Court

Baby R had court today. I wasn't there. An odd feeling the whole morning really..but it seems to have gone favorably. Although this time favorably for us, baby and bio-mom is for R to go home to be with his mom.

I missed being there. As anticlimactic as most court hearings are, it is usually the only time anything HAPPENS. I spend months, making calls, having appointment, visits, keeping everything updated etc etc...just to have nothing happen until after a court date.

As per my (albeit limited) previous court experience, it is a hurry up and wait situation. Baby R will be returning home when X gets completed in 2-4 weeks, and then up to 30 days after that. The encouraging bit is, the hold up is not on his Mom's end. She has worked hard to set up a good life for the kiddos to get back to, and this waiting is much harder on her.

My heart hurts for R's mom, she craves updates on her baby boy, but even the happiest moments, can elicit sad responses from her as for her it just means happy moments she is missing with her baby. This has been a very low stress, low anxiety placement for us, and I am learning so much; this being my first experience developing a relationship with the "bio" parents, and I hope to utilize this easy going, communicative, and positive bio-mom experience to fuel any difficult moments I may have in our future fostering endeavors.

The Pregnancy Post

"And this is the confidence that we have toward him, that if we ask anything according to his will he hears us."~ 1 John 5:14-15

Baby Faith 

We are beyond grateful to be experiencing this amazing biological process, and are thankful that God would answer this prayer for us. 

As we announce this joyful news, the question I keep getting asked is "will you still be doing foster care." In short, the answer is yes. We began pursuing foster care and adoption at the same time we had decided to start planning for biological kiddos. This year might be shaped a bit differently, but there will be no disruption to our current placement, we are open, this year even, to another placement, and we still very much hope to adopt. As it was this pregnancy, I can only imagine that any potential adoption will only be in God's perfect timing. Pursuing foster care and adoption was not our last resort, it was, and is, a calling that we felt was where God has laid a clear path for our family. We never expected to struggle with "infertility," it just happened that conceiving was quite challenging for us. After over 2 1/2 years of "trying" and in the middle of that time period experiencing the  loss of our first pregnancy, there was a strong reality of facing a life without a biological child. Although I struggled more with this fact than my husband, we were comforted in that God had us already pursuing children. At the time of our loss, our cups were overflowing with baby snuggles and baby barf. And when our first kiddo-loves moved on, the loss of them was beyond devastating. God had a plan for our family, He has been girding up our parenting loins, and we still feel His call for a continued life among children, biological, foster, adopted, and if there is any other way we can fill our home let us know!

I am thankful for the bold body of believers who prayed on behalf of my womb. I praise God because His answer could have just as easily been NO.