My name is Poppy Esme Rowena Storstrand, I have Brown Hair and Brown Eyes and I'm twenty years old. I'm a student at Brown University and you're pursuing a major in History. Ever since I came to college, I've always been focused on my studies, I've worked very hard to get into Brown and need to maintain a certain GPA to continue getting my scholarship money to enable me to continue, the second being I need to be able to get scholarships to go on and further my education.
However, today is the last day of my junior year of undergrad and I've just taken my final exam, I'm thrilled, and feel like I've passed all my classes with flying colors and I could not be more ecstatic. All I want to do now is sleep, maybe watch some netflix, but my roommate, Casey Sawyer Dylan, insists I accompany her to the party to make sure she gets home safe since she plans on drinking. I loathe the idea, but she did help me out studying for my final in Logic. So, I accompany her to the party and watch her have a good time and hang out on the outskirts of the party.
Suddenly, a girl comes up to me. I dismiss her at first, but she made a funny joke about Trump's campaign, which kind of catches my interest. She's got Brown Hair and Hazel Eyes and introduces themselves as Cornelia Genevieve Vervloet, they're nineteen years old. I start talking to Cornelia and find out about her, she is apparently a legacy of the university, went to prep schools her whole life, has traveled the world with her bourgeois family and while that would usually make me feel a bit of a chip on my shoulder, for some reason, it doesn't with Cornelia, for some reason. I find her charming. I also find out that Cornelia is majoring in Political Science and the way Cornelia speak about her major so passionately it entices me. We talk for hours before Casey stumbles over. Realizing I need to get her home, but not wanting the conversation with Cornelia to end, so we exchange numbers and I promise to call her later. I leave with Casey and head back to my dorm, feeling much happier than when I'd arrived at the party.
I met my wife ten years ago at that silly college party, and as much as I disliked the party scene in college, I can't help but look back on that night fondly. Ever since that night, Cornelia and I started dating. We graduated from Brown, and Cornelia ends up deciding to attend Law School at Columbia while I attended NYU to do a PHD program in History and in pedagogy, of course we moved to NYC together and shared an apartment in the Upper East Side that belonged to Cornelia'a family, we enjoyed being young and in our twenties together, living the good life in love and it was honestly magical. By the end of it all, Cornelia graduated law school and got a position as an entry level Lawyer at Barden, Vervloet & Associates while I started working at Barnard College, Fordham University and St. Johns's University as a Visiting Assistant Professor of History.
Once we settled into our careers, we got married. It was actually quite the large affair, mostly on Cornelia's side. I had a few childhood friends and college friends, my mother and then co-workers, but Cornelia well, she had her parents, siblings, the in-laws on all sides, her friends, all the girls from her old private high school, family friends and then her work colleagues. We rented out a huge hotel with a large ballroom, it was catered by a celebrity chef and pastry chef, we had the the ceremony inside on a breezy, fall day. It was honestly a wonderful event even though I can only remember some of the people I had met. There were hundreds. Cornelia decided to take my last name as Afterwards, Cornelia and I decided to honeymoon in a few places over the course of three weeks during the winter break of college - Kauai, Hawaii; Reykjavik, Iceland and Amsterdam, The Netherlands. After our fun was said and done we used the lump sum of money that Cornelia's parents had gifted us for the wedding into buying a five-bedroom house together in Westchester County since we planned on having kids soon after getting married. However, there does seem to be something missing. The pitter-patter of little feet. So, Cornelia and I decide to start trying for a family, we spend two years trying and failing to get pregnant with the help of donor sperm, but nothing happens. No pregnancy.
We visited a fertility doctor, who reported that a previously undiagnosed case of Polycystic Ovary Syndrome in myself and Endometriosis in Cornelia. Cornelia and I were stunned and devastated. We spent a few months going over the facts and trying to think of a solution. As an only child, I wanted my kids to have many siblings that they could count on, since Cornelia has a load of siblings and loves being a part of a big family.
Four months after the news, Cornelia and I made the decision to visit an adoption agency. It took a few visits, making a book about our lives, but not too long after we were matched with a birth mother, Jennifer Emily Altair, who lived in rural South Dakota. She was 16 and had gotten pregnant accidentally. We met with her a few times and agreed to pay for her medical bills, some bills related to pregnancy such as birthing classes and maternity wear. The adoption agency informed us a few months into the pregnancy that we would be the parents of a little boy. Cornelia and I had agreed that we would be fine with either gender, but we were both so excited to have a son.
Cornelia and I spent the next few months converting one of our spare bedrooms into a nursery for our son. Finally, the day of delivery arrived. Jennifer went into labor, and we waited for hours at the hospital until finally we received news that he had been born. Our son weighed seven pounds and nine ounces and was twenty-three inches long. He had Blonde Hair and Brown Eyes. Jennifer signed away her rights without ever meeting him. We took him home the next day and named him Stellan Tobias Judah Storstrand since he's our little star.
