Hi, my name is Rusty.

I am 31, with three amazing boys, their latest word is "idiot" which they choose to use frequently. I am a stay-at-home dad, and no I don't play video games, or sleep all day long.

Our oldest is 4, and his twin brothers are 3, for now. All three boys were born in March, the twins on the 29th, and our oldest was born on the 6th. This means that for 3 weeks out of the year, all three boys will be the same age, every year.

I used to have a "Job" many years ago, which led to business ownership of two Pizza restaurants. If you've ever owned a business you know what I mean when I say that I was Married to my work. The general idea behind business ownership is to work less, and make more money right? I worked 100+ hours a week and made the same, if not less than I did working my 40 hour JOB.

About 18 months into my marriage, my wife and I found out that we couldn't have children of our own. At first, the news was very hard to take in. But, when the dust settled, we decided that we wanted children in our home, no matter what it took. Most couples at this stage of marriage, having just found out they couldn't conceive simply start the adoption process. We knew that we wanted to have a child in our home, but we weren't insistent on a newborn baby. We started doing some research, and found that we could foster children instead, and that by being foster parents, we could reach more children that just the one we would end up adopting.

We finished our classes as necessary for licensing in July of 2009, but we held back turning in our paperwork for some reason. One night in class, the instructor made it clear that children over the age of 5 were the least likely to be wanted by foster parents because most foster parents want to deal with kids that are in school for most of the day. After we found that out, we elected to bring children into our home that were in the age range of least likely desired children.

In the middle of October 2009, we finally turned our papers in. My wife may fight me on this, but I don't think it was a week later that we got a call. There was an unfamiliar voice on the other end of the phone, asking if we would be willing to take in a 7 month old boy temporarily. Of course we had no choice but to say yes. That little boy was so precious, he was a little miracle. Unfortunately when you foster a child, you get to read their file. Reasons for removal from their home, pictures, in depth descriptions of abuse, neglect, abandonment.

At our first court appearance with his parents, his parents relinquished their rights and we adopted him. Just weeks later, we found out that we would be adopting his twin brothers from birth. Being born 10 weeks premature, our little boys were in the NICU for about 3 months, each day being a struggle, sometimes wondering if they would make it through the day.

My father was not there for me as a child, now he had good reasons, he was always working to put food on our table, but I still feel the pain from that so I was not about to put my boys through that.

Working 100+ hours a week was no longer possible. We committed to not putting our kids in daycare, so someone had to stay at home. My wife, with a great job in insurance would be the wrong candidate to stay home so I walked away from my businesses so I could stay at home with my three boys.

Now that they are getting older, life is amazing! The house is full of toys, dirty laundry, and arguing boys. Life is rough, and it certainly doesn't get any easier, but the rewards are great! I look forward to writing more, and sharing some of who I am in future posts. Thanks for reading!