Please Pray

We are all fine and didn't get hit but we have family and friends who have lost everything. Please be praying that they can continue to find the missing kids alive.

Where did a month go ??????

Well so much for blogging more often :(
I really miss blogging not only to keep track of things but to help claim my mind.
I honestly don't even know where to start.

This month I have started watching 2 little ones on the weekend to help earn someone money so on the weekend we have 6 kids under 4. We also started attending a class at church called How to Hear Gods Voice. So to fill the time between when church gets out and when we need to be back for the class we have tried to find something to stay busy since we have an hour drive each way it doesn't pay to come back home. What do you do with 8 kids. I don't know. This last week we went to the outlet mall. This is how we stroll on the weekends.

Sorry I can't show you pictures of my babies I would love to so I can give you is the back of their heads. The blue one is the 4 place stroller I recently got and we love it. It has been a huge life saver.

Here's an update on all of my kiddo's
My sweet little miss is now 6 months old and rolled over for the first time by herself on Monday. We have been working for several hours everyday to gain those muscles and it finally paid off. Not only did she just roll from her stomach to her back she also rolled from her back to her stomach.  We are still struggling with her trying to stand on her legs when you hold her up but will keep working on it. We are also continuing to struggle with latching issues with the bottle and mouth stimulation with baby food.

My little climber is now 16 months and has regressed with behaviors since visitation with family has increased. We're having issues with screaming and pulling hair. He has started waking 4-6 times a night again. He is making progress with his speech therapy and is talking more :) YAY!!!!!

My little man turned 2 and is growing like a weed. He is learning no words everyday but is also picking up on my oldest girls attitudes and is starting to copy it :( He loves to eat and down almost any fruit.

My little princess turned 3 and is also growing like a weed. She started school this week and is loving every minute of it. We are waiting for a hearing exam to see if she has a hearing impairment which could explain some of the cognitive and speech delays. We are going to try to figure out what else could be causing the delay. 

My big princess has been doing an amazing job in school and I'm so proud of her. She went from all D's and F's, along with never getting a good grade. After 3 months of hard work she has 3 A's and 1 B. She also made student of the month. So So Proud of her. She has finished the soccer season. We have huge progress with behaviors besides the night before and the day of visits.

My Oldest is also doing well and school and passed her AR goal in the 4 short months she has been with us. Wow it didn't hit me until I wrote that. I can't believe its been 4 months. She is so helpful with the little kids and is always wanting to help with the baby. I try to discourage it just because she needs to learn how to be a kid but it is nice sometimes.

Everyone is getting very excited for our next vacation. We will be leaving for Florida in a month. It will be the second time my kids have ever been on trips and the first time they have ever been to universal studio's. 

We have been so busy with every one's visits and appointment and end of year school events but we make it through out the day. A generous person from church has agreed to watch my children so me and my husband can go on a date. It will be the first time since January so it will be so nice to spend some time together.

I'm looking forward to this summer and all of the fun things we will get to do....

Until next time....
I'm gonna try to do a post on their birthday party but I can't make a promise 

We're Still Here

I can't believe its almost been a month since I last blogged. I try to blog but with 6 wonderful kids my time is very limited. What has happened in the last month? So Much.
We're still a family of 8 and we're enjoying every minute of it. We are still trying to get every one's nap schedule in sync.

My sweet little miss who is now 5 months old has found her hands this past week. She is finally reaching her hands out for toys and trying to hold her own bottle. She is going to be starting PT in the next couple of weeks to help her with her motor skills. Last week she tried to roll over for the first time. She started on baby food and moved from 6 oz bottles to 8 oz bottles. Her little feet are already hanging over the edge of the car-seat already.

My little climber is now 15 months old. He has figured out that he can now climb. We're going to have our hands full. Last week I was change a diaper and turn around to walk back through the dinning room to find him standing on top of the table. We have been teething all month long and they still have not broke through yet. He only has 5 teeth. He started speech therapy this last week.

My little man will be 2 years old in a month :) Birthday party time. He has been wanting to go potty so I'll try to do a separate post on our potty training. He is getting so tall and has out grown almost all of his clothes in the last couple of weeks. He is such a happy and smiling boy. He was test last week and scored above his age in almost every category :) So proud of him...He's such a smart little nut. He is totally in love with the dogs.

