Abundantly Blessed Again!!

Tim and I are overjoyed to share that we have officially adopted baby "A"!!!

Introducing our newest family member...

Anna-Kate!!

She came into our home when she was less than 48 hours old.

God placed her in our home. One of the easiest placements and cases that we have ever experienced.

I learned a new definition of tired but she is so worth it!

We all fell in love with her!

The drugs her bio-mom used while pregnant took there toll on her nervous system for sure.  She pulled her hair out since birth and rocked her body for comfort.  She has had so many anxiety and emotional issues.  She has cried more than any other baby we have ever had in our home, no matter what we have tried and done.  We just have made ourselves available to her, for comfort, thru it all...but... God is doing a work in her and with each passing month, she is having fewer screaming spells and is finding some peace.  

As she becomes more mobile she is becoming happier and less anxious.  She is able to keep busy so the rocking and hair pulling has almost completely stopped.

We were so happy when she had been here a year and celebrated her first birthday!  Aunt "S" made the cake for her special day!

 And these two sisters have become very close over that year!

All of the kids love her so much and have enjoyed her.  We have watched her quickly grow from a newborn to a baby and from a baby to a toddler.  As she grows and can play with all the littles, she has just become one of their gang.

She is a big part of our lives and we love her dearly.

It is our privilege and honor to now call her our daughter.

Tim's mom and a pile of grand kids!

To be entrusted by God to raise Anna-Kate for Him and to His glory.  We are just in awe.

We are watching her blossom and grow up on us.  It is happening so quickly.

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God is so good!

There are no words to express the joy we feel at being chosen to be her parents.  We are beyond blessed and very content in the Lord.

Hebrews 2:13 And again, I will put my trust in him. And again, Behold I and the children which God hath given me.

Blessings,

susan 

 

Catching Up (Part 1)

Found our silly 15 year old cat, out on the porch, in the kids doll house.  So funny!

I have had many people ask how the new baby is doing and others in our home.  I looked back thru the blog and I guess it has been a while since I have written a "catch up" post, so here it is!

I feel like we have turned a corner lately.  A few things have happened that have made my life just a tad easier and all of it adds up to me feeling more energetic and better.  We went thru a season of life being happy but very hard and that all seems to be shifting for the better.  We are even starting to get back into a daily routine!   All the Glory to God for his mercy, grace and faithfulness.

My little pistol shrimp, peeking out of his cave, from under a blue coral.

The biggest thing is... Tim and I have went a year and a half without any kind of break from the foster children. We love them all dearly but several of them are hard children by themselves and add them all together and they can be a real handful.  Our county has such strict guidelines about who can watch the foster children for us, that we have not had any time to ourselves or away from the foster children for hardly a moment.  If we have to run to the store, we have to take them all with us.  If we have to run errands, I have to take all of them in every place we go.  They have had to be with Tim or I, at all times.  It gets exhausting.  I dreaded going to town for any reason, as it was just so much time, effort and work.  The toddlers still don't behave well in public and add to that the two infants.  Climbing in and out of the bus.  Setting up all the strollers and getting them all in and out of car seats.  Whew!  Plus my other older children.  In a year and a half we had one foster appreciation night where DFCS babysat the foster children and sent us all out to dinner.  Then one other day where Tim and I had to go to a CPR class and a foster friend cared for the toddlers for us.  Anyone watching the children basically needed to go thru everything a foster parent would, in order to watch the children for us.  From background checks to finger printing, to home inspections and in most cases, even taking the foster parenting classes.  Who would do that for us, just so we have a back up sitter?  The toddlers are a handful and add to that baby "K" and baby "A" and that would be a lot on anyone to watch for us.   Tim and I have been taking turns keeping all the children once a month so the other can get out alone or with a few of our older children, to have time to ourselves and away.  Tim does guys night out with our older boys and I do one for the girls or I go antiquing with my dad once a month.  I love all of our children but one day or evening away, can be very recharging. 

Zeke and baby "K" reading together!

Our county recently reconsidered and changed their position on who can baby sit and what the regulations are.  William is 19 years old, a mature and responsible young man.  He also, has already had a background check, been finger printed, drug tested and the whole nine yards, as an adult in our foster care approved home.   He was recently approved as a sitter in our home!  It has made a world of difference for me.  If I have to run to the store or a doctors appointment, I can leave a child with him.  I always only do it if he is willing and leave the easiest one with him. I would never leave him with all four and the longest I have had him watch a child for me, as if now, has been an hour and a half.  But what a difference!   I can also run into a store, while in town and not have to unload all of the children to take with me for every errand.  If I need to run into the store and get baby formula or something, if William is in the bus, I can just run in by myself and it takes me a fraction of the time as it would to unload everyone and take them all in.  Having this option has made a huge difference in my life.  I don't often use it, but if I need it. It is there for me/us.  I am so grateful for having this in our lives now.

