Adoption Myth

The world would like to think that when you adopt a child you press a reset button on their life and all that happened before will be forgotten.

This is so not the case.

If you think about your own life and how it's shaped who your are, you know that it's all a culmination of what your life was like before. Yet society expects children to forget about their lives before their adoption. "But he's so much better off" or "How can he possibly love those people" or "Why would he want to remember that" and so on.

I can't tell you how many people ask me if Jason ever talks about his life before us. If he ever mentions his brother, foster family or birth-mom. And when I say yes, we talk about them a lot actually, I get some very shocked looks. Yes, he was only 4 at the time, but those 4 years are pretty powerful. More happened in his first 4 years than happens in most adults first 20. He can't forget them or bury them and to do so would be dishonoring Jason and his past. And expecting him to would be telling him that we only love part of him, not all of him.

All of the experiences a person goes through in their life, whether young or old, shapes how we see the world, interact with it and cope with what life hands us. The same is true with children who are adopted. And to expect different if to say your life didn't matter before your life here started.

Tonsils and Schools and Chores, Oh My!

Our lives are just plain busy. Next week is March, bringing with it Andy's birthday which means Micah's is close behind. I still need to rotate the 2 bedrooms which including painting them both. Our Dave Ramsey class is continuing to go well, but it's a LOT of work right now. Laundry is piling up and really need to find the surface of my desk again. Needless to say, I've been struggling to find time to blog.

Jason had his full day trial at the new school on Tuesday. He said it went well and he really, really liked it. I hear a lot about the kids, the gecko and the gym. I also heard a little about the classes, but, well, he's a 10yo boy and felt he had already covered everything that was important.

The admissions director gave me good feedback when I picked him up, but nothing concrete yet about if he gets in yet or not. She is supposed to call me sometime later today or tomorrow and let me know if we move forward to the testing phase, so I am a nervous wreck every time the phone rings. Still, we are moving closer and closer to the end of the process and with each step I am holding a bit more hope.

Hannah tonsils will be exiting stage right tomorrow. It's a much needed and long awaited surgery that has my little girl all tied up in knots. She was just fine this morning until she realized that tomorrow is the day. I know she's afraid of the pain so we bought a bunch of popsicles, puddings and ice cream to soothe her throat afterwards. I have a feeling she'll be just fine and going stir crazy in a few days. Still, it's going to be a long day tomorrow with lots of tears from us both. I'll post an update tomorrow afternoon when it's over.

Our class has showed us how important it os for our kids to learn how to handle money now rather than in the future like us, so taking some ideas from Dave Ramsey, we started the kids on a chore chart. Lots of basic stuff them need to do and a bunch of stuff they can get paid to do. then we help them divide it each week into Spend, Save and Give envelopes. Hannah is taking to this with gusto, counting off her checkmarks and looking for more to do at every turn. Micah is enjoying it, but he has the attention span of a gnat, so we might get half the bed made before he wanders away. Although on payday he certainly is engaged because he likes his "monies."

Jason is the one who is driving me to distraction with his chores. He's decided that half done is good enough. Um, sorry. NO. Then I just make you redo it and take away some privileges. I've also started offering up his pay chores to his brother and sister which he doesn't seem to mind right now. Of course, that may change when he realizes I was serious about him paying them for doing the chore.

Oh, and things are moving forward on the adoption front. We decided to pursue adoption from the foster care system. It will be like it was with Jason, a straight adoption without being foster parents. We were thinking about that but decided that the cost to our kids was too high right now. Surprisingly, I haven't had much flack outside of the training department at our county about the age range we are looking at. Because we will not adopt out of birth order, we need to find a child 3 or under. A couple people I have spoken with have been very encouraging. I think us being experienced adoptive parents makes a big difference. We know more of what to expect from a child in care and how to deal with the long term ramifications of drug and alcohol exposures, abuse and neglect. So, training starts in July and depending on the back log, we will hopefully be licensed by Christmas.

Lots and lots and lots of stuff...

We have so much going on right now, my head is spinning.

First, we have been invaded by illness.  Micah and Hannah have strep throat and Andy has tonsillitis, bronchitis and pink-eye.  Jason and I are so far healthy, but I think our days are numbered.  I think I might take my friend Nancy's advice and build us a bubble.

