Our Story: Baby Day Day (Part 5)
It was Christmas time in 2011 when my friend Paulette from our agency emailed me & several other foster parents about opening our homes to additional children due to an influx in kids entering care. There were far more kids than homes and they were looking for extra beds. We pushed the email aside, knowing that Tashari (18 months at the time) and her parent's case was up in the air. We wanted to finalize our adoption with her before we welcomed any other kids.
A few weeks after Christmas we got another email. They needed foster parents just to help transition kids who entered care until they could find more long term homes for them - on a 60 day (or less) emergent basis. We finally caved - knowing we had the capacity - to allowing a baby into our home for a few weeks.
It was only 10 days later that we got another life changing call. A baby boy had been born (only minutes before) who needed a home that upcoming weekend. He didn't even have a name yet. They knew he couldn't stay with his mom before he had a name. How devastating. They thought the little boy would need an adoptive home, but were unsure about the baby's dad's identity. They said even if we take him on this emergent basis, the agency would give us first "dibs" if we would like him to stay with us.
Ben literally turned to me and suggested, "We are going to adopt him, aren't we?!"
It was a long weekend of waiting to meet our little buddy, but we had so much time to shop and get things together compared to the hours we had for our previous placements. We were able to gather plenty of handme down clothes, diapers and purchase everything else we needed for his arrival.
I'll never forget the way I felt when we arrived at the hospital to pick up our foster baby. They never told us his name, so we literally went up to the nurse's station with an empty car seat asking to pick up the baby boy with his last name. Before we knew it, the kind nurses were loading a cart up with supplies - extra packs of diapers, formula and nuks so we could love this little boy well.
Days turned to months into years & while it was clear his mother loved him, she was unable to care for him and at almost 2 1/2 years old our Charlie Day (he had been baby Day Day) was ours forever.
It never ceases to amaze me that our first two "guaranteed" adoptions fell through & when we allowed God to show us the path and that we were willing to do anything to contribute to the foster care crisis in Milwaukee, there is when we were able to adopt. God brought us our crazy little man who loves to explore how the world works, asks why (about anything & everything) and wears his heart on his sleeve 100%. With great joy we will always remember the night our Charlie was born. Something unique to our first son.
A few weeks after Christmas we got another email. They needed foster parents just to help transition kids who entered care until they could find more long term homes for them - on a 60 day (or less) emergent basis. We finally caved - knowing we had the capacity - to allowing a baby into our home for a few weeks.
It was only 10 days later that we got another life changing call. A baby boy had been born (only minutes before) who needed a home that upcoming weekend. He didn't even have a name yet. They knew he couldn't stay with his mom before he had a name. How devastating. They thought the little boy would need an adoptive home, but were unsure about the baby's dad's identity. They said even if we take him on this emergent basis, the agency would give us first "dibs" if we would like him to stay with us.
Ben literally turned to me and suggested, "We are going to adopt him, aren't we?!"
It was a long weekend of waiting to meet our little buddy, but we had so much time to shop and get things together compared to the hours we had for our previous placements. We were able to gather plenty of handme down clothes, diapers and purchase everything else we needed for his arrival.
I'll never forget the way I felt when we arrived at the hospital to pick up our foster baby. They never told us his name, so we literally went up to the nurse's station with an empty car seat asking to pick up the baby boy with his last name. Before we knew it, the kind nurses were loading a cart up with supplies - extra packs of diapers, formula and nuks so we could love this little boy well.
Days turned to months into years & while it was clear his mother loved him, she was unable to care for him and at almost 2 1/2 years old our Charlie Day (he had been baby Day Day) was ours forever.
It never ceases to amaze me that our first two "guaranteed" adoptions fell through & when we allowed God to show us the path and that we were willing to do anything to contribute to the foster care crisis in Milwaukee, there is when we were able to adopt. God brought us our crazy little man who loves to explore how the world works, asks why (about anything & everything) and wears his heart on his sleeve 100%. With great joy we will always remember the night our Charlie was born. Something unique to our first son.
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