As of 8:55 a.m., Friday, April 24, 2009, I am officially the mother of 2 more children! I am so glad to have this day come and go. Now I can just be their Mom. No more calling the social worker to see if I can do something with them, no getting approval to take them out of state, no worrying about how my house looks when she comes over, and most importantly, I can call them by their adopted names everywhere I go!
I could have never dreamed what this last year would be like. I could never have seen me the mother of 3 children, especially the mother of twins! God had a plan for our lives all along. He knew what was going to happen long before we did.
God has been so tremendously good to us. I thank him everyday for my children. They are the light of our lives and they have made us a family. I hope they all grow up knowing how special they are and wanted.
Thank you God for Cade Joseph, Sierra Virginia, & Trace Philip!
Wednesday, April 29, 2009
Wednesday, April 8, 2009
Wow what a year!
I've been thinking this week about what was going on in our life this time last year. You know, the week before Easter. Last year we were a family on 3, with no idea what God had in store for us. We were busily and excitedly getting ready for our Easter trip to the Smoky Mountians in Tennessee. Little did I know that on our way home from that great family trip would we get a call that would change the dynamics of our family.
Imagine if you will riding along the interstate about 2 hours from home and your cell phone rings. On the line is your social worker who you are surpised to here from since she has not called you in 3 months since she recertified your foster/adopt home license. Anyway, she goes on to ask me if I had a few minutes to talk. Sure, I'm going down the road doing nothing else! She proceeds to tell me about a set of twins born 8 weeks premature that are just a week old and the parents are giving them up for adoption. Would we be interested? I was in total shock! We always knew that one day we would get a call about another adoptive placement, but never in my dreams would I have thought we would get a call about TWINS!
My heart wanted to immediately say YES! But my mind made me say, we'll think about it. I was so torn about what the best thing for our family and these babies would be. I thought about the logistics of taking care of twins. Could I do that? Cade was such a hard baby to deal with, what if they both ended up being as needed as he was? Would I get any sleep? Could I still work? (which I really needed to!) How would we pay for daycare? How long would it take for the adoption to go through? All these questions swirled around us for several days. It was also during this time that I found my way to an adoption website where I met a group of awesome ladies that shared their experiences and concerns with parenting premature newborns. Because of the support I received from them and our family, we were able to make our decision.
We excited called our worker and told her we wanted them. Then we had to wait what seemed like an eternity. I wondered if we really were going to get them, or were the parents changing their minds. I knew that we were the only family that they talked to about them, but since we had to wait so long, I began to wonder. I'll never forget the day that their social worker called to let me know we could start visiting them in the NICU. Mickey and I went there very anxious to see these little babies. Needless to say, when I first saw those tiny little faces I knew that they were my babies! As I held each one I began to imagine how our life was about to change for the better. I could see their personalities already appearing too!
Now here we are 1 year later, on the verge of another Easter weekend. In a little over two weeks, we will be finalizing their adoption as our children forever. I look back at this past year and I'm amazed at what God has given us. He has blessed us with lots of patience, peace, joy, and love. He has brought wonderful people into our lives to help us on this family journey. He has given me a terrific support group to share my joys and vents. Most importantly, he has given me two perfectly happy and content babies that have me wrapped around their little fingers! I've survived the sleepless nights, I've been able to keep my job, and I've been blessed with wonderful in-laws to provide childcare.
Many years ago I heard that statement "God gives you the desires of your heart." I've held onto that for 15 years knowing that one day I would receive those desires. It wasn't the way that I thought God would give them to me, but I've learned to let go, and let God handle it. He knew that these 3 precious children that he placed into my care were meant to be my children. I'm so thankful for his goodness and it reigns down upon us!
Imagine if you will riding along the interstate about 2 hours from home and your cell phone rings. On the line is your social worker who you are surpised to here from since she has not called you in 3 months since she recertified your foster/adopt home license. Anyway, she goes on to ask me if I had a few minutes to talk. Sure, I'm going down the road doing nothing else! She proceeds to tell me about a set of twins born 8 weeks premature that are just a week old and the parents are giving them up for adoption. Would we be interested? I was in total shock! We always knew that one day we would get a call about another adoptive placement, but never in my dreams would I have thought we would get a call about TWINS!
My heart wanted to immediately say YES! But my mind made me say, we'll think about it. I was so torn about what the best thing for our family and these babies would be. I thought about the logistics of taking care of twins. Could I do that? Cade was such a hard baby to deal with, what if they both ended up being as needed as he was? Would I get any sleep? Could I still work? (which I really needed to!) How would we pay for daycare? How long would it take for the adoption to go through? All these questions swirled around us for several days. It was also during this time that I found my way to an adoption website where I met a group of awesome ladies that shared their experiences and concerns with parenting premature newborns. Because of the support I received from them and our family, we were able to make our decision.
We excited called our worker and told her we wanted them. Then we had to wait what seemed like an eternity. I wondered if we really were going to get them, or were the parents changing their minds. I knew that we were the only family that they talked to about them, but since we had to wait so long, I began to wonder. I'll never forget the day that their social worker called to let me know we could start visiting them in the NICU. Mickey and I went there very anxious to see these little babies. Needless to say, when I first saw those tiny little faces I knew that they were my babies! As I held each one I began to imagine how our life was about to change for the better. I could see their personalities already appearing too!
Now here we are 1 year later, on the verge of another Easter weekend. In a little over two weeks, we will be finalizing their adoption as our children forever. I look back at this past year and I'm amazed at what God has given us. He has blessed us with lots of patience, peace, joy, and love. He has brought wonderful people into our lives to help us on this family journey. He has given me a terrific support group to share my joys and vents. Most importantly, he has given me two perfectly happy and content babies that have me wrapped around their little fingers! I've survived the sleepless nights, I've been able to keep my job, and I've been blessed with wonderful in-laws to provide childcare.
Many years ago I heard that statement "God gives you the desires of your heart." I've held onto that for 15 years knowing that one day I would receive those desires. It wasn't the way that I thought God would give them to me, but I've learned to let go, and let God handle it. He knew that these 3 precious children that he placed into my care were meant to be my children. I'm so thankful for his goodness and it reigns down upon us!
Wednesday, April 1, 2009
It's Wednesday!
Today is Wednesday and there is really nothing in particular to write about today. I just got a notice that I had been slacking on keeping up my blog (thanks Erin!). I really forget sometimes that I have started one. My life has been so busy lately! We've had two birthday parties in the last two weekends. The twins celebrated their 1st birthday on 3/19 and we had their big party on 3/21. My mother-in-law's bday was 3/25, and my lovely sister-in-law (not my favorite) decided that we should give her a surprise party and that my house is where it should be. So, this past Sunday, we had a surprise party for her. Now this weekend we are going to have a birthday party for my twin nephews on Sat. (thankfully not at my house!) and then on Sunday we are having our families over for an Easter together on Palm Sunday (that way everyone will not be rushed on Easter Sunday and can spend it with their individual families) at OUR HOUSE! I admit, Easter has always been our holiday to host since we built our house in 2002. I envisioned my neices and nephews being able to find Easter Eggs in our front yard amongst the oaks! Its now a tradition and we always do it on Palm Sunday. So, I'm looking forward to it, but I'm just plain worn out by having everyone over for 3 weekends in a row! Not to mention, but we are also planning the twins adoption party for 4/25, but we decided to have it at our church. (Woo hoo!) That reminds me, I need to get busy making invitations to the party!
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