Spoiled

Ever feel like you are barely hanging on?

I had one of those days earlier this week.

I actually sat down all ready to write about my

"horrible" day and how frustrated I was.

 I found out we were further behind on our adoptions

finalizing then I thought.  It really overwhelmed me and

made me sad.  We can't move out of state until our adoption

is finalized.  I mean technically we could but it would cost a

whole lot more in legal fees and time to get a new home study

and ICPC etc...  We have just been playing the waiting game

in our lives in so many areas regarding selling our house,

building a house, which land to build it on, finalizing our

adoptions, hearing about whether

or not the kids qualify for adoption subsidies the list goes on.

On this particular bad day I felt

so overwhelmed with all these unsolved questions and with

house work and laundry and all the

errands I was behind on.  I was also as always just feeling a

little too plump.  I have been trying to loose a few pounds

before we go to Florida at the end of the month so I don't

traumatize the locals when they see me in a swimsuit.

Ok so back to the point

I sat down to write this whiny post and as I was editing the

pictures to put in the post my mood changed. 

While I began

to type sweet Zoe snuggled in my lap and laid her head on

my shoulder.  The mood was gone.  I felt as if God was

shouting at me from the heavens saying "Rachel get over it!" 

I mean I know God cares for me and wants to bless all of us

and truly cares for our burdens. 

On this day I was just acting like a spoiled child. 

I had forgotten in those moments of frustration that

his timing is perfect. 

I would hate to rush anything and ruin his perfect

plan.  I am beyond blessed.  While I wait for the adoption to

finalize I am still their Mommy.  I still get to hold and love

them unlike so many parents around the world desperately

waiting for their children to be in their arms.  I get to live in

a beautiful house while I wait for someone to buy it and

then I will get to move to another beautiful house.  And

unlike some dear friends who are suffering through cancer

and health uncertainties my family is healthy. 

Seriously, I could do nothing in that moment but repent to

God tell him I trust him and his perfect plan and thank him

for this beautiful life he has given me.

Don't we all get a little spoiled at times.  Caught up in the

very small details of the day and forget the big picture and

purpose of our lives.

Late this week I was catching up on some other blogs and I

found this. 

Read it and you will immediatley realize how blessed you are.

And speaking of blessing lets continue to give to Anika and

bless her adoptive family with the funds to bring her home. 

You can read about her here.  Seriously even a $5 or $10

donation will make and difference and you won't even miss

it.



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Dates!

Pedicures and Manicures with my girls

and haircuts and Ice cream with my boys

I am one blessed Mommy!

If you haven't joined my giveaway yet click here to enter.  I

have loved reading about you guys.  I have learned so much!

Thanks for letting me peak into your lives.

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Progress

When I think back to the first couple weeks with

Elizabeth, Max and Zoe

I am amazed with the work God has already

done in them.

 When Zoe first got here she was a timid little thing that

would barely let me put her down.  She would never fully

relax in my lap and she wasn't crawling.  Now she is a little

giggle box.  She still loves to be held but it doesn't have to be

all the time.  She is now crawling all over the place and trying

to stand.  The best change in her is that in the last couple

weeks she has finally totally relaxed her self in  

my arms and laid her sweet little head on my chest. 

It melts me every time.   

She is finally starting to trust me. 

We still have goals with her she still gets extremely upset in a

matter of seconds she will go from giggling to screaming and

crying.  Like if she is playing happily and she sees me walk by

she will be in immediate hysteria as if someone slapped her

just because she wants to be held.  We are really praying that

this phase will also pass soon because she seems extra fussy

at dinner time.  I always feed her first and change her but

the second I put her down if it is anytime after 5 she will be

screaming.  This makes it hard when my husband is still

working and I am trying to cook dinner for the other kids.  It

is to dangerous for her to be in the sling when I am cooking

over a hot stove.  I need to master wearing her on my back

but still haven't gotten that down.

I think Max has gone through the most changes.  The first

couple weeks he was here he spent most of his time on the

time out step.  Poor guy.  Any chance he would get he would

hit, bite, scratch and spit.  He barely mumbled a word.  The

only time he would say anything is if he was mimicking his

siblings.  Whenever it was meal time he would run to the

table and shove his food in his mouth with two hands and

guzzle his drink down like it was the first meal he had seen in

months.  I was so excited when last week he only took a bite

of his toast at breakfast and went to play before he finished

it.  Most parents want there kids to sit and finish there food

but I was so excited inside when he did that because it means

he is trusting us and knows that there will be more food.

 He has started to initiate communication with me by saying

"Mommy" to me and pointing and asking for things.  I heard

him say "I want that"  while he was watching a

commercial after he heard Ayla say it.  It wasn't perfectly

clear but even a month ago he wasn't saying two words

together and barely even one.  His communication is still no

where near where it should be but to see all this progress in

only a couple months amazes me.  He is barely ever in time

out any more.  All the aggressive behavior is almost

completely gone.  He actually comes and tells on people now

instead of hitting back right away.  And instead of spitting at

people we taught him to blow kisses.  It is precious.

