Yes, Doug and I love that trailer trash show, “Earl”. We watch it faithfully every Thursday night. Joy really cracks me up!

Where have I been these days? Let’s see…

First let me say that we had the absolutely perfect Christmas! It was our first Christmas since Adelaine was in diapers, that she has been healthy. During those two weeks off for break the children all got pretty sick, but somehow we were all well for the Most Special Day of the Year (and the Eve of it too!). It was just our immediate family here and Doug cooked the entire Christmas dinner himself. Hands down, it was the most Heavenly meal I’ve ever tasted, ever! Doug puts his heart and soul into his kitchen masterpieces and on that day he really topped it! The children were so excited as the wonders of Christmas danced in their heads and they all lived out a very magical time. Celebrating Jesus’ birthday couldn’t have gone more perfectly. Doug and I didn’t take one minute of it for granted. It was an intimate family time that we will NEVER forget.

Adelaine has just gotten over walking pneumonia. Finally we figured out what she had and the third antibiotics were the charm! Although the doctor said she was very sick, she never acted like it. I guess in many ways she is like a little bird in the wild, she never really acts sick or even seems to feel bad. Maybe after all she’s been through, having pneumonia feels like one of the best days of her life! She never missed a beat, running jumping, asking to go places. The only way we knew she was sick was because it sounded like she was going to cough up her insides. Her cough was so bad that she was on a Nebulizer (breathing machine) ever 4 to 6 hours and she had to be on steroid inhalants. So yes, she was really sick, but it didn’t even put a dent in how she felt, amazing.

Now about that baby we’ve been waiting for…

It’s been an amazing journey and the hands of God are really working in all of this. It is truly an honor to share some of how…

We all know that after getting approved by the State, things are known to move really fast from that point. Most people have a child within in the next few days. For us, it’s been two months and here we are. Is that all about to change? Keep reading…

THIS IS WHAT I HAD TO WORK THROUGH AT FIRST…

Through all this I have been praying that God would show me things to help me understand His plan in all this. The very first thing He showed me was the sin I had in my life. Sin is a funny thing. It starts out with a pin hole in our armor and can turn into the size of a cannon ball if it isn’t taken care of. That’s how Satin works, he finds the smallest opening and worms his way in and starts eating us like a cancer. Anyway, God called me on something sinful in my life (no, I don’t really care to share!!!) God loves us too much to let us get away with merely a promise to change. No, it wasn’t easy I’m far too stubborn and strong-willed for it to be simple, but now that particular sin in my life is GONE! Hallelujah, if nothing else, that is something great that came out of our attempts to adopt a baby.

Anyway during these past two months of waiting to get the “phone call that would change our lives”, something else amazing happened… we all continued to get our lives back after cancer. During the “Chemo days”, we were in the hospital constantly. When we weren’t in the hospital, we always had to be really to go in. A slight fever was life threatening and we always had to be ready. The only outside commitment our family could regularly make was to go to the Children’s Cancer Canter, when Adelaine was able. We did keep the boys in soccer, to have some normalcy in their lives, but other than that, our lives seemed consumed with cancer treatments and hospital stays.

Now, all three children take Tai Kwon Do twice a week. Adelaine started Ballet, Tap and Tumbling yesterday. (Buying her first pair of Tap shoes was a day that I will NEVER forget)! Adelaine loves school so much that she gets bummed about weekends. She has play dates with her little friends. We spend lots of time on the playground together. Now she even has extra curricular activities to enjoy. She truly has a life, and a great one at that! The boys also! Doug’s job is now 100% portable. He no longer has to commute to Tampa everyday and is able to work from home. (We were planning to move to Tampa, but that has now changed since we are no longer driving there so much). It is great having Doug here spending time together. It feels amazing to no longer pass the boys back and forth while one of us stays with Adelaine at the hospital. During the summer, I started bike riding, really bike riding. I go on two hour bike rides almost every day now. A baby is sure to mix this all up at least a little!

THIS IS WHAT I HAD TO WORK THROUGH THIS MONTH…

The big question I asked myself last month was, “Are we really ready to bring in a baby?” We finally have a life again and have so much living to do. This summer Kat and I are planning to travel the East Coast with the children, all 9 of them! How will that work? This spring our family is planning on taking surfing classes, how will that work? I love sleeping through the night again. When Adelaine was on steroids every three weeks, I was up all night with her. I don’t miss those days! We love to travel. To take a Foster child out of the state, we have to get special permission from the court, every time. My prayer…

“God, are you there, why did we go down this path of trying to get a baby and… nothing for so long”. (Yea, I know, it’s only been two months!!!) It would have been so easy to have gotten a baby right away. It has taken long enough that we got our lives back, completely back, and honestly we are loving it!

Its not that we don’t want a baby, it’s just that we’ve had so much time to think about it. I wondered how God was working through all this. It’s been an amazing journey, learning about God as we see Him work through all of this. He has revealed many answers to our questions. Our concerns and doubt have one again been replaced with joy and excitement. God has revealed things through dreams, documentaries and even movies. God is all around us, we just have to seek Him and we will find Him.

The other night I was watching 20/20 (or something like it) and it was a story about a 10 year old girl, Brittany, and her 3 year old little sister who were brutally stabbed and left for dead. Brittany lived through it and went to live with a Foster family after being removed from her home. Brittany’s story showed me so much,inspired me and quite possibly changed my life. That night, after watching her story, I had a dream. After the dream I wondered…

Brittany’s Story 20/20
(I’m not sure how long this link will be available by ABC News. To read her story or for more information, google Brittany Bergeron).

(If you’re looking for a hero, or maybe just need some on to inspire you today, this will do it! I can’t imagine anything worse, or a more remarkable outcome). What a remarkable, inspirational person.

Was God trying to show me that we were supposed to adopt a child with a special need? Doug and I talked about it and we decided that I should take the class. Did we really want a child with special needs? Special needs can be as mild as asthma, or a drug- exposed new born, (which can be mild or severe) or hearing loss, over being overweight (which could be life-threatening). Special needs can also be as extreme as cancer, or uncontrollable seizures causing brain damage, millions of other life-threatening diseases or conditions. If God calls us to do something, He also gives us the desire.

The very next day, we met a little girl who is coming to visit with us tomorrow through Friday. She will be turning 4 next week. I can’t wait to share how we met her and her situation, but for now I can’t reveal much because of Privacy laws. I can say that God is awesome and has worked everything out in ways that our immortal minds could never have ever dreamed of. The children have met her and at this time we feel that she could definitely be the one. We will know more after her visit. She is very sweet and we just fell in love with her. I can’t wait to share more!!!

Angela

PS, Adelaine learned to snap her finger this week!!!!!

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