[sending her to a school in uniform makes life easy, but i love the dress-up/dress-down/civilian-clothes days. today was school picture day, so emma indulged me in celebrating some of my favorite things: twirly dresses, polka dots, and pretty little ribbons.]

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you know that thing, when you meet a true friend and you just feel like you’ve known them forever? you have such a special connection and you immediately drop your guard and talk-talk-talk, and you really look forward to seeing them, and getting to know their story, and you are just so truly happy to have them in your life? that thing where you wonder how you went so many happy years without this wonderful friend in your life, and you look forward to knowing them forever, hopefully wheeling through disneyworld and zipping through the retirement village on your motorized scooters together someday?

yeah, i love that.

i’m a big believer in creating your tribe. i love my family -love them – but part of the beauty of our family is that we don’t limit our definition to “the dna-relatives”. we choose and we connect and we honor those who have come into our lives in such a special way. we know who really matters and we know who really cares. we don’t waste time on the little dramas, but we’d do anything to help and support and celebrate the people that have come into our tribe, our little family. and we’re grateful for them every day.

this subject has been on my mind so much lately. as we make physical room in our lives for the new family addition, we look around us and see all the treasured people that are part of this big picture. this process of creating a family is exciting and it’s humbling. it’s raw and honest and selective and more than a little vulnerable sometimes.

thank you, my friends/family. i love you, always.
xoxo