I know I haven't blogged forever but it is so hard when we have this beautiful 3 year old in our home that is "our" son but not legally yet so I can't say too much about him or post pictures. Anyway we finally have a court date for our adoption and it is December 12th!!! Not only do we get to have our adoption that day but we are sharing the court room with my brother and his family who are adopting their foster son at the same time. Now I think that is pretty cool don't you???
Soooo...watch out because this momma will have lots of blogging to catch up on once I can post pictures!
Monday, November 19, 2012
Monday, August 6, 2012
15 Out Of 300
Our little man is getting ready to start special needs pre-school very, very soon. I am so very excited for him because we have used this school before for Jaxson and I know how much they love on the kiddos and what a good school it is. I am also very excited because the person in charge of the school is very excited about our little man and she is going to get him all kinds of adaptive things that he can use at school including a nice chair for him. We still don't have any adoptive equipment for him, not even a chair for him at our house yet due to the cost of everything adaptive but hopefully we will soon.
I was working on his paperwork today for school though and I had TONS of questions to answer. One of the forms had 300 questions on it about things he could do. As I was filling out the form I noticed that almost every answer was "no my child cannot do this". At the end of the form I decided to count how many he could do and it was only about 15. Honestly it hadn't even hit me until that moment what he should really be doing at his age. God gave me a special gift many years ago of looking past a child's "special needs" and seeing straight to their hearts. I don't spend my days thinking he can't say words, he can't drink out of a cup, he doesn't understand what "no" means simply because we have never had to tell him no. In the eyes of the school our little man can do very little. In the eyes of this momma I know that he has stolen many hearts already, he is teaching people that God can use you no matter what you can physically do. He may not be able to fight with his siblings but instead he gives them this amazing smile that makes them know he loves them unconditionally. He may not be able to ask me for something, but he has a way of letting me know when he needs things. He may not be able to do much compared to others his age but what he has to offer is a very rare gift that not many children have.
I just realized that I hadn't blogged since before our little man came home. He has been home since June 23rd and he has truly blessed our socks off!! Here is a sneak peak at our little man but I won't post any face pictures until the adoption is final (sorry, I know it's killing me too).
I was working on his paperwork today for school though and I had TONS of questions to answer. One of the forms had 300 questions on it about things he could do. As I was filling out the form I noticed that almost every answer was "no my child cannot do this". At the end of the form I decided to count how many he could do and it was only about 15. Honestly it hadn't even hit me until that moment what he should really be doing at his age. God gave me a special gift many years ago of looking past a child's "special needs" and seeing straight to their hearts. I don't spend my days thinking he can't say words, he can't drink out of a cup, he doesn't understand what "no" means simply because we have never had to tell him no. In the eyes of the school our little man can do very little. In the eyes of this momma I know that he has stolen many hearts already, he is teaching people that God can use you no matter what you can physically do. He may not be able to fight with his siblings but instead he gives them this amazing smile that makes them know he loves them unconditionally. He may not be able to ask me for something, but he has a way of letting me know when he needs things. He may not be able to do much compared to others his age but what he has to offer is a very rare gift that not many children have.
I just realized that I hadn't blogged since before our little man came home. He has been home since June 23rd and he has truly blessed our socks off!! Here is a sneak peak at our little man but I won't post any face pictures until the adoption is final (sorry, I know it's killing me too).
Friday, June 15, 2012
Cute Picture Day
These 2 precious sisters are as different as night and day but they love each other so very much and I love watching them together (when they are not fighting anyway).
The cool part about going to Michigan every other week for the last 2 months is the kids have gotten a lot of pool time and they are loving it! I just signed 5 kids up for swim lessons so next week they are really going to have fun.
Last but not least is a picture of our bundle of 5 right now. I can't show faces of the boys so I thought I would show this picture to give you an idea. It really is fun having 5 kids ages 5-8!
I wish I could share a picture of little Torry man but not yet :( I promise that when the adoption is final (hopefully around Christmas) that I will drive you crazy with pictures of our precious angel!!!
Thursday, June 14, 2012
5+4-2+1-1+1= ?
How often is it that you have to count your hand how many kids you have? I went to sign us up at the YMCA the other day and they asked how many kids I had and I honestly had to think about it for a minute.
Our 2 smallest foster children left so we were down to 5 kids. Torry came for a visit so then we were at 6 kids. I had to take Torry back yesterday so then we were back to 5 and tonight I have my niece so we are at 6 again.
I am so used to having a big family now that I can't handle the silence. I had a chance to spend the night all by myself in a hotel room last night and I just couldn't do it because I wanted my noisy family back.
