Waiting Stitches

So the title may have had wittier moments in my head, but in all reality, it is full and honest truth. Six months as Foster Parents. I would like to know where the last half of a year went... This summer was quite the season.  Although it is supposed to be a season of warmth, relaxation, and vacations, we were in a Winter. A really long, brutal, stormy winter, where you hunker down in your house and wonder when the storm will pass. On the sunny days of this winter, we basked in the light and enjoyed the 30 degree temps. On the cloudy, sub-below temp kind of days - well, we made it through to the next day. To say I have learned more in the last six months than just about any other six months in my life, would be a completely accurate statement. The learning curve my husband and I have been on has been huge. There are days we scored a perfect 10. And there have been many more days where we have scored a 2, if being gracious in the scoring. Trauma is - well I have words for it, ...

Life. Holy Toledo. Life has been, well, not sure if crazy really covers it at this point, but I'll go with that - Life has been crazy. I've been silent for awhile. There are the obvious reasons for the silence - A. I rarely have time to sit B. I'm exhausted C. Not a lot of time spent on me lately D. There are things I legally cannot write about to keep our kiddos safe But there are other reasons I've been silent. Silence is easy -  with silence, you don't have to answer the questions that haunt you. I think this silence comes from not knowing exactly what to say. The silence comes from this feeling of such overwhelming desire to have answers and knowledge of the unknown, that speaking outwardly of that unknown is - well - it's scary. About a month into our journey of welcoming four more children into our home, I read this article The Silence of Adoption    and I understood everything this woman was saying. Her words struck a chord. It was exactly eve...

I've been hinting there is another part to our journey as a family and we have officially began our next steps to growing our hearts and sharing our love.  We have decided as a family that we are on board to be a part of the foster care community. Although we wish we could help even more orphans across the ocean, we realize there are many orphans right here in town that also need the love of a family. We do know our ultimate goal is to adopt again, but have no idea how soon or far away that time may be.  Of course, although this alone sounds like a big new step, we ended up diving head first into this decision! Within a couple weeks of our first meeting, we have our first placement. We are still licensed as a foster family because Tope was considered by the state as a foster child until his adoption was legalized by the courts. Because of this, and because we knew someone, who knew someone, who knew someone-we got a call Monday night asking if we would be willing to bring home...

One year ago we met this little boy.  One year ago, we became a family of four. One year ago our lives shined a little brighter. We learned our son had a smile that could light up a room and eyes that twinkled with love.  One year ago we started a bond and an attachment with a child that will forever be ours.  We officially became a Forever Family. One year ago a brotherhood began. Their ties are strong and become tighter every day. One year ago... We often say adoption is not for the weary. We not only had to run a race to bring our child home, but we ran a full marathon, a marathon riddled with twists, turns, and hills. The cheering along the way from our family and friends kept us going, and many prayers to our good Lord above kept us running even when we felt like catching a break. One year ago our lives completely changed and there has been no looking back. BOTH our boys are our world, our joy, our chaos, our fun, our lo...

It is a blast listening to our children and their imaginations. The boys are at the perfect age for creating all sorts of stories. Anything from Superheroes to pirates, filled backpacks to boxes of tinkertoys, legos to blankets taped under tables; these boys think of just about everything. Yesterday it hit me as I watched my two in action and I remembered how just about a year ago Caleb would say how bored and lonely he was. Although he had this imaginitave side, Mom and Dad just weren't as much fun to intrigue him with this kind of play. Not going to sugar-coat it, raising two boys 8 months apart in age has its advandtages and disadvantages. Just as fast as these two can start having fun, they can also become very upset with eachother and have their moments of frustration, but through both happy and frustrated, I can tell that these two are most definetly brothers. It's what I had imagined and prayed for, to hear siblings laugh, bicker, sing, tease, jump, talk, dance, and...