Hi!!!
Hi Everyone!
My husband and I went from no kids to four kids in a years time. Our first placement was a sibling group of two and that would be the roughest time for us. It is truly amazing the feelings and emotions that you feel when you have the responsibility of little ones. Mine were 2 1/2 and 4 at the time, but the oldest had some serious issues with behavior due to her background of neglect, violence, and drugs/alcohol at birth.
I know there were nights and days when I would just wonder, "what the heck were we thinking when we said we could do this?" but all the while knowing in my heart that this miracle child had survived such tragedy and I could never truly understand the road she was lead down before us.
To take them to the grocery store and they ask for nothing, and when taken down the ice cream isle and asked what they would like the reply was, "What is this?" You could have walked through a toy store and their eyes would stare in astonishment but not once would they ever imagine any of it could ever be theirs.
Our life was turned upside down within a matter of minutes and everything is nothing like it used to be. While I miss the quiet times my husband and I shared before the girls I also remember the empty space in my heart where I ached and ached for a child to fill it. I don't think I was really looking for a child that was so needy and dependant or one who would have such emotional turmoil, but we learned that in its own way, we are filling that void for eachother and while we provide the love and stability our daughters need, they give us the joy, the laughter (and sometimes the heartache) that we need as well.
Nine months later we took a 3 month old baby boy as a foster child and adopted him six months after that. And five months after getting our baby boy we got a surprise call that the girls biological mom had given birth to a baby boy and did we want him. So our sibling group of two grew to three in just over a year.
We adopted our girls in December of last year, but the baby is still in foster care. He is almost 20 months old, and they are supposed to be going for Permanent Custody, but the system and biological parents working the system has dragged it out for some time now. We just went to court last week and mom didn't show but Dad (who has yet to establish paternity) is contesting the case but in jail once again and the rumor is that his sister wants the baby. We are currently very heartbroken and walking on pins and needles. Dad was around the first month or so of the baby's life but disappeared until he got the PCC notice a few months ago.
Meanwhile my husband and I ache for what we very well may lose; not for ourselves but for the baby who has grown to love us and his biological sisters (half sisters) and his best friend who is seven and one half months older than him - his foster brother. The girls have had so much hurt and loss that I can't even imagine how I can tell them that their brother may be leaving.
All that being said, life changes with just one child - my thoughts are the more the merrier! Keep us in your prayers and best of luck to you all!
Sorry I was so longwinded -- I think it has finally caught up with me =)
Best!
Karen
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