Big News!!!! (I’m Getting Personal)

We’ve been keeping a little secret…. We’re welcoming a new little princess into our family!!! 

Heath and I are adopting a baby girl!!!!

She is due to be born on March 27th!!!! 

I am officially paper pregnant, and I couldn’t be more surprised or thrilled myself that we’re given the gift of becoming new parents again to a precious one. The miracle that I am a mom will never get old to me.

So….as you can see from our announcement picture, we decided to take a last minute trip or baby moon with our kids to Disney World a couple weeks ago to celebrate our growing family and to pour ourselves into our children before I go back into survival mode which is the first few months of bringing a baby home. I can’t begin to say just how special it was to be at Disney World riding the rides, building memories at our favorite restaurants and character meets while I held the joyful secret that my heart is carrying a baby girl. I am so glad we parted the waters of our cold January life for sun, fun, and celebration at the most magical place on earth. It just seemed fitting!!

While still processing this news myself, I couldn’t hold it in any longer. Those of you who are on social media have seen our announcement already, but I wanted to share a bit more of the story in this personal space.

If you happen to be new here, adoption is the way the Lord grows our family. We have adopted all of our children! I love the way adoption reflects the way God brings His children into His family! (Ephesians 1:5) It’s a process that starts with pain and grief and ends with hope and redemption! Beauty from ashes.

Hahahaha. So, this surprise was on us actually! Before I begin there, let me back up just a little more and give you some back story. When I came back to blogging last year I said that I would go deeper with you online this space so that’s what I’m going to do. I’m taking the long way around to tell you how the Lord birthed this journey in us. 

We didn’t know the Lord had this plan for us to have 4 children, but when we were asked about being interested in adopting this new little one, we automatically said “YES!”. Hahaha, more children weren’t even on our radar! (This is such a God thing.) We were perfectly content and happy with our three precious children, and I thought Rosemary would be our last child for a number of reasons…. First, she acts like a final child. ;) Heath and I both grew up in a home of three children. We are in our late thirties already and I’m beginning to feel it. We have a very full life, and I personally didn’t think more children would be on the table. Let’s just leave it there for now. Ultimately we were so very grateful for our family of five.

But God!

Backing up again. 

Last year was….a lot.

It was a hard year for our family and for me personally—much harder for me than 2020. Most of it is personal stuff I won’t share, but I will say that I felt like I was brought to the brink. I stayed home by myself with the children most of the time. Homeschooling for the first time just doing the best I can and not having much support there. My husband is a pediatrician and was much, much, much busier than he has ever been working late nights and getting called into work more. The load of stress as he navigates an ever changing pandemic is something every healthcare worker has found a learning curve that no training could prepare one enough for. While he was present when he was around, we felt more like two tired ships passing in the night than a married couple most weeks —which left me pretty lonely and managing a lot by myself. Most of you may know that I’m introverted so it takes a lot for me to feel lonely, but I was very lonely in a house full of kids who are extroverts who were not getting the time with friends they truly needed. I wasn’t getting that either.

In June we lost two grandparents to Heaven suddenly, exactly to the very hour, one week apart. Two funerals saying goodbye to two of our favorite people in a week. That was very hard and brand new territory for us to deal with that kind of grief and watch our parents grieve was hard.. that’s when Heath’s work started to pick up. Delta cases in July were on the rise very suddenly.

Just a month later I was one of the breakthrough cases of the Delta variant of Covid, and I was very sick at home at the end of July going into August. The kids had to manage at home by themselves while I quarantined in our bedroom for 10 days. Heath was so busy at work he couldn’t be home to take care of us, although he did well to train the big kids to take care of the house. (Oh, also he potty trained Rosemary that week too! There’s always a silver lining!) The Lord absolutely protected my lungs from the virus, but I suffered from some long Covid symptoms. I actually became sick (not with Covid) again 3 more times before the year’s end which left me fatigued mentally and physically. Needless to say, by the time December was approaching I was ready for the New Year to roll around for a fresh start. Also for our kids to start back to the new private, Christian school we enrolled them in. (They’re loving being back at school, by the way, and I am too!)

During the stretch of several months that felt like one wave after the next was trying to knock us down, and in the midst I pursued Jesus a lot. I always like to think that I do, but 2021 brought me to the feet of Jesus in prayer literally throughout the day. Every single day. I needed wisdom. Healing. Comfort. Guidance. Strength in long suffering. Patience. Joy. Peace and Hope….. each morning He gave me what I needed and I came back for more of Him.

Okay. So. What happened in the midst of this is that He spoke to me through His Spirit… so some of these things were not a surprise… 

More of that next blog….I have to go pick up my sweet girl from school now. Just wait until you hear the rest. God is good!!!

(We’re going to have a baby, friends!!!)