I've always pictured myself having several kids but life with Christian has been especially busy so I waited and waited...
But this past year I finally decided that I can manage more. Christian is at that age where I can drop him off at practices and events if I need to and not worry (too much) about him or the responsible coaches/etc. He is managing school well with his homework and takes an active part in helping around the house (though I must admit he should probably be doing more around the house!!). With his growing independence it opened up the opportunity to look at having another son.
Last December (2014) I decided to bite the bullet and started the fost-adopt application process with Sierra Forever Families. Several of you were references and I thank you for that!! When I adopted the first time it took roughly 10 months from application to foster certification, but this time they only needed to update my previous home study and do updated background checks so it only took 6 months! But that's just for certification...
So in June (2015) the search for a foster son started. This is the hardest past of the whole process! You work with a match coordinator and review information on available kids from the local counties (really all of Northern California - and Southern California if you want). You WANT to help them all but you also have to be realistic when bringing a foster child into your home as you don't want to cause more trauma and disruption in their lives if you don't have to. They need to match your family, your lifestyle, your picture of who you want as a kid. Then for any child you find that you think would fit your family you express your interest and hope that you are selected among all of the other families that are interested. Before being matched with Lloyd there were many other kids I considered submitting for but two of them were more memorable - one kid (3 or 4 years old) had several families interested in him but all of a sudden the foster family couldn't deal with him and over the course of a weekend an emergency transition was done into another foster home with hope for final placement. Think about that, the foster family signed up to watch over a kid this age --- what could a 3 or 4 year old do to cause this family to need them out of their house IMMEDIATELY. Sad situation. Another memorable child was actual a sibling set --- of three! It was three youngs boys (all less than 6 or 7). I've always wanted a large family and while I had indicated I would not take a sibling set this time around it really got me thinking about how much fun it would be to have this large family. It would be absolutely chaotic and crazy but the more I thought about it, the more I convinced myself I COULD do it! I could manage it! And I truly think I could, but in the end I decided not to submit for them...
And then Lloyd came into the picture. When I first heard about Lloyd he was part of a sibling set with his sister but there was a chance they would split them up so I mentioned my interest. His sister and him weren't getting along and together they couldn't find them an adoptive home, but apart each one would have an immediate forever home. It took awhile for everyone to get on the same page, but finally permission was given to adopt them seperately and I'll be starting visits with Lloyd next week.