Jason's observation by the new school admissions department went well and they are "interviewing" him on Friday morning.  So far, we have no indication of how things are going, but they do have some concerns about the underlying causes of his LD as well as his language issues.  Still, we're praying that they will at least give him a chance.

Jason's present school situation is continuing to chug along.  We have his new MFE/IEP meeting tomorrow.  He's making great progress on his goals so I don't know what he will still qualify in.  For special education parents, this can be a good and a bad thing.  We don't want to see them lose there assistance, but we also want to see them make progress.  For example, Jason is doing great in math, but it's because of how the math is being taught to him.  Put him in a regular math class and he will fall behind again.  It's a bit of a catch-22.

Jason's also still struggling socially as school.  We've had a few more incidents of bullying behavior and I have a feeling a portion of tomorrow's meeting will be devoted to talking about it.  Honestly, we are doing everything we can to work with Jason on his social skills and he is making progress.  He's in individual and small group therapy as well as participating ins social groups at school.  Yet, the game of frustrating and bating Jason continues.  I've honestly reached the end of my patience, so tomorrow's meeting should be an interesting one.

We also started doing Dave Ramsey's Financial Peace University at church.  It's a great class and we are really learning a lot.  Still, it also means that we have tightened our budget and there are no more Starbucks Fraps in my near future.  On the bright side though is we'll gain financial peace and all this eating in will make me a better cook and healthier person.

Which leads up to our final bit of news...

Andy and I are praying about adopting again.  There is still a long way for us to go on research and prayer, but it's in the open now.  The kids think it's great and Hannah is begging for a baby sister.  Right now, we're thinking it will like be a waiting child from the foster care system.  We have a lot of questions, but know that God can answer them as He has in the past.

Answered Prayer

A while back I posted about a family in need.  This weekend I got word that their needs have been met and a family has been found. God is AWESOME!

The decision they were forced to make was possibly one of the hardest someone could ever make.  It was not something they did lightly or without cause.  What's awesome is that now their little boy can eventually leave the RTC to be with a family where, he has a chance to heal.  The hard part is next.  Living in the aftermath of a disruption.  It can be an extremely difficult thing to live through.  I didn't say much at the time, but their story struck a huge chord with me.  There, but by the grace of God go I.

Although this has been a huge answer to prayer and we praise God in His faithfulness, continue to pray for both families and the little boy.  It's going to be rough on everyone.

Another Perspective

We have also always talked about Jason's adoption story.  At 5, Hannah has only a vague idea of what adoption is.  Her basic understanding is that Jason was born to another mommy before he came here.   She knows that he has a "mamawl" that he lived with for a while as well as brothers she doesn't know except in pictures.  Only recently, she began to ask more questions, seeking, I assume, to fill in the blanks in her head.

It's been interesting to watch Hannah gather information and piece together just how and where and why babies come into the world.  She'll ask one question then seemingly drop the subject only to pick it up again 2 weeks later.  She'll continue to ask questions until she feels she has enough information.  Then she stops, thinks on it for a while and asks some more later.  It's kind of fun to watch. 

One morning after dropping her brothers off at school, she asked me why Jason didn't live with W.  That is a hard question to give to a 5yo who's knowledge of the world does not include abuse, neglect and foster care.  I told her in the most basic of terms that his birth mommy wasn't able to take care of him when he was born because she didn't know how to be a good mommy to him.  I explained that sometimes when that happens, kids live with other mommies for a while called foster mommies.  Jason lived for a long time with his foster mommy, M, while W tried to become a better mommy for him.  Then when Jason was 4, he left M to come and live forever with us because W couldn't be the mommy Jason needed and M wanted Jason to have a forever mommy.  This was Jason didn't have to worry about moving anymore and Daddy and I would be his mommy and daddy forever.  

I did not extrapolate on Jason's feelings about all of this, but simply delivered it as facts knowing that more questions would come.  All of this was told in very 5 year old terms and nearly all the information was because of Hannah's continued "Whys?"

By the time I had answered all the questions we had arrived home and were taking off coats.  Hannah looked fairly troubled and then burst into tears.  I expected her cries to be about her or Micah being taken away or something of that sort.  What came out of her mouth floored me.

"I'm just so sad that all that happened to Jason!!!"

She threw herself in my arms and sobbed.  She clung to me and asked me why anyone would hurt her big brother and why couldn't he have just come out of my tummy and never been hurt.  She cried for what seemed like hours, and I being the emotional woman I am, cried too.  I couldn't answer her question any more that I could answer it when Jason asks it.

