blessings

ah well, it's been awhile since i blogged...actually, today I plan to start a journal for our foster baby, Elyssa....her name was Merissa, but we are changing her name since we are going to adopt...we have E names already picked out for our future children, so i didn't want her to feel left out. The names we have picked out are... Emily Rae (and the spelling could change to Emilee or something similar) Rae was my mom's middle name...Eryn Ree, Ree is matt's mom's middle name, Elsie Elizabeth (elizabeth is matt's sis's middle name and elsie was my grandma's name), Evan Matthew,(matthew is my hubby's name), and Ethan William( william is both my dad's name and matt's dad's name)...elyssa's middle name is Marie...we aren't going to change it because that is matt's grandma's name...lol...so, if God blesses us with more babies, their names are ready! With fertility procedures, you never know what will happen! We would like to do our second IUI in October, but we are waiting to hear when we will adopt Elyssa. Sept 15 we have a court hearing to set the date to terminate the parents rights (yay!) that should happen quickly, then it gets turned to the adoption department and they set the date for adoption. We are super excited and super thankful for the opportunity to adopt. We NEVER thought that we'd be able to adopt our first foster baby! I thank God every day for this blessing. I was thinking of His blessings the other day...we did our IUI in march and found out it didn't work around march 13th...the same day we got a placement call for a newborn boy, that we decided not to take because we were leaving on a much needed vacation the next week, and with CPS, you have to get approval from judge before taking foster baby on vacation, anyway so we refused placement, went on vacation for 5 days and the following monday we got the placement call for Elyssa. I had called my placement worker the previous week and she got my message early monday a.m....i was asking if there were any placements because we were getting anxious for a baby and upset from the negative IUI...so when she heard about a babygirl placement in Lufkin on the same day, she thought of us. If our IUI had been positive, i never would have placed that call to her, and i feel we never would have been placed with Elyssa. It's AWESOME how God works!! I can't imagine life without her....she makes the infertility bearable now. Don't get me wrong, we still want (badly) children of our own..or just for me to be able to get pregnant, but we are thankful for God's mercy in providing for our needs and desires. Infertility is a big part of our lives...it plays a role in everything that we do....matt's sis and her hubby are going thru IF, and matt's cousin had twins thru IVF, and she was never to have children, as she was born without ovaries. But God works for the good of those who love Him and i know He will bless me with a pregnancy in His time. I'm at peace with that. Finally. Our fost/adopt experience has blessed not only us, but our entire family and many friends too.....we have a couple that we are very close to and i've known for many years...they have tried getting prego for about a year and just haven't been able to, and because of us, they start their PRIDE classes tonite so they can become foster parents! I am so happy for them! I know God will bless their lives with both foster babies and biological babies...but He needs special parents for special children that don't have anyone to love them. This is the way He works....denying one need to fulfill another. It brings tears to my eyes. I told my good friend just yesterday....don't worry bout the storm, learn to dance in the rain....because some of the worst storms bring out the most beautiful rainbows. A few days before Elyssa came to us we had a big storm and after the storm a HUGE rainbow was literally going across our 4 acres.....the whole rainbow! it was so beautiful and looking back, i think was a sign from God....one of those "Godwinks" if you've read the books. So, that's my story for now...oh and i'm staying home right now, studying medical transcription so i can eventually work from home...money is tight and i may have to go to the hospital or something a few nights a week later on to help with the finances, but we are ok right now. i know God will provide, and worrying won't change anything...He takes care of His own.
bye for now and have a blessed day!
Lori