Jatta Pake Posted December 17, 2009 Share Posted December 17, 2009 (edited) Almost two years ago my wife and I began the process to adopt children from the foster care system. Able to have biological children, we had talked long before marriage about our desire to eventually adopt. Since we often joke that we do everything backwards anyways, it seemed natural to us to have children before babies. (We lived together before we dated, we were married four years before our wedding, to name a couple things). Two years of preparation led to a phone call yesterday. After three hours of deliberation, the adoption committee selected us from three familes to adopt a sibling set. We have pursued these children for the past four months, and now I am going to be a dad! A few on this board know that this process was one of the reasons my participation at MMHQ and MMMV dwindled to almost nothing. I've kept it a secret but now its time to share with everone. There are four children total - ages 9 (girl), 5 (boy), 2 (boy), and 6 months (baby boy). To all my friends across the Multiverse - thank you for keeping us in your thoughts! I am looking forward to sharing my minimate collection with my new little mini-maniacs, and updates with all of you! This is going to be the best Christmas of our lives. Quick Edit: Strangely, the initials of my 2 year old are J P. Is this fate or what? Edited December 17, 2009 by Jatta Pake Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
luke314pi Posted December 17, 2009 Share Posted December 17, 2009 Congratulations!! I am happy to hear that all of your hard work and dedication has paid off. When do you get to meet them for the first time? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mirymate Posted December 17, 2009 Share Posted December 17, 2009 What a wonderful Christmas Present! Congratulations! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
handsomedevil Posted December 17, 2009 Share Posted December 17, 2009 Wow! Four kids as your first foray into parenthood? You are a brave man! Two keep me busy. Best wishes, JP. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jatta Pake Posted December 17, 2009 Author Share Posted December 17, 2009 Congratulations!! I am happy to hear that all of your hard work and dedication has paid off. When do you get to meet them for the first time? Our first meeting may likely be via Skype. They are out of state so we have a lot of transition details to work out. We've seen pictures, and we know everything about them through our conversations with the foster parents. JP has seen pictures of us as well and he is already excited about our dogs! It will be a trip to finally hear my kids' voices for the first time! Thanks Miry and Luke! Wow! Four kids as your first foray into parenthood? You are a brave man! Two keep me busy. Best wishes, JP. Four is a shock to our relatives too! They knew we were going to adopt one or two, but never imagined four. I like to think of it as Xtreme Parenting. 2010 is going to be absolutely crazy. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MinimateEspo25 Posted December 17, 2009 Share Posted December 17, 2009 Congrats dude, thats something that unfortunately too many people do not do because they are uneasy about children that are not their own or just the trouble involved in the adoption process. I hope you and your new family get to be together before the year is out and good luck. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
minijeff Posted December 17, 2009 Share Posted December 17, 2009 Wow congrats man!! I know you are going to enjoy this! I love all 5 of my kids and would love to have more like that Jeff of the Miniacs Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jatta Pake Posted December 17, 2009 Author Share Posted December 17, 2009 Congrats dude, thats something that unfortunately too many people do not do because they are uneasy about children that are not their own or just the trouble involved in the adoption process. I hope you and your new family get to be together before the year is out and good luck. Two years of classes, books, home studies, and support groups and I can probably write a paper on transracial adoption from foster care. In a few more years I will probably be able to write a book. It isn't for everyone for sure, and we have our share of heartbreaking stories. But days like yesterday make it all worth it! Thank you for the good wishes! Wow congrats man!! I know you are going to enjoy this! I love all 5 of my kids and would love to have more like that Jeff of the Miniacs Yes, I will think of you Jeff when I'm going crazy! "Hey, I have ONLY four children, not like that crazy Canadian with five!" Don't you have three under 2 years old? We will have to share war stories... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bob Harris Posted December 18, 2009 Share Posted December 18, 2009 Great news JP! I hope everything turns out as great as it sounds, but I have no doubt! (And since I'm here in the USA, my family and friends in Germany and my girlfriend in New Zealand and learned to love Skype a lot, so I think meeting you children there for the first time is just okay.) Best, Bob Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nessex Posted December 18, 2009 Share Posted December 18, 2009 Congratulations! what an amazing Christmas you guys will have! I can't wait to adopt (i'm a few years off being ready for kids, myself). Well done on slogging through the process. I've heard ti can be quite arduous. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
