Two Weeks of Accomplishments!

It's been two weeks today since the "Little Miss" joined our household, and I thought I would share some of her *remarkable* accomplishments during her time here!

*She managed to dump out an entire brand new bottle of syrup out all over the counter, the floor and herself. She then proceeded to not just 'finger paint,' but to hands-and-feet-paint with it all over the barstools and kitchen floor.

*She has thrown numerous toys down the the stairs and onto the tile floor below, including baby dolls, a plastic shopping cart, dolly stroller, and piggy bank. Remarkably, none of said toys have broken.

*After a week of hunting for that Netflix DVD we were SO waiting to see, we located it--IN THE VCR.

*On a more heart warming note, she learned to sing Jesus Loves Me. Her version, "Dee-dus yuvs me" is far more precious than the original and my mom had the privilege of being in the car with me when she belted it out for the first time. I could have listened to her sing that song for hours. The longer she is with us, the more protective I feel of her and the desire I have for her to be a permanent part of our family continues to grow. As always, though, we are trusting God's plan for her life. (Isaiah 55:8)

*Finally, and most impressively, she cut her own hair. Her bangs were hanging down in her eyes and I gave them a VERY small trim the night before. She must have been unimpressed and thought she could do a better job herself, because yesterday, she grabbed a pair of kitchen scissors and took a nice chunk out of the side of her hair! As foster parents, you are only allowed to trim a child's hair...you cannot, under any circumstances, cut their hair or change the hairstyle without permission from the social worker or the biological parents. Oops!

A visit with the Ords!

The day after the Barkers came to visit, we were blessed to have more friends come! Josh and Jessica Ord have been good friends of ours for the past 10 years, and it was fun to have them and their 3 munchkins come down for a visit from Tacoma. We unfortunately hadn't gotten to see each other much over the past couple years and it was great to just pick up where we left off and keep right on going. We love you guys too! :)

This is the *best* photo I got of all 5 kids in their jammies! :)

Cute little Eli!

Caitlyn and Grace

A visit with the Barkers!

Last Thursday we were blessed to spend a little bit of time with the Barker family! Aaron and Ronda were good friends of ours when we lived in Tacoma, and it was really great to connect with them again before they left for their next adventure! Next week they are moving to Kona, Hawaii to join up with the YWAM base and do full-time missions work, using Kona as their homebase. Their faith and courage is incredibly inspiring and we have been so blessed to watch their journey this past year. Love you guys!

Ronda and Kirsten

Caleb, Jacob

Ariel, Caitlyn, Hailey (current ages: 7,6,5,4,3!)

Just the girls: Ariel, Caitlyn, Hailey

Buddies! Caleb and Jacob

The first 10 days

The past 10 days have been quite the roller coaster! There are so many things I could comment on, but I'll just have to highlight a few:

--The transition to 3 has been incredibly easier than expected! The "little Miss" has received quite a bit of attention and is often fought over at every meal, car ride, etc....."NO! It's MY turn to sit by her!" "NO! It's MY turn! You got to sit by her at breakfast!" The kids have been extremely generous with their things and I have been so proud to see their interactions with her.

--I am SO ready to be done with diapers! Haha! I really, really appreciate having children that are potty trained and I am motivated to potty train this little one as soon as she shows interest! (don't want to push her into anymore transition! )

--I am in NO rush for another child. :) We could still technically get a phone call for another child, but three is fine for now. We have our hands full!

--The foster/adopt process is WAY more complicated than we ever would have expected! The process is long, unpredictable, and inconsistent. We are in this for as long as it takes, risking our hearts, and giving all. As much as I have tried to guard my heart and be realistic about the process, if I chose to be guarded and not give everything I have to this little one as I would my own biological children, I would have so many regrets. How could I justify it if two years from now she were to return home and I hadn't loved her to the the fullness of my capacity while in our care? My only reason for holding back would be to protect myself and that is not something I want hanging over my head! I understand that the risk is great...the cost is great... and the sorrow could be great....but that is a risk we are willing to take. I trust 110% that God will meet us where we are at and either celebrate with us, our heal our hearts. For now, we are taking it a day at a time and loving her as much as we can today. There is nothing more we can do.

I hope you enjoy these couple photos. As I said before, we can't post any photos of her face, so these will have to do. :) Thanks, friends, for your support!

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Top 5 Things From Day 1:

Thank you so much, friends and family, for your support of us in this season! We are so excited to start this new chapter in our lives and hope you will check our blog for updates. :) Unfortunately, because of legal reasons, we cannot share her name or post any photos on our blog, and the information we ARE allowed to share is limited. These blog posts will have to do for now! (I will reference "her" as the "little Miss")

Here are the top 5 highlights from day one:

5. Back to diapers again. It's been a couple of years since we've had a little one in diapers, and after EVERY diaper today being poopy, I sure have the motivation to potty train this little one!

4. Needing to make a "quick trip to Wal-Mart" for 2 things I forgot to pick up yesterday. First of all, "quick" and "Wal-Mart" should never be used in the same sentence. It took us roughly and hour and a half to load up 3 kids in the car, make our trek through the store, and then get home to unload. And yes, we actually live close enough that we can see the store out of our window at home.

3. I decided to have Micah put the double stroller in the back of the Suburban because I thought that the little Miss might do better if she could sit next to Caitlyn (our stroller is a side-by-side). It quickly became apparent that pushing two girls who are 35+ pounds each counted as Micah's workout for the day. The weight was not distributed well because the girls kept leaning forward. Micah kept asking them to sit back, which Caitlyn was not doing, but the little Miss was listening quite well. She was so baffled that Caitlyn was not obeying! She had this look of shock on her face time and time again when Caitlyn would lean forward on purpose when Micah wasn't looking (I had the privilege of pushing the cart behind them and viewing these interactions) Finally, after saying virtually NO words for the first several hours of being with us, she looked at Micah, yelled "DAD!" and flailed her arms towards Caitlyn as in, "Aren't you seeing what she's doing?!!" It was hilarious.

2. Watching her and Caitlyn do laps through our house, pushing a dolly stroller and giggling like they have known each other forever. I know a true friendship is blossoming already.

1. Rocking her at bedtime, as she just looked up at me with bright, shining eyes and precious smile. I wonder what was going through her mind...to be in a new house, with new kids and new adults and a new room with a new blankie.....

We are so grateful. Happy, thankful, and joyous seem to be words that fall incredibly short of the true honor we feel to play a small part in God's plan for this little one's life. Whether she is with us a month, or for the rest of her life, we have such peace in knowing that we have said "yes" to the journey. God will take care of the rest. He will guide our hearts--guard them if they need to be guarded, and expanded them if we need to give more. We are trusting Him.