It's been awhile

Can I be honest, I completely forgot about blogging until a few weeks ago. I realized that it has been almost 4 months since our last blog post. A lot has happened since that post, including summer which has rendered me somewhat busy. So where do I begin...
I will say that many warned me about the difference having 3 children will make in my life.  That it was not a lie. Getting ready and going out and about is a little more challenging. But they failed to tell me how much I would enjoy my 3rd child. I stop and think often about how much I am just delighting in Lydia. I think with the first child you are so stressed out, no sleep, no life, everything new, I remember about all I felt like I could do with the first few months with Anna is survive. With Isaac we missed these first few months, and oh how did I miss them. I have spent several evenings since we brought Lydia home with tears in my eyes thinking about the moments missed with my son. Who was there to see his first smile? Did he cry a lot? Was he rocked to sleep or did he just fall asleep crying when no one was there to hold him? My heart breaks that we weren't able to be there for the first few months. At the same time I am so grateful for his foster parents who when he was 3 months old gave him the life he hadn't experienced before. So it's in those moments with my sweet Liddy that I think on these things. I am much less stressed now, I feel like I somewhat know what I am doing. I enjoy her smiles and snuggles, the way she always wants to sleep in bed with me, the way she sings herself to sleep, and the way her smile lights up the room when Anna or Isaac talk to her. She has truly been a joyful addition to our lives.
Right now her favorite things to do are eat, play in her walker, babble to anyone who will listen and stand with a little help. Her favorite foods are sweet potatoes and squash, she will eat fruit but would rather have veggies right now. She is happy most of the time and only cries when she has to be in her car seat too long or is tired or hungry. Isaac and Anna are still crazy about her, they are great helpers and live to entertain her. Anna loves that she always has an audience!
Our contact with our birth family has been limited because she does not have a cell phone right now. I pray that we will be able to stay in contact with them and will try correspondence by mail in the next few weeks. I think about them often and pray that they are getting along well, I am so thankful for the indescribable gift they gave us in our daughter. Its hard to believe that at this time last year we had barely just began the process of adopting again with a short email to Adoption Assistance. God moved our hearts at just the right time to have everything ready for the child he had already picked out for our family. Our prayer continues to be that God moves hearts of those around us to adoption as well. As much as we would like to, we can't continue to adopt more and more children and would love nothing more than for some other families to come along side of us and share their love with children who need it.We would take great joy in the thought that our story helped more children find their forever families.

Anyone who welcomes a little child like this in my name, welcomes me. (Matthew 18:5)

We will keep enjoying our precious children and all of the first all over again for Lydia. We are looking forward to State Fair visits, pumpkin patches, soccer games and of course the Holiday season. And are preparing for crawling, creeping and chasing in the coming months. 

Bethany