when it rains, it pours

i can measure God's goodness and faithfulness throughout my entire life, but it seems that lately, He has been showering many blessings around me. we are four days away from bringing our children home. i am still overwhelmed. still scared. still excited. there are so many things i wanted to have done before the big move in, but i have realized there isn't enough time to do everything. some things will just have to wait.

this past week of my life has been very full. full of goodness and love and times that i will cherish forever. sara groves was in town last thursday night at hudson community chapel. i had known for some time that she was coming. i made plans with a friend to attend, and invited my mom and my mother-in-law. a couple of weeks before the show however, we all decided there was too much going on to spend the night out. it felt somewhat irresponsible in the light of bringing three children home to live with me in the matter of a week and a half. but, when thursday morning rolled around, i really felt the Lord telling me i needed to be at the concert. sara's music has played such a huge part in leading me to where i am today. God has really used her to speak to my life and i felt it would be a really good idea to have a night to worship the Lord through sara's music. i called my mom to let her know i was going and she offered to join me. we had an amazing time. sara was as she always is. very real, open, honest. we laughed, we cried. at the end of the evening, i was able to talk with sara, as i have had the privilege to do before. the last time i shared with her that josh and i had been on a journey through infertility and it was leading us toward adoption. this time, i was able to share with her that our adoption journey has lead us to three beautiful children. i cried, sara cried. she remembered meeting me before and she was so excited to see where we have arrived. i was able to share pictures of the kids with her and she took a couple of them with her, wanting to pray for josh and i, and our children. what a blessing!
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friday was my last day at work. my last day being a nanny. my last day of doing what i have been doing every day for the past three years of my life. it was a very hard day emotionally. i had some time alone in their home and i spent time in each of the children's rooms, just looking at their things, touching their clothes, their beds. i was sobbing. but, it was a much needed sob. i needed to be able to say good-bye to so many things in order to move on to my new role as mom. i am going to keep in touch with this family. we actually are going to start building a friendship with one another and our families, as opposed to an employer/employee relationship. i am very grateful.
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saturday, my mother-in-law threw a baby shower for me. i was a very overwhelming time, in a very good way. there were people from every phase of my life there. it made me feel so loved to see that so many people wanted to come to show me their love and support. we got so many gifts. people were so generous! we are now way more prepared to be parents of three. if you are reading this and you were there, thank you so much. words cannot express what having you there meant to me. and to mom(josh's mom), thank you for throwing the shower. what a beautiful time to spend with people who love us.
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saturday night, we had our second overnight visit with our kids. josh brought them home while i was at the shower. we spent the evening eating dinner with our families and enjoying watching the kids get wound up with uncle nathan and uncle ben. that's what uncles are for. right? the baby was very tired, so tired in fact that he didn't know whether to fall asleep or stay awake and cry. it took him awhile to get settled, but once we put him in his crib, he was asleep within two minutes. after the family left, we watched some scooby doo with the two oldest kids. they were able to unwind during the video and then we got them ready for bed. they brushed their teeth and climbed into bed with no problem. we said prayers and within about 5-10 minutes, they were both asleep. josh and i met downstairs at the dining room table. it was only 9:20pm! and, all the kids were asleep! we are hoping this was a taste of what's to come. we had time to sit and talk about the day. i shared with him who was there and some of the gifts we got. he spent some time working on his blog. i spent some time working on laundry. we were in bed by 11pm and all three kids slept all through the night! we did too!! we had them most of the day Sunday. we played at home and at the park. then we returned them to their foster mom. we'll see them tomorrow for a short visit and then saturday they'll move home.
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Sunday afternoon, my sister gave birth to her first child. i am now a proud aunt to a nephew, william henry. he's 7lbs, 20 inches long. he came a few weeks early, but mommy and will are doing very well. i was really hoping to be able to travel to NM to meet him shortly after his birth, but since our children are coming home in a few days, i won't be traveling anytime soon. my sister, her husband, and son will be in ohio in august, so i will likely meet him then. it feels like ages away, but i know it will come quickly. congratulations kimmie and peter. and welcome to the world little will. we love you so much already!
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so now i continue on in my last few days as me and as a wife. in a few days i'll add title of mother to that line-up. i already feel like a mother in my heart, but on saturday, i will take on that role.