How did we get here?

I wanted to share how we got to our choice of foster care/ adoption. There is so much answered prayer that has lead us here, and I will have to share about that another time, but I wanted to specifically share about how we chose foster care.

I always knew that I wanted to adopt a child. It is in my heart, I know God put that there, and I am thankful. It honestly surprised me to learn that some people do not immediately love all children. I always have. Of course having my own is different, but I have always wanted to love on every child I babysat, or watched in the nursery, or taught, or played with. I am not worried about bonding with a child and I am thankful for how this opportunity.

 When we started early discussions about adoption, international adoption wasn't really ever even brought up. I know we aren't called to do that, at least now. We have friends who have, and that has been wonderful for their families. Money plays a big role. It is a lot of money. But mostly I worry about the ethics surrounding international adoption right now. As Christians we are called to care for orphans. But are we called to steal them from their families and cultures? Not saying this is the case all the time, even most of the time, but it happens. I would love for the christian community to help these families stay together, rather than separating them permanently.
I thought this blog series was very informative, here is part 2 and Part 3. Also if you haven't read this post, you simply must. So funny! I am also about to read this book, nice and freshly downloaded to the kindle. Maybe I will share the review when I am done.

So international adoption was out, and pretty much the same for domestic infant adoption. We did like the foster care option though. I have known a few friends and friends of friends who have adopted through foster care and could not be happier. Not to say it wasn't a hard road, but definitely a happy ending. It pretty much costs nothing to adopt from foster care, so that is great for us. It is extremely rewarding, and I know it is going grow our faith leaps and bounds. Most importantly we want to be a foster family because abuse and neglect of children happens everywhere. It is terrible, but true. If we can be a safe family for a child, even if it is only for a little bit, then we are happy.

Blogging!?! Update on life

It's been awhile! 8ish months to be exact. In order to be a better child of God, wife, and mom I knew I had to give up blogging. It is not something that I am passionate about. I enjoy doing so many things, but blogging is not really up on that list. I still craft as much as possible and love it! My favorite hobby for sure. I think when I blogged about it, I felt so much pressure to have great, witty posts and beautiful pictures, that I stopped enjoying it. It has been so long since I blogged that there isn't even blog reader anymore!

So what have I been up to and why am I blogging now?
My hubby and I have been married for 8 years now and loving that man more and more each day.

I have been busy with my crazy boys, now 2 and 5. Brady starts kindergarten in a few weeks!

We have been busy with friends and family.

Going on lots of fun trips.

My mom and I had an amazing 13.1 mile hike up to the top of pikes peak. It was on my bucket list, and I am already excited for the next time I get to do it. So special being able to hike my 1st 14er with my mom.

I am training for a half marathon in October. The longest run I have ever done is a 10k so I am super excited  for this race. I am only at 4 miles at a time right now, so I still have a lot of training to do, and it is keeping me busy.

I have even gotten a few projects done too. This is my $5 garage sale find I redid. Loving it.

Hardest part of our year so far was loosing our lab Coco, she is so missed.

Overall we have been doing great and feel so blessed!

So why am I blogging now? We are on a path to expanding our family. We have always wanted to adopt and we are now starting the process. We have felt called specifically to foster to adopt a baby. We are excited about becoming a foster family and our hope is to one day have a permanent addition to our family. While getting more information and figuring out the process I felt a little lost. There are so many options and every state and county is different. So the main reason I am blogging is to share what we are learning and to share what our process is. Every family is different, so our path might not be helpful to everyone, but it may help someone. Of course on this road we cannot share any info or pictures of our foster children, but we can share what steps we are taking, and how God is working in our family on this journey.
I hope to explain in a lot more detail soon, and what we have been through so far. We are super early on, but if just one person can be educated in foster care or foster to adopt, I will be so happy.