murderofcrows Posted December 18, 2009 Share Posted December 18, 2009 Amazing being a father is the best thing in the wold we have 2 and anoher on the way congras!!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Punisher Posted December 18, 2009 Share Posted December 18, 2009 Congratulations Jatta! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
minimadman Posted December 18, 2009 Share Posted December 18, 2009 That is awesome. Adoption is something that my wife and I have talked about from time to time but I could never imagine four new ones at one time. Those kids are very lucky to have you looking after them. Enjoy your great adventure sir. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
karamazov80 Posted December 18, 2009 Share Posted December 18, 2009 Congrats JP! That is very exciting and, I would wager, very anxiety-provoking news. Best of luck with all of that. Me and the Mrs. have also discussed adoption off and on in the past, and may still pursue that route someday, but I don't know if I would ultimately have the guts. There are so many children out there who through no fault of their own have little chance of experiencing a stable, love-filled childhood, and frankly, guys like you who actually adopt are true heroes in my book. Bravo, JP, though I am sure that all the memories and love that are to come are going to be more than reward enough. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gambitron Posted December 18, 2009 Share Posted December 18, 2009 Congratulations! That is such an incredible thing you are doing and I wish nothing but the best for you and your new family! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The_Donster Posted December 18, 2009 Share Posted December 18, 2009 Congratulations JP. Look forward to seeing some pics soon, best of luck to you and your family Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TM2 Dinobot Posted December 18, 2009 Share Posted December 18, 2009 My friend and mentor i trying to adopt kids with his wife, and everything was going through fine until the week before they were to sign papers when a judge awarded them to an out-of-state family that didn't even know they were in the running. I'm glad to hear everything is going okay with yours though! XD Best of luck. I'm all for big families. There needs to be more of us out there. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wallbreaker2.0 Posted December 18, 2009 Share Posted December 18, 2009 Congratulations JP! I think it great that you chose to adopt I honestly believe that the world would be a better place if more people did. Best of luck with the new family! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
blacksun1520 Posted December 18, 2009 Share Posted December 18, 2009 Wow, congratulations! Talk about a Christmas gift! I commend you JP, it is no easy task raising kids, but nothing is more rewarding. My two little girls are the best thing that ever happened to me, and you have lots of moments and memories ahead of you I wish you and your new family all the best. BS Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
groundhog7s Posted December 18, 2009 Share Posted December 18, 2009 That is amazingly awesome. My four are 3 months, 2 years and 2 at 9 years (one of which has been acting like a five year old recently) so I can kind of imagine what life might be for you. Big, big congrats to all of you. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TBT! Posted December 18, 2009 Share Posted December 18, 2009 Hey Congrats Dan, 4 kids at once is going to be a hell of a ride but I wish you and mrs JP all the best! T. p.s. is this part of you longterm plan to have more people to play boardgames with? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Docholliday666 Posted December 18, 2009 Share Posted December 18, 2009 Congrats, and kudos to you and your wife. It takes a very loving person to adopt a child. And adopting multiple children from the same family is near saint-like status in my opinion. Good luck and best wishes. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MinnesotaIceman Posted December 18, 2009 Share Posted December 18, 2009 Congrats! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jatta Pake Posted December 18, 2009 Author Share Posted December 18, 2009 Thanks everyone! I appreciate all of the well wishes! I'm still riding the excitement high! Hey Congrats Dan, 4 kids at once is going to be a hell of a ride but I wish you and mrs JP all the best! T. p.s. is this part of you longterm plan to have more people to play boardgames with? Absolutely. I told my wife that we are all going to Essen in a few years. She rolled her eyes. Not only playing board games, but this is also my longterm plan to do other things my wife isn't so keen on: namely camping, riding insane roller coasters, and watching scifi/action movies. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NorthRaider Posted December 18, 2009 Share Posted December 18, 2009 Congratulations JP! Wishing you and your soon-to-be-very-happy family the bestest of wishes! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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