A Little Life Update

2017 is bringing some MAJOR changes to our family.

A new job.

Adjusting to life with our two babes.

And hopefully adding some more to the crazy crew.

I figure that after posting this post on Instagram/Facebook yesterday, that I would elaborate a little bit more on what is going on in our household and what has spurred on the changes.

First things first: we found out on Tuesday that Theo has been accepted into the police academy! This has actually been in the works for MONTHS.

Remember back in May when we took a trip to Houston (Part 1 and Part 2)? Yeah, that was all job interviews with the potential to move there.

Remember in June when we traveled to Charlotte? Same thing. Job interviews, with a potential to move there.

Houston fell through when they claimed that Theo failed his lie detector test and they said he was lying about his involvement with drugs. Um, say what? It was all bizarre and just a little bit discouraging, but at least Theo and I got to enjoy a week without kids while there!

Charlotte offered Theo a job the very same week that our well collapsed. We were seriously considering it. We were ready to get away from our problems and start over at a new house and a new job. That was also the very same week that another stomach bug hit our house, and we were just DONE. However, I was 38 weeks pregnant and we knew that the logistics of that just weren’t going to happen with the timeline of our family, so Theo turned down the job.

We then waited with baited breath to hear if he could get a job with the Dayton Police Department. He also applied to be hired as a firefighter (he is currently an EMT working for the fire department, not a firefighter). At the beginning of December, he got a call offering him the job as a firefighter. Without knowing if he would be offered the job with the police department, he turned it down. He also found out that to be accepted into the police force, he would need LASIK surgery. Not only would he need LASIK, but he would need it within the next two weeks. So for the last four weeks, we weren’t sure if we had just thrown all the potentials at a new job out the window (after turning down two offers), or if we would be accepting a new job as a Dayton Police Officer.

So it was a great relief, a huge blessing and a huge PRAISE THE LORD when Theo got the call on Tuesday that he has been accepted into the Dayton Police Academy!

The Academy starts at the beginning of February and will be 6 months long. For the first time in our married life, Theo will have a 9-5 job M-F and will have off on the weekends! It’s going to be an adjustment, but one that we are looking forward to.

So, why the switch in jobs? Well, Theo’s current job has been extremely hard on our quality of life. The 24 hour shifts are long and strenuous, and it has been a huge factor of stress in Theo and our family. 24 hour shifts are manageable if Theo can be “on call” with rest times throughout the day, but in Theo’s case his station was taking run after run after, so that day after day Theo was not sleeping, not able to eat or even just sit down and catch his breath. It has just been tough. Another reason that Theo has wanted to leave this job is because the pay is just too low for our family of four. We are often struggling to make ends meet, especially after the major hits that we took on our bank account from the well collapse and the LASIK eye surgery. We are incredibly grateful to God for sustaining us through the last few years- he has given us exactly what we need. There have been many, many months where we have had to have a spending freeze in order to make ends meet, but every.single.month God has met all our ends! We are grateful, and we are abundantly thankful for a new job that will allow a little bit more money to live off of and to put towards savings (in case, you know, our septic goes out or our roof needs fixed). We were also struggling greatly with our health throughout the months that Theo has worked as an EMT. Not only is his immune system run ragged from the lack of sleep and the inability to stop and eat, he was also transporting many, many sick people who were gracious enough to share their germs. We have been slammed with sickness after sickness, and Theo especially will be thankful to not have to interact as much with sick people.

Another huge change in our household this year is simply adjusting to life with two (again). Kiah is the sweetest, most content, easygoing baby, but he is still a baby, and has many needs. As most of you know, he has seriously struggled to gain weight and still remains off the bottom of the charts. Although he is doing well, we still have a strict regimen and can’t afford to miss feedings. These past few months following his birth were incredibly tough for me, and I have struggled greatly with anxiety. I will probably write more about that at a later time, but I’m not quite ready to share the journey and the struggle yet. Let’s just say…it’s been hard. That “fourth trimester” is a wild ride. I am happy to report that I think my hormones are seriously leveling out because the massive hair loss has begun. As much as I hate losing so much hair, I am always glad to see it because I know that my body is finally leveling out!

And from that major life update, I will also go into some details about our plans for foster care. With the major struggles I have been having with anxiety and adjusting to post-partum life, we have not been in a place that we feel we can take in more children. As of January 1st, our home is officially “open” and we have been receiving phone calls for foster kids who need homes. However, we are taking it incredibly slow. Right now, I know that I am spread too thin to give these kids what they deserve. I am working through all the hormones and figuring out Kiah’s weight issues, and I know that taking in more kids would end up being more harmful than helpful. HOWEVER, it is a goal that we are working towards. God has laid it on our hearts, and he is gently leading us back to foster care. In some ways, the process is so frustrating because I want to be there. I want to have arrived at the place where we are not dealing with so many new things and changes and personal struggles. But we are simply not there, and we are listening to the gentle whisper to wait. For how long we will be waiting, I do not know. Hopefully not much longer. We are taking phone calls and we are praying that when that phone call comes, God will make it abundantly clear that we are to say yes. And that He will also make it abundantly clear when we are to say no. We are prayerfully hoping that God will bring us an adoptive case (not because we don’t want to say goodbye, but because we feel called to adopt), and we are more than open to a sibling set. We are also more than willing to take in more foster placements. We have NO IDEA what God has in store for us in this area, but I am so thankful that He knows. Just think…he knows what our family will look like a year from now. I find incredible comfort in that.

Our family will be taking a little unexpected vacation next week, and I will be quiet on the blog front. I won’t have internet access and I’m grateful for that. I have a few posts in the next few days that are on other people’s blog, and I will set an automatic post on those so you won’t miss them, but I won’t be interacting while we are gone.

And don’t forget that today is the last day to enter the giveaway for the devotional In Due Time! Just go to the blog post and leave a comment!

As always…if you have questions, please feel free to email me or leave a comment. I’m happy to answer anything that you are curious about!