A Growing Family

On January 19, 2015, our family grew by one when Jacob moved in with us. The circumstances surrounding that move don't matter...what matters is that before that date, he had already moved into my heart, and then on that date, he physically moved into what would soon become "his room" and "his house".

In March 2015, we started the process to legally make me his mom and him my son even though in our minds it was already "legal enough". But the insurance company and other legal kinds of folks said we needed that official piece of paper. You know...the paper that you pay a lot of money to have a lawyer ask a judge to sign....proving what you already know to be true. 

Finally, on September 23, 2015, after a LOT OF HOOPS (and not the good kind that you sink the shot into) and seemingly endless legal requirements, the judge signed and I officially became his and he officially became mine.



What many people may not realize is that Jacob has a brother. In fact, he has a fraternal twin brother. His name is Esau.

Esau has always been a part of our lives and has always been welcome in our home, but again, the circumstances surrounding why Jacob came to live with us in January 2015 and Esau did not do not matter. What matters is that on May 13, 2016, we loaded up Esau's stuff and brought him home with us.

The why does not matter. What matters is that Jacob and Esau are back under the same roof, safe and happy, and able to focus on what they are supposed to be focused on at this point in their lives...... which is being 16-year-old high school students.  

So for the last month of school I was driving to both high schools in Bryan because the boys did not attend the same school last year. Once we knew that Esau's move to our home was going to be a long-term thing, we started the discussions about what will happen in August when school starts.

Our family has made a lot of sacrifices and made a lot of difficult decisions during the last 18 months, but each time the sacrifice and the decision were made with the future in mind... and each time, I feel like we have made the right choices. So after days and days and days of discussions about what to do for August (and yes, I made one of my infamous pro-con lists that Jacob has learned to live with), we decided that because Esau had just been through such an upheaval shrouded in lots of chaos and instability, Jacob would be the one to switch schools. This was so tough. The teachers at Bryan High School have been AMAZING in getting Jacob on the right academic path to start his high school career. They cared about him. They invested in him. And they taught him about what it means to have teachers who really give a darn about WHO a kid is and WHAT he needs as an individual. I could have not have asked for a better freshman year.  

But I also know that Rudder High School has some incredible teachers. I have been very fortunate to work with them as a team, so I know intimately how much they genuinely care about the students that walk their halls each day. I also know that campus cares about Esau. I have seen it firsthand, so now I have to trust that they will take care of both Jacob AND Esau for the next three years. 

Bryan High put Jacob on the right path and now Rudder will have to pick up the baton and run with it.... with me running right there alongside them. 



Because our family has grown again.
We now have 2 boys.
And life is good.