Tuesday, December 31, 2013

2013 Foster Care in a Nutshell

2013 Foster Care in a Nutshell

  • Josiah turned 1 @ the beginning of the year
  • we started him on the GAPS Diet to help heal his gut
  • our girls turned 15, 14 & 10
  • it's none of your business how old Matt and I are!  :D
  • we did emergency care for "MJ" in January for two weeks
  • and we fell in love with him
  • and then we fostered him in February & March
  • and it was exceedingly difficult {2 special needs babies, one who cried for 30 minutes at a time if something changed in his surroundings at all, one who had severe tummy issues and required intensive GAPS cooking- 2 hours minimum every day; running a photography business from home; homeschooling 3 daughters - one who has ADD and throw that in with the screaming baby for a great fun day EVERY DAY!}
  • MJ was placed in another foster home
  • and we've had the wonderful privilege of seeing him thru respite care in June
  • and we still love him and don't know how his story will end...
  • our family took a WONDERFUL, much needed vacation to River's Edge Cottages in the Spring
  • Josiah's adoption was finalized on July 17th
  • GAPS Diet has been amazing for him!  He is able to eat a wide variety of vegetables and a few new fruits as well as nuts and nut butters.  Still NO GRAINS and apparently no seeds (our sunflower seeds trial was scary!)
  • we fostered "Teddy" the newborn for one week & then he went with a family member
  • we have been fostering "Tiny" for 3 months (since birth)
2013 was such a roller coaster ride for us.  It was a prayer come true to be able to adopt our little Josiah!  There was heartache with having to have MJ placed in another home. Our marriage is the strongest it's ever been.  Seeing my husband love our foster babies with a regular daddy's love, even though they don't carry his DNA pierces a part of me that has never been touched before.  Those kids are ours while they're in our home. Period.  Our girls are growing up!  Gabi will be able to drive in a few months.  The thought of that makes me want to cry or scream! I haven't decided which yet! LOL!!!  Josiah is on target with everything and has great weight!
2013 was overall a wonderful year!  I have learned a lot about myself - I am stronger than I ever thought.  It's more important to be tenderhearted towards the fatherless than look like a model.  I can still help others in need, even if my hands are full here at home.  God is gracious beyond compare and his compassion is limitless!  
I hope to make more time for friendships in 2014.  I miss my friends.  Fostering those relationships and growing together in the Lord will make for an even more fulfilling year!

Sunday, December 29, 2013

God is ALWAYS Faithful | Reminiscing

God is ALWAYS Faithful

  • 20 Years ago I told my mom I wanted a black baby
  • 18 Years ago (August 1995) I married my best friend, he had no desire to adopt
  • 3 years ago, (January 2011), my best friend heard an Adoption Sermon by Voddie Baucham which can be found here:http://www.sermonaudio.com/sermoninfo.asp?SID=113101250246 and it rocked his world!
  • 3 months later, we began our Adoption Journey thru DHS in April 2011
  • almost 2 years ago (February 2012) our home was opened for Foster Care thru OKDHS, the very same day, one hour after our final "walk thru" with our social worker, we received the call for placement of a 5 week old baby boy
  • July 17th 2013, on Josiah's 18 Month Birthday, our adoption was finalized!!!
I write this to you, the woman or man who has a heart for Adoption, but it seems like it will NEVER happen... God is PASSIONATE about adoption. It is our only possible way of being united with Him in heaven - we become His and NOTHING can separate us from His love!  He sets the lonely in families. He is for Adoption!  
Whether you're still waiting for your husband to get on board, or whether you're filling out paperwork late into the night while snacking on dry cereal & raisins, or whether you're done with all that and you are just WAITING for the phone call - please know that we've been there with you and we're praying for you!  He is faithful!
I hope our little timeline gives you HOPE, because sometimes, we all need a little encouragement!  :) 

Monday, December 2, 2013

Tiny | 12.02.13


Some days, I want to just blab everything that is going on through our Foster Care journey because it helps to just get it "out there" so people will understand and be praying and be sympathetic and maybe bring me a cherry limeade with no ice from sonic during happy hour.

And some days, I am just thankful this sweet baby is in our home, under our watchful care and sharing pictures is enough.

Today, I feel like blabbing & blubbering.  But I can't.  Because it's Foster Care.  And it's private.  And how I wish I was able to just sit with a friend and cry right about now because I'm exhausted and sleepy and Mondays are so hard in general with co-op and regular homeschool and running errands since I'm already out.