My mother, Barbra Margaret Storstrand, moved to Long Island from Sun Valley, Idaho shortly after Stellan was born to help us raise him, since Cornelia and I had such demanding jobs. Juggling motherhood and being promoted to a full time professor at Barnard College was challenging, but Stellan's smile motivated us through the challenges we faced as new parents.
Around Stellan's first birthday, Cornelia, Stellan, and I flew to Darien, Connecticut for the annual Vervloet family reunion. We stayed at Cornelia's childhood house where her parents, Eleanor Katherine (née Kennedy) and Byron Nathaniel Vervloet, still live. Cornelia is the youngest of four kids. The eldest Verhoeven child is Judah Chester Vervloet, who is 43. He graduated from Yale with a degree in Biochemistry, then went to Harvard Medical school and is a Pediatric Surgeon. Judah and his family reside in Darien, Connnecticut on the same block as Eleanor and Byron. Judah is married to Eloise Josephine Vervloet (née Mars), a stay-at-home mother, and they have five kids: Andrew Jonah (15), Beatrice Eleanor (12), Christian Jonas (9), Daisy Eliza (7) and Ella Josephine (6).
The second Vervloet child is Cecelia Beatrice Hearst (née Vervloet), who is 39. She graduated from Yale University with a degree in Business and now works for Hearst, Walton and Cohen LLC in Manhattan, but they live in Manhasset, NY. Her husband's name is Arthur August Hearst . He is an attorney at the LLC company where his own father is a head partner. Cecelia and Arthur have six kids: Frederick Nathaniel (13), George Nathan (10), Charlotte Eleanor (10), Margaret Frances (7), Susannah Helen (4) and Alice Francesca (4)
The third Vervloet child is Tobias Humphrey Vervloet. He is 36 and is married to Hazel Violet Vervloet (née Koch). Tobias ans Hazel have five children: Tobias "Toby" Hayden (11), Nathaniel Barnaby (8), Reed Walker (5), Arabella Sloane (3) and Violet Eleanor (0). Tobias went to Stanford where he majored in Biochemistry and Neurosciences. He is now a Neurosurgeon and works at Mount Sinai Hospital while Hazel is a stay-at-home mother, the family now resides in New York City, New York.
With around thirty people at the reunion, there were plenty of people to talk to, and it was fun watching all the kids play together. Cornelia and I fondly imagined Stellan joining in the fun and games when he's old enough. I received plenty of child-rearing advice from all of Cornelia's siblings and their spouses, not to mention my in-laws, which was irksome at times, but I knew their intentions were kind and sincere. One evening, Tobias asked me if Cornelia and I planned on having more children, or if we were just having Stellan. I told him that we would be interested in adopting again, but that we didn't have any concrete plans to adopt any time soon. Tobias didn't ask anything else, but his question stuck with me for the rest of the week.
Cornelia, Stellan, and I finally returned home. After putting Stellan to bed one night, Cornelia brought up the idea of international adoption, which we had considered before adopting Stellan. We agreed that since it can be a two to four year process, we should put in a request at the adoption agency now. The next day, I called our agent, Sibella Estienne Smith, who told me the countries they were currently in contact with. We talked about Stellan, and she said that she would update us if any matches were found. I hung up the phone feeling giddy about the prospect of having another child.
That weekend, Cornelia and I left Stellan at home with my mother so that we could go out to dinner. We hadn't had a real date night since Stellan was born, so it was a refreshing evening for both of us. We talked about what countries we wanted to adopt from, deciding that China, Ukraine, and Haiti were our top choices. We eventually decided that Ukraine was our first choice of country, since I recently had a few international students form Ukraine in my class this past year and hearing about their culture was certainly interesting and they had been some of my most well-behaved and sincere students ever. So we called Sibella the next day and told her that we were interested in adopting a child from Ukraine.
For the next few months, we had our home inspected and filled out countless forms. During the summer, we decided to take a trip to The Atlantis in the Bahamas. It was wonderful to enjoy the beach and sun, Stellan adored making sandcastles and while we felt a little guilty a few times we left him in the daycare and got massages, had some nice dinners together and even spent one afternoon in the sun lazily while he got to go play with some touch sea animals. Of course, we also did a lot together, we met with Dolphins and took pictures and helped work on teaching Stellan to swim in the ocean and in the pool, our little man even tried his first water slide in my lap.
The months pass, and we keep in touch with Sibella, who informs us that there are no suitable matches for us yet. Although we are disappointed by this, we get into a happy and stable routine with Stellan and rely on my mom's help less and less. For his third birthday, Cornelia and I decided to throw a party for our son. He asked for a Lion King themed party, since its his favorite movie by far, and I cannot wait to take him to see Hamlet when he's older, have him read it and take him to Denmark - my mother's birth country - one day considering his fascination. While shopping for party supplies, I received a call from Sibella who told me that there was a match for us! I rushed home and called Cornelia, who hurried home as well. We received a file from Sibella with pictures of two year old twin boys from Ukraine. We fell in love with them immediately. We speak with Sibella for another hour before leaving to go pick up Stellan from a weekend spent with Tobias, Hazel and their kids; Toby, Nathaniel, Reed, Arabella, Violet and their new little boy born six months ago, Brenner Koch Vervloet.