My little princess. We'll she will be turning 3 years old in a month :) A double birthday party. My little girl is going to be starting head start in the next couple of weeks. She will also be going to the elementary school for speech and social interaction to. She'll be gone from 8-3. Its going to be weird having her gone. She has had some regression in some area since she has came to our house but its a good thing because she is getting more comfortable.

My Big princess. He started soccer a couple weeks ago and has her first game last weekend. We all got burnt. Although she struggles with school she is making some improvements and making new friends. I'm not gonna lie we have our struggles with behaviors but it all stems from things that have happened to her from her past. It will take time but it will eventually disappear.

My Oldest. What can I say. We could not of asked for a better behaved 12 year old.  She does not let things that have happened to her in the past affect her future and that is usually the biggest struggle with foster kids. She does very well in school and tries her hardest at everything. She is also very helpful around the house and can get anyone to laugh.

Last week the kids were on spring break so we headed back home to South Dakota for a week. The 13 hour drive there went way better then I thought. It took about 45 minutes every time we stopped but we made it safe in sound. The kids had a blast well we were there but they missed their daddy. The drive home didn't go as smooth. I'm pretty sure everyone was tired of being in the car.

We celebrated Easter together as a family. We colored Easter eggs, went to church and our family came with us, we went out for Easter lunch and had an Easter egg hunt. It was one of the best Easters.

We're still praying that God will guide us to the right house if he has a bigger house for us in the future. We love having this many kids but they need space to run and play. My grandma's house just doesn't have the space.

Sorry I can't update more often but I'm gonna try my hardest because I defiantly miss it.

Family

Our current family is very multicultural but that doesn't stop the love between all of the kids. Including the ones who were not siblings before coming to our house. God has shown how loving our kids with all of your hearts and holding nothing back can change their lives for the better. We are holding nothing back. I'm not guarding my heart so that it is not so hard when they leave. God doesn't guard his heart with them so why should I. I know God with help us through anything that will happen with the wonderful kids he has placed in our lives.

We are beyond blessed and loving every minute with our family.

PS: We bought a bigger vehicle so we can all 8 fit in the car at once. I'll post pictures later.

This is our 4 months old and our 2 year old

I wish I could show you a picture of their faces. You would totally understand why I feel in love 

with these kiddos so fast.

Little Miss E is growing so fast. Last week she started on baby food. She likes sweet potato's and carrots so far and only dislikes green beans and rice cereal. She is also starting to gain more head control :). Last week I put in in the little bouncer/activity table and she is going crazy in it and has already learned how to bounce. I can't believe she is already 4 months old.

We also received an update from the little boy that we support in Africa. He has gotten so big since his last picture.

Our Lives are ever chaning

In the foster care world our lives can change so fast and we can loss family members and add them back in the same day. On Saturday February 20th we had to say goodbye to 2 wonderful girls who stayed with us for 3 short days. We'll we loved having them they got to go live with family which can be the best place for them. We enjoyed every minute we had with them.
That same night we got a call at 830 p.m. asking if we could take a placement. There were 5 kids total and they really wanted Ms. A who is 9 and baby E who is 3 months old to stay together and they preferred to keep Little Mr. C who is 1 with them. I told them we could take the 9 year old and the baby for sure and we could take Mr. C if they would let us.  We knew they would have to get approval because we would have to have 3 in  one room and you are not allowed to have more than 2 under . We weren't sure if they would approve it for more than just a night or even at all. I had a feeling they were coming but it had been 2 hours and I had not heard anything. So I assumed they were not coming and didn't get anything ready. I guess I should have spent those 2 hours getting things ready because at 1030 pm they were at the door.
God has proved to us over and over again that he is braking the rules for us. It just shows  me how in control God is with everything in our lives. So by Gods graces we are a family of 8. We know that God will help us give these little ones everything they need.
I so wish I could share pictures because everyone of them have stole my heart.
We thought the last 3 would be staying a short time however Gods plan is different. All of our 3 separate families will be staying for at least 6 months :) We love everyday they get to be here.
One thing I have ran into is people telling me that they think I have my hands to full. I want to turn around and say some not so nice thing but that's not what God would want me to do. I wish people could just see how blessed we are to be able to care from these children in their time of need. I only hope that I can show them Gods grace and glory through what I do and say.
I want to write more but my babies and wanting their mamma. Only if you knew how much I love write the words "my babies". This is one proud mamma.
So I leave you with my wonderful family of 8 (12, 9, 2, 1, 1, 4 months)