I suppose it's time for a little foster care update on this blog. It took a dramatic turn when Judah entered this world and the focus shifted promptly to him and his health, and to our survival as a family, sustained by prayers of those around us.

We need prayer again. B has court this coming Monday.

I cannot write specifics, of course. So, we ask for your prayers covering her and our family, and that God's perfect will be done in her life. Whatever that looks like.

I remember clearly almost a year ago getting that first phone call. A little girl. 7 months. Would we take her?

We held hands, prayed, and said, "Yes!" Even though the world would eventually tell us how crazy we were. For we knew just 2 days prior, that God was knitting together a little one made in His image.

We knew it would be hard to both be pregnant AND foster, but we went full on ahead, knowing God would work out the details. I don't think we realized HOW pushed to the limit we would be, but it was worth it. Every deep moment chasing deep moment.

Our deepest, most serious family portrait! Haha! (Photograph by Kelly Smith)

I remember when God breathed to my soul this verse for B.

"Those who were not my people I will call 'my people,' and her who was not beloved I will call 'beloved.'" Romans 9:25 

For so long, I thought that meant she would be MINE. A mini-promise entailing God's chosen child for our family. But I was wrong. Throughout this journey, I discovered the reverse to be true. She was not MINE, but His. HIS promise over B, that she was His BELOVED. He was taking care of B. He had bigger plans than what I could dream for her.

The rush of the past 4 months, being in and out of the hospital with Judah, there were so many times when I just didn't think we could keep fostering our precious B, a little one we didn't want to be tossed around in the system, a little one we loved like our own! Time and time again, God allowed people to step up to help. And on one occasion, then many thereafter, Hart's cousins kept B for us when we needed them.

They fell in love head over heels with this sweet girl.

In the same moment where I knew I wanted God's best for one that I knew was His beloved, I knew that puzzle pieces were beginning to form where B was fitting perfectly with our extended family.

While we have continued fostering her through this "storm" of life, we could not have done it without Hart's family stepping up, saying, "YES!" to this unique and beautiful B!

Monday is huge. Our family will stand before a judge and ask that he allow B to become a part of our extended family forever. Truly the best of both worlds for her and our family! We would get to be a huge part of her life. She would still be a part of our family at large, and we could watch her grow up, still see her for Holidays, birthdays, etc! She would be truly, deeply loved! I know that full well!

We don't know what will happen. But, we can pray. We can ask that God works mightily in this little girl's life. That she gets a beautiful family that cares for her best interest! A place she can live life to the fullest! Hart's cousin's home is that! We want her there! The place she truly would be the happiest!

As a mother, a foster mama, I know, none of these children (bio or foster) are MINE, but His. I know that when we said, "Yes!" It meant we would grow. We would learn a ton about ourselves! As seasons of life change, we know that sometimes it's not always how we pictured it, that through the storms, we are refined. We are changed for the better, and we come out more like Jesus than ever before.

B's story is beautiful in Christ and we know God is writing a beautiful ending! Please lift her up in prayer!

 PhotosOf Grace Photography by Kelly Smith

Traylor Family Life Update

*I started this blog post 12 days before I delivered Judah, and never got around to finishing it! Blogging takes time, and so do my children, they win almost every day right now! That and naps for mama!*

Judah Eastman Traylor (JET) is set to "jet on out" as we have been saying on March 20th, 2014! I will be having my 2nd c-section, and 5th surgery, on this date! We are so excited to welcome our 2nd son, and gift from God, in just 12 more days! I will be exactly 39 weeks pregnant. In our last ultrasound, Judah was very content to sleep with one arm right over his face, so we couldn't get a good 4D photo of him! No matter how much giggling the technician did to my stomach, he wouldn't move that arm! haha!

This pregnancy, especially the last 10 weeks, has just seemed to stretch on like a thousand years. I have had cold & congestion, upon cold, constantly this winter. My body just has seemed to give up on fighting it and I've stayed sick. It's made chasing 2 children and being pregnant even harder! I think I am finally on the verge of it clearing out! Praying I can get healthy, before my c-section!

Update on B: I'm sorry that I sort of left the "blog readers" hanging when it comes to our last court date, regarding B! Basically, no final decisions were made. We found out that we would have B for another 6 months, until the next court date, and I have yet to meet with B's worker (happening next week), to find out how things are looking with the case overall. On one hand, it was difficult to see the court appoint such a long wait time between. Six months seems such a long time in a baby's little world, and yet such a short time in the scheme of things.

We just continue to do our own thing, loving and taking care of this sweet girl that has stolen our hearts. Truly, in the last few weeks, it's felt as if B has become a part of our family in a unique way! They say it takes close to 6 months for any major change to finally feel like you are hitting your stride. I am sure it's the same with a child!

B is doing GREAT as far as milestones and development!

-She is walking everywhere.
-Talking up a storm saying "Dad-dee" "Da-Da" "ma-ma" "ai" (Cai) "moo" "wack-wack" (quack) "duck" "Abe" "dog" and "dog-gee" "night-night" "all-done" among lots of other rambly stuff. She will talk, talk, talk, and laugh, and laugh.
-She loves looking at books, but loves to TALK through them, like she is reading them herself! I will start reading the story and she just starts laughing at the pictures, and pretty much takes over reading time.  
-She is everywhere, all the time, getting into everything she can, especially big brother's things! We finally installed cabinet locks on the rest of our kitchen cabinets! Phew! We call her "wild woman" sometimes, because she loves to pull everything out.
-She still sticks/puts EVERYTHING in her mouth, even at 15 months! It drives this mama crazy, in a good way, of course! She is slowly getting better, but even last night, after stuffing herself with dinner, we put her down for a minute and she picked something up off the restaurant floor and went to put it in her mouth! YUCK! (Now, she will go put things in the trash! We are getting there!)
-She can be a bit of a "drama-mama". It's so funny to me and Hart how different girls are than boys. She will throw herself down, having the biggest tears you've ever seen in your life, over the tiniest of things, sometimes.
-She HATES to be left out of things. If Cai goes in his room and shuts the door and she is in the hall... a BIG CRY will happen!
-She loves her MiMi! We had a doctor's appointment yesterday and she asked for her MiMi to come over by saying "MiMiiii MiMiiii" between big tears. MiMi has been caring for her a lot these last new weeks with baby and she and MiMi have really bonded in a sweet way! I love that she has wonderful grandparents that are willing to love beyond blood lines! It's such a blessing and all of them are giving her a deep heritage from the Lord!

 Micaiah: He is pretty much LOVING being a big brother to Judah! His little 3.5 year old self LOVES being a big helper! I am so grateful for his heart that adores him! (More on Judah next post!) Micaiah is just blossoming into such a big kid! At 3.5 years old, he loves his power rangers (still!) and loves order and structure and will make sure everyone is doing "their job" just right! We call him our little CEO and are trying to teach him how to be a leader vs. being bossy! I love his desire to create and be creative! He loves puzzles, board games (or closet games as we call them), and his friends (Israel, Thatcher, Parker).

Judah: He is here!!!! Born 3/20/14 at 7lbs 2oz, 20 1/4'' long, beautiful, healthy, sweet baby boy!

We are so in love! Thank you, Jesus for this little one! His birth story and more photos to come!