You are loved.

Baby Riah, you are 10 months old now, and you just started crawling!!! You are so much happier. I don't think it was just a coincidence that you ended up here, in this home, with me, a former pediatric motor therapist. God knew just what you needed. Daily therapy with me putting you through those motions your little body needed to learn. You are sitting up, transitioning, clapping,  and moving all over the house now! You squeal with delight!! Your little muscles don't seem as tight, you seem to be doing so much better in our eyes. We pray your healing continues. 


You reach out to touch us, you giggle at everyone. You are developing your own little personality!  
You are a blessing. 
You are a miracle. 
You are loved. 

So true!

"If we are going to accomplish the global purpose of God, it will not be primarily through giving our money, as important as that is. It will happen primarily through giving ourselves. This is what the gospel represents, and it’s what the gospel requires." -- Radical by David Platt

Update...

A quick update...
The SW is stopping by to pop her head in the door, as we are all still sick here, and have been for weeks. She said that the father has not yet appealed the termination of parental rights, which they were all expecting to happen right after the trial. That is good news. I should find out more after her visit today.

Baby Riah has been sick too, along with all of us, and that makes him a very unhappy little guy. Right now he is napping, which is where he loves to be when not feeling well. The update on him is that his bio father, who is in his mid 50's, has decided that he wants some distant cousin from another state to have him, so they are obligated to do a homestudy on her. The SW doesn't think this will pass, so we will wait and see. She also does not feel it is in his best interst to move there. On some amazing news...he is crawling, and not backwards, on top of his head. I have been working with him daily, and he finally figured it out!!! So happy to see him meeting some of his developmental milestones, although late, he is meeting them!

Back to tending to my little ones...I had dreaded the day that all six of them would get sick at once, and unfortunately I got sick too! Thank God for friends who brought meals and all those praying for us. This too shall pass! More soon...

The entryway!

Last year we added an addition to our home...a master suite! During the construction process, we had to tear into the entryway. We had this addition built to make room for the two little munchkins we had added to our family, Lexi & Laney. They got a room of their own, our old bedroom. Well, a year, and two MORE kiddos later, we are finally finishing up on this project. I still have some trim painting to finish on this entryway and the master bedroom...and I cannot believe it's been a year. It's driving me crazy. I need to get this done. We also still need to put up crown moulding, build the inside of our closet storage, and put in a shower in the master bath. Oh! And not to mention, the french doors walk out anto a drop off! We need to build stairs, a porch, a patio, or something. There are so many projects to do around here, it can get overwhelming, but I can say that this entry way is done...almost!

I have two 2 YEAR OLDS!!

My little sweet Laney had a birthday!!! That means I now have two 2 year olds!!! They are only nine months apart, so Lexi will be turning 3 in only three months! It's crazy how fast they grow up! In three months I will have a 1 year old, 2 year old, 3 year old, 4 year old, 5 year old and 10 year old.

Laney is my most "energetic" child. She is a handful. She is fearless. She has physical abilities above and beyond her age as she jumps off the top step and lands on two feet while her 9 month older sister is still scooting down on her bottom! She is very loving, sweet, and fun, and I am so glad that 2 years ago I answered the call to go pick up this tiny baby who was in the NICU of our local hospital! What a blessing she is, and who would have known that almost two years later, her older brother would join us? I can't imagine life without them at this point. We will be adopting both of them together in the very near future...they are both legally free, we are just waiting on the parents and whether or not they are appealing, and then we will finalize their adoption! Foster care and adoption is such a huge part of our lives. I can't imagine not doing this. If you are looking into it, I say go for it...foster parents are so needed...and who knows...you might just be giving a child a forever family!

And then...

I was perfectly content with my 4 beautiful girls...

And then...God gave me boys.

I am blessed!