Elle- One Month

Sorry, this is posted late. I have been working on it, got busy and was finally able to finish it.

Wow, can you believe it has already been a month? I can't. I know it may sound funny, but sometimes I forget I didn't actually give birth to Elle! She is my daughter.... She is so attached to me already. She doesn't want to let mommy out of her sight! I feel very blessed to be Elle's mommy. Over the past month we have had some odd questions, looks, and comments made to us about Elle's race. We feel our social worker did a great job preparing us for what could happen and be said. I will say, nobody has said anything negative to us. The main thing we have noticed is people are curious, want to ask questions, but not sure what verbiage to use. After a while, you get to know "the look" so I will usually just say something funny to break the ice and then answer any questions very simple.

Over the past month, I have had a lot of time to think, yes believe it or not, with 5 kids, I have had time to think. Thank goodness for school, preschool and the lock on my bathroom... just joking. I have thought about the racism that still exists, but thankful that our society has become more educated, less closed minded and less afraid to step out of their comfort zone. If you would have asked me 5 years ago if I would consider adopting an African American child, I would have said NO. If somebody would have asked me why, I would not have been able to give them an answer other than because. Today, as I sit here, looking at the most beautiful little girl, I can't imagine holding any other child but Elle. God created Adam and Eve and we all came from those two people so how can anyone say that a black child or a white child should be with people that look just like them. We are all one big family and we are here to take care of one another no matter if we look different or not. It is about the love of a child and a parent. If you look into Elle's eyes and see how she looks at me, her mommy, you would never know that I am not biologically her parent. I am her mommy because I love her and take care of her. I rock her to sleep every night (well, most nights) and I am there when she wakes in the morning. I comfort her when she cries and I feed her when she is hungry. A parent is not defined on how much our children look like us, it is defined by being there from day one (or day two) of their lives and everyday after that for the rest of our lives. There is no love greater than that of a parent and a child. God loves us as his children and does not look down at us and say "Well, I don't like the way that child looks so I am not going to love him/her." He looks down and says "Those are my children and I love them all the same" so who are we to look at any child and not love them or want to be their parent because their skin may be a different shade than ours. God made man in his own "image" and when he says image I don't think he is talking about skin color. He sees us all the same and that is how we should see each other.

So, for all the parent's and parent's to be, I encourage you to educate your kids and teach your kids to ask questions and most importantly, tell your kids it is OK to be different. Different doesn't mean bad or mean. Different is good and can lead to some great conversions with your family. Knowledge is power. If you don't acknowledge and talk about differences with your children, you are taking away the opportunity to have a lot of great, healthy conversations.

OK, I have tortured you long enough, enough typing... here are a few pictures of Elle.

ELLE- 2 Weeks Old

ELLE- One Month