- California -
We are a two-mom, one-kid interracial family living in the San Francisco Bay Area. Remy (long purple hair) and Lina (short black hair) adopted Elena (the short one) in 2019. Now we are hoping to find a match for a sibling! A second child would join a stable, loving family with lots of time and attention. Please contact us!
Remy is 38 and has Filipina, Irish, and Dutch heritage; she grew up in the SF Bay Area with her parents and younger sister. Her hair is usually some shade of purple and may also have glitter in it. Remy loves to be silly but also can get things done! Life is not complete without a checklist. She reads aloud (to Elena and at her library job) in English and Spanish with ALL the voices, and makes up songs frequently. Remy and Elena take long evening walks and say hi to the neighbors (especially cats). Her claim to momentary fame was appearing on Jeopardy! with Alex Trebek. She really likes folding cloth diaper laundry and finding secondhand baby clothes. Elena calls her "Mama".
Lina (short for Adelina) is 38 and was raised in a Mexican family (mom, dad, brother, sister) who live in Southern California. Lina uses her skills as a labor organizer to represent her library colleagues with our union (Remy is a librarian; Lina is a library aide for the same system). She works part-time and is home with Elena most of the week. Together they visit parks, run errands, and ride bikes. Lina often has a bunch of projects to juggle, and as long as she has enough coffee she's ready to go all day! Some things she loves about parenting: introducing Elena to the ocean, playing hide-and-seek, picking blackberries. Elena's name for her is "Adi".
This must be a time of difficult choices for you. While we may not know exactly what you’re going through now, or where you’ve come from, we offer you our best wishes. We have also had to make tough decisions about our future, and we wish for you what helped us through them: strong will, clear planning, support from loved ones, rest, grace, and understanding.
We waited a long time to be parents, and we’re therefore very engaged in Elena’s day-to-day life. She’s with one or both of us nearly all of the time. We talk to her a lot — encouragement, helping her work through problems, or making up silly songs and stories. We’re affectionate. Lots of hugs! We spend a fair amount of time climbing trees and crawling around on the floor. We’re a little crunchy (cloth diapers, baby wearing), but we believe in science (vaccination, car seat safety) and do what works for our family. We’re raising Elena to make her own decisions and stand by them, to be a positive force in the world, and to feel secure and loved.
Our Oakland home is smallish and often messy — ready for a season of children. Lina says it’s painted like yellow cake with chocolate frosting. We’ve been enjoying building up the garden beds and spending time with growing plants (including tomatoes, beans, peas, squash, carrots, strawberries, lemons, nasturtiums, sunflowers, and more). Elena loves her light blue “schoolroom” where she builds and imagines and paints, as well as dancing (or “skating” in socks) in her soft green bedroom. It’s not far to the playground or several library branches, to the supermercado, or to the taco joint on a Sunday morning.
We’re a cat family currently without cats (Cubba died in 2019 and Gus and Olivia in 2022), but we hope to have more after we bring home a second child. Their collars are on our ofrenda, and they are well-remembered. While they were with us, Elena learned important lessons about being gentle, giving space, and getting kitty cuddles.
