Your love is way too much to give us lesser things..

Tiffany turned 18 Friday. We went to Bonefish to celebrate and we had a really nice time. All she wanted was money to help fix a few things on her car, so her gifts werent super exciting. But she does have her car a visit to the mechanic scheduled so she is happy. She is going to register to vote this week, and she is doing really well. She was on the honor roll again this 9 weeks. We are very proud all the way around.


Cates is beautiful and happy. She and I are both thankful she is able to stay with Lauren four days a week and Aunt Tina one day. Cates mama was just not ready to send her to daycare (although I am a believer in daycare and know it promotes social and educational skills). She will go soon enough.. just a few more weeks in someone's home is giving me peace. Praise God for good friends. I am thankful for my quality of friends, and recognize that is much more important than quanity. Pray for Cates reflux to ease. It causes her such pain, and I will be glad when she grows out of it.

Andrew's adoption celebration was so special. We were joined by 75 friends and family members to share the joy of his new last name. We appreciate so much everyone who came. Tim's refereeing friends and family came, my school's PTO President, several sweet DHR ladies, Andrew's daycare teachers, and church and community friends. We had a sweet slideshow and everyone who attended wrote him a note about what he has meant in their lives. Love like we have for Andrew is precious and rare. With great pride I celebrate him as my little boy.

Tim is continuing to work so hard for our family. We are all so thankful for him. Thankful for his work ethic and the love he has for us that drives him to be such a wonderful provider.

I am back busy at school. I loved my time home with Cates, and look forward to our summer together. But I am glad to be back with my school children too.

We are blessed and very aware that all gifts come from above. I love the verse of the song that says.. " Your love is way too great to give us lesser things." Because His desire for us far exceed any we could have for ourselves and the ones we love.

beautiful tiffany.

This was written by our sweet almost 18 year old foster child. Her words are beautiful and so telling of the heart of a teenager in foster care. This is an essay she wrote for a scholarship.

The first day I heard the word hope was my dad using it saying "I hope y'all don't get taken away". As a little girl I struggled to understand why there are things like abuse, hunger, lack of love, and lack of supervision.
I have faced many obstacles which have given me the dream of becoming a social worker for DHR. I understand what it feels like to come from nothing and be thought of as a nothing.
No one in my family has finished college. I want to break the chains of my family. I want them to see me as someone who didn't let their life story end. I want to motivate them, and others in the world.
There are so many children in foster care. Many of them need someone to say "hey, I have been there". I want to be that someone. The someone who does everything in their power to provide needs, happiness, comfort, accomplishment of goals, and safety in their lives.
The reason I am an applicant for this scholarship is because I can't do it alone. I believe this scholarship will help me achieve my dream.
I hope, pray, and dream of being someone who helps others. I have realized being in the system has made an impact on my life and I believe there is a reason I became a foster child. It is my dream to work with children and parents for everyones best interest. Please help my dreams come true.

Andrew's Mama

Andrew Croley. My heart. When I laid him in his bed last night I couldn't help but have a few tears. Probably because I am a cryer, but it was the first time I had ever laid him down as mine. Not DHR's, not someone else's child I was caring for, my very own little boy. What relief. What a testament to the power of prayer. What an example of God truly having a plan. Not a "here let Me give you your way right this second" kind of plan.. but a plan for the faithful to journey through with a beautful ending (and well beginning).

One prayer I had all along was to make our family strong in order to deal with any negative opinions about us being different races. My how that prayer was answered. Not only have we only recieved love and support from our family and friends we have met or heard about so many others who are in the process of or who have recently adopted children of different ethnicities. Grandmama and I were talking yesterday about how common it is becoming. I praise God for increased tolerance and love. I love when people ask about Andrew, because I love telling the beautiful story of God's plan for his life.

I always think about the first day I went to court for Andrew when he was just three days old. And a lawyer there asking me how we were doing.. I said we are wonderful.. he is precious. He looked at me kind of mean and said.. well lets all just be honest he has a long road ahead. And I remember my stubborn self thinking.. he doesnt have to.. he isnt sentenced to sad life at 3 days old. And I think God heard me. And I think my stubborness and our families love and DHR's desire to work the very best out lead us to where we are today.. I am Andrew's mom. And I praise God.

Our lives move so fast lately! Sweet Cates is doing wonderfully! She eats well and is sleeping enough to keep her mama from going crazy. We are madly in love with her and we thank God for her every single day. She has had some reflux problems, but with medicine we are doing so much better! It is hard to believe 8 weeks ago we met her. I go back to work Monday, but it looks like the perfect situation is going to work out for her being taken care of! Answered prayers.

As of yesterday, Tim and I have custody of Andrew! :) We go to work next Thursday to sign adoption papers that we have waited 18 months to sign. I feel like so many of our family and friends have gone down this long road with us. Ups and downs. And I hope each of them know our deep appreciation for their love, support, and prayers. We were truly heard by our creator. Please continue to keep my sweet boy in your prayers.

