Wow, WohlgeVille has changed...

Gee, long time no post. I promise I do have a valid excuse, or two or three. Actually four would be more accurate because that is the number of children who have joined our family since my last post. And I thought I was doing something when I had eight kids, bahhhhaaahaaa. Eight I could parent in my sleep....which I don't get much of now. Not complaining, just stating.

So, in a very condensed version, we completed two domestic or private adoptions and are now kinship fosterparents. There are times when I hear of others waiting to be matched with their children, some for a very long time, and I wonder. Maybe our story will bring hope to those enduring the agony of empty arms or those with more room in their homes and heart just waiting to be filled. My family is abundantly blessed. God is so good and He has been faithful in keeping His promises. The past few years have not been without trial and as I share more, you will see that we may very well be in the eye of the storm.

One year ago...

One year ago, we met our sons for the first time. Trenton and Trey have become such a huge part of our lives. It is so difficult to remember life without them. Trenton had some huge adjustment issues we had to work through and looking back it is amazing how far he has come. Trenton was diagnosed as Oppositional Defiant, ADHD, LD and Attachment Disordered. I will never forget the first time we took him to Wal-mart and he tried to just walk off. After several warnings, I made him hold my hand. That did not go over well at all and he literally melted to the floor. It was as if every bone in his body suddenly disappeared and I had a jelly boy on my hands. So what exactly do you do when you have a 7 year-old boy lying on the ground in front of a very busy milk section of Wal-Mart? Well, Jason just took the other kids and walked off. He shot me a smirk on his way out of the very embarrassing situation. Lucky guy. So there I stood holding the limp hand of my boneless boy. There was no talking him down. We stood there for what felt like an eternity. The one thing he wanted, I could not, would not give. He wanted me to let go of his hand. I seriously think I have a hunch back for the eternity I spent bent over him holding his hand. To be honest, I don't really remember how I finally got him to stand up. I just remember not wanting to go shopping for a long, long time and believe me that is saying something!!!
***Warning***  Some of the language following may be offensive to some readers.  Children with attachment issues have often been exposed to inappropriate language.  Trenton could swear like none other when he was angry. Now if someone says "stupid" he gasps and runs to tell me. One of my favorite memories was when he called me a "dumb a-s-s" and informed me that it spelled "ass." When I asked him if he could spell "dumb" he was the one dumbfounded. Once when he was so mad, he called me a "son of an a$$hole." After telling him that I had already heard all of the swear words and he couldn't shock me, he just had to prove me wrong.  
After homeschooling Trenton for the remainder of the year and practicing attachment parenting, he is back in mainstream school and is doing great. He is off all of the medications and is so much happier. We can and do go shopping without incident. Today when he was saying his prayers, he thanked God for his mom and dad. What more could I ask for?