When we get home and Cornelia makes dinner and I bring up having a younger sibling to Stellan and he seems excited by the idea which eases some of our tension and we call back Sibella and talk through the process, we set up to go do a first visit in two months when I'll be off for Christmas break from work. We drop Stellan off with Cornelia's parents and then Cornelia, my mother and I fly off to Ukraine to start some more of the process for the adoption and meet our precious babies, while not identical, both boys have Brown Hair and Green Eyes. They're adorable and down right perfect and we fall in love with them, at the end of the week and a half when we have to say good, I can't imagine anything more painful, but my mother and Cornelia help me get through it. We'll be returning for them soon enough. We loved every minute that we spent with them and knew that they was the perfect match for our family. It hurts even worse knowing we're leaving them in the orphanage...While not terrible, the conditions are....still heartbreaking, the boys go by Oleg and Igor, We were sad to part with them, but we gave them kisses goodbye and told them that we would see them soon and they would finally com home. I got on our return flight in tears and the only thing that got me through it was knowing that Cornelia's parents and Stellan would be there at the airport to pick us up and I could hold Stellan in my arms.
As soon as our family gets home, we start to set up a nursery for our little ones. We even get Stellan involved with painting and helping to set it all up and the next thing you know its been another month and it is time for Cornelia and I to travel back to Ukraine to go pick up our little boys for good, to take home, we left Stellan with my mother for the week long time of ourst hearing, signing of papers and such and honestly, its all a rush and barely there memories and when we arrive, Cornelia's whole family, my mother and Stellan are there with all the food, gifts and babysitting offers we could ever want; of course what they're all eagerly awaiting is news I'm glad to give -we had decided to give the boys new names for a new start - as we inform them of the names we've chosen for our newest additions, Boden Cornelius Vervloet Storstrandand and Kai Porter Rowan Storstrand are welcomed joyfully into the Storstrand and Vervloet clan.
It has been two years since we welcomed Boden and Kai into our family and things have been going well, we're currently in waiting for our next adoption from China, which we settled the paper work on about six months ago. However, before that, we moved the family into a new home considering our growing family we knew we would need a little more space, thankfully Cornelia got a promotion the previous year into a full term lawyer and not just an entry position. Which helped, we ended up moving to a new house, which is stunning - It's in a really lovely neighborhood full of families, it's got about eight bedrooms, so we set up three guest bedrooms, room 1 - room 2 - room 3, we made one room into a luxury master for ourselves, Stellan requested a lion king themed room, a spider man themed room for Boden, a sports themed room for Kai, then we left one room empty to be made up when we hear back from the adoption agency - the house also has an in home gym room, a built in playroom for the kids, an in home theater, a wonderful two person office, a luxury kitchen and we designed a lofting library room. It's a perfect home for us all.
It's late at night and I'm currently organizing some files for work and are surprised when the phone rings and I see its our case worker, Sieblla, as she had already spoken to you earlier today to once more inform us that we were still on the waiting list to be matched up with a child, and it was looking like no movement would be coming soon at all. I pick up the phone to answer and ask Sibella why she's calling so late and she informs me she's got some interesting news and a proposal for Cornelia and I and it appears that the birth mother of Stellan has fallen pregnant again which was a huge blow for her, she's in college and trying to make the most of her life. Once more she's looking to adopt out her baby, and she wanted to ask Cornelia and I first since the baby would be Stellan's half sibling and she knows it would go to a good home if we both raised the baby. I'm stunned. I ask if I have time to think about the decision before giving an answer, I need to talk to Cornelia and discuss it before we make any major decisions. Sibella says that's fine, but informs me the quicker the better in circumstances like this so Jennifer would be able to have more time to find a different family if we pick not to adopt her baby. I inform Sibella that I understand and end the conversation.
I finish my work and then a few hours later, Cornelia comes home and she just wants to go to bed, but I inform her and I need to talk. I sit down in our living room with Cornelia and inform her about the situation at hand, how Jennifer is pregnant again and would like our family to adopt the baby. At first Cornelia is as shocked as I was, but she brings up how we both want a big family. I agree and bring up all the empty space in our new large home. We both decide to sleep on it and head to bed
The next morning as we're bringing our kids to school and pre-school for the day, I bring up the idea of if they might like a new brother or a sister and they respond individually. Stellan an Boden are very excited to have another sibling, they say they want a little sister this time, but Kai is a little nervous, I ask him why and he said he's worried about not being the youngest anymore, but I promise him he'll always be my baby even if we have another sibling join our family, or ten and it seems to assuage his worries. I drop all the kids off and think about what my children said and head off to work, I have a pretty good day and my co-worker, Stephenie Ann Mathis, even brings in her new baby - Myles, and I coo over him, he's absolutely adorable and it makes my heart yearn for another child. Later that day, when I go home, Cornelia and I seem to both agree, we'd like to adopt Jennifer's baby. We call back our social worker and tell her that we would like to adopt the baby and she is more than pleased to hear it and we start up the process for it once more, signing things, agreeing to pay for certain costs and such, just like last time.
