Mama Leap with her little mini-me, Jane. These two look sooooo much alike, and as I learn Janey’s personality, I realize they ACT alike, too. They’re both tender souls who want nothing as much as affection from the Humans.

And I’ve been trying to figure out why it means even MORE to me that Janey and Leap aren’t biologically related. As a mother of children who came to me by way of adoption and biology, I couldn’t care less which of my babies look like me. I ADORE that our family is a mix and mash of skin tone and personalities, talents and quirks, preferences and pet peeves. We’re the most wonderful weirdos I know. Heavy on the wonderful, and EXTRA on the weird.

But I think I finally figured it out. Why it makes my heart swell seeing Leap and Janey together. These two are a visual representation of the Reality of Adoption. They’re an outward symbol of an inner truth. Because while adoption comes with its own challenges—honoring a birth family, processing the bittersweet of love and loss, grieving what once was while celebrating what is—adoption is a connection of hearts. It’s love made manifest. It’s recognizing to the bone—to the soul—that we reflect each other. We are, at the core, the same. Wild and worthy. Gritty and graceful. And the choice to become one family is a sacred a sacrament as I know.

Quency’s been feeling a little blerg-y. To put it as delicately as this little one’s bones, he has the poops. He’s so fluffy, it’s hard to tell his weight has dipped—and that’s why we weigh them every day. He’s on a round of antibiotics and is getting extra food, so he should be on the mend quickly. Someone forgot to tell him he’s under the weather, though—he’s as playful and perky as ever. Fingers crossed that that “oomph” translates into grams added to his light frame.

Photo credit: Mike McConaughey (who agrees Quency is STUNNING)