Ree Drummond‘s big family got a little bit bigger! The beloved Pioneer Woman star introduced her foster son, Jamar, almost two years after he joined her family. Ree shared the exciting news in an excerpt from her new book of essays, Frontier Follies.

“Let me take this opportunity to tell you all about my bodacious, bright, brilliant bonus kid named Jamar,” the American blogger, 51, sweetly penned in a blog post on her website on Monday, November 9. “I’m now writing about Jamar because after a year-and-a-half of living in our house, he is an inextricable part of our wacky family.”

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Instagram/ReeDrummond

In the lengthy essay, Ree explained that Jamar, 18, was brought into their lives when her husband, Ladd Drummond, met him “a couple of times during high school football practice” one summer. “My boys knew him too,” she said of sons Bryce Drummond, 18, and Todd Drummond, 16.

Even though fostering was “never something” Ree and Ladd, 51, ever “pursued or felt called to do,” bringing Jamar into their home was “entirely situational,” she wrote. “Jamar’s circumstances presented themselves to us in a way we couldn’t ignore — so, long story short, all six-foot-five-inches of him showed up at our house one afternoon, bag in hand, ready to move in.”

Jamar has been living with the Drummonds since mid-2019, but she waited until now to introduce him as her foster son. This is because the state agency in Oklahoma, where they live, “has strict rules against posting about foster children on social media.”

Ree noted she also feels very “protective” and “always wanted his story to be his own and not fodder” for her social media. However, because he’s 18 now, the state’s agency restrictions no longer apply and Jamar actually told Ree that “he’s tired of feeling like [they’re] trying to hide him from the world.”

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Instgram/ReeDrummond

Since Jamar became a part of their family, the Christmas Cookie Challenge host — who also shares daughters Alex Drummond, 23, and Paige Drummond, 21, with the cattle rancher — said she “can’t wait to see where life takes” her foster child.

“He’s larger than life, has a hilarious laugh and is extremely smart — both book and street,” Ree gushed of Jamar as she wrapped up her post. “He’s a great kid who’s overcome some difficulties in his life. Through a ton of determination, Jamar has excelled in football, and he’s already received a couple of college offers, with more sure to come in! I’m proud of the kid. I’ll be in the stands cheering him on.”

Ree is such an incredible mama!