I found out that our little Torry will be coming home forever next week and we are sooooo excited! I know people don't understand and I am so trying to understand them not understanding but I just don't. If we would say no to him we would be missing out on one of the most precious treasures that God has ever offered us. If you had someone offer you the most incredible gift you could ever imagine but it came with a little extra work would you turn it away? We understand that our life will change. We understand that Torry could live with us forever and he will require a lot of extra care. We also understand though that God put Torry on this earth for a very special purpose and for some reason God has given us the opportunity to parent this incredible child and we wouldn't turn him away for the world. If you don't understand that's fine but just rejoice with us that our baby is coming home!
Our 2 smallest foster children left so we were down to 5 kids. Torry came for a visit so then we were at 6 kids. I had to take Torry back yesterday so then we were back to 5 and tonight I have my niece so we are at 6 again.
I am so used to having a big family now that I can't handle the silence. I had a chance to spend the night all by myself in a hotel room last night and I just couldn't do it because I wanted my noisy family back.
I found out that our little Torry will be coming home forever next week and we are sooooo excited! I know people don't understand and I am so trying to understand them not understanding but I just don't. If we would say no to him we would be missing out on one of the most precious treasures that God has ever offered us. If you had someone offer you the most incredible gift you could ever imagine but it came with a little extra work would you turn it away? We understand that our life will change. We understand that Torry could live with us forever and he will require a lot of extra care. We also understand though that God put Torry on this earth for a very special purpose and for some reason God has given us the opportunity to parent this incredible child and we wouldn't turn him away for the world. If you don't understand that's fine but just rejoice with us that our baby is coming home!
Tuesday, June 12, 2012
Entertaining Angels
Having Torry around makes me think of Hebrews 13:2 Do not forget to entertain strangers, for by so doing some people have entertained angels without knowing it.
Five months ago all Torry was is a cute picture on our computer, a complete stranger. Many people think we are crazy, many people have tried to stop us or discourage us from bringing him home but everytime I look in his eyes, this is the verse I think of.
For years I talked to Chris about the time I worked at a home for kiddos like Torry and he could never really understand how much kiddos like Torry could affect your heart until he met Torry. My amazing husband would have never dreamed in a million years of bringing home a child as special as Torry but now he couldn't imagine life without Torry.
There is something about Torry that makes the whole house just glow, love more and bring so many smiles. Torry has taught this house true team work, thinking of others before yourself, he has taught us how to be cheerleaders because you should see how we all cheer if he gives a us a "five" or he giggles (these things don't come easy for him).
I watch Torry at church and it's like he just knows he is there to worship God. Whenever christian music plays Torry immediately starts smiling, lifting his arms, and he tries to sing. This is not something learned.
I think if I ever get stopped and someone asks me what is "wrong" with him I may just have to say "nothing! He is made perfect what is wrong with you to not be able to see that."
This little man has blessed this house more than anyone could ever imagine. I hate the thought of taking him back tomorrow but very, very soon he will be here forever and we can't wait until that moment.
Five months ago all Torry was is a cute picture on our computer, a complete stranger. Many people think we are crazy, many people have tried to stop us or discourage us from bringing him home but everytime I look in his eyes, this is the verse I think of.
For years I talked to Chris about the time I worked at a home for kiddos like Torry and he could never really understand how much kiddos like Torry could affect your heart until he met Torry. My amazing husband would have never dreamed in a million years of bringing home a child as special as Torry but now he couldn't imagine life without Torry.
There is something about Torry that makes the whole house just glow, love more and bring so many smiles. Torry has taught this house true team work, thinking of others before yourself, he has taught us how to be cheerleaders because you should see how we all cheer if he gives a us a "five" or he giggles (these things don't come easy for him).
I watch Torry at church and it's like he just knows he is there to worship God. Whenever christian music plays Torry immediately starts smiling, lifting his arms, and he tries to sing. This is not something learned.
I think if I ever get stopped and someone asks me what is "wrong" with him I may just have to say "nothing! He is made perfect what is wrong with you to not be able to see that."
This little man has blessed this house more than anyone could ever imagine. I hate the thought of taking him back tomorrow but very, very soon he will be here forever and we can't wait until that moment.
Sunday, April 29, 2012
What A Week!
This week has just been beyond crazy. With 7 kids you have lots and lots of appointments and the foster systems just adds to that. I don't mind the appointments though because it gives some really good one on one or one on two time where the kids just jabber away.
This week we have learned way more than what we would have ever wanted to learn about trauma in children. We are blessed though that DCS has hired us a counselor to train us in parenting hurt children. A couple of days ago I spent 9 hours with a caseworker and I learned so much about the kids in foster care, how the system works and sooooo much more.
