Editor's Note: Window on the Clearwater has joined the Wednesday's Child network to help spread the word about children that are waiting for families to give them the loving care that they need. Each Wednesday we will profile a different child. For more information about Wednesday's Child and how you can be involved check the web site at: http://www.idahowednesdayschild.org/.

Madisen, Chase, Hayden, and Jaydah

Age: 5-13

Profile provide by Northwest Adoption Exchange.

These beautiful siblings are Madisen, Chase, Hayden, and Jaydah. They have strong bonds and want a family who will value their sibling attachments. Each child has his or her own unique personality and strengths, they interact cooperatively and love being together. Because of limited space, Madisen had to be placed separately in foster care, yet she and Chase, Hayden and Jaydah (who are in another placement) visit regularly. All four of these children are thriving and blossoming in foster care.

Madisen is a bright, likeable girl who looks for ways to be helpful. She enjoys playing sports and being active. While a bit shy at first, she opens up quickly and happily when engaged. She enjoys telling folk tales, singing, dancing, rollerblading, and drawing. She would love to be involved in theater and drama, and looks forward to attending her first play. With her good heart and sensitive nature, Madisen strives to please, and she is very able to form new attachments. Now in middle school, she's an A/B student who completes her assignments first in the classroom. Her favorite subjects in school are Science and Social Studies. After school she participates in a homework club, Girl's Inc, and the school newspaper. She also enjoys just hanging out with friends. Like most girls her age, she is experiencing some moodiness, but with time and some space, she is quickly back to her usual happy self.

Bright, friendly, happy and playful, Chase is a competent, hands-on child. He has great manners and is thankful of even the smallest things, such as socks that match and clean clothes. He enjoys reading, riding his bike, and working in the yard. With his good sense of humor he banters back and forth with ease and enjoys a good joke. Teachers report Chase is very helpful and fits in well at school. He loves to learn and is a diligent student. Because he missed a lot of school while in his birth family and has some minor learning issues, he was dramatically behind when he first came into care. Repeating second grade a year ago gave him a huge boost forward, and by the end of his third grade year this past spring, he was at the top academic level in his classroom. Chase looks forward to being in fourth grade in September 2010. Chase is well mannered and requires little discipline. Usually a stern tone or explaining your feelings to him, such as, "that hurt my feelings" is most effective with him. Chase has been used to being an "adult" around his siblings, and he is still ready to step up and care for them.

A loving child who is eager to learn and easy to please, Hayden is an energetic boy with adorable freckles, bright, blue eyes and a smile that melts the heart. He likes to be right in the midst of family life, and is very bonded to big brother (he really looks up to Chase!). Typically, he's Chase's little shadow. He also has strong attachments to his sisters. Hayden is the peace-keeping child who wants to avoid conflict and often reminds his siblings of ways to be considerate of others. Hayden enjoys playing sports, riding his bike, and playing with race cars. Teachers report he is very helpful and fits in well at school. Right on target academically, he has fun at school and is known to be quite talkative and chatty. In the fall of 2010, he will be in second grade. While Hayden makes friends easily, he often wants to hang out with Chase.

Affectionate and full of love, Jaydah loves to have hugs and kisses and will readily jump onto the nearest lap for a snuggle. This sweet little girl is friendly and well mannered. And she is very capable of playing on her own and entertaining herself. While Jaydah is open to trying new activities, a favorite pastime in playing with her baby dolls. She also loves riding her bike, lawn bowling, camping, fishing and hiking. As the well-loved baby of the family, she is very bonded to her siblings. She loves spending time with her brothers but tends to follow big sister, Madisen, wherever possible. Jaydah is happy to know that she is going to be moving to a new family. Jaydah is well behaved and does not require a lot of discipline. If she does get into trouble, the most effective discipline is a time out or removing privileges.

The children, who are not yet legally free, came into foster care most recently in 2008. The three older sibling have all been participating in counseling and therapy individually and as a group since May 2008 to the present. The focus has been to help them sort through the various changes in their lives and prepare for adoption. While the children all love their mother and know that she is unable to provide for them, they continue to work through feelings of grief, loss, and abandonment. They have strong attachments to their grandmother.

As the most reliable caregiver for her siblings in her birth family, Madisen will thrive in an easy-going family that will lovingly remind her to allow herself to just be a kid despite her desire to want to help and offer support. She will do best in a family who spends a lot of time together having fun. She will need a gentle, yet firm, positive discipline style that respects her sensitive nature and desire to please. Of special note on Madisen, she is allergic to cherries and raspberries. If consumed or through skin contact, she will break out in hives, a rash, and possibly lose the ability to breathe. She needs to avoid these foods and their juices.

Counseling has been a big boon for Chase and Hayden. Both have made such great progress in their therapy that their sessions have been decreased from once a week to once a month.

Although Chase is able to express his feelings of sadness, anger, and happiness in counseling, he continues to struggle with anxiety and fears about the future. When Hayden is upset he is still apt to internalize his feelings and make himself physically ill. Hayden sometimes has difficulty expressing himself and will instead throw up and get an ear infection or a fever. Hayden needs a home that provides structure, routine and consistency. He, too, has some anxiety about what the future holds for him and his siblings.

Jaydah had positive drug screen at birth and was placed directly into foster care from the hospital. She was then reunited with her birth family but returned to foster care in 2008 with her siblings. When she came back into care, she grunted instead of using words, now she talks all the time. Jaydah qualified for early intervention services due to being significantly delayed in adaptive skills and mild delays in language development. After living in a stable home environment for a period of time, she no longer qualifies for early intervention. Jaydah continues to benefit from attending a Head Start program and is believed to be at a kindergarten level.

While Jaydah has been too young to participate in ongoing counseling with her siblings, she did have a psychological evaluation in 2009 that concluded that she needs parents who are able to provide a high level of consistency, stability and routine. The evaluator also said that Jaydah needs a permanent, loving home where she can begin building a long lasting attachment and relationship with her adoptive parents.

All four of the children have a healthy, affectionate relationship with their maternal grandmother, and they are counting on the adoptive folks to help them maintain this very important connection.

Madisen, Chase, Hayden and Jaydah are wonderful children that need a loving, nurturing, committed family. They need parents who are fun, outgoing, and active and have a flexible approach to parenting. These four children need a home where they can feel safe and secure and know that they are going to be loved.

Subsidy and Purchase of Service may be available.

Portrait by Patti Boeck, for the Oregon Heart Gallery

Madisen, Chase, Hayden & Jaydah are available for adoption through the State of Oregon. To learn more about him, adoption or becoming a foster parent, email the Idaho CareLine or call 1-800-926-2588. In Idaho you can dial 2-1-1.

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