So what I can do is share this picture.  And tell you "Tiny" is doing wonderful. And he's two whole months old now.  And he's finally out of Newborn clothes and into 0-3 month clothes.  And he's cooing.  And there's a jury trial in March. And he may or may not end up being Josiah's brother.  Holy cow!  In a nut shell.  THAT is what is going on.

If your head is all of a sudden spinning, imagine mine...
I haven't slept (aside from the naps Matt blessed me with during Thanksgiving break).

Thank you for prayers for our family!
We truly are OPEN to whatever direction the Lord leads.  But there's this thing called EMOTIONS. And I'm a girl, so I have plenty of them!

Love ya'll,
me

Wednesday, November 27, 2013

Wordless Wednesday | Tiny



"Tiny", 
he is braver than he believes, 
 stronger than he seems
and loved by the Morrows more than he'll ever know!

Friday, November 15, 2013

Insightful Foster Kid Blog

This blog is written by a young woman who was in foster care for many years.  I found it a few nights ago when I was looking for Foster Care encouragement.  I recommend all foster parents read thru it.  It is THE MOST insightful blog I have ever read from the perspective of a foster girl who has aged out of the system but still struggles emotionally, daily.

Thursday, October 24, 2013

Tiny's Mom-Visit

Tiny's Mom-Visit went well.  I arranged his next feeding around her visit, so she could feed him.
Back track to nearly 2 years ago..Josiah had his first & only mom-visit.  (It wasn't a face to face meeting for me, that was unsafe.  She actually had a cop posted outside the door to make sure the Case Worker was safe.)  But I remember feeling SO very in love with Josiah and being absolutely terrified for his safety during the entire visit. I was shaking & thought I was going to throw up!  Prior to his visit, the Lord had told me that I was to arrange his bottle time around her visit, so that she could feed him. I said "no!" to Him.  And then He told me again and I submitted.  That was the last time Josiah ever saw his birth mom.  I'm so thankful I submitted.
Tiny's visit was different. I love him.  But I don't have that fierce momma-bear-love, yet.  I have no problem w/ his mom visiting him.  I don't particularly think a person who has lost rights to 4 other kids should be given another chance, but I am okay w/ her visiting him, after all, she's his mom and she isn't violent so we don't have to worry about his physical safety.  AND if it was me in her shoes, I would think I deserved yet another chance, I KNOW I would. It's our human nature to feel like we deserve another chance. I get that.

So today, we arrived a few minutes late because traffic was a bit heavier than I anticipated.  The room was kind of small.  Tiny's mom smiled at me.  She was younger than I was envisioning.  She didn't realize I was going to be there, even though I had been told she wanted to meet me, so at first, she didn't know who I was.  The case worker introduced us and I smiled at her and we sat down.  I was told I would just share how Tiny had been doing w/ feeding, his temperament and night times and then I could leave them to have their visit.  Easy enough.  Well the first thing she says to me is "Ya'll aren't smokers and you don't have cats do you?"  I tried not to laugh.  I mean, really, how do either of those things even remotely compare to your offenses ma'am?  That's what I thought, but the only thing that came out of my mouth was a smile and a "no".

I may have lied about one of those things...

The case worker asked why she was asking me that and the mom said "because they are both gross!"

BAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I immediately thought of my friend Larissa.  She hates cats with every fiber of her being.  A couple years ago, she played an April Fools Joke on everyone on FB...she had a friend who works at a Dr's office put a temp cast on her foot and she told everyone that she had broken her foot by kicking a cat off her porch! LOL!!!!  Girlfriend had EVERYONE fooled!
Larissa, I love you chick!

Oh dear...
Anyways, the visit wasn't horrible.  The mom got to meet me and that was kinda the point aside from her getting to visit her baby.

I left after about 7 minutes.  Met up with my friend Tonya.  And went to pick him up an hour later.

Foster Care is interesting. :)  Today gave me a good chuckle!  It's either that or scream, right?

Tuesday, October 22, 2013

Tiny's Mom-Visit | Foster Care

Tiny has an upcoming Mom-Visit later this week.  She has requested to meet me.  This is the FIRST time this has happened.  This is supposedly a good thing in Foster Care.  The Case Worker said some women even give them their cell numbers so the Mom's can check in to see how their kids are doing.
No thank you.
I'm ridiculously busy, and rarely even text my besties anymore!
But I AM going to meet his mom.
And maybe in the future, I'll give her my # if it comes to that...

