Welcome to our new family blog. I have decided to go public with our blog. Why? I feel like I can reach many more people with our blog if it's made public. It seemed that no one was reading our other blog so my target audience (adoptive and potential-adoptive parents) was totally being missed. There are things I'd like to talk about, vent about, and am looking for feedback on and I just can't do that with a private friends and family-only blog. To remain anonymous, my children will be referred to by nicknames only - El & Em. I will probably include pictures from time to time, but will try to keep our identities anonymous if at all possible. (Is that even possible in today's world?) The title of the blog incorporates their nicknames in a way that I feel describes my children so well - they truly are elements of joy in our lives!

I'm sure I will be discussing some pretty heavy topics here since we are a transracial adoptive family. Adoption and race as well as racism will be talked about a LOT. I will be talking about things from my real life - offensive things that friends, co-workers, and even relatives sometimes say. If you don't want to be the topic of a blog post, don't say something to offend me or my family! :) Anonymous comments will not be allowed and all comments will be screened before they are posted. If you make a comment that is rude, inappropriate, or offensive, it will not be posted.