May Update

 

  Hey Family all over the World,

I Love parenting wins. You find out that  the things that you say everyday are actually being heard.
I pick up the toddlers from nap and they say to me “don't pee in your bed, pee in the toilet.”
Yes, my love. Good Job.

The Storm comes with loud thunder. “You do not need to be afraid. you are going to be okay.”
That’s right! I am right here.

But warms my heart even more is when they are able to repeat truths about God to me.

In the middle of dinner N randomly turns around and says “God made the heaven and Earths. God lives in Heaven.
When I start telling a bible story they tell me their version and what they remember before I even get through the beginning of the story.
 When I forget the Beginning of this weeks bible verse but they can tell me anyway. Their favourite verse right now is: Lord, there is no one like you. You are great. Your name is great and powerful. Jeremiah 10:6

Our Friends from the Netherlands have gone home. We have missed them this month and it has been so quiet around Refilwe without them. They built strong connections with people from our community in Joe Slovo and I  know the work they did here will help Refilwe now and in the future.

We had a double birthday this month. Toddler M and Baby R had birthdays on the 5th. Toddler M was a clown being so charismatic and hyper. Such a big difference from him last birthday. Little Thabi was quiet and observant. She enjoyed licking the frosting off her cupcake :)

Mothers Day was a good day at the house. The Aunties loved their mothers day gifts. We prayed for our kids Birth Mommies, that their hearts would turn to Jesus when they ache for their children. That they would be comforted by their heavenly father. Us as Aunties, as the “in between”  mommy. That we would be patient and Kind with the children. That Jesus would give us a deep love for them but, be able to openly release them when our time with them is done. And last but most important we prayed for their forever mommies, that God would bring them soon. Mommies will come that love Jesus and teach these kids to love him too.

I have been learning to do black hair! I started simple and I'm working my way to being a pro! okay.. maybe not a pro lol but I do want to have a selection of things in my back pocket that I will be able to do. AB is patient with me while I learn and figure out how to do certain things. It helps that  I let her watch the disney show “Princess Sofia the First” on my phone when she starts getting antsy.

Little S and Little E started taking steps! S is taking about 10 steps and little E only took her first step on her own on Sunday.

Little E

Little S

KJ and I

My Dear friend Kate Jenkins Surprised me! KJ lived with me for 6 months working with the bigger children at Refilwe. We talk about it often: Sometimes I wonder how we are as good of friends as we are due to the fact we are so different but, it just works : ) I am so thankful for her Southern Sass and encouragement while she is here. She leaves on Wednesday : (






We got a NEW BABY! Mr. T came to us at 5 days old. He came from IA and is so sweet. We all love him so much! Please Pray for him however, at 3am this morning he spiked a high fever and Nicole took him to the hospital. He has been admitted with an unknown infection. We are not sure what it is or how long he will have to be in the Hospital for. His now 10 day old little body is working really hard so he can come home to us soon!

My first Mr, T cuddles

our kids are getting so big!

oh kitty

getting some preschool love in!

I have some big news next month! I am excited to be able to share with everyone in My June Blog, keep a look out for it!

April Celebrations

Hey Family all over the world


I forgot to mention last month that we got updates!

Little E's Updates

We got a first update from Tiny T who was adopted in December. She is almost walking and doing so well with her family. It was a very honest update (which I appreciate and Love) and I can tell she is so adored.

We have a second update from Rockstar! It was technically a social worker update/checkin and only three months after he has been with his family (it has now been a year) but news is news and we love updates! Not that I doubted for a moment that he  would be so happy and adjust very well and be loved so much however, hearing someone else say “hey, he is doing great” is so good for Aunties Hearts. This update was great too because there were lots of pictures! They say pictures are worth a 1,000 words. The more words the better, I say. : )

A Christmas card came to us! K’s family in Finland sent us a Christmas Card with a picture and well wishes for the Holidays. ABBA only was able to get it to us in March but we appreciate celebrating Christmas all year!

So many Updates in one month, it really did feel like Christmas in march!

In April We got 2 updated from Little E in Sweden too! We got her first update and her latest one : ) It was great to hear from my Little Miss. She still loves her purple blankie and loves spending time with her Grandpa. We got to see pictures from her Doc McStuffins 2nd birthday.  She looked super cute.    