We will do whatever it takes to be Tiny's voice, his advocates, his protectors because he has been entrusted to our family for this reason!

I'll let you know how it goes!  :)

Friday, October 18, 2013

"Tiny" | Foster Care

We've had a little guy here since last Wednesday when we arrived from our Texas Trip.  His name is Tiny.  It's short for Tiny Prince Charming.  :)
He is sweeter than a land overflowing with honey!
I tell myself not to fall in love...and EVERY SINGLE DANG TIME, I FALL in LOVE!

So I am up w/ Tiny throughout the night, EVERY single night and I pray for him. And I pray for his mommy.  And I pray for his daddy.

And I wonder...
Do they know I'm praying for them?  Do they have anyone else praying for them?

I had a friend ask me if I am mad at his mom for putting him through this?

No.  I'm pissed at sin & at Satan.

Little girls don't dream of meeting the wrong guy & making VERY bad choices and destroying their children's lives.  But broken young women make mistakes when they are looking for love in all the wrong places.

I feel sorry for Tiny's mom.  Just like I feel sorry for Josiah's birth mom.  And I'm pissed at Satan for destroying the life these kids were meant to have - with their healthy mom & dad.
BUT, BUT, BUT, I am SO thankful for redemption and adoption and that stories can be re-written!

So we're not sure what the future holds for Tiny, but we know WHO holds his future and we're praying for him and nurturing and protecting him while he's under our care.

This also happens to be THE BUSIEST time of the year for me with my photography business and day cares won't accept Tiny because he's, too tiny...so I would appreciate your prayers!

- a special thank you to the Bobays, & Scarberrys for baby stuff; Melissa Hall for filling my freezer w/ meals; my GMG group for payers and emotional support & Kathleen, my awesome Case Worker for, oh just EVERYTHING!

Wednesday, September 18, 2013

Foster Care | Teddy

We had a Foster Newborn visit us for a week.  He was absolutely precious!  Cutest little guy I think I've ever met.  He wasn't very fond of sleep, however.  LOL!!!
He has been taken in for Kinship Fostering by a family member.
The Morrows are PSYCHED for him!!!  My heart hurt just a little, but being taken in by family is almost ALWAYS the best scenario!




Wednesday, August 28, 2013

Our FPIES Journey

It was an exciting Sunday at our house.  We were home from church and we were getting ready to give Josiah his first trial of baby cereal.  Everyone and their dog had told us that giving him baby cereal would help him to sleep better at night.  We welcomed anything that would help him sleep better at night.  He was consistently up every 30-45 minutes from the time we'd first welcomed him into our home and I was EXHAUSTED!
We mixed up 1 tablespoon of gerber baby rice cereal and his special formula.
He LOVED it!  Slurped it right off the spoon like a champ!
Then we laid him down for his nap and we rested too.
Two hours later, he vomited.
This wasn't just baby spit up.
This wasn't baby reflux, which we had plenty of experience with.
This was PROFUSE vomiting.
We freaked out and called the Dr.
The Dr said it was probably just a stomach bug.
Josiah continued to vomit.
We were terrified!
We called another dr friend that lives down the street.
He told us to give him pedialyte.
Josiah kept passing out in our arms after vomiting.
This all happened w/in a 30 minute time period.
We called Josiah's dr and told him we were rushing him to the ER.  He insisted we take him to Children's...so we did.  We sped like crazy.  It wasn't safe, but our baby, who is a yummy chocolate brown was yellow looking and pale and unresponsive.  Matt and I were crying and praying out loud in the car the whole way and yelling at cars.
We thought our baby was dying.

We ran into the ER, our daughters following close behind.
We filled them in w/ what happened.
They insisted we fill out paper work before treating him, but then the nurse paid closer
attention to Josiah and rushed us into a room w/out filling out the stupid paper work.