Only a few months later I speak with Jennifer to see how she is doing and how schooling is going for her, and its good, thankfully it seems her pregnancy will be in its latent months over the summer and it won't affect her school work, she also informs me that she's found out the baby's gender that day and the baby is a - A Girl. I'm utterly thrilled, while Cornelia and I would have been delighted either way with a healthy baby, we're still very excited at the chance to welcome our first daughter, and quickly send off a text to Cornelia to let her know before wishing Jennifer well and heading off my lunch break to get back to work.
When I get home that day I surprise my mother, Barbra, with the news that she'll be a grandmother again and of course she's thrilled and even more so that she'll be getting her first granddaughter. Then I inform the children who still don't entirely all seem so sure, but when I explain that they can help me decorate the room we had previously left bare. Boden and Kai are very excited, but oddly Stellan now seems a little more hesitant so I try and get him involved, but soon enough the nursery is done and looks fantastic. Stellan, Boden and Kai now seem excited, especially Stellan.
As the pregnancy progresses, its time to start thinking about names and Cornelia and I talk back and forth having some trouble, but in the end we find some names we like and can agree on for the baby's first name, Thisbe, but have trouble finding a matching middle name, but decide to leave it be for now. It'll come to us later and its not worth fighting over with Cornelia.
Of course, nothing can go as expected and on a hot, July afternoon, Jennifer goes into labor three weeks early and our baby arrives! She's 6 pounds and 2 ounces and 17 inches long. This time both Cornelia and I were in the delivery room for the birth and it was magical, a little scary, but magical. Our children are in the waiting room with my mother, Barbran, and Cornelia's parents - Eleanor and Byron, We're all very excited to meet their new family member, and so I bring out our Brown Haired and Brown Eyed bundle of joy and finally express their full name - Thisbe Emmeline Jenibelle Storstrand. We decided to give her middle names after Jennifer since she truly has given us such gifts in Stellan and Thisbe. As I see Thisbe swaddled in his blanket with my mother holding him while Stellan, Boden and Kai watch them with wide, excited eyes I could not find myself ever feeling this happy before and I'm so grateful.
It's been a year since we brought home Thisbe and things have been great, I love seeing my kids together, playing and just being together. As an only child, I found myself quite lonely growing up and seeing Stellan, Boden, Kai and Thisbe all together it makes my heart feel warm. It also gives me major headaches when they fight sometimes, but that's just part of the territory. One thing I also missed greatly when I was growing up was a pet, my family had a dog when I was very little, but I never really grew up with a pet and I want that for my kids. Cornelia agrees having been raised with dogs her whole life. We decide the most amiable pet would probably be a Cat.
After picking which type of animal we think would be a good fit for your family, Cornelia and I go over a list of breeds, we take some votes from our friends and other family members, and end up picking Scottish Fold. We find a reputable breeder and get on the wait list for their upcoming litter of kittens. Its three months later and we hear back, there is a little female kitten with our name on it if we're ready. Of course we are! We bring the little one home and realize we forgot one very important thing - a name! We show off the little new family member to the kids and Cornelia, every one of us submit a name into a hat - Thisbe with a little help from Cornelia - I suggested the name Bronte, Cornelia suggested Kahlo, Stellan suggested Hermione, Boden suggests Finn, Kai suggests Libra and Thisbe suggests Oreo. Once they're all written down I put them in a hat, shake it and pick one name - My name gets picked and thus our new family member is Bronte!
Soon enough, our new little fluff is settled and its nice, they're good for helping teach the kids some responsibility as they all have little chores to help out with Bronte. Plus they're cute as can be and have gained your instagram account an odd dozen or so new followers who love pictures of your adorable kitten.
A few weeks after we get our pet, we finally get a call from Sibella that our papers have gone through to China and we've been given a match! We've been matched with a Newborn Baby Girl, from the email accompanying the call, Cornelia and I see that the little one has Black Hair and Almond Eyes. We're instantly awestruck and in love. We read through everything and agree, this little one is just meant to be a part of your family.
Thankfully, a month later, its summer vacation and so we leave Stellan, Boden, Kai and Thisbe as well as Bronte with Tobias (41), Hazel (39) and their kids: Toby (16), Nathaniel (13), Reed (10), Arabella (8), Violet (5), Banner (3), Levi Harvard Vervloet (2) and Matthew Jacob Vervloet (2) for two weeks while we head off to China to go meet our newest child for the first time in their country and we have an amazing time with them, spending some time alone, but also partaking in some cultural activities related to their culture heritage. Such as making traditional handicrafts, Chinese cooking classes, ceramic making, and programs to help us experience the culture of China's temples and history, It hurts to leave hr, but I hug her tight and promise I'll be back for her soon. We come back home and spend a few days just alone before Tobias and Hazel bring our kids and pet back home. I hug them all and show them pictures of our time with their new sister who will be coming home very soon. We all get together and take down one of the guest rooms and make it into a new nursery for her.
