Surrender & Serve, a babies update!

The baby girls are doing well. Their cases? Well, that's another story. Let's just say the roller coaster is out of control. The two month old may be leaving at some point, due to the fact that the former foster parents that adopted the two older siblings called, and are now interested. Before we accepted her as a placement, I asked if they would double check this, and, of course, they stated that they did, and this family declined. So, apparently they may have changed thier minds. They called a couple of weeks ago, and for some reason the workers won't give us any details, all they have said is that the family may not live in the area. We just want some answers, but have not been able to get any explanation at all. I am hoping to hear something this week. Putting all that aside, we are enjoying her, and loving having her here, to hold, cuddle and watch her develop. She is starting to smile! SO precious!!!

Baby L is almost a year old! She is a handful of energy, and giggles. She is so much fun, and is starting to feed herself with a spoon, and should be walking very soon! We are completely in limbo with her case. Mom is in jail, with a trial coming up, the great uncle in another state is having the homestudy done, and there was a big surprise at the court hearing last week. The alleged father showed up! He has been invited to every hearing all year, but has never come forward. This time he came and stated he will have the dna test. He is very young. It will be interesting to see what comes of it all!

Through this process, I have been so humbled, and thankful for what God is doing in me. I have had to take a close look at myself, and what my motivations are. I am learning so much about being a more selfless person, letting go of my own wants to serve Him, and to allow Him to do whatever it is He is doing in not only my life, but the lives of these precious little children. I am learning each day to surrender, and serve. It's been a daily struggle lately, battling with my own flesh, and desires, but I am realizing more and more that fostering babies is growing, and stretching me in ways I really needed. Thank you, God for all you are doing in my life and theirs!

An opportunity

Go read this current post over at Storing up Treasures. They have come up with a BRILLIANT idea...WOW!

So head over there, read, then link to the place where you can donate to help one of these families. It's called 10K in 20 Days. They are only asking for $5 or $10 donations, that's it..all to help a child come home to their family. You will also be entered to win giveaways. What a great opportunity, knowing you helped a child come home.

Why we love homeschool...

When you homeschool, you can have a very flexible schedule! You can take your child to a mid-morning pony riding class in the middle of the week.

This is the second year M has taken this class. I organized it again this year, and had so many responses that there are now two classes running weekly. The instructor is great with the kids, and she teaches them all about how to be safe around ponies, how to groom them, care for them, take control of them, and ride them. It is very comprehensive and the kids are enjoying it so much!

Yesterday I ran into one of the moms that is taking her children to the class on a different day than we go. This is the first year she has chosen to homeschool. She could not stop talking about how much they love this class. She said as she sat there watching her children, she thought to herself, "this is why we homeschool!". There's freedom in homeschooling. Freedom to look outside the box and do school in many different ways, and expose them to things during the school day that they wouldn't have time for if they were in public school. Her children are adopted from the foster care system, and have trust issues, and she is seeing some amazing things happening with her children due to this class. It has been a huge blessing to them! Another mom has a son who is autistic in the class, and although she felt that her son may not be successful, he is doing great! There is a therapeutic horse back riding program affiliated with the pediatric clinic I work at, and over the years I have seen so many success stories. Since we see so many children with an autism diagnosis these days, we also hear amazing stories of what happens when these children begin therapeutic riding. One little guy, who is on the more severe range of the autism spectrum, even said his first words while up on a horse. They had been waiting years to hear him talk, and his first words were "Walk on", as he was motivated to get his horse moving! It's amazing. For some kids, it's an activity that unlocks something, and you really do see some incredible results.

For us, the pony class is just another reason why we love the freedom of home educating. It's something I am sure we would never have time for if our children went to school. With all the homework demands, and the running around after school, I know they would have missed out on opportunities like this. So, for us, this is just one more reason why we love homeschooling!

Mother's Day Blessings

Mother's day weekend began at my brother's house. She did it again! My sister in law put on another Mother's day tea. It was fabulous. Such a blessing!

