Our little world has turned upside down over the last two months. Right now, if you stop by unannounced (or even sometimes if it’s planned), it might look like a tornado blew through. And more likely than not there will be at least one (probably the youngest) child crying. It is complete chaos and somedays I feel like I am in survival mode. The photo above is rare moment of clean, calm in our house that I had to document. Messes stress me out and Phil is often having to remind me that this is just the season we are in.
Right now we’ve added some extra chaos-lots of half filled boxes, and piles of labeled filled boxes…because WE ARE MOVING! After 3 years in our sweet, but very tiny-800 square foot home, we are sizing up a bit. Our home is so loved and it was a very clear blessing from the Lord. But even before our newest addition (who I will call little peanut moving forward), it was starting to feel tight. And once again God has opened the doors and provided us with a new space.
In less than 3 weeks we will be moving (less than 10 minutes from where we are now) to house that is double the size, has a big yard (we currently don’t have one), a dishwasher (Hurray!!!), at least one closet in every room, and garage storage for our outside items! I’ll be honest…I’m not exactly sure how we are going to be ready to move haha, but I can’t wait until we are moved in. We are so excited how God will use our new home to bless our family and those that we open it to.
Having two under one is an adventure and we are so thankful for our big girl, who has been so patient and so helpful. Some days after not getting much sleep, I feel like all I do is change diapers, nurse, make bottles and do another feeding, and clean up spit up and food. I chuckle because it feels exhausting right now. But someday I will miss this and I try so hard to soak in the cuddles and just do what I can for each child in any given moment. We dearly love our little peanut and cherish every moment that we are able to love on peanut, knowing this could change at any time.
In addition to adding another human and preparing to move, we’ve also added the extra chaos that comes with fostering. House visits, lots of extra phone calls and appointments, visitation, and lots of paperwork have been added to our every day. Even though I knew a lot of what fostering would look like and what we might experience, it is totally different to actually feel it. We’ve only been doing this for two months, so if a seasoned fostered family read this, they might chuckle and think “Man you’ve seen nothing”.
And they aren’t entirely wrong, but I know how broken the system is, I know how often kids are unseen, and I know how easily resource parents (foster), get burnt out. I know what it is like to feel helpless, to cry or want to scream into my pillow, and to want to protect without having much control. And to prayer over and over that the Lord will fill in the gaps and be enough when we aren’t. It isn’t easy at all and I knew it wouldn’t be, but there are days that I need to go back to our WHY and remind myself about how the Lord very clearly led us down this path.
Some takeaways from the last 2 months:
-Make sure to KNOW exactly where your car is when you are in the city alone with three kids (ask me about that adventure haha)
-Interchangeable double strollers are a GAME changer
-When people offer to help, LET THEM.
-Don’t go into things with certain expectations…it most likely will be totally different
-If you want your baby to start sleeping through the night just add a younger baby (maybe don’t actually do that :D)
-When all else fails walks or a car ride will probably restore the peace.
I cannot finish this update without sharing the intense gratitude that we have for our friends and church family that have supported us; the prayers and checking in, the help at church when I’m there solo, the babysitting, the offering to come and hold the baby, fold laundry, or mop the floor, the meals when we first got started and on visitation days (it’s hard to get anything done during visit days, meals are a HUGE blessing), and all the people who have offered to help with moving and packing. It really does take a village and it’s a beautiful way that God desires to use the church to provide for his most vulnerable.
This is just what life looks like at a quick glance, stay tuned for more day to day and vulnerable posts.
I cannot tell you how proud I am that you are fostering. And you are doing splendidly with caring for your home, husband and children. Praise be to God. He’ll be with you all the way. Congrats on the new house. How exciting!