Family gives new meaning to baker's dozen

  • Published
  • By Airman 1st Class Danielle Powell
  • 14th Flying Training Wing Public Affairs
COLUMBUS AIR FORCE BASE, Miss. --  With more than a dozen kids and three of them in diapers, the Wilson family has much to be thankful for.
After marrying in 2002, Tech. Sgt. David Wilson, 14th Operations Support Squadron, and his wife, Lenore, joined their families. With them each having three sons from previous marriages, it was a Brady Bunch marriage of sorts.
Now the Wilson's have added eight more children to their immediate family.
After the court system took Sergeant Wilson's eight nieces and nephews from his brother, he and his wife filed for custody of the three youngest children. Little did they know, they would be obtaining custody of all eight.
"We thought we were getting the three youngest. It turns out they were giving us all eight of them," said Sergeant Wilson.
The children in the house range in ages from 9 months to 17 years old.
While the house has grown over the past three weeks, there has been a tremendous amount of support from the BLAZE Team and the Columbus community. They have received an enormous amount of donations, anything from toys to clothing to food to financial donations.
"We don't know exactly where everything is coming from. It just kind of shows up at our door," said Sergeant Wilson.
While the transition has been tough, the family seems very optimistic to the future. The children have been active in the Drug Education for Youth summer camp, Vacation Bible School and programs offered by the Youth Center.
Organization in the house has been a bit of a challenge. As the family prepares to move from a house in Magnolia Village to a new house in Capitol Village, the family has found ways to become more organized. "The chapel donated plastic storage bins. Each child has two bins for clothing that has been donated. We are able to keep things organized and separated this way," said Lenore.
Due to less than desirable living conditions at their previous home, the eight children were not in the best of health when they were brought here to Columbus. The youngest, Joseph, 9 months, was unable to sit up on his own. Phillip, 4, was still in diapers. And some of the older children weighed less then the average youth of the same age. Lenore was able to potty train Phillip in less than two week, Joseph sits up on his own and everyone is getting the proper nutrition.
There are still medical obstacles that the family has to overcome. One child has a clubfoot, while others have a lazy eye and some of the younger children have been diagnosed with Fetal Alcohol Syndrome and mild retardation. While the Wilson's wait for the eight to be added to their Tri-Care medical insurance, they are taking precautions to make sure the symptoms of the children do not worsen.
In order for the whole family to go out, three cars have to be taken. Both David and Lenore drive a vehicle and then they task one of their older sons to drive the other. The Wilson's have recently tracked down a small bus to be able to take all the family out in one in vehicle. Sergeant Wilson is now taking classes to obtain his commercial driver's license so that he can drive this bus around.
While eight additional children may seem like a hindrance to most, the Wilson family is determined to make the most of this situation. With thirteen children living in the house, they give a new meaning to the phrase "A baker's dozen."