progress in foster care and pregnancy

If you follow me on Instagram or our Facebook page, you've been able to keep up with us a little, even though this blog has been quiet.

On Tuesday, we finished our home study. Most of you know that we are going through the process of becoming Virginia Foster Parents with hopes of being able to foster/adopt two of my step-cousins (age 1 and 2). There's still a lot up in the air concerning these two boys, and we know that they may never come to us, but we're ready and willing to accept them into our family if that's what the Lord uses the courts to decide. The Foster Parent process is two-fold. There's a home study, which consists of physical meetings and interviews in our home (and other locations) where a social worker gets to know our background, character, and home life before making a decision to either recommend us to be parents to these children (case specific) or not. That's the part we've completed. Our social worker has all of our information and has made her decision. The second part, which we're still in the process of, is a Foster Care class, which is a 30 hour class with other foster parents where we are taught the goals, joys, and heartaches associated with fostering. Our class ends near the end of September, and after that the ball can officially begin rolling and the boys could (theoretically) begin their trip toward us. Continue to pray for God's will in their lives and ours.

Yesterday, I had my twenty-five week doctor's visit, which included my glucose test. I won't get those results until the weekend, but even if I have gestational diabetes (and not to make light of it), our baby's heart was beating, and that's all that mattered.

You see, last time I went to my twenty-five week appointment, I left in tears, headed to the hospital, to give birth to our dead son, Christian. God has been gracious to us to allow us to be back here so quickly, only eight months later, this time pregnant with a little girl. It happened. Just like, of course, I hoped it would. I want Charlotte to grow big and strong and breath and blink and wiggle, but this weekend our second child will out live our first, and it makes my throat burn.

Pray for me, if you think of it this weekend. I'll post baby bump pictures soon. My uterus is officially the size of a soccer ball, so if you're wondering how well I'm sleeping at night or fitting at the dining room table, strap a soccer ball to your belly and try to get comfy. Don't worry though, I'd trade much more than discomfort to bring a breathing baby Nowak into our home.