Thursday, April 10, 2008

And Baby Makes ... Seven

When we found out in January that Caleb & Amata's biological mother was pregnant again, our initial reaction was nope, sorry, we're done. But, of course, we had another 8 months to think about it - I cannot even guess how many times I changed my mind about this. It was a VERY difficult decision. We were torn between wanting to take the baby and needing to make sure we have the time & energy to devote to all of our children! I also really want both Amata & Caleb to have the opportunity to know their half sister. It is a VERY difficult decision.

Once day out of the blue, my 12 year old said he thought we should take all of her babies! I explained to him that she might have 20 babies, and he said, that's okay. I told him we'd have less money for presents and he said, that's okay. I told him he'd have to help with the baby, including changing diapers and getting up with her some mornings on the weekend and he said, that's okay. I told him he might have to share a bedroom with his brother again and he said (you guessed it), that's okay. I had at one time said I would need a sign if we were supposed to take her, but I wasn't sure if this was actually a sign. Then we found out it was a girl. Don't get me wrong, I love my boys, and in all honesty, at least at this point, I think boys are easier, too. But she would be Amata's only sister, and sisters just have that special bond.

So, we told the social worker we would take her. However, this baby of course has a different father (the registered sex offender), and he claimed that he was going to fight for her. (Never mind that he already had 2 or 3 other children that he doesn't support, but his rights had never actually been terminated). She also reminded us that they have to look at relatives, first, so if any of his relatives came forward as placement options, they would have to be considered, but they were going to try to say that placing her with siblings overruled placing her with relatives. We still said we would take her.

So on September 16, 2007, a beautiful baby girl was born. And on September 18th, I picked her up from the hospital & brought her home.

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