The Most Wonderful Time of the Year

It has been a crazy busy, wonderful couple of weeks. Poor Ashton had to have his tonsils and adnoids removed last Thursday, and we have been trying to get him well since. He is doing great, but just trying to take it easy.

Taking it easy is not easy during the busiest time of the year. Our first Christmas together has been an absolute joy!! The kids got way too much stuff, and have been loving every moment of it! Both of our families have totally taken these kiddos in as their own. It has been truly wonderful. I feel so blessed to have them here.

They have also been opening up so much over the last few weeks. Today we were told again that we are the "best mom and dad." I did have to break down the other day and tell them about their birthmom's situation. Without going into details with them, it wasn't a pleasant conversation. They needed to hear it, though, so they could move on. Since then, they have only been more loving and open with us.

The boys have been telling us some of the things that they have gone through in the past, and every day, I am just SO thankful that they are with us. They are safe, healthy, and happy!! I couldn't ask for more :)

Lord, thank you for blessing me beyond my imagination. Thank you for blessing these children beyond theirs!

Our God is So Perfect

Life is such an amazing roller coaster that sometimes I am amazed we even survive it! The boys' sister, Lacy, moved in last Friday. Since then we have had a phone visit with the kiddos birthmom. It went well, but she got the boys so riled up it was difficult to reign them back in. On Wednesday, the boys went to their counseling session and then had a face-to-face visit with their mom. It was hard for me to let them go, but I just gave it to God. I know that he already knows how things are going to end, and I just have to trust in him.

Things went okay with the visit. The kiddos came home with a bunch of pictures from their past which were really interesting to look at. They had a ton of junk food and junk toys too. So even though I wasn't thrilled, I was able to accept that they were safe and I was just glad they were back home.

On Friday we got a phone call from our case worker that there was an update in the case. Mom has relapsed and will definetely go back to jail, possibly prison. Wow. How things changed in just 2 days! Selfishly, I am glad she decided to do it now, because it pretty much set her fate in concrete for our upcoming court hearing. On the flip side, my heart wrenches for her, because I want her to clean her life up. I did some online research (amazing what you can find out!) and learned a lot more about exactly why these kids can't be with their parents. It is just so sad. Drugs (hard stuff), theft, domestic abuse...and yet they are 3 of the happiest children I have ever met!

I thank God everyday that he knows what is best. Things are seeming to fall into place. We have signed intention to adopt papers and it is really looking like that may be our future with these three little ones. I just pray that when that time comes, the kids are okay with it. They do not see the terrible things that their parents were doing. They only remember the good stuff (of course!)

Lord, I fully trust you and I know you will make everything fall into place when the time comes! We pray that these children will see us as their parents and they will feel the love we have for them.

My Heart Breaks For These Boys

Everyday, I am amazed by how these two boys can have such a positive outlook on life. They are so happy and easy going. It's crazy after all they've been through. But every once in a while, a tiny tidbid of their past life comes out.

Tonight
We are sitting in the car waiting for Brian to get some pizzas at Papa Murphy's. In that ten minute time frame we discussed everything from Hannah Montana, Justin Bieber(?), Barack O'bama, and Michael Jackson. Somewhere in that mix, they tell me that their mom has 1099 DVDs at her house. I say, "Oh, where does your mom live?" Really I am just being nosy as to what they truly know about their mom. Their response is that she is living in the hospital and she is really really sick. She didn't want them to get sick so that's why they can't be with her. I suppose it is some version of the truth, and so I left it at that. I did not provide any information about their mom.

In the car on the way home
One of the boys tells us "a really funny story" (according to him). He tells us that they were sleeping one night, all in the same bed. They were awoken to the sound of their dad getting arrested. He then tells us that their dad went to jail, because he was hitting their mom. "They were having a hitting race." He was laughing as he was telling us this story. Now, surely, the laughter is a defense mechanism. I pray that they really don't think it is funny for men to hit women or vice versa.

Our response
I am so sorry you boys had to see that. I promise you that in our home you will never see us hit each other. It is not nice for people to hit. Especially people who love each other. You don't have to worry about that here.

What else could we say?

Lord I pray that we say the right things when the kiddos open up to us. Give us your words so that they might find YOU!