A week ago today, we were given custody of 2 little babies through the Safe Families for Children program. This is a program we learned about through our church. Safe Families places kids of all ages in "safe homes" for a temporary amount of time. It's much like foster care but the goal is always to get the kids back to their parents.
Little Peanut is 14 months old. She's tiny and came to us extremely underweight. She was eating nothing, constipated, and had a bed time of 11pm. Her brother, Little Man turned 3 months old yesterday. He had no problems eating, pooping or sleeping. However, we were told his normal bed time was 10pm.
After only a couple of days, the kids are adjusting well, especially Little Peanut. She no longer has constipation, she eats all her meals (although no solids yet), and sleeps from 7pm-7am. We usually have to wake her up in the morning! Little man sleeps 8-10 hours straight and when he's not sleeping or eating, he's up smiling for us. So sweet!
This whole journey began for us over a year ago. The Lord placed it on our hearts back then and the stack of paperwork just sat there, on the corner of our desk.
Ever since we sold our first home 2 years ago, we've always had an extra bedroom and felt that God was asking us to fill it with more than the handful of overnight guests we had each year. In October of this year, we attended the same Safe Families meeting we went to the year before and this time, it was clear... we were being called to fill that room and most importantly, to open our hearts for what was to come.
I cannot tell you how much our girls have helped us through this adjustment. They suddenly became very BIG and responsible. They've taken the change in stride and other than me missing our annual visit to the Living Nativity (they went with daddy), our schedule has remained as close to "normal" as possible. Praise the Lord!
This week has been all about getting used to life as a family of 6. We've even managed to make it out of the house a few times! Woo-hoo!!
Safe Families is all about inspiring local communities to get involved so we've had some extraordinary help from our friends and loved ones. We've received support in the form of clothes, formula, diapers, wipes, and most importantly, prayer. God is so good and faithful. He is providing the provisions and taking care of all the details!
If you think of it, please say a prayer for the parents of these little ones. Pray that they get the help they need in order to get their kids back as soon as possible. Most of all, pray that God would work through them, change their hearts and help them to make wise choices, for the sake of their children.
Truly, this will be a Christmas we will never forget!
Out for a neighborhood stroll.
Lovin' on Little Man.
A good role model in Honest Abe.
Storytime.
Little Mommies... in training.
Happy boy!
The kids love being outside.
Of course, our two monkeys do, too!