When I picked up Jason from school that afternoon, I pulled him aside and told him about the conversation I had with Hannah and her reaction.  I made sure he understood that I didn't share any of his details, but just the basic timeline and that it had been rather upsetting to Hannah.  I wanted him to be aware in case she asked him any questions and told him he could always just direct her to me or Daddy if he didn't feel like talking.  Jason, without my prompting, went immediately to Hannah, hugged her and told her that she shouldn't be sad because he wasn't.  He didn't like the idea of her feeling any of his pain.

There are times I can't believe how blessed I am to have the children I do.  They care so much about each other and love each other so very much.

Loss

There are many things in life that are hard.  One of those is taking your 10 year old son to visit the grave of his biological older brother.  Jason's brother, Jordan, passed away 3 years before Jason ever came into our lives.

Jordan was born with Jarcho-Levin Syndrome, a very rare genetic disorder that lead to his death.  His arrival put Jason's birth family on social services map.  Because of his complex care, social workers would start to regularly visit the house. Before Jordan was 2, an investigation was launched and it lead to the removal of all the children from the home.  Jason was born a couple months after this and came into foster care then.

Jason's file said very little about Jordan.  It simply noted his name, how his case tied to Jason's and how he had passed away.  Jason's foster mother remembers him fondly.  She told us he was a sweet joyful boy who loved life.  He is smiling in nearly every picture we have of him.  Jason knows him through pictures and stories we have relayed to him.

I don't know if I can properly explain what Jordan means to Jason.  We spoke a lot today over the brother he never knew and the one he did but doesn't see.  About the family he lives with and the one he can't.  I can only imagine how hard it is to be so young and to have lost so much.

And although today involved a visit to the grave of one of those losses, the tears that flowed were surely for so much more.

Please read...

There is a family out there facing a horrible situation and is faced with a heart wrenching decision.  While I do now know them, I know their story and have lived parts of it.  In the end, the decision they are having to make was one made for us, although if very well could have been Andy and I facing the same choices years ago.

Please lift them up in prayer.

Family Needed

They came from Wisconsin...

A few months ago my friend, Kelly, contacted me about crashing here for a few days. She was coming to Columbus to the NACAC conference to represent the Attachment and Trauma Network. regardless of the reason for her visit, I was super thrilled to be seeing one of my on-line buddies again, but NACAC and ATN are both near and dear to my heart as well. So, plans were made and Kelly and her 7 year old daughter, Savannah, arrived in Columbus Wednesday afternoon.

Kelly is super cool. She's been there, done that with all kinds of kid issues so it was really nice to have someone who I could talk to and laugh with about faith, parenting, special needs and adoption. She's survived losing kids she loved, getting gob-smacked by a diagnosis and just about a thousand other things. Needless to say, we stayed up late every night talking up a storm.

Savannah fit in just perfectly with my gang. She didn't notice Jason's differences and is about as girly as Hannah. While Kelly worked the conference during the day, I took the 4 kids and did stuff. We weathered Micah's OT, a Splash Pad playdate with no splashing, the zoo and the general insanity of 4 kids in one small house.

Although we did hit a few bumps in the road, we did manage. Jason handled the changes in our days admirably for a kiddo who hates changes, even temporary change. He even managed to share his stuff and let the kids play in his room. For those who know Jason, this a HUGE. Today we are having a few bounce-back issues as he works through his feelings on missing his friend, but that is way better than the raging we would have had a couple years ago. Progress is a great thing.

In all, it was a great time.

Thanks for coming Kelly and I hope we see you again soon.

Jason, Hannah, Savannah and Micah this morning before they left.

Five Years Ago

I've been thinking of how to blog about this for some time. And this week being the 5 year anniversary of the event, I guess I should just get started.

Five years ago our social worker, Amy, arrived and with the aid of my husband, packed her Explorer with my oldest son's things, handed me some papers to sign, hugged us all and then drove him forever. We haven't seen him since.

The story actually begins 7 1/2 months before when we got a message on our answering machine. It was from a social worker at the county who would be working with us on finding a match. She was calling to introduce herself and briefly mentioned that she had 2 brothers she thought would make a good match for our family. To say we were excited was an understatement. We both took off work the next morning to meet with her and there we learned of DJ and Jason. DJ was described as fun-loving, gentle, hyper but wanting to please. Jason was described as your typical 4 yo who loved to play and cuddle. Without even a picture to see, I knew in my hear that these were my sons.

