We ARE family!

I met J on a dating site, he was tall, dark, handsome and a widower with 3 little girls.

I still remember telling my friends "he has 3 kids...what am I doing??".  I had 1 little girl, whom was five at the time, and already I felt like my life was filled to the brim.

Scared as hell, and against some of my peers suggestions, I took a shot and went on a date with the modern day Danny Tanner. 

Funny how when you click with someone, baggage seems more like luggage, and life becomes a vacation. 

We fell in love, all 6 of us.  Soon came baby J, a boy of course, and we went from a family of 6 to a family of 7. 

"Are they ALL yours?" is a question I hear often. 

Yes, they are ALL mine, even the blonde one. 

We are a large, chaotic, loud, blended family!  I'm not an evil "step mother", just an "evil mother" (sometimes).  My children are whole siblings with ten toes to sneak around each others rooms with, ten fingers to poke each other with, two arms to hug with, two legs to chase each other with, two eyes to spy on with, one nose to sense one another with , one mouth to tattle on with. and one heart to love each other with.   We are us, just like you and yours, we are a family.

We face the same challenges as any "normal" family, school issues, personality conflicts, phases and fads. 

Like most mothers, I second guess my decisions - not because they "aren't mine" but because they are.  I care about what they eat, who they talk to, and what they hear and see.  They are all a reflection of me, even though the image might not be a duplicate.

I love my family, and embrace our unique situation, but I know that there are so many other families out there just like us! I would like this blog to be a place for us to connect, ask questions, share stories, and understand each other, as well as help other people understand that we are family..no matter what the circumstance.