The attending physician wasn't nearly as concerned as the nurses and our little family.  He said it was just a stomach bug.  I looked at him and w/ fire in my eyes I declared it was NO STOMACH BUG!  I informed him that the rice cereal had done this to him.  He disagreed w/ me.
The nurses tried desperately to get an IV in him to give him fluids, but his veins had collapsed because he was so dehydrated.  They even turned the lights out and used a special blue light pressed against his hands and feet to see if they could find a good vein.  They couldn't.  Our little peanut had vomited to the bile and didn't have an ounce of hydration left in him & was in shock.
To make a long story short, we were there for hours and when Josiah had finally recovered, we were allowed to go home.  His records showed that he had a stomach bug.
Idiots.
Josiah's Dr saw us the next day and agreed w/ the Attending Dr that there wasn't any way it could have been the rice cereal.  He also said the stomach bug was going around.  I trusted my Dr.  He told us just to make sure, wait a month and then try the rice cereal again.
We did.  We waited 30 days to the day.
Josiah didn't want the rice cereal this time, which seemed odd to me because he loved it so much the previous time.  But I forced him to eat 2 itty bitty baby spoons of it.
And two hours later while I was taking a single mom friend grocery shopping, I get a frantic call from Matt freaking out that Josiah is vomiting profusely again and to hurry home because I have his car seat in my van. My heart stopped beating and I sped home.
I HAD been right.  It HAD been the cereal.  The Dr's were wrong.  I had been far too trusting.

The Lord gives moms 'gut instincts' for a reason - to keep their babies safe!  So off to the hospital we went again.  This time, to a very nearby ER rather than the 30 minute drive to Children's.  They didn't know what was wrong either.  My Mother-in-law was the one that found the correct term "FPIES" through googling info for us.  God bless her!
After we were released from the ER, we called the DR and filled him in.

(I will say that even though our Pediatrician had never heard of FPIES, he tried to find doctors to help us.  He even got us an appt w/ a Dr that had a 4 month waiting list, the very same week.)
And so we began going to the crazy Dr appointments, sometimes weekly.

You can learn about FPIES here.

It's a little different for everyone, but most mommies find out about it after introducing baby food and ending up in the ER 2 hours later with a baby that won't stop vomiting until there's nothing left to vomit.  I was told by our Allergist that FPIES is so rare that a lot of babies end up in ICU before they figure out what's wrong.

FPIES comes with other annoying issues... and mommies slowly start connecting the dots to why our babies don't sleep at night.  And why they spit up so much.  And then we find extremely helpful communities like this one to help us learn how to help our babies guts heal.  Most moms are NOT okay w/ just hearing a Dr say "Oh they will grow out of it between the ages of 3-5, hopefully."  Are you kidding me medical field?  Are you kidding me? So my baby is supposed to thrive on just tube feeding formula until then? *sigh*

And so that is what we thought...that our baby would just be sickly for 3-5 years.  And I sank into depression.  No one understood what we were going through.  People at church didn't understand why we wouldn't drop him off in the nursery or why we never let him down on the floor (because there could be crumbs and we could end up in the ER in 2 hours.)  My friends didn't understand why I couldn't go hang out (because I'm depressed and exhausted and just want to stay home).  And I didn't understand how the Lord would make me lose so much sleep and expect my life to thrive.

Several months later we learned about the GAPS diet. I also learned that some people have FPIES into their adult years until they heal their gut.  So we began our GAPS adventure.  I was TERRIFIED, yet hopeful.  I felt like the Lord had led us to this.  When we began in January of 2013, Josiah had 2 safe foods and an extremely expensive formula that I wasn't sure was completely safe for him. Now, in August 2013, he has about 15 safe foods.  He still cannot eat any grains and probably won't for another year or more.  But he is eating nourishing foods and thriving!  His diet requires a lot of cooking and expensive foods and lots of weird looks from people...but you know what, it doesn't matter!  He is thriving!

So thankful for the GAPS diet and for mommas who are journeying through the same things with me.  I don't know any of them in real life, so I'm thankful for the friends I've made thru online support groups & blogs.

We celebrated his "Gotcha Day" a month ago.  Our friends threw us a Gotcha Party.  And my precious friend Hayley made him a cake... I will post pictures soon.

And in a nutshell...this is our FPIES story.  I just hadn't had the energy to post until now.
If you made it this far, thank you.  :)

Thank You Jesus for keeping our baby alive in a most life threatening situation.  Thank You for gut instincts.  Thank You for guiding us to the GAPS diet.  Thank You for providing me with just enough energy every day to take care of my family.  I am forever indebted to You my precious Sustainer.

Saturday, August 24, 2013

Miss this baby!






