¡Viva la Legos for Ladies Revolution!

This kind of thing drives me crazy... Why Barbie doll shoes for girls?!?! Why? Why not Legos? Who doesn't love Legos?!?

The messages being sent are as follows:

Hey boys, be creative. Build things. One day you might be an architect.

Hey girls, be pretty. Dress up in shoes that warp the shape of your feet and back. One day you might be pretty enough.

As a woman looking at raising children in the near-ish future, I've become very aware of the messages being sent to my future girls. Here's a message for girls everywhere: You deserve the f*ing Legos! You are capable. You are powerful. You are worthy of love. You can play with as many Barbies as you would like to, but just know that you don't need to wear heels or a dress to be beautiful. You were born beautiful. You were born with as much potential as anyone else. You are rad!

PS For the boys out there: All of the above applies to you too. :-)
¡Viva la Legos for ladies revolution!

Adoption

In cleaning up my blog (after a year or more of neglect), I found multiple drafts titled "Adoption" and decided that if it's been on my heart for this many years I should devote some time to actually finishing a post about adoption. 

My darling friend Amy, her husband Andrew, and their precious Masha were my inspiration for finally getting around to posting this today. I read their love story this morning in bed and cried sweet tears of joy. A heart replenished... a young girl who KNOWS that she is loved... a family that is blessed to participate in her life from this day forward... I cried knowing that love is a great thing and that it makes miracles possible. I cried longing to love my babies wherever they are.


When I met Chris I liked a lot of things about him... I loved a lot of things about him, but I clearly remember the moment when I knew that I loved his heart... when I knew that I could trust my heart in his hands. We were in the car talking about this, that, and the other. I started talking about a book I had started reading. The book is by NPR's Scott Simon and is his adoption story. I said, "I would love to adopt one day. Having my sisters in my life has been such a blessing and I can't imagine not adopting children."


Chris responded with, "I'd like to adopt but..."


I have heard that "but" a  hundred times before and I thought I knew what was coming next.


I'd like to adopt but... it's too expensive.


I'd like to adopt but... those kids have issues.


I'd like to adopt but... I don't know if I'd be able to love a child that didn't come from my loins.


I made a lot of assumptions in the millisecond that it took my future husband to finish his sentence and say exactly what my heart needed to hear. "I'd like to adopt but I'd rather adopt older children because it's harder for them to get placed in homes."


I'm sorry. What?!? You don't care about your loins being represented in this whole thing? You don't think it's only worth it to adopt if it's a baby and comes with no baggage? You just want to love the ones that need it?!?


I cried. I looked out the car window and tried to hide that I was crying. I was overwhelmed that I had found a man who shared my heart... a man who was ready for the crazy kind of love I wanted to share. I was sure that day, after only a few months of dating Chris, that he was the man that I wanted to walk beside for the rest of my life. He loves sweetly and with absolute devotion. I know that our future children will be blessed to call him Daddy.


We have some time ahead of us before we're ready to adopt... but we're moving that direction and making sacrifices now so that we can bring our kiddos home. So today as I read about Masha finally meeting her parents, I cried and thought of our kids and was overwhelmed with thankfulness. I am so very glad to have found my husband and we can't wait to find our kids wherever they may be.


"Do you want to do something beautiful for God? There is a person who needs you. This is your chance." - Mother Teresa

I’m only one. But still, I am one.

I cannot do everything, but still, I can do something.
And because I cannot do everything,
I will not refuse to do the something that I can do.
– Edward Everett Hale

Rico El Snoozador

I don't want to call Rico lazy... but he's basically the King of Snoozeville.

Happy Mother's Day!

Biology is the least of what makes someone a mother. ~Oprah Winfrey

A Freudian slip is when you say one thing but mean your mother. ~Author Unknown

Best Birthday Surprise!

I LOVE the Muppets! I especially adore Kermit the Frog. My lovely sister, Carmen, planned a The Muppets Movie surprise party for me. My birthday is Christmas Eve and I was so thankful to be celebrated. It means a lot that my dear ones set aside time during the busy holiday excitement to do something special with me. Thank you guys!

And a special thank you to Jason Segal for making The Muppets movie happen for me. I loved it!