Our Ever Growing Family

Today marks another milestone in our family; we are now the biological/adoptive/foster/custodial parents of six children and we couldn't be happier. Our family now includes Todd and me and the kids (in order of age): Derrick-17 (our one-and-only biological child), Sissy-almost 17 (adopted September 14, 2011), Chris-16 (won custody September 19, 2011), Amanda-15 (adopted September 14, 2011), Blondie-6 (waiting on paperwork for final adoption date) and Little Bit-5 (waiting on paperwork for final adoption date). There are a few other children whom we consider to be "ours" even though they do not live with us, but we are so very lucky to still get to see and care for on occasion. All of these children have stolen our hearts and have made our lives so much better just by being a part of them. God willing, the Blanchard Bunch will continue to grow throughout the next few years. :-)

I decided to start this blog today because we've had so many questions posed to us over the past year about being foster parents and now that we've moved into the adoptive and custodial parent roles, I expect there will be a lot more. Trust me, I've asked my share of questions to other parents,doctors and therapists over the past year, and again, I expect there will be a lot more in the upcoming months. :-) Being parents of multiple children is a whole new ball game for us and I hope you find our adventures, stories, mishaps and accomplishments as entertaining as we do.

Our children are great at laughing at themselves, each other and us whenever the opportunity arises. There are nine different personalities in our household, but somehow, we make it work. Yes, there are days when someone (sometimes many someones) will wish our family was smaller, our house had way more bedrooms, or that there was a way to run away from it all and live the life of a king or queen. That being said, right on the heels of that outburst of emotion comes the realization that they LOVE their life and family and wouldn't trade it for the world. A little more privacy, however, might tip the scales...

I am hoping to introduce you, dear reader, to each and every one of our children through various blog posts. They are all so precious to us and there are so many great, wonderful and funny stories I can tell you about each and every one of them. Over time, I hope you will come to know them all and love them just as much as we do. A word of warning: If you pull a muscle laughing at their antics or some of the statements they make that I will post here, that's on you. I cannot be held accountable for your injuries, no matter how silly or severe.

Enjoy your time here! We certainly are enjoying ours. :-)