Introduction

     So I think I am jumping on this bandwagon about 5 years too late, but what can I say?  I am always a little late.  My name is Katie and I have a whole bunch of children.  We have 5 through adoption and 3 through birth and are so lucky to have these 8 wonderful people in our lives.  Consistently, the most interesting thing about me seems to be my 8 children, so maybe I should start there.
     One night, after a few beers, my husband and I....just kidding, I totally am not starting there.  I always thought that was a funny way to start a story until my son said, "Mom, can you tell my teacher about how the wine helped me get into your tummy?"  So truly, that story (which is a JOKE, people) has been retired.
    The true story goes something like this.  Ever since I was really small, I have wanted to be a mom.  Even in high school, I knew that I wanted to be a mom and stay home with my kids.  I was terminally unhip, even then.  In high school, I volunteered at a foster daycare, where foster parents could drop off their children and get a break once a week.  I loved those little munchkins and figured that adoption would be one way that my future family would grow.
    In college, I met my husband and we were married our senior year.  In the fall after graduation, I gave birth to our first child, a boy, G.  When he was 16 months old, I had a little girl, E.  Both of my children were so fun and funny that I knew that our family was not complete.  We began the adoption process for Russia soon after E was born.  Russia's program changed drastically right after we turned in our dossier in 2004.  We decided to switch to Ethiopia in the spring of 2005, and updated our homestudy on a Wednesday, turned in our paperwork on a Thursday, and on Friday, received our referral.  8 weeks later, we were on a plane to pick up our little 4 1/2 month old little boy.  Two weeks before leaving for Ethiopia, I found out I was expecting again.  Six months after baby P arrived, I gave birth to another little boy, D.
     While in Ethiopia, we met so many children and realized that these kids were not like the poor and wretched orphans in "Oliver Twist."  Instead, these kids were just children that had a lot of really crappy things happen to them and they wound up without a family.  We decided that we would adopt older than an infant when we went back.
   In the summer of 2006, we asked for a referral of a preschool aged waiting child, I.  In December, he became a permanent member of the family.  E, who was about 3, started begging for a sister and in April of 2008, a waiting child with medical needs, M, joined our family.  When my husband and I picked up M, we fell in love with a 6 year old boy, Y.  While in the process to adopt Y, an employee of the adoption agency asked if we would consider adopting a waiting baby, A, as well.  We, of course, said, "YES!!!"  and in October of 2009, both Y and A became members of our family.
So that is the short (!) version of our family.  In this blog, I hope to talk about family, adoption, Ethiopia, and the random stuff that comes up.  Thanks for sticking with me!