Hiatus

Man, I've been gone a long time. An unintentional hiatus I guess.

Life has been busy and crazy and wonderful.


In January I went on a 10-day mission to Wahiawa with a group from my church. It's a town in the middle of the island of Oahu. I traveled 5000 miles away from my babies and my husband. It was the most difficult thing I've ever done in my life. It was worth every second of pain and every tear shed over the decision. I can't fully talk about what happened to me there because it's so hard to explain. God did amazing things in my heart and my life and I know things will never be 'status quo' again. Maybe I'll elaborate someday when I can put it into better words.



My children grow in leaps and bounds. Ace is 2 & 1/2 and so smart and witty and fun. And he loves his sister, which warms my heart. Lu is 8 months old and her own little person. She is funny and cuddly and sweet. And she has a temper that, as a baby, Ace never had. It's been fun seeing the differences between the two.


Lastly, I've lost 55 pounds since Lu was born. This includes the 20 I gained while being pregnant. I think this is my lowest weight since I've been married. I'm finally justifying the big tote of clothes I've saved over the years, hoping they'd fit again. It feels amazing to have less literally weighing me down. I'm more active and have more energy than ever.



Life is sweet and wonderful. I find moments of joy in every day, both big and small. In December I declared that 2012 was going to be MY year. It's only March and it's already been the best year of my life.

Sickness and Health

For those who aren't aware....

Yesterday Lucy and I got home from spending 6 days at Children's Hospital in Milwaukee. Last week she started getting really sick - spiking very high fevers and not eating. We ended up in the ER, were there for 7 hours, and then she was transported to Children's. She was hooked up to an IV the entire time, so she wouldn't get dehydrated, and they treated her fevers while running multiple tests to determine the cause. Her fevers, at one point, were going higher than 104. It was very scary. After a couple days the final lab came back and it turned out she had a UTI. Those are much worse for a baby since they're so little and any infection takes more of a toll. They added antibiotics to her IV and her fevers finally started going down. Shawn stayed at the hospital with us the first couple nights but had to go home eventually because of work and Asa. Asa was able to spend most of the 6 days with my parents.

We are so thankful that Lucy didn't have anything more serious and that she responded so well to treatment. We're also thankful that our insurance covered such an amazing hospital. She received the best care possible.

I'm truly exhausted from spending so much time in upheaval and emotional stress. I missed my little boy SO much during that time. It's almost like a week of my life just disappeared. I'm still processing everything that happened. But, for now, life is sweet and wonderful with my little ones near me.

Life is Beautiful

Life is busy and wonderful and beautiful all at the same time.

There are so many changes happening for me that it would take days to write about on here.

Let's just say I'm entering into a season of change and growth and renewed purpose. I have nothing but excitement about the future.

And little Lucy grows with leaps and bounds and laughter.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zUSeOaG-uf4

In all her happiness.

Kiddos

Having two kids is keeping me much busier than I used to be, hence less internet time. To keep my few readers happy I placate you with a few recent pics in the meantime....

My Newest Love

I haven't been keeping up with my blog at all. :/

But I thought I'd share the latest news.

July 8th, 2011
8 lb 4 oz
21.5 inches




Please welcome Lucy Adrianna to the world. We sure are glad she's here.

Galena Getaway

Getting away for the weekend with a group of girls is where it's at.

Especially when you have such awesome friends.

Adoption

Yesterday was a monumental day for some dear friends of mine. For the last three years they have been foster parents to twin girls. These girls came to their home when they were just babies. Malnourished and emotionally disconnected little baby girls in need of love and a healthy environment. Yesterday my friends legally adopted them. They were transformed under their care. They became healthy and happy and flourished under the love they received from their foster parents who are now officially their Mommy and Daddy. I'm just so happy for them.

When we were having trouble starting a family we sat down with our friends to learn more about becoming foster parents. They'd had the girls in their home for a little less than six months at the time but were already very familiar with the inner workings of the foster care system. We had decided that there was only so far medically we were willing to go to become pregnant and that maybe God had another plan for us to become parents. I'd reached a point in my life where I was completely trusting that I would get a chance to be a mother and I was willing to become one to someone else's child if needed. We had a lovely meeting with our friends and learned quite a bit, enough that we contacted the county and received the application packet so we could start the process. Little did we know that, even as we'd had the meeting with our friends, I was already expecting Ace. Isn't it funny how things like that happen? We put the foster parent plan on the back burner not knowing if we'd ever revisit it or not.

Now we're six weeks away from the arrival of our second little one. We have been so blessed to start and have this little family of ours. But all those children in need of a loving home still weigh on my heart. I know the whole process my friends went through was an incredibly difficult and drawn-out one full of uncertainty and some heartbreaking moments. I know if we pursue this avenue in the future it will not be easy. But I also know these children are on my heart for a reason. I've always wanted more than two children. Maybe the next addition/s to our family won't be born into it.

*Just my musings, no plans in place at the moment.*