I wish I could have a coffee date with Jesus so He could explain why things didn't work out with MJ.  Cause honestly, I love him and miss him like crazy.  I pray for his new foster home often, for his foster mom & dad, for grace, for healing, for another respite visit.  This gift of mercy is hard.  Foster Care is hard.  But it is WORTH IT!

If you're a foster home w/in an hour radius of OKC and need a break, please leave me a message on here or email me @ tomorrows_memories at sbcglobal dot net.  Our family would LOVE to give you a break!

Monday, August 19, 2013

Josiah Matthew Morrow | cell phone pictures

Josiah Matthew Morrow
Cell Phone Pictures

I should be editing, but my sweet baby boy is asleep in my arms. He already took his nap, but he went back to sleep after I picked him up from his crib.  The crib that my sweet friend Kristin Botello has been loaning me since the day we transferred him out of his bassinet.  The bassinet that my friend Melissa Hall loaned me.

He's sound asleep in my arms.  I love this.  I will not edit.  I will hold him.  I will enjoy his breath against my cheek.  I will smile at the way his little lips make an "o".  I will listen to him breathing deeply.  I will thank Jesus for this moment.  And I will not put him down to edit!

Instead, I will share some pictures that are on my phone.
Just a few of my favorites!
Enjoy!



















HE'S AWAKE.
To be continued...


Monday, July 29, 2013

The Adoption Journey Weight Gain

I gained weight while we were in the process of adopting Josiah.  It's the ugly truth.
Falling in love with a tiny human being and not knowing what the future holds is...the hardest thing ever...and I found myself eating & eating & eating.  I consumed sugar more often than necessary too.

Not sleeping much at night due to his tummy issues meant no energy the next day to exercise, when exercising would have given me more energy...so I drank coffee, FULL of sugar, in order to have energy.
See the endless cycle?
I have managed to gain 20 pounds.  20 pounds on a 5'1 girl equals about 2.5 dress sizes.  It's not pretty.

This is me before Josiah: (January 2012)

This is me 17 months later on Gotcha Day: (July 2013)
(chubby cheeks on the right hand side belong to me)

So there it is, the ugly truth.  I have been very careful about my sugar intake for about a month now.  And last night I said "hi" to the stupid treadmill again.  I hate working out.  I do not like putting on exercise clothing and getting my heart rate up purposely.  I'm an outdoorsy girl...I like to play tennis, but I don't have anyone to play with me. I like to go hiking, but the closest hiking spot is an hour and a half away.
But I thought if I put myself out there, I may be more prone to actually say "hi" to my treadmill more than once every other month. I NEED to lose this weight.

I miss having energy.  I miss feeling pretty.  I have scoliosis and this extra weight makes my back hurt. Bigger boobs make my back hurt too... HA!  Hey, just keeping it real and I'm pretty sure only girls read this blog.  

Anyways, so this is one of the not-pretty-sides of my adoption journey.  There's a few others which I may or may not share.

If anyone would like to go walking in SW OKC, please let me know!

Monday, July 15, 2013

Dear Little Man

My Dear Little Man, My Bubba, My Sugar Bear, Sweet Muffin Butter Cup, Little Booger,
Stinker Bear, Bubster, Bubbers, Shooey Looey, and Little Bear,
Tomorrow you become MINE.  And Daddy's.  Tomorrow you become a Morrow.
I have dreamed of this day for approximately 19 years, but who's counting?  You are the product of answered prayers.  You are my miracle baby.

"I want a black baby, I think they are the cutest babies in the whole wide world!"  "Well Mary, you're marrying a white boy, I don't know if you'd noticed that yet, BUT you can't have a black baby!"
I was 17 years old, and engaged to your daddy, the day I uttered this to my momma.  Little did we know, that you CAN marry a white boy and have the cutest baby in the whole wide world!  (Your sisters are the prettiest girls in all the world too!)

I want you to know, the night before you become "ours" - that we didn't get "stuck" with a black baby.  I PRAYED for a black baby, specifically!  There will probably be mean kids in your life who will tell you we got stuck with you, but it isn't true, you were PRAYED FOR.  And I don't want you to fall for the line that some people say that they don't see color, just a sweet face, because I DO see your color.  And it is breathtaking.  Your skin is a wonderful chocolate color that is the perfect blend of the prettiest browns in all the world!