Tiffany is doing well and we are making college plans! Her grades are good, and she has been accepted everywhere she has applied! We are proud of the honest, hardworking person she is. Thankful God brought her to our lives!

Prayers for me as I leave my girl for the first time Monday.

Love.

adoption.

I have thought a lot about adoption over the last year. I have read blogs of those adopting who I do not know at all, and felt connected to them. And you know out of every story I've read or heard.. adoption was never simple. It was never a flawless process without hiccups. In most of the adoption accounts I'm familiar with there were very hard times. Birth parents changing their decision to put their child up for adoption, judges who didn't understand a families desire to adopt a certain child, incomplete paperwork, and heavy hearts. But you know what I've never read about.. a family who gave up. A family who said helping this baby is too much work. I've read pleads for prayers, I've read of multiple trips overseas, I've read of friends and families pulling together to help see the adoption through. You see it is firmly my belief that people who feel adoption is what their family should do are not those who are faint of heart. They are stubborn. And persistent. And the ones I know have total faith that God will see them through to the very end. I am thankful for the inspiration these families have been to me. I am thankful for the homes they have created and the hearts they are touching. I am thankful for the adoptive parents I know personally and love... aunt tina and uncle stan.. anne marie and elisha.. and for those who I do not know.. but admire.. the black family and the pearces. And I am thankful that through adoption tim and I will be blessed with a son.

blessed.

I didn't want to blog about court until everything was complete. The court part is over now, outside of the final declaration of adoption. It went well. Much better than I ever could have expected. One of my prayers was that it would not be overly emotional because my heart felt very sensitive. And it wasn't. It was very to the point. Now, I did still cry the entire time.. but mostly just because 15 months of love was laying out before me. It is our prayer that our adoption will be complete by january. I know the only thing that will change is an official piece of paper and my babys last name but it will be such a day of relief for me and for us. Your prayers have meant everything to us. Thank you seems too simple but that is what I am.. truly thankful.

It is also important to update you on our little girl :) On Halloween, we took our first grade to a farm on a field trip. It was so much fun! There were corn mazes and a hay mountain and so many other things! After our field trip Tim and I headed to my regular dr. appt. Our plan was to leave there and take our man trick or treating. I have had perfect blood pressure my whole pregnancy.. but this day it was up. I told them I was sure it was after having 60 6 yr olds at the farm all day! Regardless they sent us to the hospital where my blood work wasn't perfect so I was admitted. I was so sad we couldn't go trick or treating. Thankfully mama and daddy dressed up my little scarecrow and took him around! I spent two nights and on the third day they decided to induce me. They started about 3pm on Wednesday. tim and mama and daddy were with me and about ten o'clock mom and dad started to leave. We haf agreed they'd be back by 6am because nothing was expected to happen until lunchtime. As they were walking out my daddy said..he just didn't want to leave. So they didn't. We had a big labor spend the night party :) all night and morning the nurses told me how textbook we were doing.. her heart rate was perfect.. my blood pressure was perfect.. it was going well. Then that changed. Her heartrate was dropping with my contractions. My blood pressure was dropping too. The Dr came in and said we were leaving right then for a c section. There was no discussion or time to think.. so I cried. When we got to the operating room I was sick even on the operating table. They finally let tim come in and that really helped my feelings. Nothing really hurt and it wasn't long before I heard her crying. They showed her to us and took her to check on her. They told tim he could go with her but he didn't leave me until I told him I was okay. I will always remember that. He didn't leave me. I told him I was fine and he went and took lots of pictures. Then he brought her to me and then took her to show my parents and brother and grandparents and tiffany who were all there waiting :) on Cates first fay of life 20 people came to meet her. Before we left the hospital over 35 people had visited. We felt such love. Since we have been home people from church have come everyday and brought us food. She has already had over 15 home visitors! I want to blog and list each person soon as this blog also serves as a record of our life events. Tiffany loves holding her and Andrew wants to pat and kiss her all the time :) mama took off work all last week to take care of us.. and daddy has come to see her everyday of her life.

Blessed.

Pray.

I need you to stop, and pray for me. I am not asking in a shy way or an “if you have time way”. I am asking you to stop whatever craziness is going on at this moment, and pray for me. Being 34 weeks pregnant is such an emotional time anyway from what I understand, and on top of that my heart is so vulnerable as court for our sweet man approaches. I honestly sometimes catch myself finding it hard to breathe because I have let worry totally over take me. I know in my heart.. “Be anxious for nothing…” I know in my heart.. “all things work together for good..” For some reason I am not allowing all the promises God has made me and made my sweet boy give me the peace that I need. I am totally without any amount of control in this situation. I am totally at the mercy of those appointed to make decisions for my little guy. But most importantly, I am in the hands of a God that loves our boy even more than I do. And a God who wants what’s best for our boy even more than I am able to.

Pray for the people making decisions for my sweet little boy.

Pray for Tim and the rest of my family.

Pray for my sweet boy.

And please.. pray for me.


Love to you all.