting for me on the kitchen table. It was a postcard on top of the stack of our mail for the day. As I picked up the postcard, I noticed a Hawaiian scene on the front and then began reading the back of the card. As I was reading, I glanced down at the bottom of the postcard to see who it was from. But,I could not see the signature.

The post office had placed a long strip all the way across the bottom of the card covering up the signature. Shame on them! The only mail that the post office ever seems to mess with is... more

It's hard for me to ask to spend alone time with the Munchkin while we are visiting. I get anxious. I get sweaty palms. I feel as though I don't have a right to such a time with her and am always reassured by J & D that I do have a right to such time. And so, on our summer vacation together, I asked if the Munchkin and I could take a walk on the beach together. Once I had permission and the Munchkin said that she did, in fact, want to go for a walk with me, we headed out the door and down to the beach.

This picture means a lot to me. I let... more