Welp.
It's official.
We've lost our minds.
We now have two foster kiddos and have become a family of six! I'm sure there are some large bio and foster families out there laughing and thinking, "4 kids? That's nothing!" I know so many people with a LOT of kids that handle it with such grace and make it look easy (I'm lookin at you, Nick and Maria Engels!!!).
While they're over there looking cool as a cucumber, I'm now the hot mess mom that's late everywhere with spit up on my shirt and the contents of the diaper bag rolling around in the back of my car. It takes me 10 minutes to load and unload our vehicle with 4 kids and all thecrap necessary stuff that comes with them!
HOWEVER.....
While two additional kids at once was NOT on our agenda at all, God was doing His thing once again.
After our first placement went home so unexpectedly, we took a week off and then let our workers know we were ready for the next one. I had really had on my heart that God was telling me we were going to have a little girl soon. Under the age of one. And I was perfectly okay with that! We told them they could say yes to any placement under the age of two without any huge medical needs.
We were excited and ready for our next kiddo. But I can't tell you how many texts we got with a heads up about a kiddo and then a text a bit later saying they'd already been placed. It's crazy how quickly the little ones in foster care get placed! We would take 30 minutes or so to review their paperwork and by the time we'd made a decision, they'd already been put somewhere. We are so glad there are so many homes wanting these kiddos, but we were getting kind of bummed because it had been another week or so that we were waiting on a kid and just not getting any placements.
And then we got a call for a little boy! 21 months old, no special needs, just taken into care. We said yes right away and arrangements were made for him to come that night. I was a little disappointed in the fact that I thought maybe I had heard God wrong since it was a boy and older than one. But I also felt confident in saying yes to this little guy.
He came to our house with crazy hair and a super quiet personality. He is a GREAT sleeper, calm mannered and loves to eat! For the first few weeks, the only time he got upset was when he was hangry (which I totally understand). He became SUPER attached to Tessa and wants to be with her all the time. And she loves it! His transition into our family has been seamless.
We had gotten into a good routine with him and we all loved him so much already! But I kept feeling a tug on my heart about a little girl. Like there was a little lady out there that needed me--I had a literal pain in my heart thinking that I wasn't with her while not even knowing who she was. I kept praying about it and let Nick know how I was feeling. We had been told little man might not be with us a SUPER long time (nobody knows for sure in the system, but that was just the heads up we were given). So I asked Nick what he thought about telling our workers to keep an eye out for another placement, but to tell them we only wanted a girl between the ages of newborn to 18 months. It took a few days but he eventually agreed to it and we let our workers know.
We figured with the age and gender stipulations it would take several weeks to get a new placement and that we would maybe only have two extra kiddos for a short time.
You would think we would know better--ha! After getting so many false alarms about babies while waiting for our second placement....it took TWO DAYS for one of my workers to text me.
She said, "You might want to start preparing for a baby girl."
I didn't get too excited because I didn't figure it would actually go through. But as the day went on, she was able to give me more details and eventually said it was a definite thing and we were getting a 2 month old girl that night!
My heart was RACING and I went into mom-mode. I ran to Goodwill and bought a few things to get us through until we knew what all she needed. One of my sweet workers had bought us some diapers and bottles and onesies and wipes and bows, so I ran by and grabbed those from her. As I was driving to get home to meet this little girl my heart had been waiting for, I called one of my lifelong friends that also does foster care. I was telling her about getting this kiddo and where she was from. She said, "Oh, that's where T (her youngest foster daughter) is from!" I told her the baby's name and she said, "NO WAY!"
Friends, this is how good God is.
We pieced together that the baby girl we were getting was the little sister of the girl Ashley has had for the last year.
Out of ALL of the people in Kansas that she could have been placed with, He chose us. A family that already knew and loved her biological sister. A family that had already baby-sat her biological sister. A family that could keep her and her sister in contact and let their relationship grow while each of us has them.
He is good.
And through Him, we now have two sons and two daughters. I wish SO bad I could post a picture of the 4 of them and show you how blood has nothing to do with sibling love. My kids have taken these two in and loved them like they've been with us since day one (and it feels like they have).
So we are tired, we are busy, we've had a lot of PB and J dinners and our house is a disaster.
But MAN, our hearts are bursting at the seams!
Hard things are not so hard when you know you're living in God's will for your life.