Five short weeks later, Andy and I drove up to their foster home to meet them. A week later, we brought them home. Looking back, I can see all the red flags that were raising, but at the time, my eyes were too clouded with finally being a mom. Something I had wanted for so long and thought I was prepared for. I was both right and wrong.

Long before I had ever met him, someone had hurt DJ so deeply that he was unable to feel the love we were offering him. That love terrified him and the harder we tried to reach him, the harder he worked to push us away. We were in therapy within a month of his arrival. Thankfully, I had read enough to know that something was wrong and we needed help. But the rages and the threats and the violence continued. To the outside world, he was an angel. Perfect in every respect. Convincing friends, family and teachers that I was just a mean, horrible mom. It was his way to keep me away. And it was working.

In all of this initial madness, in Jason we also were dealing with a very withdrawn, shut down little boy. My "typical" 4 year old was anything but. He could speak fewer than 50 words when he came home and his longest sentence was "Pick up me!" He couldn't communicate, wasn't potty trained and had NO idea what was happening in his world. We immediately put him in a special preschool and I worked hard to help him with his grief. I wanted to figure out who the true little boy was hiding behind all that silliness. It would take years to break down those walls, but I wasn't going to stop trying.

Meanwhile, DJ continued to get worse instead of better. The rages continued to be a daily occurrence. He would often rage for hours a day over the littlest of things. He started peeing on everything. The violence and threats escalated and he had a power over Jason that was frightening. He had to be in our sight at all times. (Not in the same room, but within our eyesight.) He slept with an alarm on his door so we knew if he got up at night and we couldn't even let him outside to play with other kids.

During that fall and on into the holidays, DJ was placed in two emergency therapeutic foster homes for weekend respite, one crisis center and it culminated in a 10 day stay at a local psychiatric hospital right before Christmas. During all of this, we received many diagnoses. The most definitive being Reactive Attachment Disorder. This was the one we most feared. As he became an increasing danger to myself and Jason, the lack of conscious, cause and effect and the in ability to give or receive love was terrifying. All the therapists told us the same thing. DJ had to choose to attach to us. He had to want it. And he so clearly showed us he didn't, no matter how badly we wanted him too.

Added to this, was the issue of Jason. He wasn't safe in our home with DJ around and every therapist we have met, every evaluation we had done, clearly showed two things. DJ was a very disturbed little boy and he wasn't going to get better as long as he lived with his favorite victim, Jason.

So, we turned to our last option, an out of home placement for DJ in a treatment center. I found one in town that worked specifically on the issues we were facing and with our therapist's and social worker's okay, began making phone calls shortly after New Years. If we could get him placed there, they would work with us as a family as well as just DJ. There would be family therapy, therapy for the boys individually and for them together. It honestly seemed like the best answer for all of us.

A meeting was help on a Friday with all the necessary people; our social worker, our therapist, the treatment center staff and us. At the end of the meeting, everyone agreed that this was our best home to save our family. The big question was the county. The boys' adoption was not final yet and the county would need to approve this plan before we could proceed. Finalization was scheduled in two weeks. We were so very close. I felt a peace all weekend that things would be okay now. And they would, just not how I expected.

The call came Monday afternoon at 4:30pm. DJ was in his room raging and Jason and I were having some cuddle time. They had both been off school that day for snow. When I realized the call was from our social worker, I started a video for Jason and headed upstairs. I can still remember everything about that phone call. I was expecting great news, and instead, I was given what I perceived as the worst. The county had decided that it was in both boys best interest to remove DJ from the home permanently and place him in a therapeutic foster home. Despite our desire to try, they felt that long term the boys would be better off apart. They were disrupting the adoption of our oldest son.

The next few days are still a blur. Withdrawing him from school, making arrangements for records transfers and prescription refills and packing up everything he owned filled my free time. I stopped attachment parenting and starting to just try and have some peace in those final days. I tried to prepare both boys for what was about to happen. They had always been together and despite the problems, Jason loved his big brother a great deal.

That morning we were all up early. It had snowed so Andy and the boys went outside to shovel. The garage was full of all of DJ's things. Jason asked why DJ's toys were in the garage and DJ said because he was leaving. DJ wasn't sad. Apprehensive, maybe, but not sad. Jason was confused, Andy was numb and I was crying enough for all of us.

