Love makes you a parent; not biology.

(first, you must know that I am currently in bed with two boys.  two young, sweet, sleeping boys who are making my heart melt and get all musha every time I look over at them.  this is one of my happiest moments today).

I want to adopt.  I think, deep down, my family will feel complete with one more child.  I always said that I really wanted three, and right now, we do sort of have three kids that we're caring for, but I think I need one more baby to raise.  Sometimes, when I look at E, I think I have to have another child, one more that will have my cowlick and blue eyes, with Jason's grin and sparkle.  But other times, I feel this sense of... something like responsibility to love a child that has come from someone else's genetics. Being a stepmom has been an incredible experience and has taught me that loving a child and being a parent isn't all about genetics.  Sure,  it's an amazing thing to look at a child and see parts of yourself shine through, things that are just innate.  But H., my stepson, is like me in so many ways, too and we are bonded just as deeply.  And so I feel like I know I can love another child as my own, even if they don't have 23 chromosomes from me, or from my husband.  I feel like it would be a nice way to round out our family-- everyone would have a different biological set of parents, but we'd still make one family.