In fact, its only a month later in August that we fly back to China to pick up our child since overcrowding and needed space we have to just get in and out, its a fast and messy four day procedure, but when we arrive to the airport to see all of our family, my mother, Cornelia's parents, Judah and Eloise with Andrew, Beatrice, Christian, Daisy and Elle; Cecelia and Arthur with Frederick, George, Charlotte, Margaret, Susannah and Alice; and Tobias and Hazel with Toby, Nathaniel, Reed, Arabella, Violet, Banner, Levi and Matthew - with Stellan, Boden, Kai and Thisbe with banners welcoming the family home as we walk over and introduce them now all in person to Mischa Esme Vervloet Storstrand the newest member of the family.
It's been about two years since we welcomed Mische into our family. Unfortunately, tragedy has struck. As surprising as it is, about two years ago I reconnected with Casey, my college roommate, surprisingly at a mommy and me class, and the two of us became friends, Casey had matured a lot since college, apparently it was a new thing since she had turned her life around after getting pregnant on a one night stand and having her daughter, Rowena Severina Dylan, who is honestly one of the most adorable children with hwe cherubic cheeks, Red Hair and Hazel Eyes. We started having play dates with our kids - Thisbe and Rowena became the best of friends - and actually gotten along quite so much so that now that she and her boyfriend, Ian Owen Northwood, are expecting a baby and she has asked Cornelia and I to be the god parents and we couldn't be happier, sadly something went wrong. Only a few months after their son, Dylan Edmund Northwood was born with the most precious downy locks of Blonde Hair and big , soft Blue Eye - Casey and Ian and are a part of a tragic car accident and die on impact. Thankfully, though for small favors, Rowena and Dylan were at home that night with a babysitter and are fine.
The news devastates me when I get the call the night after, and what is even more shocking is that we find out that Cornelia and I have been listed in their will to inherit not only a large lump some of money, as well as managing trusts for both of their children, but they would like Cornelia and I to be the guardians of their children and adopt them. Casey was an only child of a single mother who passed away during our time in college and Ian was the only child of parents, Donald Walter Northwood and Edith Donna Northwood, who are quite old now and are in no shape to take on a three year old and a three month old full time.
While I am stunned at first, we both know there is no one else out there to take in these children, but the two of us. If we decline they will end up in the foster system, will probably end up being separated from one another, it's not a pretty picture. Their best chance at remaining together and being able to have a relationship with their grandparents is Cornelia and I. We already adore and love Rowena from spending time with them and our heart breaks at the idea of saying no to him and so after taking another night talking with Cornelia, We both decide to go through with it and adopt them.
Most of the paper work is set up and we have Sibella look over it just to make sure everything is correct in the paper work before signing it. Rowena and Dylan are currently spending the weekend with their grandparents while Cornelia and I set up a room for them - we turn over a spare room we had been using for storage and then set up a shared room for them - it actually came out quite cute considering how much of a rush and little time we had it coming together . As soon as its done we call Donald and Edith, and arrange to pick Rowena and Dylan up from them.
Cornelia and I bring them home and they're quiet at first, but Mischa gives Rowena a big hug and takes them over to play some games with Stellan, Boden, Kai and Thisbe, and it makes me happy to see how intuitive my kids are at cheering Rowena up while I rock and care for Dylan and call up my mother, Barbra, and inform her of what is going on and asking her to come stay with us for a few days to help out with getting everything settled. My mother agrees and doesn't mind at all, feeling saddened beyond belief for the poor kids. It's rough at first, Rowena is constantly asking for her mommy and daddy and has some nightmares and the little one still does not sleep through the night, thankfully my mother's help makes it better the first few weeks and it becomes routine for Cornelia and I and we settle in. Now, we couldn't imagine our life without them both living with us. Cornelia and I decide to make everything more official by hyphenating Rowena's and Dylan's last names with our own, officially making them Rowena Dylan-Storstrand and Dylan Northwood-Storstrand. That way they are a part of our family without loosing their old family.
Three short months later and it seems as if Rowena and Dylan have always been a part of our family. They fit into our daily life and its like they have always been there with us. What surprises us is when you get a call from Sibella, things had been so busy that we had forgotten that before you'd even taken Rowena and Dylan in we had been looking into fostering and or adopting another child domestically. There is a child in need of a placement, a little girl, who has Black Hair and Hazel Eyes and was left at a fire station, there is no other information on her, but a doctor calculated a close to approximate age as just about one year old.
Cornelia and I feel stressed about the idea, but Sieblla explains that we are the fourth person she's called and the last person on her list before the child will have to be sent to a home. We agree to take the little one in just for now, until they can find another place to stay. For now though, they need a name, so Cornelia and I use some names you had considered if we had more children and call them - Paisley Hermione Lavender - instead of Jane Doe. As time progress though, its been a month, and the makeshift room we've had for Paisley had become a full on room. They've seemingly settled in and we agreed to foster Paisley instead of just being a continued emergency placement.
