Jason

I've been trying to figure out whether to start with telling our story, or to start with introducing all of us. I think I'm going to start with the people first, them move on to how we got here. My goal is to get on family member on the blog a day until I get us done.

I'll start with Jason.

Jason joined our family and permanently implanted himself in our hearts the summer of 2003. From the moment I first heard about him, I wanted him as my son. From the first picture, I knew he was. In his Blues Clues shirt, shaved head and what seemed like enormous shoes at the time, I fell in love. I know that God led us to Jason and him to us.

It was far from perfect though. Jason's life, no matter how nice we make it, has left him with lasting scars. He experienced more loss in his first 5 years than I have in my 35. Because of things that happened before he was even born, he fights with even some of the simplest of tasks. At 4, when most kids are learning their alphabet, he was still learning to put 3 words together. Instead of potty training, he was trying to trust this new family he was with. He had to grieve over the only family he had ever known and accept this new one he was given. He had to learn to stop surviving and to start living.

And he has. That was all 5 1/2 years ago. Jason is now a 9 year old boy full of wonder and mirth. He's a 3rd grader, a baseball player and a martial artist. He's a singer, a builder and a child in love with make believe. He loves all living creatures and I think given the chance would start a zoo in my house. And, heaven help him, he has his father's sarcastiv sense of humor.

That's not to say everything is perfect.

He IS a 9yo boy.

Jason, despite his love for his siblings, finds them extremely annoying at times. I am apparently evil as I give out CHORES, require homework to be completed and clean his room. Oh, and lets not forget the daily shower thing. OY!