Bristen Musteen always knew she wanted lots of kids. So when life threw her family several curveballs, they learned to adapt, and she wouldn’t have it any other way.
Bristen and her husband, Colt, have five kids and one on the way. The first four, Abraham, Hadassah, Barnabas and Boaz are all on the autism spectrum. The youngest, Titus, hasn’t been diagnosed, but they think it could possibly be in his future.
"We always knew we wanted a big family, and when the diagnoses started coming in I remember thinking, autism isn't going to take this desire away from us,” Bristen said.
“They’re non-verbal, they all have things they stem on, cues that they trigger on,” Colt said. “We have a lot of dietary stuff we struggle with, a lot of social stuff that's just not on their radar."
"I think in the autism community there's a lot of despair,” Bristen said. “And I know it’s hard, I mean we have had some really hard days. But when people see our family, I want them to see joy. And that if we can be joyful with this many kids and this craziness than they can too."
Colt agrees he and Bristen are a team, but says she’s incredible to watch with the kids. Bristen is a stay-at-home mom and homeschools many of the children. "There are a lot of amazing women out there, but she by far exceeds them all. She just has a lot to give to the children,” he said.
Brittany Deaver is the Musteen’s neighbor. She nominated Bristen for the Remarkable Mom title. "Being a mom of two is hard,” she said. “But being a mom of six, all with special needs, I just don't see how she does it. I just think she's really great."
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Bristen said she doesn’t think of herself as remarkable.
"I just think I'm a mom," she said. "I'm a mom doing what I have to do for my kids. And this is our bubble and this is our life and this is what we do. I'm a very normal mom who's got a lot of stuff she's always working on to be a better mom too."
She said she knows their life may look crazy from the outside looking in, but what you call crazy, she calls awesome.
“These kids are supposed to be here," Bristen said. "Whatever God has planned for them, it’s going to be awesome."