You are perfect, my sweet love.  I will never tire of telling you that.  Late at night, when your tummy is hurting and only momma holding you close helps, you are perfect.  You have the sweetest little personality mixed with wonder, spunk, joy, stinker-ness & ridiculously amazing giggles.  You are perfect.  When you bonk your sisters upside the head. Or pull their hair. Or scratch their legs because they won't give you what you want. You are perfect.

You were brought into a fallen world, into a messy world, into sin, strongholds and struggles. But YOU.ARE.PERFECT.  I am claiming this because Christ makes us perfect in His sight.  He adopts us.  He makes us His very own.  He teaches us how a REAL daddy gives up His life, and loves sacrificially, selflessly, ALWAYS, for those He loves.  He gave you an earthly daddy, who loves you very much, and is such a humble, gracious picture of our heavenly Daddy. He brought you into our lives through adoption and we are praying for Him to make you perfect in His sight.  We know He answers prayers and how we thank Him for YOU.

I can't wait for tomorrow.  I can't wait to share your name with cyber world.  I can't wait to share your picture, my perfect little man.  You will no longer be an orphan, but a Morrow!

Love,
Your momma


In you the orphan finds mercy.
Hosea 14:3
Pure and genuine religion in the sight of God the Father means caring for orphans and widows in their distress and refusing to let the world corrupt you.
James 1:27
Father to the fatherless, defender of widows — this is God, whose dwelling is holy. God places the lonely in families.
Psalms 68:5-6
And anyone who welcomes a little child like this on my behalf is welcoming me.
Matthew 18:5
I tell you the truth, when you did it to one of the least of these my brothers and sisters, you were doing it to me!
Matthew 25:40

Wednesday, June 26, 2013

Quick this & that...


  • Our court hearing did NOT happen this past Monday.
  • Yes, we grieved, but we're ok now!  :)
  • Our new court hearing is set for July 16th.
  • Yes, we are super psyched about this!  :)
  • And last but not least... our little M.J. is coming for a 2 night, 3 day visit to our house for Respite Care while his Foster Family takes time to focus on their precious family!
  • We're ECSTATIC!!!
  • Please help us pray that the adjustment time is simply a few hours instead of the entire time he's with us.  
We received a very AWESOME gift on our door step today and Matt put it together this evening:  

  • We'll share a picture of the finished product with 2 boys enjoying it, soon!
Thanks for keeping up with our little journey!  Love you guys more than you know!

Wednesday, June 12, 2013

Little BIG Update

So VERY behind on updating you guys.  Sorry!
For those following along,  here's the latest:

  • Got word from our Adoption Worker the day after the tornado that were approved to adopt Bubba!  So we shed happy tears in the midst of having no electricity or internet!
  • I called the Attorney & told her we were approved.
  • She called the Adoption Worker & set a tentative Court Date.
  • The Adoption Worker came out last week to go over the Disclosure with us.
  • The Attorney emailed us some paper work to fill out today
  • We meet with the Attorney THIS Friday
  • Tentative Court Hearing is set for the 17th to finalize our Adoption!
  • OMGosh, is this really happening???

Bubbling over with immense thankfulness & joy over here in Morrowville!  :)

Wednesday, April 10, 2013

Update | Court

Bubba had Court last week.
It was interesting, as usual.
Family Court pretty much sucks...
Our family received happy news tho - we found out the adoption will be finalized
sometime between June & August.
No, it wasn't this past December, or January as originally told to us, but that's ok.
We trust in a Higher Power.  He decides what date needs to be our Adoption Date!

:)

But those who wait on the Lord shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings like eagles, they shall run and not be weary, they shall walk and not faint.” (Isaiah 40: 31)

Thursday, April 4, 2013

M.J. goes bye bye

Our sweet foster baby, M.J. went bye bye yesterday.

There are no words to share how difficult this has been for my family.
The excitement of having him the first time, the sadness of having him moved to another home.
Then his glorious return.
And then us realizing we weren't able to keep him long term due to reasons I can't speak of publicly.
He is precious.  He is beautiful.  He is worthy of love & hugs & kisses!  He deserves to have family time every evening.  To have free style dance sessions.  And to crawl around the house with sisters chasing him close behind! To have a daddy who teaches him about Jesus. And a momma who tells him how especially wonderful he is!

It hurts to know that we just cannot physically provide everything that sweet boy needs.

