Jeff and I recently counted, and realized we've had 16 kids through our home,
and all but 3 have been in the last 5 months! At first getting kids was
difficult, and awkward, and stressful. Now, it seems it is getting easier. We
are more confident in our parenting, and we have a routine. Thanks to so many
generous people, we have a variety of extra clothings of multiple sizes (that I
finally got organized into neat, labeled tubs) that we have been using each
time we get a child, or a sibling group.
We have taken in several sibling groups of three. The oldest child we've had has been 8, which tells you we have had a lot of young, energetic kids here! We love that we are blessed to live out in the country, with a 600 acre 'yard' that we can let these kids run
around and get their energy out. We just recently took in a 15 month old
(the youngest we've taken so far). She came to us at 2 am, and was very sick.
Poor thing had pneumonia and an ear infection! We still have her, and have
been enjoying her cute toothy smile =)
Lately, quite a few people have been asking us how we do it, and how we handle new kids all the time. My initial thought to those questions is "only by the grace of God!" lol. Sometimes it is so exhausting and stressful, that surviving each day truly feels like a
miracle. But when thinking about tangible examples of what that makes things go
smoothly here, these are my thoughts.
and all but 3 have been in the last 5 months! At first getting kids was
difficult, and awkward, and stressful. Now, it seems it is getting easier. We
are more confident in our parenting, and we have a routine. Thanks to so many
generous people, we have a variety of extra clothings of multiple sizes (that I
finally got organized into neat, labeled tubs) that we have been using each
time we get a child, or a sibling group.
We have taken in several sibling groups of three. The oldest child we've had has been 8, which tells you we have had a lot of young, energetic kids here! We love that we are blessed to live out in the country, with a 600 acre 'yard' that we can let these kids run
around and get their energy out. We just recently took in a 15 month old
(the youngest we've taken so far). She came to us at 2 am, and was very sick.
Poor thing had pneumonia and an ear infection! We still have her, and have
been enjoying her cute toothy smile =)
Lately, quite a few people have been asking us how we do it, and how we handle new kids all the time. My initial thought to those questions is "only by the grace of God!" lol. Sometimes it is so exhausting and stressful, that surviving each day truly feels like a
miracle. But when thinking about tangible examples of what that makes things go
smoothly here, these are my thoughts.