Mother's Day

Mother's Day for me has always been super special.  Having adopted children we celebrate everything.  We celebrate their adoption days as well as their birthdays and I tell them the stories of how they came to us every Mother's Day.  Adrianna was old enough to have memories of her own from before she came to us.  I know that those memories can be confusing for her at times.  I have always strived to be honest with my kiddos about their birth families.  I have saved every bit of information that I have ever received regarding their birth families and the circumstances surrounding their adoptions.  Every picture and memento, every piece of paper and letter and if you know anything about Foster Care, they don't come with much at all.  They usually don't have toys or clothes or any of the basics that most kids have, much less baby pictures or good memories.

I made a treasure box for each of them which houses all these things along with letters that I write to them every year on the anniversary of their adoptions and put in the treasure box.  I know that someday I will get questions about where they came from.  Adrianna has always expressed the she sees herself as different from the rest of us because she is half Mexican.  I want her to know about her heritage and to be secure in who she is.  I want her to know how much I love her and that I would do anything in the World to see her smile. 

One day we will sit down together and go through the boxes when they are old enough to have a better understanding of the difficult situations that they came from. I have never given birth so I truly cannot compare having adopted children to having birth children.  My heart tells me that it's not that different.  I have been told that it is hard to love other people's kids. People have asked questions about what it's like to adopt.  Unfortunately most of the time when one of those questions are asked it is generally unkind in the way it is presented.  Not intentionally, but people see them as "Not my real kids".  Well, I can tell you they certainly are my real kids and I am a real mom, JD is a real dad, and this is a real family.  We fight and love just like other families.    It constantly amazes me when things like that are said, and I do not respond to it well.  The love that I have for my children is the love of a mother, not having the same DNA does not matter to my heart.

I have been waiting to get the bikes out.  My family gave me flowers first thing in the morning and my husband got out the bikes, cleaned them up made sure they were ready to go.  Yay!!! I love these days!!! Homemade breakfast burritos, fresh fruit, trail mix, and juice packed in the backpack and we went for a two hour bike ride.  It was a beautiful day.  My son proposed to me, my daughter hugged me so tight she took my breath away.  It really was exactly what I wanted for Mother's Day! 

I have been very blessed and I am so thankful for the life I live.  My journey is as much about the inside as it about the outside.  This day my heart is overflowing!

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