Our first weekend went better than I could’ve ever asked or hoped for. I’m so humbled and amazed at the outpouring of encouragement, support, offers of clothing, meals, and even help for Christmas. God is so good and He continues to provide for our every need.

By the third night, all three children went to sleep with nothing but smiles. Church was fantastic yesterday morning. Everyone received our new children with open arms and lots of love. The kids seem to feel very safe and content in our home, which is exactly what we’ve prayed for.

Our kids haven’t missed a beat either. I even dared to ask Jesse this morning if he was still glad that our foster children have finally arrived. His response was, “Can they please stay forever?” What a relief.

This morning, I couldn’t go back to sleep after Josh left for work at 5:15am, so I got up and tackled the five loads of clean laundry scattered throughout my room in baskets. Done.

At six o’clock on the dot, I could hear my coffee pot calling me as the sweet, bold aroma crept under my door, as if to remind me, “it’s Monday morning, better fuel up!” Unfortunately, I am disappointed in the Hazlenut Biscotti creamer I bought at the grocery store over the weekend; it has a wierd after taste. I guess it’s back to french vanilla for now.

Which brings me to another weekend discovery. It appears, adding three children to your household, also means doubling your grocery bill. I went to Sam’s and Walmart yesterday. I was gone for three hours. I seriously only bought the necessities. Two weeks worth of meals and snacks. Six months ago, I could buy groceries for two weeks for $150. Yesterday’s grand total was $280 (including a large box of Pull-ups). Yikes!! Not to mention, I got it all home, and we didn’t even have room in our freezer. Please pray that God will provide a freezer for our garage. There is one at Sam’s for $175. I’m selling some scrap gold/jewelry at a gold party on Wednesday and I’m praying I make enough to buy the freezer.

God has already provided a dresser for baby girl’s room and Josh bought a new door last night to begin our office transformation for her. It sure is fun having a sweet little girl in our house.

The boys are doing great. Everyone plays together very well. The noise level in our house has officially gone through the roof. I had to step into the garage last night to finish a conversation on the phone!

I have to register biggest brother at his new school today. I’m praying for a godly teacher and great new friends. He’s a precious young man.

On a side note, since the kids have arrived, I have felt somewhat like the wind has been knocked out of my sails in regards to our ‘normal routine’. However, Saturday night, after all of the children were in bed, including my poor, exhausted husband, I got a second wind and was able to make four loaves of bread, clean up the kitchen, do two loads of laundry, and wax my eyebrows!

Suddenly, I felt like a new woman!

I CAN do this. I can do ALL things through Christ.

He has given me everything I need for THIS day. His grace is sufficient.

Happy Monday!

~audrey

Just when I thought things couldn’t get any crazier, we received a phone call at 6:45 last night letting us know that there had been an emergency in the other foster home and they needed to bring the children to us right away. I had less than one hour to prepare myself, my children, and my home for three new children. To say I freaked a little would be an understatement. I mean, I had a two page list of things to do on Friday to prepare for their arrival Friday night. It was not suppose to happen this way. I’m NOT a ‘fly by the seat of my pants’ kind of girl!

The children arrived at 7:30pm on the dot. I took a deep breath and opened the door. They walked right in, without hesitation, introduced themselves, and immediately began playing the boys, who also proceeded to give them a tour of the house. The baby (18 months old) took to me immediately. I was told she was a little behind developmentally. I was told she doesn’t talk, make noises, and rarely has anyone seen her smile. As I laid her down to change her diaper, I realized she had three layers of clothes on. As I unzipped her jammies and opened her diaper, a smell filled the room like nothing I had ever smelled before on a human being. There is no way she has had a bath in the last week or two. No way at all. I immediately put her in the bath and I had to dress her in Owen’s pajamas because hers were filthy.

Their belongings fit into a large trash bag and a college-like chest. Most of their belongings were shoes, which I found to be very bizarre. 90% of their clothing was either too small, for the summer, or mildewed beyond repair.

The baby ate two fruit cups and a cereal bar when she got out of the bath. I rocked her for about 15 minutes and she went to sleep in her own little bed, in her new house, without so much as a peep.

The boys were another story. They were pretty wound up and took a while just to get them into bed. The four year old cried for about an hour and a half before finally falling asleep. Once all five boys were in their beds and half of them asleep, I climbed into bed with Jesse and Owen and cried as I held Owen in my arms and thanked God for everything I could think of. I was completely overwhelmed with emotion. I felt like I could throw up at any moment. My feelings were beyond description. Was it fear? Sadness? Anxiety? Joy? I still don’t know. All I could do was cling to God’s promises as I prayed protection, peace, joy, and grace over our home and our family.

