Don't Ever Want To Forget

Valentines Day will always mean just a bit more, at least for our little family. It was on Valentines Day of 2007 that our little tiny, barley 8 pound Hannah was admitted to the hospital. It was the beginning of nine scary days that would change me! Something about watching your baby fight to breath every breath, lose all color in her skin and get so sick and exaughisted that she no longer had the strength to suck on a bottle, that changes you on the inside. Watching her room fill with doctors and watching her oxygen levels dip lower and lower. Seeing them pack her up and strap her to a back board and load her into a helicopter and seeing it fly away. Taking the LONG drive late in the night to get to where they had taken her. Calling ahead and hearing that she was crying. Not knowing what the next day would bring and praying desperately that her little tiny body and lungs would just hold on long enough for the treatments to work. These things are not easy to remember, but I don't EVER want to forget! It reminds me to not take what I have for granted. To remember just how far she has come and just how blessed we are to have her! She is a spunky determined little girl and she had to learn at 6 weeks of age to fight for her life! I am so thankful God has let us keep her here with us! And remembering her time in the hospital, helps me to be thankful for every little minute I have with my family!

It's for REALS and not for FAKES

It happened. For the first time since adopting my kiddos someone straight out asked me, after finding out my children were adopted, if I had any "real kids". I was speechless. I bit my tongue, wanting to say "um no I only have "fake kids". (You know using the quotation hand gestures and smothering my voice with sarcasm.) I have come to the conclusion that comments like that are out of ignorance. This person was super nice and I knew there was no malice behind the question. And so I stated back to them " They are my real kids, and no I do not have biological children".

Sometimes it is hard to feel the "difference" adoption can create. The feeling of "proving" my position as "mom". I am thankful that my children were not there to hear it. I am not sure how I would have reacted if they were there and heard that question. (Trying to contain the mama bear in me can be difficult at times.)

Everything about them being my children is REAL. Everything about me being their mom is REAL! The sleepless nights are real! The countless diapers and bottles were real. The noses wiped, the teeth brushed the snacks and meals and milk served are real. The boo boos are real, the endless singing of the ABC's is real. Their hearts and minds and bodies are real. Our relationships are real. Our family is REAL!

And they are REALLY REALLY REALLY my children.

AND I REALLY LOVE THEM! REALLY!