Another thing that has made life easier is that Baby "A" has started sleeping straight thru the whole night.  Thank you God!

From the time I put her down, till we wake up in the morning and the sun comes up!  Ahhhh.  It is amazing what sleep does for a body and mind!  God is so good.  She is also taking five ounces a feeding, latching better, less reflux episodes and going longer in between feedings.  Wow, just amazing how this simplifies life.  Since I am writing about her, I guess I will start here.  Baby "A" is doing wonderful.  She is nearly three months old already.  She is in a size 3-6 months cloths.  She makes eye contact, coos and tries to talk/babble.  She bats at toys I hang over her head and is trying to roll over.  She seems on target so far and I have no concerns about her physical or cognitive abilities at this time.  Praise God!, considering she is a meth baby!  She is a very good baby but has a little bit of a temper. The anxiety she was experiencing all evening, every evening, since the day she was born, has just about subsided.  We love her dearly and feel blessed to have her in our home.  Her biological  mom recently got arrested and is now in jail again.  I pray for her salvation.  She named four possible fathers in this case so we do not know who the dad is at this time.

"K" is doing fantastic! 

God has done such a miracle in this little girl.  She is pulling to a stand at the couch and can ride on a "ride on" toy.  She is self feeding chopped up table foods and has learned to mange drinking from a thin straw with out choking!  This is a huge deal, as she aspirates on thin liquids and needs her bottles thickened.  It seems if she tucks her chin to drink from a straw instead of tipping her head back, like from a cup or bottle, she can manage small amounts of liquid without choking!  Praise God!  We are moving her out of feeding therapy at this time and putting her into speech, as she is still not talking or babbling much.  She has always been a very quiet child but she understands everything we say.  I can ask her to bring me her shoes and she will do it.  She is very obedient and tenderhearted.  She reminds me of William when he was younger.

"T" is doing very well. 

I finally cut his hair as he was pulling it out so much.  I hope with it being short he will stop this bad habit.  We have been working on potty training faithfully for the last five  months with very little progress but we are going to keep at it, hoping it will click at some point.  He is a very well behaved child but has a few melt downs a week because of sensory issues.(These last for up to an hour)  He definitely acts like he is on the autism spectrum.  He is starting to feed himself a little bit which has been nice!  I was never able to give him silverware because he would hurt himself with the fork or bang his head hard, with the spoon.   I bought him a softish rubber fork and he is doing very well with it.  He will load it himself a few times thru the meal and if I load it, he will put it into his own mouth.  This is huge.  I have had to feed this child every mouthful of food almost the entire year and a half he has been here.  I see him being able to self feed himself by the end of the year for sure.  Which will free up some of my time during meals.  I love this little guy.  He is very close to my heart and a mamas boy thru and thru.

"B" is progressing in many areas and doing the same in others.   

Zeke and "B" in the pool.  We have a salt water system and it ate away the top rails of the pool.  Those are being replaced next week.

His behavior is still very trying all day every day but he is learning to play in a healthy way for longer and longer periods of time.  I can still not allow him to be around the other younger children as he hurts them.  But he is making progress.  He is also beginning to self feed!  I have to tell him to take every bite but that is better then me sitting thru every meal, feeding all the children myself, by hand.  If I tell him, "take a bite", he will.  He still can not sit by anyone at the table or he throws their food on the floor and hits and pinches those around him.  But he is making slow progress in that area as well.  He is still taking a very long time to chew and pockets his food in his cheek.  So he spends a lot of time in the kitchen eating.  But over all, he is doing better all the time and I can see such improvement in him.  He is still very impulsive and has a very short attention span but he is brilliant and loves to learn.  He is way ahead of his peers.  I see such a bright future for this little guy!  

"K", "T" and "B"'s adoptions are in the works and should be completed by mid September.  I can't wait to introduce them to you, not only their real names but their sweet faces as well.

This post has gotten a little long.  I will update on the older children in the next post!

Romans 15:13  Now the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing, that ye may abound in hope, through the power of the Holy Ghost.

Blessings,

susan

All Is Well

Life has taken on a whole new meaning of the word "busy" for me since the arrival of baby"A".  I have been stretched to my limit many days (and nights)  and can feel the prayers and support of all who have been praying for us.  Thank you so much.  God is so good! 

