Friday, April 25, 2008

Mother of Seven

Today was a wild day of unexpected surprises. We got a call this morning from CFS asking if we could take a new group of kids. They said they'd find a different respite home for the ones we were expecting to have for a few days next week. These three kids spent last night sleeping at the CFS office because there wasn't any other home that could take them right now. There are only 40 active foster homes in our whole county. The rest are fost-adopt homes or relative placement homes (which means they have a family member placed with them through CFS).

So as of today we have a new almost 9 month old baby boy. He's got blonde hair and brown eyes, isn't walking yet, but can crawl and pull himself up on things. He's a solid little guy and very strong. He's got three teeth on the bottom and will chew on anything. He loves to snuggle and grabs my shirt or finger while he's drinking his bottle. He likes to rub a soft cloth or blanket against his cheek. Since he seems to love anything soft I think I'll call him "Linus" like the little boy attached to his blanket in the Peanuts comics.

We also have a set of fraternal twins who will be turning 9 on Cinco de Mayo. They both have short brown hair and brown eyes and are tall and lanky. They're helpful, easy going, smart third graders who clearly adore their little brother. The boy loves sports and arrived with a glow-in-the-dark football. He's a real leader among our kids. I'm going to call him "Coach". His sister is a lot like him. She acts like the mom of her little sibling group. She hasn't shown a strong interest in anything so far, although she's given me quite a list of things she doesn't like. The one thing she was excited about was when the caseworker came back to our house to bring her cell phone to her. It doesn't have minutes, but it lights up and seems to make her happy. Because of that I've decided to call her "Ma Bell".

We spent today getting to know each other and buying some necessary items like under-things and shoes that fit. The kids seem to get along well, although "Ma Bell" and Danya are trying to establish a pecking order and Gloria is fascinated with "Coach". Kevin has a new best friend and rival in "Linus". At bedtime they both sat in their room in their beds seeing who could cry louder for us to come pick them up. It's going to be interesting.

3 comments:

I have a good life said...

WOW! What a crazy turn of events. It seems perhaps more difficult to have older kids...it might be harder for your kids. It will all work out since you are an awesome mom. I have so much respect and love for you and what you are doing, even though we've never met. I'll actually be in Broomfield this summer, probably June. Maybe we can meet at a park or something. That would be fun.

Jess said...

Sounds fun! We're available in the first half of June. I really appreciate all the encouragement and support! I wouldn't say it's more difficult, just different. At least I don't have to change diapers or make bottles for them, lol. I'm mostly just the rule enforcer and general referee.

One interesting part is that I'm able to talk to them about my experiences in a way they can understand. At their age my brother and I also moved far away from our mom and went to live with my bio dad who we hadn't seen since I was a few months old. He also had four kids that we were instantly sharing everything with. So we can relate to each other in a way that I can't with a 3 or 4 year old.

Jess

cami said...

So happy to see you have a house full again!

Cami