We started a new curriculum in the house for our toddlers. We have a Sunday School lesson and then educational lessons during the week. We have been doing our own colours and songs etc but now we can all work together. Since our oldest kids do not go to preschool we wanted to add a more structural time during our days. I have been excited to put my preschool teacher skills back to work.

All of the volunteers went on a fun safari together. We went to Kruger, which is a largest game reserve in the north east on South Africa. We had lots of fun and saw lions, rhino, and lots of elephants.

Our Little L turned 2! She loved us singing happy birthday to her and really loved eating cake. She didn't get to be with her family for her Birthday but she had a fun time at her Party. *update: Her papers are caught between two courts. She has been released from the country but all she needs in one signature! Please continue to be praying for this situation. We are so thankful for your prayers around the world.

Happy Birthday to this beautiful little girl! Little L, you are smart, funny and probably the 2nd most stubborn little person in the house. You have a soft heart and a wonderful creative spirit. I love, that your favourite thing to do is to colour with markers and play with the small babies. I pray you get to be with your family soon dear one! Love, Auntie Whitney.

We started another new adventure this month. We are potty training two more of our kiddos! Im not going to lie, potty training three kids, and having 8 more causing trouble at once is quite an adventure. 7 toddlers at once and then one cries “toilet please”… what do you do?! It generally turns into quite a comedic moment of yelling to the other auntie to come watch the other six while I’m running inside with the kid hoping they don't pee on me. They are doing very well and I am so proud of them :)

Just the Other day my oldest (3) sat down next to me and asked “Where is my daddy?” I stared at him for a brief moment while i tried to process. Eventually I told him that his daddy would come for him soon. Then he quickly replied with “me and my daddy are going to drive to California.”
I hope so Buddy I really hope you do.
He is obsessed with California since he could finally understand where Nicole and I go when we go home. So every bridge is California (we showed him the Golden Gate Bridge) and I think in his understanding, that's where “Families” are. It very much breaks my heart to hear him understanding more where he is and that he doesn't have a mommy and daddy. To be honest, I don't know whats going to happen to him. Will he get a family? Will he end up in foster care passed from family to family till he is 18? I don't know. But I cling to the fact that I know that Our Heavenly Father  loves him very much. That he sets the lonely into families (Psalm 68:6) and he will be with N always (Isaiah 41:10) That day reminded me to be intentional about telling my kids that they are loved and wanted. They have not been forgotten and, they will always have a heavenly father no matter where they end up.

Please continue to pray for our babies and toddlers! Our kids need forever Mommies and Daddies!   

My Two Big boys love Each other

Little E is going to walk soon!

EJ is a heart Stealer!

Little S is always so brave (maybe not always a good thing)

Toddler M

Everyone needs an Owl Shirt!

Kisses From R! (she loves my earrings!)

The kids miss summer swimming days lol

*cue Justin Timberlake song  lol

All Cozy in their winter blankets for story time

This is the way to see a movie on our day off.  Batmanvssuperman

My Family having fun at a baseball game without me! (Dad, Noah, Megan, Mom)

Really Proud of my Brother Noah (left) His Volleyball Team made in the paper!

 Happy Birthday Month to my Little Sunshine in the Holland! I Love you!

Happy Easter!

Our Favourite game to play called "who's the donkey"

 Hey Family all over the World,


Happy Easter!

Sorry for the late blog.. the only excuse I have is pure laziness. I have sat with 2 sentences on my page for 3 days now..

We have a dutch invasion! We have 4 girls from the Netherlands that are with us for 12 weeks. They are working on their final thesis for the bachelor degree in Social Work from Viaa Hogeschool. We have 2 new friends, Debby and Inge and 2 old friends, Maaike and Sarah who are apart of Refilwe Netherlands (refilwe.nl). Refilwe NL raises awareness and money in Holland for us, here in SA.  The Website is all in Dutch but Google Translate is really helpful lol. Refilwe Sa website is also a great place to look up too refilwe.org


We have 2 more volunteers from the states coming for a shorter amount of time to volunteer their talents and gifts. Kaylin is from Colorado and she is using her admin skills in the main office. She is here till May 2.  Vanessa, from California, was only here for 3 short weeks using her passion at the clinic learning about health care here in Lanseria.

Stephannie and I

Surprise!!!!