I am so proud of him.

The first couple weeks Elizabeth was here she would only

stay in the same room as me.  She talked non-stop and would

get upset if anyone else got attention.  She also wanted to be

held all day.  Now she goes off and plays and then finds me

for a cuddle but then is quickly back playing.  She also goes to

preschool two days a week now and she loves it.  We are still

working on her hatred of vegetables. She eats fruit and corn

on the cob but any other vegetable she refuses to eat.  We are

working on this.

I think Eli and I expected it to be so much harder than it has

been.  Maybe it is because we were foster parents and the

challenges we had with that don't even compare with what

we are going through.  These kids were never in foster care.  I

am so so thankful for that.  They came from a loving mother

that knew she wanted better for her kids.  Elizabeth, Max and

Zoe just fit right in with us.  God created them just for our

family.  They couldn't be a more perfect fit.  This is where

they are meant to be.  They are so

affectionate, happy and sweet. 

We couldn't love them anymore.

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Play

We call the three in the middle the little tornado's

Can you guess why?

I would love some advice from those of you with large

families with lots of toddlers.  What do you do with the toys?

How do you get all the kids to pick up their fair share of toys

and put them back in the correct spot?

I love their creativity and excitement when they are using

their imagination but then when it is time to clean up it's like

pulling teeth (especially with my 3 year old).

We tried saying whatever toys don't get cleaned up will go in

a bag and we will give them away to kids who don't have any

toys.  Ayla says "great idea and grabbed lots of toys to

give away".  This backfired on us because it wasn't fair to the

kids who are cleaning up the mess they made and I don't

want them to feel like they have to clean up their brother and

sister's toys just so they don't get thrown away. 

Even without toys they make a lot of mess.

{which I don't mind as long as they clean it up}

My bed a few minutes after I made it {monkeys on the bed}

I totally understand the 5 kids equals lots of mess and

I don't want my hatred for clutter to take away from their fun

but I have to draw the line somewhere right? 

Any and all advice appreciated.

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Who says?

Who says

Boys

aren't

Naturally

Nurturing?



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This boy!

This boy

 

would let me

hold him

all day

If I could

and sometimes we try {grin}

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1 week

So yesterday marked one weeks since our family grew from 4 to 7.  I feel so blessed that God trusted us with these kids.  The first couple days flew by...it felt like there was so much to do in such a small amount of time.  Somebody always needed something.  It is has only been a week and it feels like they have been here forever.  They settled into a schedule pretty quickly.  Today was the first day I went somewhere alone with all 5.  Eli is on our church worship team so he had to be there at 6:30 am to play for all three services. Which meant I was left to get all the kids ready, out the door and to church on time by myself.  I was successful!!!! I took a picture in the van on the way to church because I was so proud of myself {I was stopped at a light}.  We make the mini van look pretty mini, don't we?

After church we went out to eat and it was a complete success.  They all behaved and ate so well.  It honestly didn't feel any harder then when we would go out with just the two.  I am sure it won't always be that easy.  We did get a lot of looks of curiosity of our very mixed family but we were so proud of our family we didn't care.

Our Thanksgiving break was perfect.  The kids were all so well behaved and loving to their new extended family.

On Friday I took the four eldest each out on their own one on one date with me while Eli stayed with the rest.  It was so fun to have each of them to myself and focus only on them.  I think this is something we will do once a month.  I think when you have so many kids it is important to give each kid there own time.

I am not trying to sugar coat anything.  I am exhausted every night when I go to bed.  There is no way I can make all the kids happy at the same time. The house will never be clean again and we will probably always be tight on money.  The adoption is going to cost more then we thought. I have had some criticism and concern from people who just don't have the same heart for Orphans as I do.  They just don't understand why we would want to take this on.  That's OK. I will save that for another post.  We have also been blessed by lots of love and support.  We have had people buy diapers, formula, clothes.  We have had alot of people praying for us, encouraging us and supporting us every step of the way.  I will also write more about this in another post. I know that these children were meant for us and this is what God called our family to do.  Everyone is not called to adopt.  God has different plans for all of our lives.  I do hope that our story will encourage many more families to adopt or to help people who are adopting.   There are so so many children out there that need a loving family. I would make the same decision a million times over.  Our lives are so blessed with them here.  They had never had birthday parties, Christmas or church before and we are so lucky to see it for the first time through their eyes. It really has been easier then I expected.  I think it is because of how natural it is to love them.  It is the same as if I birthed them, they are ours and we are the lucky ones.  Here are the best picture I could get of all of them.  This was Sunday afternoon, we were all in the play room playing Wii while Eli {tried} to nap on the couch.



I never would have imagined that my life would be so full, so busy and so blessed!

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The new Treasures!

Don't have time to write much of a post but they are here, they are beautiful and they are sooo loved!  Here are our newest treasures!

~Elizabeth~

~Maxwell~

~Zoe~

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