It's been three years since we welcomed home our last child and since then we have officially adopted, Paisley, who we were previously fostering. Things have been fantastic and recently you retired from my job as a history professor - I enjoyed the job a lot, but I wanted to do something else. I decided to open my own business - children's museum where you work on bringing history to youth. Opening my own business has allowed me more time at home, to spend with my kids and to get them involved with history and learning and also in the business aspect to help teach them a good work ethic and skills for themselves.
Things have been good with the running of my business, taking time with my children and even playing with Bronte more often. I feel more carefree and at home and with my kids getting older - I can't help wanting to hold another baby in my arms. I speak to Cornelia about it and she feels similarly about the whole thing - so I call Sibella and let her know we like to be put on the list and that by the end of the week we'll have an updated baby book ready by the end of the week. Things progress amiably and the older kids help make it and everything. It's a fun family bonding experience for us all and once its done we send it off to Sibella so she can set it up.
In fact things have been going so well, and with the expansion ofyour family and large income increase thanks to how well my business has been doing wwe decide to buy the home for sale next to our own. We bulldoze the home and have our family move into an apartment for 4 months. During this time we hire a construction crew and have them expand upon our property and merge things expanding upon our home - adding 6 bed rooms to our home, so we now have 14 bedrooms, as well as expanding upon our home adding several bathrooms, upgrading the kitchen even more, making a small guest house on the property, a game room, adding a second office so we don't share, adding a huge play gym in the backyard, and assembling an out of this world tree house and even a big pool with a waterside and expanding the playroom.
Once the construction is done and we move in and we're honestly in-love and so are the kids, they're all happy to have their own rooms and not be so cramped as it was at the temporary housing while we were waiting for the construction to be done. The even better news is just a few weeks after moving back in we get a call from Sieblla. She's found us a match! A young woman who is in the middle of attending law school, she and her now ex-boyfriend got pregnant and while they had thought about keeping them at first realized they could barely keep a relationship working let alone take care of two - yes two - babies. The woman is expecting twins. However, before she agrees to finalize anything she would like to meet Cornelia and I to see if she feels as comfortable with us as she did when reading your family book.
A week later you meet her - Emerson Claire Cassius - and she's amazing. A well put together young woman, we talk for awhile and find some common ground, a love for Scandinavian history with me and then of course the lawyer connection with Cornelia, which helps ease us all into conversation. It's much different then when we dealt with Jennifer - it seems Emerson has a plan for her life and knows what she wants to do and is working for it which impresses Cornelia and I quite a lot. After we speak for a few hours, Emerson admits she feels rather confident with having her children be adopted into our family. She feels that we are loving an caring people and in the photo book our family looks happy and we're doing all these fantastic things which is what she wants for her babies. The three of us all agree on wanting this and the only thing Emerson would like is for us to do is pay for health care costs, nothing more and that is fine so we call up Sibella and they agree to work on a contract for us all to sign soon. We say our goodbyes and head back home to our kids and are excited to see them, then we all have a family movie night and settle in.
A few days later Sibella faxes over the contract to us and in it is everything you discussed with Emerson, we'll pay for her pregnancy related medical costs and in addition she would like a nearly closed adoption - she'd just like yearly updates on their birthday with pictures and a letter just talking about them and how they've been doing. As long as no contact is initiated we're happy and this is no hardship to complete for the woman gifting us two precious babies to care for and love. Cornelia sign the contract and move on from their and inform the kids they'll be getting not just one, but two more little siblings - they're all rather excited to expect another sibling and Dylan is ready to be a big brother himself.
A month later we get an excited call from, Sibella, as Emerson visited the doctor that day and found out that we'll be expecting fraternal boy/girl twins and we're thrilled. Sibella promises to mail us the pictures of the sonograms and everything else from the doctor's visit to keep us informed.
Now that we know the gender of the twins, we all take one of the guest rooms we have no and change it into a nursery for them. For now they'll share to make life a little easier for Cornelia when we have to do late night feedings and when they're a little older you'll give them rooms of their own. The new nursery.
The next four months pass in a flurry and you get a call from Sibella that Emerson has started labor before the planned c-section date and so she's going to the hospital now to do it. We frantically call up all our family, my mother rushes over to watch the kids while Cornelia and I head off to the hospital. Emerson doesn't want us in the room and we respect that, waiting in the lounge as the hours pass, but soon enough Sieblla comes out to inform us both babies are happy and health - ten fingers and ten toes each. The oldest is five pounds and six ounces and eighteen inches long while the younger twin is five pounds even and nineteen inches long. Emerson spends an hour with each baby, gifting them hand knitted blankets and hats she made for them before kissing each on the head and handing them to you with tears in her eyes, she thanks you for loving them and asks that we move into a different room so she can rest and we do. Staring at our beautiful little ones. Baby Boy has Blonde Hair and Blue Eyes while Baby Girl has Brown Hair and Hazel Eyes and as we look at them we know the names we picked fit them perfect - Logan Emmett Cassius Storstrand and Anouk Clarissa Ellison Storstrand - and more than that we know they're meant for our family and with them our family finally feels complete.
