Just add Mircale Grow!

So last night we were asked the question that most people who sign up for foster/adoption dream of… would you like to adopt a baby due in November? Most everyone wants that “shiny new baby”… and on some levels I do too… and I thought I would know the answer immediately when asked that question so why the hesitation? We currently have 3 kids, so new baby would be the 4^th and if the girls come back in to care (that will always be a “what if” with us) that puts us up to 6 kids… SIX KIDS! Wow! It’s not really unusual in the foster/adopt community to see families of 6+ kids, we just never thought that would be us… but here we are… the mother of the toddlers we have now is pregnant and wants to give the expected baby up for adoption. She’s not ready to close the door on the other 2 yet though… and in my mind, I’m trying not to connect the dots that may eventually lead to us being able to keep them too… but ya know… the heart has a “mind” of it’s own…

Anyway… so that’s our dilemma currently… it’s not really a dilemma at all… how could we say no to taking a sibling of kids already in our home? I guess the task now is coming to terms with the fact that we may be becoming “expectant parents” and everything that comes with that. But in this world of uncertainty, we also have to tread lightly in the hope arena because she could always change her mind. A myriad of things could happen between now and November.

There’s also the fact that I’ll be 40 this year… some of my friends from high school are already grandparents, having already raised their own kids, and we’re thinking about taking in a fresh new life? It pains me to actually face my age but that is a factor. Jimmie and I will be in our 60’s when the kid graduates college…

But kids definitely keep you young and many many more people are having kids at our age so it’s not completely crazy.

Another really silly but very practical thing I’ve been thinking of is where will everyone sit in the car or the truck? Are we doomed to take 2 vehicles if we all wanna go somewhere… we were already considering some sort of SUV type vehicle because Jimmie is totally anti minivan, I’m only partially anti mini van… I think we’ve been looking at umm maybe a Mountaineer? I want something bigger than an explorer but not as big as a suburban but a suburban may be the way to go…

Well that’s one of the major things going on in our life right now… please keep us in your prayers!

I guess I’ll do a “Missy” style update on everyone….

Austin – (age 17)… skip that one…

Oh wait that’s not nice… Austin. Austin. Austin. I could write a book about what that boy is teaching us about life, ourselves, our prayer life, parenting, human nature, teen age boys, teen age girls, house rules, social etiquette… I could go on for hours… I will say that he has definitely pushed all our buttons and we came very close to kicking him out. I mean very very close… like the people were lined up to come get him and at the last second we saw a glimmer of hope and told everyone to stand down… I know that there are lot of people praying for us and him because by the grace of God we’ve gotten this far with him. Our “eye on the prize” is to get him through this last year of school. After that we’re hoping he does indeed sign up with the Army because that would definitely be his next best step after school. Deep down he’s a good kid with a good heart and lately we’ve been having more good times than bad with him… but he’s been grounded so he’s had to spend time with us lol! We really love that kid and he’s definitely a part of our forever family no matter what happens.

Matthew (age 3) is crazy energetic and extremely imaginative. He tells a story about being at the beach and a shark biting his foot and then birds attacked his head and then he fell out of the boat and I saved him! What a storyteller! He loves going to tractor pulls with Jimmie and the few I’ve been to with them, oh my gosh, he is fun to watch because he is absolutely enthralled with the tractors. Matthew is all boy. When I give him bath in the evenings the water is usually muddy! Lol

Cali (age 20 months) is a snuggle bug as long as she’s a happy camper but she has a great big temper too… oh that girl… man oh me…. She became quickly attached to me too which is great and doesn’t hurt my feelings at all but she won’t really let other people hold her. We went to a birthday party for her cousin here in Kentucky and she wouldn’t let anyone else hold her or talk to her or much of anything else… that was awkward for me….but she is just a precious little angel and just as sweet as she can be when she wants to be…

Jimmie (age 38) is doing ok. There are some staffing changes going on at his job right now which don’t seem to be very positive as it will put someone over Jimmie that he has left other companies to get away from because this guy is just very difficult to work for and with so we’re not very excited about that. Jimmie is actually contemplating a career change… which is scary since he is the primary bread winner. He has started attending a grief support group to start addressing some of his feelings about “the girls” and that has really been helpful. We’ve also been talking about that issue at our foster/adopt parent support group that we go to each month and that has been mighty helpful too.

As for me (age 39)… well I’m just feeling blessed, sometimes stressed, but mostly blessed. I’m in awe of God’s grace and how evident His goodness and mercies and blessings are in my life. I’m humbled to no end to know that this time last year I was mad at Him for not letting me get pregnant and then seemingly slamming that door shut when I started to seek that in earnest. But as we know… He can take it… and His ways are mysterious and perfect. I don’t know why He is leading us in our life as He is but it is an awesome adventure and we continue to learn more about ourselves daily. This journey has really brought Jimmie and I together as a team and made our love and appreciation for one another that much sweeter and deeper.

I love my Miracle Grow family and can’t wait to add more to the mix… can we handle 4 kids??!!?? Wow! Guess we’ll find out … maybe.. probably… I don’t know!

One things for sure… as much as I love em all… I’d leave tomorrow for another girl cruise!! Lol I doubt Austin would speak to me when I came back because he wants to go on a cruise very badly… but still.. I miss my cruise chicks and all the fun we had… those memories I’ll cherish forever for sure!