So we pray.
And we trust.
The Father who breathed life into his glorious little lungs is the same Father yesterday, today, & tomorrow.  His will for M.J's life will be accomplished whether I'm able to smother him with hugs & kisses, or whether it's another Foster momma.




If you lie down, you will not be afraid; when you lie down, your sleep will be sweet.
Proverbs 3:24

Monday, February 18, 2013

Still praying for M.J.


My family is still praying for baby M.J. - for his safety, for him to feel loved & secure, for complete healing and for lots of smiles!  :)
I still strongly feel like we made a mistake by allowing him to be placed in a different home.  It is odd.  I can't even express with intelligent words the way one minute you feel like you're doing the right thing for your family and the next minute, not only you, but your entire household is like "wait a second, back the truck up...this isn't what we want!"

I think that even though we had family worship every evening, I personally, was so tired (due to not asking for more help and trying to be Mrs.-I-can-do-it-all-by-myself!), that I forgot to lean on my Jesus for energy, wisdom & creativity to help my household flow better.  Doh!  Face palm!

This evening, I ended the Sabbath by reading my bible & journaling.  I ran across Hebrews 13:20-21
"Now may the God of peace who brought again from the dead our Lord Jesus, the great Shepherd of the sheep, by the blood of the eternal covenant, equip you with everything good that you may do His will, working in us that which is pleasing in His sight, through Jesus Christ, to whom be glory forever and ever. Amen.

Good stuff.

Thanks for those of you who are praying on our behalf.

Ps.  Little Bubba is continuing to do awesome on GAPS.
We have added green beans & zucchini as well as organic, free range eggs to his diet.  YAY!

Saturday, February 9, 2013

Saying goodbye...

Our little emergency foster baby left yesterday.  I haven't cried so hard in a very long time.

We all thought we would be relieved with his new placement but we miss him.  So much so, that immediately as the worker was leaving with him, Bubba started crying first and I ran to call Matt who told me to try to get M.J. back!
So M.A.N.Y. confused emotions!
I immediately called his case worker to request they allow us to keep him.  I called our worker too.  I couldn't get anyone on the phone so I left messages & wrote emails and bawled like a baby!
They both called me back just as soon as they could.  M.J. needed to go to this other family for now.  It is closer to his relatives, which allows for visitations.
I don't know what's going to happen, but I know the Lord doesn't make mistakes, even when we feel like we've made mistakes by giving up an emergency placement.  The Lord works EVERYTHING out for our good!  He has that baby in His grip.  We did Family Worship every night he was here.  We loved on him thru the midst of his inability to stop crying.  We prayed over him.  We told him he was special & loved.  I know he felt loved.  Bubba kissed him & hugged him the most.  It was the sweetest, most precious thing I have ever seen!

Please help us pray for M.J.  For the Lord to place him in a safe, loving environment where he will hear about our Jesus and for him to adjust quickly to his new foster family.

And if you know of a Foster Family in your church or workplace, or maybe on your street...please OFFER TO HELP them!!!  We could've kept M.J. if we had more help.  I wish I had asked for more physical help...

Things that helped us (or that would've helped us) & that may help your Fostering Friends:

- free child care for just a couple hours both during the day (for mom to get things accomplished, chores, errands run, a NAP or to home school the older kids w/out distractions) and also in the evening (adding an additional child into a family unit can be stressful, especially at first because it changes the family dynamics...having a sitter allows for date nights or one on one times w/ other kiddos) (Thanks to Hayley Bobay for doing this one morning for me so I could homeschool the girls!  Also, Emily Northam & Tatum Miles and of course our girls, for giving Matt & I little coffee dates away from the house. (Thank you sweet girls!!!)

- help w/whatever needs doing at the house or errands that need running (Matt's mom came & helped w/ cleaning & making baby food a few days.  My friend Chris dropped off dinner & then proceeded to fold my towels strewn all over the couch even tho I protested the whole time for her to stop. Thank YOU!!!)

- loaning or giving necessary items you have laying around your attic (we had SO MUCH help in this department!!!  We were given a crib, toy cars, loaned a double stroller, car seat, safety gates & a few more clothing items)  Thank you friends!!!

- money, gift cards to help buy additional supplies (believe it or not, people aren't in this for the money, we spent way more on M.J. than what the state will reimburse us)

- encouragement

- dinners ready to throw in the oven

- short visits to help the family feel not-so-alone

- starbucks drop offs (thank you sweet Stephanie Pruitt!)