It's been nine years since we adopted Logan and Anouk and a lot has changed and a lot has stayed the same - since these past nine years We've opened not just one, but two more of the off shoots of my original business, -Mini Historians, Split Plants (focuses on the history of plants) and Lil Sapiens (focuses on the history of human life) and Cornelia has retired from her own job to help me run the business and we both enjoy working together and it helps fulfill another part of our relationship that we had never done before. Plus with a lot of things going so well, we're enjoying seeing our kids grow up and become more of themselves.
However, growing up at times comes with certain difficulties and lately some of the children have been having a few problems with their behavior and school.
Kai has gotten his girlfriend pregnant. It's a bit of a low blow to find out, partially because we know Kai and his girlfriend, Roxanne, honestly aren't something very serious. They've only been dating four months months and she's three months' pregnant. Not to mention we worry this might differ Kai's college plans. He's currently attending Columbia University and has been doing fantastic in school, Roxanne is a student at Barnard which is the sister school and they've both put in so much work to get where they are - we don't want them to feel pressure to make a decision that they might one day regret. We decide to have a family dinner, Kai, Cornelia and I, Roxanne and her parents. As we eat dinner, things are tense and at the end we head back to Kai's apartment to talk it all out and well, after some discussion it seems the options on the table are adoption and or Roxanne and Kai keeping the baby. Roxanne and Kai are strong in their opinion that they want to keep their baby and raise him or her together as a family. Roxanne's parents don't seem happy, but we all decide to ignore that and Cornelia and I promise to support Kai and Roxanne in any way they might need and just hope things will work out.
Thisbe has been having a bit of an attitude problem lately, she's skipped classes and we even found a bottle of vodka in her room when I was putting away some laundry. I confronted Thisbe about the booze, as well as how she's been behaving and she just mouthed off to me some more, so much so that Cornelia and I decided to have a sit down with her in her room later that night, but she's been tight lipped on it and we inform her she's grounded until further notice and she decides to talk to us. Thisbe is not happy about it, but well, if she is going to misbehave, then she needs to understand her actions have consequences.
Rowena has been starting fights at school as well, we've been called into the principals office twice in the past month, because of it and we're at a loss. We don't know why, we try to talk to Rowena and she's tight lipped about it as well, and I found booze in her room as well, and it makes my stomach turn. I want what's best for my daughters and I'm concerned something is not right and what's bothering Rowena might also be causing the issues with Thisbe. We're hoping that maybe something we can do can help us with them both.
Logan has been starting fights as well, but thankfully, the reasoning here is simple, the boy he's been getting into fights with we find out has been picking on and upsetting Anouk, we call the school to try and explain the situation, about why Logan has been starting fights and how this other boy needs to be dealt with as well to end the problem, but the issue at hand is the school isn't willing to do anything citing that the boy probably just likes Anouk and its boys being boys, which infuriates Cornelia and I. We talk to Logan about how hitting is not okay and he needs to use his words to diffuse his problems. We're hoping Logan will listen to us, but are still worried about Anouk getting bullied.
Stellan, Boden, Mischa, Paisley, Dylan and Anouk have all thankfully been fine. No problems, no issues - they're all doing fine in school, enjoying activities and just being happy.
With all of this happening at once, Cornelia and I decide we need to make some changes. First of all, we make the choice to have the kids switch out of their schools into a private one, Dalton Academy which features grades pre-k to 12th, the school has a zero tolerance issue with bullying and also this way they will be away from any previous bad influence or place that might be giving the kids trouble, and hope that perhaps a change of pace will help the children to settle down and become a bit happier. Since things are fine with Stellan and Boden away at school, we leave them be and we set up a twice monthly dinner with Stellan and Roxanne through the pregnancy to try and assist them.
We also decide to have Thisbe and Rowena start to see some therapist to hopefully have them work out their issues or whatever it is that is causing them to have attitude problems and fighting in school, and we involve Logan in martial arts classes, hoping they might diffuse some tension and teach him discipline.
Kai's issues are improving, they got a lot worse before they got better. Things seemed fine, Roxanne and Kai were getting along, setting up for the baby, they even decorated a nursery for their baby, only to find out they were expecting twins actual, twin girls and changing the nursery for their little ones - however after finding out they were expecting twins, I noticed Roxanne seemed a little cagey, I just brushed it off as nerves of a new mother and then expecting twins, but I was wrong. Very wrong. We didn't find out until two weeks after Juniper Quinn Storstand and Anias Cornelia Storstand are born with Brown Hair and Blue Eyes and then Blonde Hair and Blue Eyes respectively. However, it was not okay, one night Roxanne just did not come home after supposedly going to meet her parents for dinner, the next morning, Kai called us frantic and in tears. A lawyer had come and dropped off papers, Roxanne had signed away her parental rights, and filed a restraining order, asking for zero contact. There was a large sum of money set up and left to Kai to take care of the girls, but no contact, no nothing. Roxanne had even left Barnard and changed to a different school. As a mother, I just can't understand how she could leave her babies. However, with that, Kai was overwhelmed and having trouble managing being a single father to twin girls, so he makes the choice to take a semester off, withdrawing for personal reasons and since then things have gotten better, he's working out a schedule and we're helping Kai out with the girls, he's hoping to start up school again next semester.
