Christmas 2015

It's a hot Christmas this year! We even went north to Cory's parent's house in Georgia but it was raining for 2 days straight and then a high of 78 on Christmas Day (when the above picture was taken). But, we headed out to the park determined to get one day outside while we were here :)

It's been so nice to relax and spend time with my people without worrying about school for me or them or being called to the birth of a baby. I mean, I love what I do, but it's so nice to be with my family without thinking about anything else! One more week without school and then it's back to craziness. I'll enjoy these moments of peace and relaxation while I can.

Merry Christmas!!

Midwifery School - Trimester 1

Celebration lunch with my classmates after our Finals

This last Friday was my last class of my first semester of midwifery school. I can't even begin to tell all the things I've learned in these first few months. As comfortable as I am in the "birth world", I have never participated in any of the medical side other than observation. So, this has been a huge learning curve for me. Everything from learning how to take a blood pressure and pulse to drawing blood and learning how to operate an oxygen machine have been brand new for me. And, I have learned so much so quickly. It's weird to think how comfortable I am now sticking a needle in someone's arm when only 2 months ago I would have broken out in a sweat at the thought.
I also underestimated how busy I would be going to school. No matter how much Jennie tried to warn us, I still didn't have a clue of what to expect. I am interning at the birth center 2 full days a week and school is all day on Friday. Plus, I am attending 1-2 births a week almost every week. This averages out to almost 40 hours a week. I really expected it to be closer to a 20 hour week. But, there are some of my classmates that are having a hard time getting any hours so I guess I should be thankful for that part :) But, trying to get all this done at the same time as homeschooling my kids and going to our co-op 1 day a week has been challenging to say the least. And, not just challenging for me. This has brought a new level of independence and initiative to my kids that I didn't know was in them.
I do miss being at home and I do miss spending time with my family. Family time has become very precious and something I look forward to. Keeping the house clean and in some type of order is now almost impossible. My kids and husband are such great help and I couldn't do what I am doing without them, but there just isn't the time to get all the things done that I usually would do.  There is the constant battle I struggle through of requiring my kids to be part of the team of our family and helping each other out and feeling like I am asking too much of them in order to follow my own dream. It's a constant conversation as a family and a balancing act that will continue to mold and change as the needs of everyone does the same.
I love learning from my midwife and I love my classmates! If there are a couple things I know for sure, the next 8 terms will challenge me to do things I didn't even know I could do, will stretch my family to new limits and will allow me to pursue a dream that I have wanted for so long. So, it's 1 term down and 8 more to go. I am so excited to see what I will learn in this next term and I am so thankful for the support of such an amazing family!

Thanksgiving

Every Thanksgiving, we come up with a couple fun crafts to do with all the kids (usually one that involves food and one that doesn't). This year, we made turkeys out of mason jars, whoppers, chocolate covered pretzels and construction paper. This was a hit for the messy factor and the yummy candy factor :)

The "non-food' craft was very simple and served 2 purposes. We painted clothespins for a fun game of Turkey Tag (each person has 3 clothespins attached somewhere to their clothing and the goal of the game is to be last person with any clothespins left still attached. In case your wondering, yes, this did cause skinned knees, busted lips and hurt feelings but I'm still calling it a win! :) ). We also used these clothespins to hold our place cards that were printed from online and names written in by 3 of the girls.

Morgan and Sydney are becoming quite the musicians and love to play and sing together. So, on a lazy day like today, it's the perfect time to play and sing with cousins :)

And, by the end of the day, everyone was exhausted, so we watched a favorite... FROZEN! Such a fun day with family and relaxing and yummy food!

Halloween

My kids on Halloween. Morgan didn't dress up at all but I still made her get in the picture :) Avery is the Snapchat update (I know, she is funny), Sydney is tweedledee with her cousin, Annalise, being Tweedledum, Jordan is just a blue person and Troy is Scooby. We had a lot of fun walking around the neighborhood with friends and family. Troy and Emmie enjoyed riding in the wagon and getting candy handed to them. I think they decided this is their new favorite holiday :)

Here is a close up of Jordan. 

Tweedledee and Tweedledum

Pumpkin Patch

It's that time of year

In case you can't tell, that's actually a smile :) He is trying to say "cheese". Too much cuteness!

 The whole crew that was there

My kiddos. Love em!

My Family of 7

We are officially and legally a family of 7! We are so excited to have this sweet boy a part our family.

We know he had no idea what was going on or that anything is even different. And, we feel so blessed that is the case. One day, he will ask questions and we will have answers. One day, he might have big emotions over the impact of his adoption day. But, right now, the big emotions came from all the big people in his life. We all know the difference this means. We all know the permanency he gained and the biological family he lost. We all get it. He doesn't yet. But, one day, he will.

Right now, he is all smiles and loves being the center of attention. Right now, he feels safe and loved. Right now, he couldn't imagine anything different. We will cherish these moments. We will smile with him. We will laugh at his humor. We will clap at as his accomplishments. We will even giggle at his 2 year old fits. We will enjoy this stage and all the ones to come. 

And, we will remember this day as a day that our family grew 1 person bigger. We will remember this day as the day that we all felt a little more settled and able to breath easier. 

We will remember all the love and support we felt by those that walked alongside of us. We will remember that the road ahead might not be easy but it will always be worth it.

We LOVE you sweet boy and we are so glad you are part of our family!

Adoption - Here and Abroad

Well, we finally have an official adoption date for the newest member of our family. On September 29th at 1:30 p.m., we will legally be a family of 7 :)
We are so excited for the finalization of a very long process. We are also grateful that our little guy won't even skip a beat because of the age he is at. As for right now, he doesn't know anything different than us as his family.
We are also extremely fortunate to not only have extended family members who have walked this road before us but also close friends that have adopted from foster care. We will and have already used these resources in helping us navigate the journey of adoption.

We are also beginning the pursuit of adoption from Haiti. A couple of months ago, my kids and I went on a mission's trip to Haiti and all of our lives were forever changed. It was impactful, empowering, heartbreaking and eye opening. We did so many things on that trip that we will never forget, but one thing that has stayed at the forefront of our conversations since we have been home is a little boy. He is 1 month younger than Troy and he captured the heart of all 5 us immediately.
Since we have returned home, Cory and I have been praying and talking about him and trying to figure out what God was calling us to. Well, we have officially decided to pursue adoption from Haiti. We know the process can be anywhere from 1-3 years and we are jumping in with both feet and not any idea of the world of international adoption. We are excited, nervous, overwhelmed and at peace all at the same time. We know one of the biggest hurdles in international adoption is the cost. So, we will be trying to raise as much of the funds as we can along the way.
We know that the finalization is not guaranteed and there are several hoops we will need to jump through and there will be several times along the way that God can close the door. For now, we just know we are called to be "willing". The rest of the process and the future we leave in God's hands.
We also know that moving forward in this direction is crazy and doesn't make logical sense. But, if there is anything we have learned while walking with the Lord in our marriage, it is that He often (and I mean, often) calls us to do things that sound crazy. So, here we go. Jumping from a new family of 7 to a soon to be family of 8.

This sweet boy melted our hearts.

It didn't take long for me to fall in love with the children of Haiti

Could this be any sweeter?

Who wouldn't want to hold this snuggly guy?