Not His Only Momma

I have been thinking on this for sometime now. The fact that I am not our son's only momma. See, my son was born to one woman; raised by another for nearly two years; and has been my son for the past four years. For this reason alone, I am not nor will I ever be his only momma.

When we first adopted our son we made our intentions clear to his birth parents. Our plan was to refer to them in name when we discussed them with our son. The intent was to establish that we were his parents to raise him. How ignorant were we in this? They gave him life...as time has gone on I see his growing understanding of who his "Tummy Momma" and "Tummy Daddy" are. With this I see an enchantment with these people who birthed him. He gets excited when there is an email from them, even if it is only a few lines. He enjoys reviewing his "Life Book" which has photos of them in it, and speaks of how he came to our home. I cannot nor will I ever squelch this, because who am I to tell him he is wrong? Who am I to deny him his history? They are part of him, they are part of us, and there is no denying that. Not now, not ever.

We are blessed to have an amazing friendship and connection with our son's Foster Family. He refers to them as Momma xxxx and Daddy xxxxx. We share photos and videos with them via social networking and text. They have been invited to his birthday, school events, sporting events, and to "just because we miss them coffee." They have become a part of our family, and are cherished as such. As a former Foster Parent I can tell you that this is not the normal turn of events. This Foster Family can tell you the same. They have fostered over 75 children in the past 21+ years, and while several still have contact with them many have moved from their home and have never been heard from or seen after. I cannot imagine not having a relationship with Momma xxxx and Daddy xxxxx. For our son, they complete his puzzle. They are a part of his whole story, and a part of his future.

See even though I am one of three mommas to our son, and my husband is one of three daddies, I wouldn't change this situation for the world. The six of us have created, shaped, and molded him into the little man that he is becoming. We have each left our fingerprints on him and those cannot be washed off. I wouldn't change him for anything, I wouldn't blot out any part of his story, because without any one of us he wouldn't be who he is now.

FIVE!

I know some of you are still battling with building a family, so please don't take offense at my posts about our son. I have always said from day one that this is our journey, and part of that journey is celebration. Some chose IVF, some chose adoption, some foster, some have furr-babies, and others chose to live child-free. I will never judge your choices, but I do feel that part of our journey is to live in the moment and celebrate...That being said, this will be a Momma Brag post.

FIVE! We now have a FIVE-YEAR-OLD little man. I swear in the past week he has matured tenfold. Seriously, from things like him informing me that he "has enough toys" and wants to "put (his birthday money) in his pig(gy bank)". To him taking off with his morning chores. Gets dressed, brushes his teeth, and feeds the dogs with me having to ask just once! (You do know I am going to have to nag him about this tomorrow, that is how it works when you brag on your kids, they have to remind you that they are little humans.)
He is enrolled in Kindergarten and eager for the possibility of soccer in the fall! He uses his manners 95% of the time, and loves his friends.
Is he perfect, no. But he is growing into a gentleman, "just like Daddy".
Tonight as we left his friend's house, she ran out the door to get a kiss. Not just from me, actually I think I may have been an after thought. No, she wanted a kiss from our son. Feels like yesterday we were doing respite with him, today he is doing his own chores, and tomorrow I will be photographing him on his way to prom with his best friend.
Happy Birthday to my Baby, my Punkin, and forever my best friend.