Look at this table she set. After sitting down, we all enjoyed a 5 course meal beginning with swedish pancakes & lingonberries, assorted cheeses and fruit, salmon vinagrette salad, and more. Yum. Thanks Dee Dee!

Mother's day was spent at the park with my 4 sweet girls. Being a mom is truly the best job I could ever have, and I am so grateful for all I have been given.

Fostering babies...

We are now in our 11th month of fostering. Baby L came to us last July. She is 11 mos. old now! She is the cutest, happiest, funniest baby I know. She is talking, saying a few words that amaze us at times. She waves, claps, does some baby sign, and was even singing into a play microphone tonight! She laughs at everything, loves kittens and music, and is very smart.

Baby C is now 2 months old! Since she was a preemie, her corrected age is actually 3 weeks old, though. She is gaining more head control, tracking better visually, and eating every 3 hrs. She is sweet. She is precious. I think I would love to fill my house full of babies, I just love fostering babies!

Although I would love to, I know that we are at our limit at this time. Juggling two babies has been hard at times, but not as difficult as I thought. I think the age span between the two works, as the littlest sleeps alot, and when the older one goes down for naps, the little one usually wakes up, and has her one on one time.

As far at their cases go, everything is still up in the air. Baby L's birth mom remains in jail, with a trial coming up sometime in the near future. It is a serious charge. She will either be found guilty, or be released. If she is released, she will more than likely get one more chance to attend rehab, and attempt to get her life together.

Baby C's case may get changed to adoption in approx. 5 months. Right now, mom and dad are being asked to do all the usuals, drug tests, rehab, parenting classes, etc. So far it doesn't appear they are complying, but they swear their child should not be in foster care and they are contesting everything in court...which in turn draws this process out longer, and longer.

It's been an interesting ride so far. We are praying things speed up for the sake of both of these babies. For now, we wait...and I am just loving holding them in my arms, playing with them, and loving them...for as long as they need me. Fostering babies is not about me, and what I want and hope for. For me it is about the babies, and their needs. I can't be worried or concerned about when or if they will go. The way I see it, life is short. God has blessed me with so much. I need to use the time I have to do things that are not about me, but about God's business, and children are His business. It's not always easy, but God doesn't always call us to do the easy thing. No matter the outcome, I will know these children are in His hands. For now, we wait, we pray, and we thank God every day for the time He gives us with each child. Fostering babies has actually helped me to be a less selfish person, and for that I am so thankful!

Beauty all around us...

Spring is all around us, and I have been inside so much, the other day, I got out to capture some of the beautiful things blooming all around our little farmhouse. Love these tulips! They are blooming in front, by the porch.

On the walkway, grape hyacinths lead the way...so simply, Spring!!!

Out back, across the yard, we have been surrounded by a full week span of beautiful blossoms...hundreds of trees with these beautiful blooms, can you guess what fruit they will produce?

And the quiet beauty of the hens, as they venture out and about, have been providing us with a constant supply of lovely brown and greenish blue eggs.

How blessed we are to have this beauty surrounding us. Spring is here, we are taking it all in. Thanking God for all He so graciously provides.

What am I up to?

We are so busy around here, we are up to our eyeballs in diapers, cloth diapers that is! I have been trying out my new stash of different types of cloth diapers, and getting into a routine with two babies. Sorry I haven't been around much! Like I posted on facebook the other day, this is my life, currently:
feeding, changing, feeding the other baby, changing the other one, laundry, laundry and more laundry! Now, let's add to that homeschooling, cooking, cleaning, working one day a week, taking care of the animals, feeding the animals, getting the garden ready (thankfully DH is really good at that!), yardwork, grocery shopping, appointments, piano lessons, play dates, gymnastics, and don't forget the visits from social workers, visits from court appointed special advocates for the babies, and court hearings!!!

We are all doing well, the babies are thriving, and I hope to update soon on the status of the cases of both of them. More soon!!!