- throwing a party for birthday baby when Foster Mom has only slept 10 hours in 5 days! (Thanks Jules!!!)

I am sure our family was blessed in other ways, but the sleep hasn't quite been made up yet, so I can't recall all of it right now.
If you want to know what would've helped us the most - it would've been PHYSICAL help...actually entering our home & helping with the babies so that I could get school done w/in a quicker time frame & taking a nap would've made all the difference in the world.  {Having 2 teething babies, one of which also has FPIES meant we didn't get much sleep.} Next time I WILL ask for help in that department.  Not everyone is called to Foster, but family & friends CAN all pitch in to help a Foster Family.  :)

Wednesday, January 30, 2013

Umm...

Umm...we took in a foster baby on Monday as an emergency case.
He's 14 months old.

So we now have a 12 month old and a 14 month old.

That's all the update we have time for.

xoxo,
us

Thursday, January 17, 2013

Bubba is 1! :)

Happy First Birthday to our sweet baby boy!!!

At 12 Months, you...

  • have two bottom teeth that are super cute when you smile
  • spin in circles while you're standing until you fall on your bottom giggling
  • raise your hands in the air like you're praising Jesus
  • walk backwards just to show off
  • jumped on the trampoline w/ your sisters for the very first time...and LOVED it
  • cried when we took you off the trampoline
  • have learned how to vrooom a car all over the place
  • think mama is the greatest thing since applesauce  :)
  • cry when you're the center of attention in the living room and one of your "fans" aka sisters leaves the living room
  • holler joyfully for da-da when you wake up, even though you know mama is the sleepy head in bed  :)
  • have successfully been able to eat mashed chicken, carrots, cauliflower & sauerkraut mixed into tasty soups w/ broth on the GAPS diet over the last 2 weeks
  • have been weaned off your Nutramigen AA formula!!!
  • celebrated your First Birthday with da-da, mama, gabi, sara & emma

We love YOU!  You are the greatest little guy on the planet!  We are SO thankful to Jesus for blessing our lives with you.  You are THE BEST thing to ever happen to the Morrows!  Happy Birthday precious little one!  We love you to infinity & beyond!  

Monday, January 7, 2013

GAPS for FPIES?

Our baby was diagnosed with FPIES at 6 months of age.
I can't get into specifics until he's officially ours, but it was a NIGHTMARE to discover this.

We have several specialists working side by side with us to make sure we don't have any more nightmares like that.

In the midst of all this, I have found a wonderful online support group from other FPIES moms.  All like me, exhausted, worried, trusting the Lord and praying for healing for our babies.  And then one of them shared w/ us about something called GAPS diet.  And then other moms piped in saying they had heard about it and were thinking of trying it.

So I started doing tons of research on it.  It sounds like a miracle.
Here's the link w/ the most beneficial info in a language that is understandable  :).

If you were me, would you try it?
xoxo,
mary

Tuesday, January 1, 2013

Baby is 11.5 Months!!! :)

I'm behind on updating this again...you'd think we had family in town and Christmas or somethin'!  Ha!

Our perfect baby boy, at 11.5 Months, you are...

  • still the giggliest little thing we ever did meet!
  • cutting your 2nd tooth and hardly complaining about it
  • had a "pass" with CINNAMON sticks thanks to Aunt Kimber's homemade cinnamon applesauce (she gave us a case of jars baby!!!)
  • running like a sports star!
  • LOVE, LOVE, LOVE family worship - especially when daddy sits on the floor with you along with his iMac!  :)
  • incredibly fond of Uncle Steve, Aunt Kimber, Ethan & Eli!
  • incredibly fond of Uncle Steve's guitar!
  • went to your first Christmas party @ Daddy's work and everyone gushed over your cuteness :)
  • celebrated your First Christmas!!!
  • enjoyed carrying various Little People Nativity toys around the living room all throughout the month of December
  • received several gifts from DHS as well as family members
  • helped sing Happy Birthday to Jesus by squealing happily along
  • had your first snow fall and your second; absolutely LOVED looking at it through the windows, but momma thought it was too cold for you to play
  • partook in your first New Years Eve party & were even crazy enough to stay up and welcome the new year in along w/ family & a few friends!  :)
  • you are dearly, fiercely, tenderly loved little one...we were so, so, so thankful to be able to celebrate Jesus birthday with you!  :)


We love you to the moon & back,
Your Morrow Family