Sunday, July 8, 2012

the wee ones: then and now

after going through my pictures on my phone yesterday (over 800, btw) i decided to do a then and now with the kiddos. --since everyone thinks they're so cute and all. ;)


asher:blessed
this picture was taken when asher was 9 months old. when he laughed, he would wheeze. he was the fussiest little sick kid you ever did see. 
they released him from the hospital (after a 1 month stay) to me with 4 days' notice that we were getting him and his half brother. they gave him to me with no medication. and we were back in the ER within 2 days. after multiple trips to the ER and several hospital stays, we started seeing improvement. it was so rough. that might be an understatement. it was treacherous. but God is faithful.


now, he's a scrawny little 3 year old who likes to wear daddy's socks and who won't grow but is incredibly active. don't freak out. he's on high calorie drinks to help and we see a specialist. i promise we feed him. --all the stinkin' time.
in addition to being small and active, he's pretty stubborn.--he comes by it honestly, though. his dad sure is a stubborn guy. me? i'm not stubborn. i'm amazing. 
and humble.



 elijah:the Lord is my salvation
when we got elijah he was severely malnourished, 13 months old, couldn't crawl for more than 30 seconds because he'd get too tired, and looked sad all the time. this picture was taken about 9 months after we got him. he bulked up real nice, didn't he? now he's quite the tender-hearted little man. 


you'll have to wait for the "now" pic because it's with judah and it's later. hold your horses.

judah:praise
for the first several weeks of having judah (at 21 months) the only word he said was "no." i'm not kidding. it's ok, you can laugh. but then i'll punch you. seriously. weeks. no. no. no. no.
want a sandwich? no.
want to go outside? no.
want a million dollars? no.
how 'bout a horsie? no.
no. no. no. no.
BUT!!!!!
slowly he revealed his true colors. after being in a shelter for months, he had learned to fight to get what he wanted and be independent (not the good kind.) so as we cared more and more for his daily needs and showed him consistent love and affection, he let us see the real him. --a sweet boy who lights up when you compliment him or put him in charge of an activity. he is eager to help and is such a snuggler. and just look at 'em now, folks! cute brothers. one of which needs a haircut badly, but hey, one thing at a time, people.



gabe:strong man of God
 this photo was taken at the state fair of texas when gabe was 4 years old. isn't this little booger cute?
when we got gabe he was 2 years old and was a pretty dang obedient and easy-going kid. he had been with amazing, wonderful, loving foster parents for just under a year, so you could see that he had been tended to and loved in a mighty way. 


 now he's grown so much he can't even fit in a laundry basket! which apparently is a normal place for the young kids to hang out these days.
he's finished with kindergarten, smarter than me (so he thinks. he may be right.), and has trouble with verb tenses (are we the only ones saying, "ran, not runned" twenty-five times a day?)

i show you all this not so you'll be like, "dang. fostering and adopting is easy. she said it's rough but when the story is condensed to a "then and now" post, it just looks so simple. we should do this so i can put a "then and now" post on my blog with our future cute kids on it." or "this family is amazing. i hear angels sing when i look at them. i could never do anything like this. especially four boys. they are smelly. and they like bugs. i don't like bugs." --whoa, people! focus, please! 

i show you all this so you'll be like, "dang! we serve an amazing God who has a plan. look how He's working in that family."
i assure you we are not special or amazing. and i'm pretty sure angels don't sing when people look at us, although that would be pretty cool, or maybe annoying. 

we know Who is in charge, and we are constantly amazed by what He's doing and how He does it.
when we step out of our comfort zone to do the things we can't do on our own, we get a chance to see how He works. and He comes through. every single time.

2 comments:

  1. a m a z i n g. What a blessing you have been in raising up these beautiful boys. I bet angels do sing out when God thinks of your family. Because even though it is hard, you are being faithful to our Amazing Lord.
    On a side note.... I love that you are blogging. It is so nice to readwith my morning coffee. And you make me laugh.

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    Replies
    1. yay! so glad you are blogging too! your girls are too cute!

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