I learned that in our county (we have a very rural county with not a lot of people compared to other counties) there are now only about 4-5 foster families. The problem is that there are 7 caseworkers and each one carry a load of 16-20 somethings kids. Do the math and that is not nearly enough foster families!
Every single day people ask me how I do it. Let me ask you a question...how do you not do it?
A long time ago I asked God to open my eyes to the things that broke his heart. Maybe that's why I couldn't continue to make excuses. When I asked God to do this my eyes were opened beyond anything I could imagine. This week my eyes have been opened to things that I would have never dreamed about a year or 2 ago.
It's not easy being a parent or a foster parent. The truth though is that I am finally at a place in my life where I can put my selfish desires aside because I can no longer sit on the sidelines watching. I wish I would have done this a long time ago.
When we signed up for foster parenting I told the caseworker "bring me the special needs kiddos but don't call me for the extremely hurt child." Let's just say that things have gone the complete opposite of what I asked for. God has now given me a huge heart for the things I didn't think I could handle and he is also giving us the tools to take on everything that he brings us.
There are so many hurt children needing someone to love them. I can't even begin to tell you the changes that happen in a child when they start feeling safe for the first time in their life. Adoption and fostering parenting is HARD but if everyone says "I just couldn't do it" then who will be there to show these children the love of Jesus? Trust me I was one of those that said "I just couldn't do it."
This week we have learned way more than what we would have ever wanted to learn about trauma in children. We are blessed though that DCS has hired us a counselor to train us in parenting hurt children. A couple of days ago I spent 9 hours with a caseworker and I learned so much about the kids in foster care, how the system works and sooooo much more.
I learned that in our county (we have a very rural county with not a lot of people compared to other counties) there are now only about 4-5 foster families. The problem is that there are 7 caseworkers and each one carry a load of 16-20 somethings kids. Do the math and that is not nearly enough foster families!
Every single day people ask me how I do it. Let me ask you a question...how do you not do it?
A long time ago I asked God to open my eyes to the things that broke his heart. Maybe that's why I couldn't continue to make excuses. When I asked God to do this my eyes were opened beyond anything I could imagine. This week my eyes have been opened to things that I would have never dreamed about a year or 2 ago.
It's not easy being a parent or a foster parent. The truth though is that I am finally at a place in my life where I can put my selfish desires aside because I can no longer sit on the sidelines watching. I wish I would have done this a long time ago.
When we signed up for foster parenting I told the caseworker "bring me the special needs kiddos but don't call me for the extremely hurt child." Let's just say that things have gone the complete opposite of what I asked for. God has now given me a huge heart for the things I didn't think I could handle and he is also giving us the tools to take on everything that he brings us.
There are so many hurt children needing someone to love them. I can't even begin to tell you the changes that happen in a child when they start feeling safe for the first time in their life. Adoption and fostering parenting is HARD but if everyone says "I just couldn't do it" then who will be there to show these children the love of Jesus? Trust me I was one of those that said "I just couldn't do it."
Friday, April 20, 2012
Our Crazy Life
Wow! I had no idea what I was getting into when we signed up to be foster parents. How can life be so full of blessings and trials all at the same time? You go to classes and you learn a lot but you know nothing until you are living right in the middle of it.
First of all I had no idea how much fun have 7 kids would be! I also didn't realize how having so many kids meant that at all times at least 2 or 3 kiddos are smiling and making you laugh no matter what else is happening in the house.
I didn't realize that God would give me the same momma heart for kids that were here just for a season as he does for the kiddos that we consider "ours". I didn't realize that there is a real momma bear in me ready and willing to fight at a moments notice for what I feel is right for each child.
I didn't realize that even as hard as it is at times that being foster parents was a missing piece to our life for so long before we finally got brave enough to say yes.
If you hop over to Linny's blog you can read a story about one of our little treasures.
I have to share this picture just because it is sooo stinkin cute of the little boy God blessed us with from the other side of the world.
Last but not least a picture of my favorite man in the whole world!!!
First of all I had no idea how much fun have 7 kids would be! I also didn't realize how having so many kids meant that at all times at least 2 or 3 kiddos are smiling and making you laugh no matter what else is happening in the house.
I didn't realize that God would give me the same momma heart for kids that were here just for a season as he does for the kiddos that we consider "ours". I didn't realize that there is a real momma bear in me ready and willing to fight at a moments notice for what I feel is right for each child.
I didn't realize that even as hard as it is at times that being foster parents was a missing piece to our life for so long before we finally got brave enough to say yes.
If you hop over to Linny's blog you can read a story about one of our little treasures.
I have to share this picture just because it is sooo stinkin cute of the little boy God blessed us with from the other side of the world.
Last but not least a picture of my favorite man in the whole world!!!
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