One more? . . . Why not?

  After having our first little guy Kayden for over a month we got a call to take a 4mo old who had injuries.  We were a bit skeptical and told the worker we would be able to give constant care for a week but after that he would have to go to daycare.  As things often do it worked out for the best that we did not take this little guy.  The Dr at the hospital wanted him to be closer to town and even though the daycare we have selected up here was willing and equipped to take care of such a child it just wasn't the best situation.  Literally the next day we received a call from the same worker for a 6mo old little boy.  We discussed it and agreed to take him.  I made plans to pick him up after work and met the social worker in the parking lot of a smith's grocery store.  He is a beautiful, healthy, chubby, sweet, cuddly boy.  Over the past month that we have had him we have gotten into a routine and he is now sitting up strong and starting to crawl and sleeping through the night - Hallelujah!! 

  We took a trip to Colorado for 4th of July to meet my mom, stepdad, sister and her family and my stepsister and her family and Chloe:)  Chloe had been in Kansas visiting my family for a couple weeks. We drove with the boys and they did great, the night before Ethan had been up all night with colic and teething - so Trav and I were on auto pilot but Ethan slept most of the drive.  Best I can guess is a different bottle I used to feed him before bed let too much air in and has now been thrown out. 

   We saw buffalo and fireworks and rode a gondola in vail to the top of a mountain.  Things I have done or seen numerous times but these boys have not and who knows if they ever will again.  I am under no delusion that I was very fortunate growing up.  I have never known hunger, never been cold in winter or so hot in the summer I couldn't sleep.  My parents always had steady jobs, ones that paid well and enabled us to go on vacations, play sports, go to camp, take classes.  We moved a lot but never very far from the old house, we actually had three houses on the same street.  My dad is a builder and I guess he just got tired of the houses we were in and wanted to build something new.  This experience did prove helpful when moving now as a military family.  I can have a house unpacked and organized in two weeks easy.

  The newest hurdle we face now is a deployment.  It was kind of one of those things that we talked about and knew it would be a good opportunity not only for him but financially.  We could finally get some things paid off and money put away.  For the first time in our 10 deployments; not TDYs, deployments that means to a war zone not state side or any of that, he is looking at me with pity.  He is seeing his wife saddled with not only our daughter but now a 4yr old boy who is autistic and a 6mo old who is now becoming mobile.  We knew this could happen when we signed up to foster.  If deployments have taught me anything it is that when the is gone the craziness happens.  I have had keys locked in cars, septic back ups, roof leaks, birds in the flue pipe of our wood stove, family deaths, bats in the bedroom, and those were just in the last deployment.  The Lord uses these events to show me how strong I am and I am not.  That yes I can do things on my own but sometimes I have to reach out and accept help, this is hard for me.  My mom was one that if you wanted it done you did it, you didn't wait for someone to fix it or move it you figured it out and did it.  I am guilty of this as well that is why I am Mrs. fix-it around this house.

So with this new phase I will go forward and accept help, not feel guilty for dropping kiddos off at daycare on my days off so I can have me time and accomplish errands with little to no frustration.  I will take care of myself by working out and eating healthy and knowing I can do this because I have support from friends and family and from a husband who loves me and most importantly I have a God who helps me do all things as long as my focus is on Him.