Elli Belly Jelly Smelly

In May 2007, my husband and I took a long awaited journey to meet our children for the first time. It was only a drive of a few hours, but the trip changed our lives forever. We were becoming parents to a sibling group. Our son, Breon was 5 years old, and his sister, Destiney, was 7 years old. They had been in foster care for three years. Kameron (my spouse) and I were nervous, excited, and ready to begin this new chapter in our lives. We met Breon and Destiney for the first time on the last Friday in May, and drove home with our new family just two days later. The move happened quickly due to less than ideal circumstances in their foster home.

Although adopting an older sibling group was not the easiest path to take towards becoming parents, it has filled our lives with meaning and purpose and a profound love we never thought possible. We feel that we have always been meant to parent these children and we are extremely grateful to have been given this opportunity. We are surrounded with family, friends, co-workers, and neighbors who have enthusiastically supported us on our journey to parenthood.

Kameron and I were able to finalize Breon and Destiney's adoption in December 2007 and felt that our family was complete. As we were settling in our new roles as parents, we had discussed how happy we were that we adopted a sibling group and our level of contentment with our new family. We talked about the idea of adding to our family, and had decided that the only way we would consider it was if there happened to be a sibling. We basically shrugged off the idea because it seemed so far-fetched and carried on with our lives.

In late February 2008, we received a call that we never expected. Breon and Destiney had a six month old baby sister, whom their mother was unable to care for. CPS called us to find out if we were open to the idea of bringing the baby into our family. Kameron and I were shocked, but after a few hours of discussion, we whole-heartedly agreed that welcoming their sister into our home was the right thing to do. We did not want the baby to experience the negative side of foster care that our children had experienced, and we still clung to our fundamental belief that siblings belong together. We drove down for the hearing a couple of weeks later, but were heartbroken to come home empty handed. It seemed that the baby would be staying with her maternal aunt due to circumstances beyond our control.

Less than a month later, we got a call from CPS again much to our surprise. It seemed the maternal aunt no longer wanted to be involved in the case, and we were told that the baby would be coming to our home in a week or so if the judge approved the move. The next morning, CPS called back to ask if the baby could come that evening. Her aunt said she could no longer care for the child and dropped her off at daycare after calling the caseworker. If the baby didn't come to us that night, she would have stayed in an emergency shelter. The caseworker drove her 3 1/2 hours to our home that night, arriving around midnight.

We woke up Breon and Destiney so they could meet their sister for the first time. It was basically love at first sight for Kameron and I. This was the night we fell in love with Elli. Watching Breon and Destiney hold her and give her hugs, re-affirmed our decision. She belonged with her brother and sister, and she deserved to experience life with them. We've definitely had some growing pains, now that we are a family of five, but we wouldn't trade any of this for the world.

Elli has now been part of our family for almost a year. CPS currently feels that it would be best for Elli if she were to be re-united with her birthmother. Obviously our family feels that this is not in her best interest. We have hired a law firm to represent our family and help us keep Elli with her brother and sister. After 8 months of being assured that Elli would be staying with us and that we would be able to adopt her, the sudden change in her permanancy plan was quite a shock and dissapointment. We anticipate going to trial this summer and are working hard to raise the funds needed to maintain rigorous and skilled representation through this legal battle to help us keep our family together.

Thanks to everyone for your support, prayers and good vibes. Our family is so appreciative of so many~