When the Dog Bites…

We were showing our students The Sound of Music at school and this lyric was definitely fitting for this week. Why? Because this week, the dog bit! Once again, it has been one of those weeks. I’m beginning to think every week is one of those weeks.

Since it is getting late, I don’t feel well, and the Bachelor is on, I will stick to a quick summary of everything.

Kathryn got bit by a stray dog while riding her bike. Not a bad bite, but a rabies concern nonetheless. One trip to the doctor, two failed attempts to catch the dog, and several conversations with the sheriff later the dog is caught and appears to be fine. That’s the good news. The bad news is that they are going to put the dog down because it is a stray and is unadoptable because it bit. The animal lover in me is heartbroken, but there is nothing I can do.

John and I have both been working on losing weight and getting in shape the past few weeks. We have been watching what we eat and working out with EA Active for the Wii. I weighed myself today and I am down a total of 7 pounds! Unfortunately, I have a bad cold and am just not up to working out today. Oh well.

My nephew, Eric, spent the week in the hospital with RSV last week. In fact, I was visiting him when the dog got Kathryn. Anyway, he is home and doing much better now!

Well – that was poorly written and a little bland but my head is fuzzy from the cold and the medicine. More soon, but for now I’m going to indulge in a guilty pleasure and watch The Bachelor! Goodnight!

Too long!

Wow it has been too long since I updated here! For a while there I was following the timeless adage, “If you can’t say something nice, don’t say anything at all!” It was one of those spells, all too common with kids that have the backgrounds that ours do, where life was just hard and the behaviors were all that we could handle! Fortunately, things seem to have leveled back out and we are back on track. My goal is to post at least once a week, so if anyone is reading this and cares, let me know by posting a comment and hopefully that will keep me motivated!

So, a quick synopsis of where we are now:
- John and I are both working really hard losing some weight. So far we are each down 5 pounds in just under 2 weeks. We are eating better and working out with the EA Active for the Wii and it seems to be doing the trick!
- Juliana, Josiah, and John are all sick, but it isn’t serious, just the usual coughing, runny nose, fever junk. They seem to be on the upswing already.
- Tomorrow is Kathryn’s cheerleading competition. It is a little bittersweet for me because it is probably the last time I will see her compete. I can’t go to nationals because of the Destination Imagination competition, and we probably will not cheer next year due to finances.
- The rest of the family is going along pretty normally. At least for now!

Time to grow?

While most people would think that 8 children would make a family complete, I can’t help but feel that ours is not quite done. I have felt this way for a while, but thought it was just me. As John and I talked over breakfast Saturday morning, I discovered that he feels the same way. Our family is not complete. Naturally, that conclusion begs the question, “What do we do about it?”

Option 1 – CPS: After finalizing the last adoption, we felt confident that we would not be adopting through CPS again anytime soon. The complications of having a “group home” and dealing with case workers that slow the process because they simply don’t believe in large families were just too much. Plus, we long for an infant and will not take the risk of having our hearts broken by the legal risk process once again. CPS is definitely out.

Option 2 – Domestic Adoption: This is highly unlikely to happen for us. Most agencies won’t work with us because of our family size, and we are highly unlikely to ever be selected by a birthmother for the same reason. As much as I would love for this to be an option for us, but it probably won’t work.

Option 3 – Fertility Treatments: We have had extensive testing over the years, but have tried very little as far as treatment is concerned. This is one option we are seriously considering, but we know it has distinct pros and cons. It is getting late and this is getting long, so I will save those for another day, but we are seriously considering this route.

Option 4 – Ethiopian Adoption: I have had Ethiopian adoption on my heart for years. There are so many orphans that desperately need homes, and the program looks like a great one. If we are still eligible with our family size, this is a real possibility.

So where does that leave us? Time for research and prayer. It will be interesting to see where (if anywhere) this all leads!

Welcome!

Welcome to our family blog!  We are a rather unique and large family of 10, built through the blessing of adoption.  We have 6 boys and 2 girls, all between the ages of 13 and 7.  We adopted each of our children through the state foster care system and hope to inspire more Christian families to open their hearts to these children who so desperately need families.  We wholeheartedly believe that adoption works and support all forms of adoption, domestic and international.

We also believe that when troubles come, you can laugh or cry, and we choose to laugh.  That is really what this blog is about, laughing (and praying) our way through the ups and downs.

We invite you to follow along as we laugh and love our way through the daily challenges of raising 8 children.  Look around, meet the family, and expect the unexpected!  You just never know what is going to happen around here!