At Home With Dot

A few weeks ago, I was sitting in the waiting room of the dentist office with three little ones. All was going well until the dental hygienist walked us down the hallway and asked one of them to sit in the chair. Screaming ensued from the two little girls as if they were going to die. Then my youngest son stepped up and proudly sat in the chair with such bravery. The two girls continued their rampage with verbal protests interjected within their screams: "I don't want to," "I want to go," "I can't do it," "I'm not brave." I sat their holding them all the while feeling like they were mirroring the same thoughts and comments I had over the past 6 weeks. Six weeks prior to this, we made a difficult decision to foster three siblings. We went from a family of six to nine over night (family pictured above with our three additions hidden due to foster care rules. There wasn't time for screaming and crying and refusin

His warm little head rests on my chest as he breathes a sigh of relief. After a deep struggle with anger, he leans into the rhythm of my heart, his body is turned in towards me...legs wrapped around my sides. hold him in close. As I write these words I'm in tears trying to make sense of this brokenness. The thing is, I didn't want to hold him, I didn't want to rock him, I didn't want to be in the same room with him. BUT I knew it was the very thing he needed to help set him free from the scary emotions that held him captive.   Our little four year old adopted son comes from a brokenness that I will never be able to heal or fully understand. THIS task is in the Lords hands. HE has simply chosen me to be this little one's mom. A privilege I often feel like I'm failing at. However, I'm reminded of the verses in Psalms 136. For the sake of sealing it in my own heart; I will type some the verses for you: "Give thanks to the Lord, for he is good. Hi

During dinner last night I was feeling a little over stimulated by the activity at the table. So, with my husbands willing hands, he sent me on a walk by myself. As adults, we can find ways to decompress and fulfill our need to process the moment, the day or even month that we're facing. However, this task is different for a child. These little hands and feet have not gained the skills that adults (hopefully) have. So, they need a present adult guiding them in this process of self-regulating. With these loving hands, little by little a child can begin to practice these skills on their own. A child's temperament will determine the best way to support them in this learning.  My youngest little guy rarely has two feet planted on the ground at the same time. His motion is usually a run, jump or skip. Asking our son to walk is like asking me to stop eating chocolate. Slowing down is so very hard for him. Being active is simply part of his temperament. In my own simplified words

In the next few days we officially say goodbye to our first home and although its been four years since we’ve actually lived there...the goodbye is bitter sweet. Let me tell you a little story... In summer of 2007 we moved into our first house. I was about to pop with our first baby and we were SO ready to start our family in this new space. Baby came a couple weeks after our move and we were thrilled!                                                                            Over 40 weeks prego, getting the new house ready AND ready to pop!!! 2008 - Our home value had nearly decreased by MORE than half! We were disappointed to say the least and completely resigned to staying in this home for a VERY long time. There would be no way to sell our home in order to buy a new one for years. We felt the housing crisis along with MANY others. However, we still lovee our home and were thankful for this privileged gift.   2010 - We brought home baby

This month we were given the gift of 10 days worth of childcare so we could celebrate our 15th wedding anniversary. While we were away, Popop and Mimi mentioned school morning routines were a breeze!! "The kids knew exactly what to do and the mornings went so smoothly." I was thrilled to hear our morning patterns continued even though I wasn't their. You see, it wasn't always this way. There was a key milestone in our familys' life that completely changed how I structured our morning routine. That milestone was our third foster baby (our fourth child and our now adopted and youngest little girl). I remember our morning routines consisted of me cradling our newborn foster baby, packing lunches and serving out breakfast all while trying to bottle feed the little one in my arms. As seen below, I improvised by creatively managing the bottle feeding...BUT something had to change about our morning routines or I was going to end up needing more than just two