I woke up to a screaming baby at 5:00am. I was thankful that she woke me up because it allowed me to gather my thoughts and prepare for the day. I held her, changed her diaper, gave her some juice, and checked my email. The boys all woke up cheerfully, ate breakfast, and got ready without complaints.

Once the dust settled and two of the boys were off to school, baby girl began to come out of her shell. It started with smiles. She also reached for Josh to pick her up this morning. By lunch time, she was babbling, chasing the boys around the house, and giggling at all sorts of things. She’s a perfectly normal 18 month old. When Jesse is at school, the four year old plays wonderfully with Owen. When Jesse got home from school and Owen went down for a nap, the four year old played just as well with Jesse. Joshua was counting down the hours and minutes until the ten year old got home from school. It was sweet to hear him ask, “Momma, how much longer until my big brother gets home??” I keep telling him he probably shouldn’t call him his “big brother or his “foster brother”, but simply a new friend.

This morning, I went into the garage to see if I had any clothes for the four year old. I stepped over a laundry basket and my foot landed on the pac-n-play cover. My foot slipped out from under me and I fell on my right side landing on a small trash can and Josh’s guitar amp.

I closed my eyes as I forced myself to take deep breaths.

I prayed and prayed that my ribs were not broken.

I hurt all over.

I think I pulled muscles in my legs as I tried not to fall. What hurt the most was my right side near the bottom of my ribs. I finally got up off the floor.

I was ok.

I definitely did not break anything.

I’m getting more and more sore as the day wears on and I have an enormous bruise and scrape on the right side of my torso, but it certainly could have been a lot worse.

Tonight, we plan to make pizza and watch a movie as we unwind from the whirlwind of the last 24 hours.

I covet your prayers as we continue to adjust through this transition and into a whole new world for our amily.

~audrey

I don’t even know why I chose that title for this post. I am anything and everything but calm! I’ve had a pit in my stomach since yesterday afternoon. Not because three children are coming, but just the overwhelming amount of things that must be done today, tomorrow, and everyday after that to keep our house running smoothly and making sure all SIX of our children are being loved and cared for excellently. We’ve stated all along that we rest in peace that GOD has always known exactly who our foster placements would be. God knows what our family needs and what our foster children need.

He promises me that His grace is sufficient.

He promises never to give me more than I can handle.

He promises that I can do ALL things through Him.

Those are some pretty great promises if you ask me! So, I’m going to accept the fact that there is no way everything is going to be exactly the way I have it planned in my mind. My house will most definitely NOT stay clean all the time. Beds will be unmade. Dishes will sit in the sink…….OVER NIGHT (**gasp**). There may be days when I can’t remember if I’ve eaten or had a shower. BUT:

God’s mercies are new every single morning.

Every morning, regardless of the day before, I can take a deep breath and know that His grace is sufficient for THIS day. That is all I need. Just enough for right now. I don’t need to look to the future…or even tomorrow!

All that said, I’d still greatly appreciate your prayers. Pray that I can continue to fight off thoughts of defeat and fear. Pray that Josh and I will rely on the Lord to make us a great team in this new season of our life. Pray that the boys will embrace, welcome, and accept their new ‘siblings’ into our home and family. Pray that those around us, in our everyday life, will be supportive and prayerful as well. Also, please pray that God would direct us as to where we need to put the four year old in school. The ten year old is in fifth grade and will go to our zoned elementary school, but the four year old class is full and as far as I know, I MUST enroll him in a pre-k program. All the great ones I’ve called today are full. But God knows that!

Goodness, now that I think about it, don’t you think this exact post (minus the school stuff) applies perfectly to what you can pray for the Baileys as well? Ashley and the twins will be released from the hospital tomorrow and will go home to a brand new world. Their family now looks completely different than two days ago. Life will never be the same; in a great, marvelous, and miraculous way. But they can definitely use your prayers! Let’s pray them through this new, uncomfortable, transition into being a family of seven with newborn twins!

Well. Tomorrow is the day.

~audrey

~audrey

These are the ages of the children that will be in my home as of Friday, November 13th!

Yes, that’s right, WHILE Ashley was laboring, I received a phone call from the foster agency and we’ll be receiving, not two, but THREE foster children on Friday. Two boys and a girl, ages 10, 4, and 1.

Please be praying for a smooth transition for all of us.

That’s about all I can say for now. I’m still in a bit of shock. 🙂

~audrey

Ashley did an amazing job today. She labored for only three hours and pushed those boys out eleven minutes apart. Drew was first weighing in at 6lbs. 11oz. Next came little Ben weighing a meer 4lbs. 15oz. Both boys are doing great and are out of the nursery and in the room with Ashley and Stephen. I’ll let Ashley post more about her story when she gets home. For now, I’ll leave you with these four pictures. I’ll post more pictures tomorrow when I can get some of the two of them together…if I don’t eat them up first!! They are SOOoo darn cute!!

