Looking Up

Knock on wood, things are starting to calm down a bit here.  Ben is back to school and my nephew Ethan is home from the hospital.  Ethan has a long road of recovery ahead of him. He has a full leg cast and will be in a wheelchair for a while. But we're so glad he's home and can start to heal.

Maggie has slept 13 hours straight the past 3 nights. We put her to bed at 9pm and I have to wake her at 10am!  I know that long of a stretch won't continue, but getting an uninterrupted night's sleep is heavenly! She's also takes an afternoon nap that I have to wake her from as well.  She's been eating great and super happy this week!  Her personality is really coming out. She's very outgoing and silly. We call her Wild Woman.  I think she may end up being the class clown. She loves to tickle and tease, dance and sing. Yes, when she hears music she starts to "sing" and sway. It's adorable.  She babbles all the time and loves to mimic us and do these silly head bobs.  She's very relaxed and just loves to be with us.

Everyone says she's so lucky to be here. That's true to an extent, she's definitely better off here than in that orphanage. But honestly WE are the lucky ones! She has brought such joy to our house. Someone asked me if I regret adopting her. Honestly the question shocked me and thought of regret literally never crossed my mind. She is MY CHILD. Meant to be mine just as much as my biological children.  I'm obsessed with her. I can't get enough of kissing those soft little cheeks and hearing her giggle.  We view her medical needs and hoops we had to jump through to adopt her in the same way we view issues that come up with our biological children-you deal with them without question because they are your child.  All kids have things come up in their childhood that they need help with. We consider ourselves blessed and honored to be the ones that God chose to care for her.  She is not a burden in any way, not any more so than Sam's food allergies and Ben's throat problems and Allie's emotional issues.  We love them all wholly and completely.

Friends, if you are feeling a little inkling inside your heart to adopt or foster, but keep saying no because you are afraid, I promise you God will equip you and fill your heart with love.  It might not be easy at every step, but you won't regret it and your life will be blessed a thousand fold.

She is getting braver. She was determined to get Ben's markers from him.

And kept getting dragged back by Daddy.

 Working on a welcome home banner for cousin Ethan.

Quiet time. I swore I didn't need to have a baby again, but I'm so loving these snuggles with her.

 Ben is AMAZING with her. He plays with her and "works his magic" as he says when she's fussy.  They got to spend lots of time together when he was home for 3 days.  Fingers crossed she doesn't get sick!!

 Yesterday was so warm out. The big kids and I played baseball in the front yard while Mags relaxed in her exersaucer.  BTW, you should see 3 year old Allie hit the ball when it's pitched to her. You can tell she has 2 older brothers!