I am so excited to say hello to spring. Although, today is a balmy 54F and windy. 😦 I can’t wait for all the trees to bloom, green grass to spring up, and the warm, warm sun to shine. This winter was cold and long. We are literally counting down the days until Spring Break. We are all looking forward to a couple days at the beach in Florida. This Florida girl can only take so much cold weather.
The kiddos are doing good, overall. Ethan has had a strong 3rd grade year. He is blessed to have one of the kindest, loving, and most gracious teachers. She has challenged him and pushed him. It is the best having him right across the hall from me. This rough and tough boy broke his finger a few weeks ago. We are all now taking bets on his next injury! Will it be the head again, or finger, maybe a foot injury? There is absolutely no telling with him.
Weston has had his fair share of ups and downs lately. He is in full preteen mode, which isn’t always the easiest thing to navigate. With his residual post-Lyme issues from time to time, it just seems to complicate the matter. Justin and I have been reading a lot of different articles and books on the subject lately. It has also been comforting to know from friends and family that we aren’t the only ones walking this current path. He is such a sweet boy, and he really has a good heart. He, like so many boys his age, struggle with friendships, emotions, trying to fit in. At the same time, he has some of the very best of friends, has a great sense of humor, and loves his sister so much (currently more than his brother :), and he still loves to hang out with his parents (what the what?). So we press on through this season. We are lucky that he wants to talk with us about anything and everything. It is a season that is not for the weary, yet I wouldn’t change a single thing about it. There is so much good in this season.
And friends, these two boys can look at me with one smile and still completely melt my heart! Being a mom to Emma and these two boys is the best job in the world.
Emma is doing fantastic. She has shined through middle school. I am so proud of the young lady that she is becoming. We are well into high school planning mode. She has made her high school schedule, has cheer tryouts next week, and she is already an inch taller than me.
I remember when she was only a few months old, and I saw a dad with his 3 year old daughter on his shoulders walking into Blockbuster Video (I am dating all of us now). I kept thinking that one day she will be big enough to be on her daddy’s shoulders. Those days are long gone, and now here we are, well past toddler years and soon to be entering high school.
Young mama’s, don’t blink. Really just treasure all these seasons. They are so very special and go by so fast!
I wanted to also give a quick update on our adoption. I have had a few people ask us, and the kids in the past month. We are well into the waiting game. We are currently in the middle of updating our home study. This process has to be done on a yearly basis. So… we are checking those boxes once again. We will be completing this over the next few weeks. My dear friend Kelly sent me this article yesterday, and it spoke right to this season and my heart. I know God has a very special little girl for our family. No, we don’t have a time table to her arrival, but that is OK! It seems like the waiting is so long! However, our trust in God and his perfect timing is what gets us through these long days. In the meantime, Justin and I are updating paper work, working on grants, still building our adoption fund at youcaring and adopttogether, kicking around the idea of creating a t-shirt, and praying/trusting in His timing.
Has it been easy? Absolutely Not!                                                                                              Worth it? A million times, Yes!
We have also decided to take a break from our etsy shop. We are keeping our Facebook/Instagram open and are working on orders on a case by case basis. The table company has really just taken too much of our time away from our family. Justin is amazing at building, but we also have full time jobs and 3 great kids who need us. Please don’t ever feel like you can’t reach out to us with something you would like to have built. Just know that it might take a little longer. We love you all and love that we get to still be a small part of your family in this way.
If you ever have questions about adoption, please ask away. We aren’t experts by any means, but we have been in this process long enough now that we do a decent job at navigating it. Our prayer has become that through our process, maybe it will spur on the thought of adoption into some of your lives. Please let us know 🙂
autumnawakenings 