331 days

I've waited for this day for 331 days. Every night I tell him "you are loved, you are wanted, you are a child of God".  Every night for 331 days I've promised him that I will never leave.  I've prayed over his sleeping body at night for God to show him what it means to be loved. What that feels like. What it looks like. Oh, how I have longed for this day.

Most almost four year olds trust that when they wake up in the morning their mom and dad will be there. There is no reason not to. They understand love. They receive it easily and give it just as easily. However; children from hard places don't know that. They have to be taught. They have to be shown. It's hard. They run from you when they get hurt instead of to you. Sometimes when they need you most they hit you and push you away. They have no understanding of family or that you will never leave them. They aren't aware that even at their young age they've built walls around themselves to keep from being hurt. For them to truly know love it takes time. It takes patience. It takes a lot of prayer and love. It takes God's amazing grace.

A couple of days ago...331 days after I met Josiah..he came to me unsolicited all on his own. I was sitting on the floor of his bedroom. He sat down next to me and looked me right in the eyes, he put his little hands on my cheeks and said "I love you Momma" and gave me a big hug. I held him in my arms and cried. 331 days!

God's grace is sufficient. Without it I would absolutely not make it.

This has been such a hard journey with Josiah. Izzy and Mari came from a place where they were really loved on. They were prayed over. They were prepared for us. Josiah had none of that. This road has been challenging to say the least. We trust though that our heavenly father is walking with us every step of the way.

Today almost a year later he understands love.  I saw it in his eyes. I felt it as I held him in my arms. He knows that I love him and he loves me! And to God be the glory.

 

Chip off the old block...

decline push-ups off the bathtub....

 

I love that this is what they choose to spell while in the bath... : )

 

ever wonder what your kiddos are doing in childcare at church?

 

 

hmmm?

Spring days

Life is truly so much better when the weather is nice. I know the weather is nice here most of the time. I have friends up north and it's still snowing and I'm sorry for being a baby about it. Honestly it's a beautiful place to live, but February kind of stunk and we all had cabin fever.  I really shouldn't complain.....I really shouldn't, BUT sorry... I can't stand the cold and it was the longest February of my life!!

So sunny days are here and we are all enjoying it.

God blessed me with kiddos that love it outside and love the beach even more and I'm so grateful!

 

 

No more complaining about the weather...promise! Well at least till next February : )

Sleepless in Charleston

I have to say the sleeping situation or lack of sleeping is improving, finally! Josiah has had such struggles with sleeping well which means this Momma has had almost 11 months of terrible sleep. It weighs on you after awhile. Honestly, I sometimes wonder how we've made it through. At first he had night terrors which were awful. Then it was a party every night around midnight to 1 am and would last till 4 or 5 am. Seriously, in his room having a party. Like it was the middle of the day! Finally the night terrors subsided and we were able to try Melatonin and IT WORKED. Yay! So, since April 1st I've had at least 10 good nights of sleep which is a HUGE improvement. You know the saying "if Momma's happy, everyone is happy". Let's just say that everyone is a lot happier : ) Josiah is like a different boy. Not cranky, not whiney...ahhhhh! So much better.

Then Rob went out of town for four days and it was apparently difficult for Josiah. This is the first time since he's been home that Daddy hasn't been home. He was totally out of sorts and for three of the four nights Rob was gone Josiah didn't sleep well. Which meant that he fell the sleep in his lasagna, in his book, playing in his bed. He just collapsed where ever he was. He was so tired. I had gotten spoiled pretty quickly with this whole sleeping thing. It was a miserable three nights.

 

But Daddy's  back home now....

 

 

his girlies missed him bunches too

 

 

and we have a much happier boy on our hands...Praise Jesus!

Mohawk season

I love his shaggy hair. Absolutely LOVE his head of head. I had to admit though that he needed a haircut and with the weather being warm I knew what was coming.....

 

I am grateful that he didn't overwhelm me with a radical Mohawk this time.... although that's coming for sure.. I know this is just the "transitional" haircut : )

 

 

 

Gotta say...the Mohawk does fit his personality better and he's pretty stinkin cute!

Triple D

This Friday for our family day we headed downtown to check out a restaurant that we saw on Diners, Drive ins and Dives. Izzy and Rob love Guy Fieri's show. She was excited to finally go to one of the restaurants that he had on his show. She ended up munching on duck and pickled green tomatoes. Definitely out of her comfort zone and she loved every bit of it.

Flip Flops

I can't even tell you just how important flip flops are to our Marianna. She has longed for them since I've known her. We often find her walking around in just one of Izzy's. It's been such a sad thing every summer when Izzy gets new ones. Mari is so sad that she can't wear them. Well we received a wonderful surprise two days ago. Rob had taken Marianna to get her fitting for her new leggie and all that I knew was they were going to pick it up. I had no idea that it would  be any different than what she already had. When she got home though I discovered that her new foot was the split toe design. She was finally big enough for it and I didn't even know. I was so overcome with emotion that I just wept over her. She was beaming. She went and tried on Izzy's flip flops. She was so proud that she could wear them. A serious banner day for her.

and I'm telling you there's a whole lot of spunk in her step since then....

 

 

and as you can imagine serious flip flop shopping was in order :)

 

The Artist

How I love this special, creative, quirky, artsy girl of mine. Yes, the beat she marches to is so different than mine, but isn't that what makes life beautiful?

Mini Me...times two

This boy of mine..

Oh sometimes I don't even have the words for this boy of mine !

 

 

enough said : )

Holy week....via Instagram

The littles week started off with gift packages from home...so nice to have a bit of family with you for the holidays even if it's just a package. It's still a sweet reminder of home and those there that love you.

So between Passover and Easter we studied a lot about Jesus and his last week on Earth. We didn't break for school till the Friday before.  It was an intense week for them. It was the first time I read straight from the bible about the crucifixion. I knew Izzy was ready for it. The Thorn has really stirred her heart and she took Easter in for the first time in a very different way. Mari was not quite ready but listened quietly. It's not like I wanted to put a damper on Easter, but come it's not about chocolate and bunnies. I wanted them to understand the heartache of Good Friday and joy in the resurrection of Easter and I really think they got it in a whole new way.

Izzy's artwork....

I came into their room one day and there was Izzy preaching....poor Mari and Josiah. They were ok with it for about two minutes and then they were over sitting still. She read the last three chapters in Matthew straight from the bible. I was so proud of her. I honestly didn't think she could read of it, but she did. She blows me away that girl.

 

 

Then we got around to egg dying and relaxing and enjoying our beautiful spring weather

 

 

 

Josiah was so confused about egg hunting. He kept putting the eggs back where he found them. Then he figured out there was candy in them...oh boy different story!

 

 

 

Hope you had a blessed Easter Holiday. We did...even without our family..it was beautiful time!