It's official.
We've lost our minds.
We now have two foster kiddos and have become a family of six! I'm sure there are some large bio and foster families out there laughing and thinking, "4 kids? That's nothing!" I know so many people with a LOT of kids that handle it with such grace and make it look easy (I'm lookin at you, Nick and Maria Engels!!!).
While they're over there looking cool as a cucumber, I'm now the hot mess mom that's late everywhere with spit up on my shirt and the contents of the diaper bag rolling around in the back of my car. It takes me 10 minutes to load and unload our vehicle with 4 kids and all the
HOWEVER.....
While two additional kids at once was NOT on our agenda at all, God was doing His thing once again.
After our first placement went home so unexpectedly, we took a week off and then let our workers know we were ready for the next one. I had really had on my heart that God was telling me we were going to have a little girl soon. Under the age of one. And I was perfectly okay with that! We told them they could say yes to any placement under the age of two without any huge medical needs.
We were excited and ready for our next kiddo. But I can't tell you how many texts we got with a heads up about a kiddo and then a text a bit later saying they'd already been placed. It's crazy how quickly the little ones in foster care get placed! We would take 30 minutes or so to review their paperwork and by the time we'd made a decision, they'd already been put somewhere. We are so glad there are so many homes wanting these kiddos, but we were getting kind of bummed because it had been another week or so that we were waiting on a kid and just not getting any placements.
And then we got a call for a little boy! 21 months old, no special needs, just taken into care. We said yes right away and arrangements were made for him to come that night. I was a little disappointed in the fact that I thought maybe I had heard God wrong since it was a boy and older than one. But I also felt confident in saying yes to this little guy.
He came to our house with crazy hair and a super quiet personality. He is a GREAT sleeper, calm mannered and loves to eat! For the first few weeks, the only time he got upset was when he was hangry (which I totally understand). He became SUPER attached to Tessa and wants to be with her all the time. And she loves it! His transition into our family has been seamless.
We had gotten into a good routine with him and we all loved him so much already! But I kept feeling a tug on my heart about a little girl. Like there was a little lady out there that needed me--I had a literal pain in my heart thinking that I wasn't with her while not even knowing who she was. I kept praying about it and let Nick know how I was feeling. We had been told little man might not be with us a SUPER long time (nobody knows for sure in the system, but that was just the heads up we were given). So I asked Nick what he thought about telling our workers to keep an eye out for another placement, but to tell them we only wanted a girl between the ages of newborn to 18 months. It took a few days but he eventually agreed to it and we let our workers know.
We figured with the age and gender stipulations it would take several weeks to get a new placement and that we would maybe only have two extra kiddos for a short time.
You would think we would know better--ha! After getting so many false alarms about babies while waiting for our second placement....it took TWO DAYS for one of my workers to text me.
She said, "You might want to start preparing for a baby girl."
I didn't get too excited because I didn't figure it would actually go through. But as the day went on, she was able to give me more details and eventually said it was a definite thing and we were getting a 2 month old girl that night!
My heart was RACING and I went into mom-mode. I ran to Goodwill and bought a few things to get us through until we knew what all she needed. One of my sweet workers had bought us some diapers and bottles and onesies and wipes and bows, so I ran by and grabbed those from her. As I was driving to get home to meet this little girl my heart had been waiting for, I called one of my lifelong friends that also does foster care. I was telling her about getting this kiddo and where she was from. She said, "Oh, that's where T (her youngest foster daughter) is from!" I told her the baby's name and she said, "NO WAY!"
Friends, this is how good God is.
We pieced together that the baby girl we were getting was the little sister of the girl Ashley has had for the last year.
Out of ALL of the people in Kansas that she could have been placed with, He chose us. A family that already knew and loved her biological sister. A family that had already baby-sat her biological sister. A family that could keep her and her sister in contact and let their relationship grow while each of us has them.
He is good.
And through Him, we now have two sons and two daughters. I wish SO bad I could post a picture of the 4 of them and show you how blood has nothing to do with sibling love. My kids have taken these two in and loved them like they've been with us since day one (and it feels like they have).
So we are tired, we are busy, we've had a lot of PB and J dinners and our house is a disaster.
But MAN, our hearts are bursting at the seams!
Hard things are not so hard when you know you're living in God's will for your life.
