The call can come at any time so even though their own kids are past the diaper-and-bottle phase, the garage at the Ury home is permanently stocked with baby clothing and toys.<\/p>\n
A baby needs a 24-hour placement in a foster home, a place to be safe and protected while a permanent home is found.<\/p>\n
For the past six years, the Urys\u2019 home in Kent has been one of those safe places. In as few as two days, the family is ready for its new guest.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe\u2019re that interim home,\u201d Tina Ury says of the foster babies for whom they have cared. \u201cWe just love them one day at a time.\u201d<\/p>\n
Today, the Ury home is once again filled with the sounds of children, not only their own four kids – two biological and two adopted – but of a beautiful little girl who has been with them for a lot longer than the initial 24 hours. For privacy purposes, she doesn\u2019t have a name in this story.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe 24 hours has lasted seven months,\u201d Tina says with a big smile, adding \u201cIf we had to order a baby, she\u2019d be perfect.\u201d<\/p>\n
The baby currently crawling around the Urys\u2019 living room is the 13th foster child the family has taken in over the past six years and the 15th if you count the family\u2019s two adopted girls.<\/p>\n
But since that first experience with a foster child, the Urys realized how much of a need was out there and what they could do and they have never looked back.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe just know if you take one child at a time – it\u2019s one life at a time – you can make a difference,\u201d Tina says.<\/p>\n
The Urys\u2019 story as foster parents begins after the birth of their second biological child. Tina\u2019s pregnancy was high risk and doctors warned her about trying it again.<\/p>\n
\u201cThey strongly recommended I didn\u2019t have any more children,\u201d she says.<\/p>\n
But she and her husband Colin wanted more kids and since Colin himself – and his father – were both adopted, the couple begin to explore the option of fostering to adopt, raising a foster child with the idea of someday adopting.<\/p>\n
The Urys took two more babies into their home, both special-needs children impacted by drugs, and began to raise them as their own, adopting the two girls – Amanda, 7, and Hannah, 6 – both bright, happy children.<\/p>\n
While the girls were still young, the Urys got a phone call about being a foster family to a pair of brothers. The siblings were the same age as the Ury\u2019s own kids, but the trauma they previously had experienced made taking in the pair one of the most difficult experiences of their lives, Tina says.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhen we got them they were angry and hurt and scared,\u201d Tina says. \u201cIt\u2019s hard on our part, but we know it\u2019s for the betterment of the child.\u201d<\/p>\n
But the family soldiered through and the boys eventually began to relax and trust the Urys.<\/p>\n
After the children were placed in another home several years ago, the Urys, who never intended to be foster parents after they adopted their two girls, recognized the \u201cmassive need\u201d and began to open their home to more foster children.<\/p>\n
\u201cAt this point we realized this is such a big calling,\u201d Tina says. \u201cWe just knew we could take care of the special needs these babies have.\u201d<\/p>\n