My husband and I began the foster care journey after a sporting event for our oldest son over 5 years ago. We made a decision to complete the paperwork on the way back from his football tournament. It took about 7 months to complete the process and we were set, no babies and no one that had been deemed unsafe sexually around other children. Those were our hard no’s. There were so many homes that wanted a baby and we were set that teens would be our journey. Our biological children are Kayla (28), Jared (15) and Mason (8).
Immediately after opening we received a call for a teen. We fostered and loved them until it was time that I realized that they needed more than just a foster home, they needed intensive care. That was hard, I felt like a failure and that is when I first had an encounter with The Call. I had various families reach out to offer support, meals, etc. Then we were going to take a break, but I got a call that same day from DHS that there was a sibling set and one had his birthday the next day. We said yes, and we welcomed 4 siblings ranging in ages and loved on them for over a year. During that time, it was hard. The pandemic hit and I was a full time working mom and dad with 6 kids that needed to be assisted with school. I was exhausted, empty and trying to figure out how to do all of this. I had so many families reach out to me from The Call and became an honorary member since I did not do my registration with The Call but DHS. Again, meals were delivered and date nights happened when they were urgently needed.
Two weeks before our sibling set left we received another call, there were 2 babies that had never met. They were siblings and Ace came into care at 5 months and Iris at birth. Each baby had already been in 2 foster homes each and they were 2 months and 13 months old. We had nothing for a baby, zero. I mean not a thing. I had just had surgery and asked if we could have 2 weeks to prep for the babies to come to our house. Two weeks later the 2 most precious babies showed up. Ace was terrified of males, all adult looking males. He would scream if he was left alone with any male, I mean SCREAM. My youngest biological son was born extremely premature and had endured a lot of therapies, specialist and food protein allergies. I quickly noticed that Ace was developmentally behind and began working towards getting him into therapy. Shortly after, Ace was diagnosed with 3q29 micro-duplication genetic disorder which causes developmental delays. He came into care with Rickets which also causes developmental delays. Lastly, he was diagnosed with Craniosynostosis which is the premature closing of the skull and it causes developmental delays. I became an advocate for his care and began the journey to his surgery. July 2021 hit and Ace was hospitalized with RSV/Croup. What we didn’t know was that would be the beginning of a monthly hospitalizations for the next 8 months. Three days after being released from the hospital in July, we officially adopted the babies. The Call families showed up again, providing meals to my family while I was in the hospital with Ace. Last month our son was officially diagnosed with Bronchiectasis which is damage to the bottom of the lungs caused from the RSV/Croup July 2021. We are on a machine twice a day now to move the mucus out of his lungs to keep us out of the hospital.
Iris just turned 2 has been extremely healthy and does not have any of the genetic issues her brother has. She is half princess and half WWE star with all of these brothers. She is sassy and within hours of having her we realized she had the same protein allergy our Mason had when he was younger. We quickly advocated again for her care and formula change. She has thrived in daycare and is the sassiest little thing around.
We cannot imagine our lives without these children, Jared and Mason were the ones who pushed us to say yes. They just adore the ground Ace and Iris walk on. We often think about what our life would be like if we had said no. We would be missing out on two of the best things that have ever happened to our family. When our Mason was younger, I really struggled with why God put us through so much and now I realize it was to prepare us for these babies. God taught us that His plan, is way bigger and better than our plan.
