"Sweet 16"

I’m not sure if this is going to be a shock to anyone or not. I know most are questioning and have questioned onto why we cancelled the adoption Christmas party this year. I did mention that it was about family obligations. That it is. I also mentioned in a previous post that there was a upcoming surprise revealed. Can you guess what it is? For over a year there has been a sibling in foster care. Born in Nov 2011. We found out in July 2011 that he was CCO, meaning he was adoptable. From then on, we applied to adopt him. We renewed our home study and completed our pre-placement visits. December 14^th we brought him home. Our new son, thirteen months old! It seemed like forever as any process but now he resides in our arms, with his siblings for many years to come. “Surprise” We kept it a secret because of all the political unknowns and also because now that we’re a large adoptive family, the excitement, the “support” from others are limited. On behave of us as the adoptive family, we are excited. We are relieved that our new son is joining his siblings. For me as his mother, I really am besides myself with joy. Every child that joins us through adoption is like another baby born to me. Not many will understand, not many will approve but we are thriving as a large family. I’ve always written about our challenges, I will always write not only to educate but to release. Most importantly to advocate for adoption, for larger families and the importance of siblings. With writing all this semi-shocking news to some, we weren’t looking to adopt. A brother was born. When you adopt……the chances are, there is siblings or siblings will be born. It’s a choice to adopt, for us…..it’s not a choice at all - they’re a package. In our case, the birth mother kept it a secret. Once revealed, we knew he should be adopted with his brother and sister. So I do apologise for the cancellation of our annual Christmas party with no explanation. Although our pre-placement visits were this week. Our Christmas gift was our new thirteen month old son, a baby. Our youngest adopted. I’ve changed my blog title to “Sweet 16” We have sixteen children and proud of it. We’re not ones to follow our society's normal. (Whatever that is) We follow our own hearts and capabilities to provide a loving and stable home to many children. Many children that are now our own. How do we do it? This is usually the number one question besides why. My answer now is……if you want 16 children, you have to be dedicated. Selfishness is not in our families vocabulary. Financially? Start baking and doing everything yourself. To conclude, for everyone that is shocked about our new adoption placement - “Merry Christmas” Christmas is full of secrets….and for the handful of people that knew, “Thank you” from the bottom of our hearts for helping us during the whole process from day one. As easy as this post may seem, it was a process many, many, many months ago. I have one friend Bonnie….I would like to thank especially for spending her evening and her day during the pre-placement visits in our home while away. She is very special. Another friend Debbie, Diane, Kara, Linda, Anne, my sister in law and my parents for being there supporting us all the way. I thank our adoption workers, the previous guardianship worker, and the Ministry. I also thank my sister for making herself available while looking after a couple of our children and I am very grateful to our children's birth family. They're wonderful. Sitting in a restaurant while away I met this group of lovely people. Four people that invited me for dinner; I would like to thank them for a lovely evening. (My next post will be written about this experience) It's amazing who we'll meet along our own journeys. For these four strangers, they really highlighted my week and now not strangers no more. Anne, who I met through this blog also was a highlight, visiting with her was very uplifting, supportive and honestly, I needed it. Anyone I missed, we are very appreciative for you supporting us! For everyone else, I apologise I never announced but with that being said, most of us know - adoption is never certain. Surprise and Merry Christmas from “Sweet 16” We are truly blessed!