Life is busy but good and a lot is happening. 

TPR court took place on the toddlers case and Termination of Parental Rights was granted.  They are now "wards of the state" and their case has been sent to the side of DFCS that deals with adoptions.  I met their new adoption worker on Monday.  We are in the process of adoption now, with these two, by the grace of God.  We shall see how it goes and what happens.

TPR court has also happened in baby "K"'s case.  She is now also a ward of the state and her case will be transferred to the adoption side of DFCS on July 1st.  So we will start the process of adoption on her as well next month.  We have not done an adoption with the state in many years, so I have no idea how long the process is or what to expect with all the new rules and regulations.

We have had two court hearings on the new baby but have not had the 72 day hearing yet.  That is the big hearing where all evidence is presented by both sides (bio mom and dad vs DFCS) and the judge sets the case plan.  DFCS has a lot of work to do before court, as the biological mom identified many possible dads that they need to do DNA testing on.  It is a new case, even though she is 1/2 sister to the toddlers.  So we wait and see how her story and case will unfold over time.

My days are FULL of child care, feeding and diaper changes non-stop.  It can be very tiring and often I am needed at the same time, for different things by many children.  I am grateful for the older children's love and helpfulness with all the little ones when I need it.  

Our little baby "A" has started sleeping longer hours thru the night! 

At least 6 hours at a time, which has helped me tremendously.  Glory to God.  I can see she is not far from sleeping thru the night.  She just turned 5 weeks old.  :)  So she is regulating day and night routines early.  She is a good baby and I am grateful for that.  She has filled out nicely and grown so much already.

Baby "K"....hmm.  I am not sure at what point to stop calling her baby "K"!!!  She is getting so big! 

She is the sweetest soul and I can always count on her to be even tempered and in good spirits.  She is doing very well in therapy.  She crawls like a champ now and can pull up onto her knees at the couch for a few moments.  Her legs are getting stronger but still weak.  So we daily hold her on her feet and work on building those leg muscles in hopes she will walk by her next birthday.  She plays very quietly and hardly makes a noise.  So she is in speech therapy now as well as feeding therapy.  She loves to eat and is eating textures much better but still needs her liquids thickened or she aspirates.  She has always struggled with nursing.  I am trying to get her to use a fine straw at meals.  With her head tucked down to drink she does not choke at all. 

"T" is a sweet little guy that is a little stubborn but tries to please us.  He is good most of the time now. 

I finally cut his hair!

His biggest challenge is behaviors that are from sensory issues.  He can cry for an hour or more non-stop and hits his head when over stimulated.   We have to watch him and keep things low key for him.   He has outburst about every other day or so.   "T" is very immature for his age (he will be three in four months)  and tested out at a 15 month old level in recent testing.  He still likes cause and effect toys and baby toys.  He and baby "K" interact very well together.  They play in the playroom together nicely.

"B" has the most challenging behaviors.  He can not help the fact that he is so impulsive and can not sit still for even a  moment. 

But much of his bad behavior he can definitely help.  Some of his behavior is from his terrible past but mostly it is just from lack of a discipline that is effective.  He can be very mean and that is hard.  Time out is the only discipline we can use with small children and he could care less to have to sit when he does anything bad.  It is non-stop all day long and I have to keep him separated from the other children or he quickly ends up hurting someone.  He is very, very smart for his age though and so much fun to talk to and teach.  There is so much potential in this little guy.  :)


The  other older children are all doing very well.  They are enjoying their summer off from home schooling.  They are doing some projects around the farm that need doing, swimming and playing outside like kids should do.

 

Carolyn loved this huge bullfrog she found.  She wanted to keep him so badly.

We have a little Pionus Parrot named Kiwi. 

We got him five years or so ago, as a just weaned, hand fed, baby.  He acts a lot like a toddler.  He is messy and noisy.  :)  But we love him.  He chatters, sings and talks all day long.  He gets into a lot of mischief.  Elizabeth's desk is next to his cage and if she is deep in thought in school work, he will sneak down the side of his cage and nip her or pull her hair.  He also will take toys over to that side of the top of his cage and drop them down on her head!  He can be a real stink pot!   Elizabeth asked to use the crayons to color one day last week and she forgot to put them up at lunch time.  I went into the school room a little while later to find at least 30 crayons shredded to bits!  Lesson of the week.  Don't leave crayons within Kiwi's reach. 

I was feeding the baby a bottle, watching my fish tank and saw this little stripped snail cleaning my rock work, with four baby snails cleaning his shell!  So funny.