Happy Birthday Boys!!

~audrey

This is it. The day we’ve been waiting for since February. My best friend, Ashley, arrived at the hospital at 6:00am this morning, 11.11.09.

Then, we went back to her house to finish cleaning up and packing. I just couldn’t resist taking a few more pictures to document this incredibly momentus occasion.

This picture doesn’t quite capture how tiny these onesies are, but it’s adorable all the same.

This is the cutest part!

And here is one last profile pic of THE BELLY. 37 weeks and one day. I think she looks absolutely incredible!

And, just for fun! 🙂

Please pray today as Ashley’s body prepares to birth these babies. Pray that their heart rates stay strong, their cords stay straight, they both stay head down, and that Ashley has an enjoyable delivery. I suppose you should also pray for Stephen, her husband, that he feels equipped with everything he could possibly need to continue to provide for his children and the husband and father that God has intended him to be. We give God all the glory for this incredible miracle. I look forward to posting pictures of little Ben and Drew this afternoon!!

~audrey

I don’t know what happened to me yesterday. Suddenly I was completely overwhelmed with the MANY things I have to do over the next six weeks or so. Between room mom duties for Jesse’s class, the impending foster children’s arrival, getting myself, my family, and my house ready for the holidays, and the HUGE task of making a new 2010 nursery rotation for church…I’m just about to lose my mind, wet my pants, pull my hair out, a little stressed. On top of all of that, this is what I came home to last night:

That is not me! I’m the girl who cleans WHILE I cook. I HATE going to bed with a dirty kitchen, or dirty ANYTHING for that matter! My house smells like…yuckiness. I can’t put my finger on the smell, but I don’t like it. Would you like to know what gave me a ‘silver lining moment’?

This:

My lonely, clean, Christmas dish towel. Yes, I already have a few Christmas things out and this dish towel just might have saved me from a total meltdown last night.

Needless to say, after taking Jess to school this morning, I came right home and tackled that pile of dirty dishes. It only took me about ten minutes to clean up the whole kitchen. Now I feel much better (except for the dish-pan-hands), it’s given me a jump start to the other things I need to do around the house, and I learned my lesson from over-planning yesterday!

I don’t think we have anything planned for the weekend, and I’m looking forward to making my weekend to-do list and getting lots of things accomplished. My office, in particular, is in desperate need of sprucing up. My school items have gotten terribly disorganized, I’m way behind on my filing, and there are plenty of things in the office that simply DON’T belong there!

Okay, I think that’s enough for one post.

Have a great Tuesday! OH MY GOSH, I almost forgot to mention, MY BEST FRIEND IS DELIVERING HER TWINS TOMORROW!!! I can’t wait!!! Josh is going to work early and coming home at lunch so I can go be with Ashley at the hospital. PICTURES, PICTURES, PICTURES! Please pray for Ashley tomorrow. Both babies are head down and she’s praying for a vaginal delivery with no complications and two healthy babies! Not too much to ask from a BIG GOD!

Love ya’ll!

~audrey

Thanks a lot. Now I’m mildly obsessed with Picnik and my husband had to pry my fingers from the mouse on Friday so I would make supper. lol!

I will say, while I was playing with my pictures, my hubby and the boys were waist deep in a hole they dug out back. They made tunnels and bridges and “mountains” for their hotwheels. I took a few pics. I love having boys and watching Josh transform back into a little boy when they do stuff like this together. So sweet.

Josh had his car parked at the top of this ‘cliff’ and he said, “Hey boys, tell Mommy what this place is.” The boys replied, “that’s where you park your car and kiss your wife!” HAHAHA! Some things never change. But at least he emphasized WIFE. 🙂

Jesse was definitely in his own little world, making engine noises, talking to his car, and occasionally getting ‘stuck on the dirt road.’

It’s so fun seeing the world through their eyes.

Happy Monday everyone! Let’s get stuff done today! Set that kitchen timer and start tackling some projects. Get the house back in order from the weekend…I know mine needs it!!

~audrey

I LOVE, love, love pictures. I’m certainly not a “photographer”, but I love taking pictures of my friends and family and mildly editing them, usually on Picasa 3. I know that my best friend, who IS a professional photograher, has used Picnik in the past to create Christmas card graphics, do minor editing, etc, but I had never checked it out for myself.

My sweet blogger friend from Chatting at the Sky had a before and after picture that she had edited on Picnik and challenged us to try it out for ourselves.  The picture I chose is of my sweet little niece.

Before:

After:

Pretty awesome huh?  The best part is, I did this using the FREE version!  Check it out!

~audrey