Peeking into a Real Foster/Adopt Family!

How many of these little creatures can one man with one wife handle? The answer is at least 4! Jim and I met a family last night that went from 0 to 4 kids in about a year. The kids are 3 and under! Two twin boys about to turn 2 years old, their older sister who is 3 and a brand new 2 month old baby, born to them, are thriving in this warm, simple and incredibly clean home.

Our agency, Arrow, put us in contact with this family so we could talk to them about what it's like to expand that quickly. It was remarkable how similar our circumstances are. They were also married about 3 years ago and met online just like us! After a miscarriage and trying to conceive for a long time, (just like us) they decided to get serious about fostering and adopting to grow their family. Their hearts lead them to local kids in the foster system. They got pregnant right after they accepted the two twin boys. When she was 8 months pregnant they got a call that the older sister needed to be adopted too. How could they say no? Easily! But they didn't. They felt that her life was worth the added inconvenience of having yet another toddler!

Is your mouth dropped open? Can you imagine? It's unreal.....but very real. We saw it! And it's beautiful! And they were organized and HAD NO PLASTIC TOYS! And the kids were well behaved and while we know they aren't always on their best behavior, life is pretty sweet as they watch these kids blossom and come alive!

Wait, back up. No plastic toys? Yep. Simple, beautiful wooden push toys were neatly placed in a basket. The backyard contained two red tricycles, a sandbox with two metal dump trucks, 4 chickens, a compost pile and a beautiful garden. I have no idea how they keep those kids entertained all day with out an exersaucer, jump-n-go, doll house and other plastic crap piled in every corner. I was so jealous! I wanted to come home and put all Caton's toys in the garage and see if I could keep her happy with just a few wooden toys, as I had originally intended to do. But then I remembered who I am.....(and why that didn't work out in the first place). And while these people had some almost creepy similarities in circumstances to us, they were NOT us. But I hope God can make us more like them.....and I suspect that the process of raising traumatized kids will mould us into something much closer to this gentle, loving and focused family!

PROGRESS UPDATE: This week we are taking one more class, getting fingerprinted (which I did this morning!), taking an online medical consent training course, getting our fire inspection (got health inspection last week!) and have to get our TB tests. From there we will lack one class that we are hopeful we can take sometime this month (waiting for it to be scheduled) and then we do our home study!

FYI: The family we met last night, got certified and two weeks later got a call for two little girls. While they were at the store buying baby girl stuff, the agency called back and said a grandmother had been found who would take them instead. It was two weeks after that when the call came in for the twin boys. That's how fast it can happen! WOW.