Finally, Amy arrived and while I filled out the paperwork terminating the adoptive placement, Andy, Jason and DJ loaded her car. Finally it was time. I helped get my son settled in the car, we all hugged him goodbye and they drove off. Jason went in the house to watch TV and I tried to not collapse from the sobs.

But the story doesn't end there.

On February 5th of 2004, we were able to finalize Jason's adoption. The previous week had been wrought with grief and worry that they would take my baby now too. Jason was finally ours. FOREVER! Something I still have to remind him of frequently, but I don't mind. We paid a high price to become the family we are.


I'd like to tell you that everyone went on to live happily ever after, but the is real life, not a fairy tale. Despite assurances to the contrary, we were not able to keep in contact with DJ. We exchanged a couple of cards and pictures after about a year, but then all contact stopped again. It became too difficult for Jason to deal with at the time and they stopped responding. Now we tell Jason if he wants to contact his brother, he needs to make the effort to write him. He hasn't, and I think it still may be years before he does.

And damage wrought in the 6 months DJ was my son, would haunt us for years to come. We lost friends, became alienated from family who couldn't understand and blamed me and ended up leaving the church we were married in. Jason would shut down again and we would have to work hard for the next few years convince him that someone wasn't going to just take him away. Even now, he acts up at this time of year. He's a grump who is quick to anger and act out and break rules just so we will ground him and keep him close. Deep down he still fears it will happen to him. Especially now that he is the same age his brother was then. But as I told him this morning, he is not his brother and despite his worries, is here to stay.

Looking back, I can see how God worked all this out. We did more for DJ in the 6 months he lived with us than his foster parents had done in the 4 years he lived there. DJ was able to get the help he needed here to get him the right placement when he left. And Jason was able to come home to a family who would fight to protect him, get him th help he needed and realize what an incredibly special little boy he is. I think had DJ stayed here, thing in our family would have been dramatically different. Knowing what I know now, I doubt I could have ever convinced DJ to attach to me. And poor Jason would have continued in the role of the victim and never come out of his protective shell. Hiding behind silliness and never showing anyone who he really is.

It was a long hard road with lessons on it that I would have preferred to learn another way, but God is good and His blessings abound even now.

Anniversary madness....

Jason is having a rough time of it lately. Despite things improving so much at school, he's continuing to struggle at home. The holidays are rough and we are very, very quickly approaching the anniversary of his brother's disruption and his adoption.

I have to say this is going better than years past. Before he couldn't put the words together and would cry and scream and be miserable, taking everyone with him.

This year, he's asking more questions and starting more conversations about his past. He's trying to understand WHY things happened the way they did. This is big since before he just wanted to know the hows and whens of things....never the reasons behind them. The hard part is it's not a happy story to tell and the whys of Jason's life are many times beyond his understanding.

And this makes Jason angry. And his safest person to throw that anger at is me. He was angry at me because he didn't like the truthful answers we were giving him.

It's a huge responsibility to have to be the emotional sounding board for your hurt child.

And honestly, sometimes I just don't handle it well. Because sometimes, the things he says hurt me. Intentionally. And sometimes on those days, I don't want to be the strong one. I want to cry and scream and rage right along with him.

Rage against the system that failed him....the foster family that forgot him....the people that abused him.....and the woman that damaged him before he took his first breath.

I want to curl up and cry and be angry at the world for hurting my baby.

But then I remember my son's love for everyone in his past and what an amazing gift that is for him to have. And I stop. And hold my son. And instead of crying for him....I cry with him...

The Santa Question

One of the real joys in my week is the few minutes I get to spend in the observation room with the other moms from Micah's class. Over the past few months, we've all gotten to know each other and become fast friends.

Today we were talking about Christmas and holidays and traditions. One of the moms was talking about whether or not to encourage her daughter's belief in Santa. A couple moms said they weren't and a couple said they were. This precluded a conversation about what happens when your kids finds out that you are Santa and so on.

Personally, I never really intended to encourage a belief in Santa, instead wanting to focus on Christ and the celebration of his birth. I didn't have a problem with people who do, it just wasn't my thing.

I didn't get that choice though. As happens with any older child adoption, you child has their own culture and beliefs when they join your family.

