One Step Completed

We have finished our renewal paperwork for our license for foster care!  Also, we completed the paperwork for our adoption Home Study!  It feels so good to have these things completed and taken care of.  Last Sunday, John and I were fortunate to be able to get up in front of our church to tell our Grace Along the Journey story.  It was nice to be able to make people aware of what we are doing and why.  I love how I was able to work Ephesians 3:20 into our story, "Now to him who is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine according to his power that is at work within us."  John and I knew we were suppose to be teachers, parents, and coaches.  We never imagined that God would give us this ministry of giving children a home, sharing God's word to them, and teaching them what a family look likes.  We are so blessed!!

A Week of Completion

What a week! On Sunday, Lauren and Anna Claire danced in their recital.  The theme was Once Upon a Time.  It was a first for both girls and they both thoroughly enjoyed it.  I was extremely impressed with Steeple Arts for having all the children dance and done within an hour! Yes, an hour! It was very entertaining and enjoyable.  On Tuesday, Ayden and Anna Claire had their Preschool Program.  They sang songs and said good bye to another.  Ayden graduated from preschool and is ready to start Kindergarten!  On Thursday, Lauren graduated from High School.  We were so proud of her and excited that she was able to pass her classes especially since this school was academically challenging and she had to work harder than ever before.  On Friday, John and I complete our Home Study!!!! We are ready to adopt our two boys from China!!!  What does this mean for us?  Well, Lifeline is waiting on all our references to complete their letters of recommendation for us.  Then, they will write a report on us which they will send to us for our approval.  We will have to sign it and return it along with a check.  Next, they will send it to immigration and from there it goes back to Lifeline where they collect more paperwork and then send everything to China.  That part of the process should be completed in four months.  From that point, more documents and paperwork is filed.  We can match anytime now with our boys. However, they are estimating that we would be traveling to China around January.  In the meantime, John and I will be selling coffee(justlovecoffee.com/pledger), jewelry(necklaces and bracelets $24 each), and candles(partylite.com, hostess Maryann Pledger).  Please consider being a part of this journey and ministry with us.  If you would like to buy something for our adoption check out the websites I stated or if you simply want to donate there is an option on the right of this website that would allow you to.  We are so excited about what God is doing in our lives!!  We are so blessed!

Five and Counting!

Wow! I have not posted on here in almost two years.  In that little amount of time, so much has changed. God has been so good to my family and shown John and I so much.  We know that we were created to be parents and adopt and foster children.  We have two from our hearts who live with us now and soon we will be traveling to China to adopt siblings or twins! I am so excited for what God has in store for my family and can't wait to share our journey with our friends and family.   

Some people have asked that we start a blog to discuss our journey but I want to just pick up with where I stopped since this blog is about my children.  Right now, we are in the beginning stages of adopting.  We have started the home study and completed all our training except for one thing and completed all discussion questions.  Now, we have to gather documents and make copies of everything!

In case you are wondering what the count is...we have two 18 year olds, a five year old, a three year old, and a two year old.  We would like to adopt younger children but are open to whatever God has planned.  Thank you all for embarking on this journey with us and please keep us in your prayers as we complete paperwork for both the foster agency(done yearly) and the adoption agency.

Life with Three

So far, this year has been full of changes. With the birth of Adelaide, Addie, everyday life has been turned upside down. Addie has been such a great baby. She sleeps through the night most every night now. However, when there are three kids, mommy and daddy do not have much "down time". We have been incorporating the Baby Wise plan with her and will say that it has worked!!! I will be recommending that to all my new mommy friends!

Ayden is playing soccer this year. I will say, he is pretty good! At his first game of the season, he got the first "break away" moment with the ball. But, when he ran down the field with the ball and got to the goal, instead of kicking it in, he kicked it past the goal and kept on going!!! Anna Claire gets out there with them at practice and kicks the ball some and might prove to be the best athlete of my three. John has been loving watching Ayden play soccer. He is right there on the sidelines encouraging Ayden and supporting him. I go to the games and practices as well, but I am usually tending to the girls or taking pictures!

John has had some changes at work this year. We are hopeful that God will continue to bless us with John's job. He really loves doing what he does. I am still loving being at home and am extremely busy with the new baby and moving!

We have had a lot of changes. We were lucky to sell our house and will be moving soon. If all goes according to planned, we will be in our dream house in our dream location soon!!!! The house is so big and allows us to have room to grow. I plan on volunteering at my church some with the ESL program and will continue serving on Sunday mornings in Ayden's class once we move. I can't wait to be closer to church so that we can be more involved.

God has been good to us and I can't wait to see what He continues to do in our lives.

Road Trip!

This past week, we bravely embarked on a road trip to Austin, TX. Much to my surprise, the kids did wonderfully in the car!!! We loved visiting with Aunt Mary and Uncle Enidio. Also, the kids loved getting to meet other family members for the first time. The kid's great grandmother celebrated her 80th birthday and Ayden was delighted to get to join in the celebration.

On our way to Texas, we stayed a night in Shreveport and two nights in Lake Charles. Both cities were very pretty and we enjoyed the new experiences. In Lake Charles we stayed at the L'auberge hotel. It was incredible!! The hotel/casino was good for allowing Ayden to walk around and be as loud as he wanted. While the casino was not somewhere I wanted to stay, I didn't have much say because my father was paying for it. (I did not do any gambling because I am too cheap of a person to risk losing one penny!! )

We are all glad to be home and look forward to a week of hanging out at the house. Jessie Ann and Chance were both so excited to see us as were we of them. Since the road trip was so successful, I plan on making the trip again in the Spring...but next time, John will have to come along!

Eating Solids

Anna Claire has begun eating rice cereal. She is doing so well with it already! Yesterday, when I started feeding her Ayden wanted to try it. So, I gave him a bite and he made a face like "why would you give me this?". It was so cute. Jessie Ann and Chance quickly realized that they now have two people to stand under when eating! I have a feeling that if I were to drop some of it that they too would give me the same face as Ayden!

19 Months

I am staying home now with Ayden and loving it. I admit somedays are harder than others, but we have a lot of fun. We go to the park, library, zoo, and we might start going to a dance class if I can talk his daddy into letting him take dance. He is a very happy boy and I am so blessed to have him. He is also a great big brother! He loves his Anna Claire-but he calls her baby. He is constantly kissing and hugging her. I have a hard time keeping him off her. Anna Claire is so easy. She spends most her time sleeping so it frees me up to spend time with Ayden.