Antonio at a recent family picnic.

Even though I am very busy we are all having a lot of fun and enjoying our time together without the added work or stress of home schooling.  God is so good.  All is well.

Psalm 34:8  O taste and see that the Lord is good: blessed is the man that trusteth in him.

Blessings,

susan

By Gods Grace

Sorry, it has been a while since I have posted.  Thank you for all the kind notes checking on us and praying for us, with the arrival of the new baby.  Child number 11 for us.  :)

God has been abundantly faithful and gracious to me.  The transition of baby "A" into the family has been seamless.  She is a very good baby.  I can feel God helping me and even though I am tired, I am not exhausted or feel like I am spread to thin.  Baby "A" has had some tummy issues and reflux but seems to be responding well to a gentler formula and medication.  She has only been waking up once a night, since the beginning, so really that is a great thing.  She has grown a lot already and is 16 days old already.

We have taken the summer off from home schooling so we can focus on the addition of the new baby.  We have had to adjust our schedules a bit, "K" is still very delayed and needs me and the toddlers still have some over the top behaviors.

"T" outside chalking up the walk way.  A favorite pastime for all the children!  People keep asking me when am I going to cut his hair.  I just can't bring myself to do it!

When "B" came to us, he had many cavities from bottle rot.  Eight just on his front top teeth.  They decided to put him under to fix them all and to put crowns on his top four front teeth.  Once they got in there they were to bad to save, so they had to remove all four of his top front teeth.  They were able to fill all the other cavities.

I just thought it best to cut out the home schooling, adjust with out stress and have the older children work on some projects that have needed doing around here.  William stripped and painted "deck over" on the pool deck.  He and the other older children also spent one day in their swimming suites washing the siding, windows and porches on the whole house.  The Lord gave me the strength to get the brush and trees on the whole back hill cut back.  William and my dad took a huge load of stuff over to the dump.  The middles and I started cleaning up the flower beds last week.  We still have a few things on our "To Do List" before the heat hits.  The weather here has been very comfortable so far.  One of the things we want to get done is fixing up and putting a new coat of stain on the playground structures.  There is still more work to do out in the gardens too.  There is always things that need doing when you live on a farm of any kind.

When May 1st hit we knew we would be getting baby "A" at anytime.  So we took a few family outing days because we knew life was about to change big time and it would be easier to get out and do these things with out a new born in the heat.

One Sunday we met Tim's parents at the Aquarium.  We have a membership there someone bought for our family.  It always makes for a nice outing.

My wonderful "Bigs" and "Middles"!!

"B" looking into a tank of fish and turtles.

"T" at the sturgeon tank.

My big guys!  You can tell the heat really bothers Antonio here.  He stays cheerful but just melts.

Sweet baby "K"!

My middles are very close to each other, all born a year apart!  So are very bonded!  Look how grown up!

I also took the children to the Chattanooga Zoo for the day.

"B" seeing a camel up close for the first time!

Trying to get a good shot of all them looking at me is soooo hard!

Hello Chimpanzee!

They rode the merry-go-round and William took the toddlers on the train.  He barely fit in the Caboose with them!

So... all is well and God is so good.  We are going to stay in for a few months.  No big plans.  A lot of our commitments are about to end for the summer.  Like Ballet.  The girls recital is next week.  So things should slow down and I won't have to leave the  house much.  Hopefully by the time we start schooling again new baby "A" will be in a nice predictable schedule!

Isaiah 26:12  Lord, thou wilt ordain peace for us: for thou also hast wrought all our works in us.

God be with you!

Blessings,

susan

Welcome Baby "A" !!!

Rejoice with us as we welcome baby "A" into our homes and hearts.  She is a foster placement so we do not know how long she will be with us, as God has all these things in his hands.  Praise God! 

She is sibling to the two toddlers that are in our home "B" and "T".

We were notified of her birth yesterday and called to go and pick her up today! 

We are praying for their mother's salvation and for her to become free from the bondage of drugs.  That God will minister to her and her heart with all of this taking place so close to Mothers Day.

We are praying about the many huge decisions that need to be made in the up and coming months.  Decisions in our family concerning foster care and adoptions.

Jeremiah 29:11-13  For I know the thoughts that I think toward you, saith the Lord, thoughts of peace, and not of evil, to give you an expected end.  Then shall ye call upon me, and ye shall go and pray unto me, and I will hearken unto you.  And ye shall seek me, and find me, when ye shall search for me with all your heart.

 

Many blessings on your weekend!

susan