While it seemed like things were going better, Thisbe's got a new issue and a much more concerning one - she's pregnant. It seemed the attitudes, the problem and all of it culminated in partying and even in the new school she seemed to find the party crowd at first. Hooking up, going around and now she's pregnant. That seemed to be the sock to the system that Thisbe needed though and she's stopped partying and seemed to focus, after a DNA test with three young men, it turns out the father of Thisbe's baby is Corey Simon Tyler, he's a two years older than Thisbe and he's a good kid from a nice family, and he's there for Thisbe as they work things out, they plan to co-parent, but they're not together which might be better for them in the long run raising their baby - I worry I might have failed Thisbe as a mother, I meant to stop the cycle of teen pregnancy from Thisbe's own mother and here she is pregnant. Though, she has much more support from both sides when she welcomes little Bellamy Sparrow Stostrand-Tyler with little curls of Brown Hair and bright Blue Eyes.
Rowena has been improving her issues, the therapy has been helping her deal with her issues and the separation from the other badly behaved kids at her old school and there have been no new fights at Dalton, her grades are up and things just seem to be looking good right now. Cornelia and I could honestly not be more relieved to see she's making strides and things are going better for her.
Dylan sadly has been having some difficulties with the new school and his grades have started falling, we think it might be the new environment and missing his friends from school to play with them. We set him up with an older student from school to tutor Dylan and hopefully that will help turn around his grades and make things a little easier for him.
Thankfully, things are going much better for Logan at his new school, he's stopped fighting, has new friends and everything is really looking good for him and we could not be more pleased that the change is helping him out.
Stellan, Boden, Mischa, Paisley, and Anouk have all continued to be fine, healthy, happy and well-adjusted. All of them are puttering along,
While we weren't expecting grandchildren so early, we love the newest addition to the family.
The Storstrand Family
DW: Poppy Esme Rowena Storstrand [52] [Red Hair & Blue Eyes] [Business Owner]
DW: Cornelia Genevieve Storstrand (nee Vervloet) [51] [Brown Hair & Hazel Eyes] [Lawyer]
DAS1: Stellan Tobias Judah Storstrand [20] [Blonde Hair & Brown Eyes]
(Adopted Domestically; birth mother: Jennifer Altair)
DAS2: Boden Cornelius Vervloet Storstrand [19] [Brown Hair & Green Eyes]
(Adopted from Ukraine; twin brother of Kai)
DAS3: Kai Porter Rowan Storstrand [19] [Brown Hair & Green Eyes]
(Adopted from Ukraine; twin brother of Boden)
DAD1: Thisbe Emmeline Jenibelle Storstrand [15] [Blonde Hair & Brown Eyes]
(Adopted Domestically; birth mother: Jennifer Altair)
DAD3: Rowena Severina Dylan-Storstrand [15] [Red Hair & Hazel Eyes]
(Guardian Adoption; daughter of Casey Northwood)
DAD2: Mischa Esme Vervloet Storstrand [14] [Black Hair & Almond Eyes]
(Adopted from China)
DAD4: Paisley Hermione Lavender Storstrand [13] [Black Hair & Hazel Eyes]
(Adopted Domestically; birth parents unknown)
DAS4: Dylan Edmund Northwood-Storstrand [12] [Blonde Hair & Blue Eyes]
(Guardian Adoption; son of Casey and Ian Northwood)
DAS5: Logan Emmett Cassius Storstrand [9] [Blonde Hair & Blue Eyes]
(Adopted Domestically; birth mother: Emerson Cassius; twin brother of Anouk)
DAD5: Anouk Clarissa Ellison Storstrand [9] [Brown Hair & Hazel Eyes]
(Adopted Domestically; birth mother: Emerson Cassius; twin sister of Logan)
Cat: Bronte [14, Scottish Fold]
Poppy and Cornelia Storstrand; with Stellan, Boden, Kai, Thisbe, Rowena, Mischa, Paisley, Dylan, Logan & Anouk + Bronte
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The Storstand Family
DAS3: Kai Porter Rowan Storstrand [19] [Brown Hair & Green Eyes]
Ex-DGF: Roxanne Tabitha Mallory [20] [Blonde Hair & Blue Eyes] (Mother of Juniper & Anais) (No Contact)
DD1: Juniper Quinn Storstand [0] [Brown Hair & Blue Eyes]
(Twin sister of Anias)
DD2: Anias Cornelia Storstand [0] [Blonde Hair & Blue Eyes]
(Twin sister of Juniper)
Kai Storstrand; with Juniper & Anias
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The Storstrand/Tyler Family
DAD1: Thisbe Emmeline Jenibelle Storstrand [15] [Blonde Hair & Brown Eyes]
DF: Corey Simon Tyler [17] [Brown Hair & Blue Eyes] (Father of Bellamy) (Co-Parenting)
DD1: Bellamy Sparrow Storstrand-Tyler [0] [Brown Hair & Blue Eyes]
Thisbe Storstand (and father Corey Tyler); with Bellamy