In our case, we had a very fervent belief in Santa, Rudolph and all his reindeer. No biggie...we adjusted. We get pictures taken yearly with the big man, bake him cookies, write him letters and even feed his reindeer.

But what struck me in all of this was my reaction to the conversation. At one point, I point, I just said "Oh, we didn't have a choice. Jason came that way."

Later, when relaying the story to Andy while we sorted through our Chirstmas shopping, it struck me as hysterically funny.

Not because of Santa or the conversation or anything like that.

But I was suddenly struck with an image of my son at age 4, in a brightly colored box with a cellophane front, labeled clearly...

JASON

An adorable 4yo boy with blue eyes, sandy brown hair and glasses.

He comes complete with a bright smile, a limited vocabulary and a belief in Santa!

Twisted, I know. But hey, it's who I am. And once my mind started rolling, I pictured Hannah being born with a tattoo requiring pink clothes and Micah coming with a recommendation for a protection plan due to ER trips.

Christmas Insanity

Ah, the Christmas season is upon us.

I love Christmas. I really do. I have such great memories of Christmas as a child. I love the music, the decorations and the food. (Especially the food) I love a chance to celebrate the birth of my Lord. And as a family, we have lots of traditions and things that we do to celebrate.

Each family member gets a new ornament to put on the tree signifying something about the past year. Mine this year is a Starbuck coffee cup, if that tells you anything about how I survive my days.

We visit the same "Santa" every year for pictures. The kids are old enough now that they remember him, although Jason has figured out that he just "works" for Santa now. He said Santa can't possibly be at a mall this close to Christmas when he has a sleigh to pack. (I love my son's thinking.)

The kids all get a set of Christmas lights in their room.

We visit the lights at the Zoo.

I always do a baking day with the kids. This is messy, but fun. And they love handing out "their" cookies.

This year, Jason and Hannah were able to sing in the Christmas program and we always look forward to our Christmas Eve candlelight service.

But there is a dark, underbelly to Christmas here as well.

Not everyone has happy memories of the holidays and I was his mom before I really understood what this could mean. And boy, was that first Christmas a hard one. I didn't really understand all that he was dealing with that first year. As excited as we were about our first Christmas as parents, Jason was grieving just as hard for the life he was no longer a part of. And for the chaotic parts of that life that had followed him to our home.

By the time we reached Christmas, Jason's brother, DJ, was imploding and spend the days before Christmas in a psychiatric facility. And just 5 weeks after Christmas, the county removed DJ for Jason's safety. Needless to say, this is not always a good time of year in our house.

While Hannah and Micah have only ever known the holiday with us, Jason has memories of Christmas with his foster family. He also remembers his first Christmas with us. A holiday that filled his mom and dad with joy, but him with sorrow. During this season he is always on edge. Jumpy. A bit quicker to lash out. A bit easier to cry.

Behaviors that have been gone for months, sometimes years resurface again. We ended up looking like crazy parents because we surpervise our oldest more than our youngest. He needs this though. I don't think Jason would ever admit to his friends that he liked sitting at the table with us at the Christmas party, but he was calmed and better behaved than he had been in days.

It helps knowing we're not alone in this either. I have a friend who blogged on this very topic earlier this week. This Christmas insanity seems to be rather common among parents of hurt children. We have friends that forgo the tree altogether and others that simply decorate for a couple of days then go back to normal. Some, like us, try for as much of a normal holiday as possible. We all seem to be dealing with varying levels of insanity, but at least we are not alone.

Hang in there everyone. This too shall pass and then we only have 365 days until we get to do it again.

An introduction

I thought I'd start with a brief intro of who we are and why we are doing this.

Andy and I were married just over 9 years ago. We knew from the beginning we wanted kids and from very early on that we wanted to adopt. God led us to foster/adoption and in July of 2003 we were matched with our son, Jason, and his older brother, DJ. To say we jumped into the deep end of the pool without a life jacket would be an understatement. Think a raging river with weights.

That was 5 1/2 years ago and while DJ has gone on to a new family (another story for another time), we have added 2 more kids to our family. Three weeks after Jason's adoption was finalized we found out we were pregnant with Hannah. Nine months after she was born we found out Micah was on his way as well. Our brood currently consists of Jason (9), Hannah (4) and Micah (2). They are an active bunch who certainly keep us on our toes.

It's always a challenge raising kids and we really like a challenge.