Hectic Happy Holidays!

Well I am not sure how long it has been since I have updated here but here goes nothing, hang on, sit tight and try to make sense of the chaotic post! Just to give you an idea of how hectic are holiday are, we start holiday celebrations the weekend before Thanksgiving and we are done the weekend of New Years Eve! For 8 straight weeks we are on the go and out of town, January 7th is our first free weekend and I cant wait to sit in my jammies all day and relax at home.

Now an update on the kiddos:
Jonathan, our oldest foster kiddo left on December 2nd to a relative adoptive placement. It was a bittersweet thing, he was excited to go but I am not 100% convinced it was the best thing for him. Only time will tell. We have asked for updates with no response so, no I don't know how he is doing.

Then we were left with just Michael and Biscuit...the house was so quiet for 2 very long weeks!

On December 15th, we were blessed with two more precious boys! Isaac 3 months old and Fabian 2 years old. They made such an impact in my life. Isaac's little arm was broken and Fabian could not speak one word. I freshened up on my Spanish and Sign Language, thinking maybe he just couldn't understand me, but nope, he just looked at me like I was so silly! Isaac and Fabo's stay was very short, they went to their grandparents just 6 short days after arriving at our house! The reunification was so sweet, Fabo was so excited to see them and they were extremely thankful to us for protecting and loving them. These two were really hard to let go, I still cry when I think about them. Jeremy's grandma got Isaac a 'First Christmas Bear' and when I opened it I cried like a baby!

Isaac is a beautiful baby boy that could laugh until he had tears!

Fabo- he is a little sweetheart and his precious little smile got me every time!

My sister got me the most beautiful frame with all my kiddos in it with the words "Every Child Deserves...a Mother's Love"(picture is at the bottom of the post)--anyways I cried like a baby over this too!

Less than 24 hours after we returned the boys to their grandparents, our CM called with 3 more kiddos. We weren't sure if CPS and/or licensing would approve us but we said YES! Yes to THREE more kids, yikes! With our planned trip out of state we could not get court approval to take them with us so everyone agreed that waiting until we got back would be a better option, that being said-Serenity 2, Braylynn 18 mo, and Brett 4 mo, will be arriving at the Kirk house on January 5th! They all live in separate foster homes right now and they will all be together again. We still have Michael and Biscuit, so yes that makes 5 kids in the Kirk household and we couldn't be more excited, anxious, nervous and scared! We are in Colorado right now and are so anxious to get home to prepare the house and get all the beds, cribs, diapers (5 kids in diapers), clothes and girl stuff gathered up and then we sit and wait for them to come home!

We go to court on January 24th and hopefully the judge will give us the go ahead to proceed with the adoption of Michael and Biscuit! Say a prayer for them please!

Here's some pictures from when Santa came! The boys must have been really good!

All Smiles :)

Some of the most important people in our lives- Aunt Shannan, Uncle Dewey and Braden!

Dublin Dr. Pepper Museum. The boys loved be "grown ups" and the kid table!

Braden (nephew), Biscuit, Jonathan and Michael at Daddy's last football game of the season!

Last football game until next year!

choices, moves, decisions, and Faith!

Well its been along time since I have updated the blog and alot has changed in our lives! Some good, some bad, some fun, some sad! I'll save the best for last--so for Jeremy and I, we have had lots of things to celebrate! We just passed our 7 year mark. We started dating 7 years ago, November 15th, its crazy that we have been together for 7 years!! Jeremy passed his teaching certificate test on Saturday and Santo ISD has offered him a job. He is not for sure that he is going to take it because there is a few jobs closer to home that will be opening up soon.

Michael and Christopher- Theres not much of an update on these two handsome boys. We are switching doctors to try and figure out whats going on with Biscuits eating/swalling problems. We are getting the run around and I cant wait until he will feel better. Neither of the fathers in their cases have came forward-there was a meeting set up with Biscuits father but he did not show up to the meeting. The adoption seems to be getting closer and closer- the permancy plan has officially been changed to "Adoption by non-relative placements"..whoo hoo!!

Jonathan- Well it hasnt been so good with J. He will be moving to his new families home sometime in December. He will be moving in with his biological aunt and her family. They have 2 kids, 13 and 4 and one on the way! I continue to pray that the family that Jonathan will be living with forever is the best for him. We all know how foster care system works and there is always a possiblity of the move not going through but as of right now I think it would be in J's best interest to move sooner rather than later! The good part about this very difficult move is that it has really opened our eyes and hearts to keep fostering. Our plan was to adopt the three boys and be done, but after J moves on then I think it will be easier. Surely the first one is the hardest, its all brand new so I do not know what to expect. The second time must be easier.

We did go on the "open" list to keep fostering. We have room for 3 more kiddos. Today my casemanager told me that the closer to the holiday the more kids get put into care and the very sad reality is that most foster parents dont want to take on new kids around the holiday because it "cramps" the plans. Which yes it is true, it does cramp your plans but every child deserves a home for the holidays. Its aching my heart to know that there will be kids going to shelters this holiday season! I hope that we can give someone a family, even if temporary for Christmas. We got a call for 3 today but they were beyond our age limit, we got a call last week for a 3 week old barely weighing in at 5 lbs but she went to someone else. I told my CM today that we will take any child our license will allow and she doesnt even have to call and ask just turn our names in. I hope that we will be getting a really good Christmas present this year! :)

We are taking our family Christmas pictures Friday, first ones ever! Its really exciting but pretty emotional too! I cant wait to see how they turn out and mail them to our family. I have really learned to not take each day for granted. I have learned to put MY family first and no one else comes before them. I have been taught, tested, and tried in the last 7 months and I feel completely safe and at peace with what God is doing in our lives! Praise be to God!