 We has a local adoption! Our Smallest, Little Lady A went to her new Afrikaans Mommy and Adopted Brother. This is our youngest adoption in the house to date, at 4 months old. The placement was so easy since their was no “stranger danger” or too many questions since she is so little.

****To be honest, I didn't think any of our kids could be adopted younger than 6 months. I now know, that whether a birth mom consents the week her baby is born, or a baby is completely abandoned, legally, a placement can happen as young as 4 months. Hopefully we could have more quick local adoptions like this one in the future.

In the arms of her Forever mommy and borther

No word yet on Toddler L’s adoption. Please keep praying! There is still about a week left of hope that she could be with her family by her 2nd Birthday on 27th April.

My church here in SA, City Life Church, held their annual Easter Outreach in our Local Community. The Saturday before Easter, CLC puts together a large Easter Egg Hunt with bouncy houses, face
painting, cookie decorating and more in the local park. We invite everyone in the community to bring their kids and it is a great way to practically share Jesus and Invite people to church. It is a free event, but, Nicole and I have tables at both entrances to talk about the baby house, people can donate and ask questions too. Also, all proceeds from food and drinks sold, directly benefit El Roi. The Event Raised about R20,000 ($1,300) and more an 3,300 people came! We are so grateful for a church that loves our babies and is so supportive of us.

I cut my hair off! Decided I needed a change and I had been talking about it for at least 18 months and I took the jump! I think its okay.. I really miss my long hair but Im hoping to give it some more time and try to keep it till December for when I got back to California for Christmas. I guess I will have to see if I last that long.. lol. My hair irritation level is a little high at the moment.

My Mentor, Kate, and I have been reading and discussing the book Forgotten God by Francis Chan. We are about half way through and I have really enjoyed it. The book is about the Holy Sprit and ways in our Christian faith we can neglect or misunderstand  the role of the Holy Spirit. Honestly, it has challenged me in more than one way about the Holy Spirit but in my Faith in General. I want to share of short portion from chapter 4 called “Why do you Want Him”

    “Recently, a man dying of cancer asked the church elders to anoint him with oil and pray for his healing. Before we prayed, however, I asked the man a question I don't normally ask: “Who do you want to be healed? Why do you want to stay on this earth?” The man, as well as everyone else around, seemed a bit surprised the I would ask such a blunt question.
    The reason I probed like this is because in the epistle of James we are reminded the we often don’t receive the answers to our prayers, because we ask for the wrong reasons: “You ask and do not receive. because you ask wrongly, to spend it on your passions” (James 4:3) Our desire to live should be for the sake and glory of the God who put us on this earth in the first place." (pg 84)
   
Wow, I was so challenged by this. I had been doing my fair share of complaining before i read this. “God, why is this not happening? God, why wont you give me a direct answer about these situations before me? God, what will the next few years look like? I very quickly has to meditate on my motives behind my questions and desires. Were any of these to praise  God? If God gave me any of these questions would I turn around and say “Its all about Jesus”? 

So, whether you eat or drink, or whatever you do, do all to the Glory of God. 1 Corinthians 10:31

A great (hard) read if you want to learn about a childs developmental growth while in foster care!

Nicole and I went and saw the Theater musical "Singing in the Rain"

Big boy J getting stronger everyday

Auntie Whitney's attempt at Twists! It is now the 2nd hair style I can do!

Ej's first hair cut!

Ps: I dont know why some of the pictures of blurry : ( 

Thank you for the Prayer!

Hey family all over the world,

Thank you so much for the prayers on Monday! From what I have heard, the meeting went fairly well. A quote to sum it up "they took many steps forward but a few steps back". What does that mean? Well, I'm not sure. I am not exactly on the top of the 'know' list. I think there were some compromises and some clearer understanding of certain things. I also know that the adoption process on our side will continue to be longer and longer. The people in authority going all the way up are against adoption and have no problems making it harder for kids to leave the country. Please continue to pray for God to change hearts and mindsets.

Praise Jesus!
The little girl 'caught in the middle', they have decided to push her through to central authority! Hip-hip Hurray! Basically Johannesburg's Children Court has signed off on the match and now central authority has to sign to release her from the country. They say this process can take 2-6 weeks but our experience has been more like 2-12 weeks.

After central authority has approved, her new family will be notified and we will get an adoption date. That date can be anywhere from 2-6 weeks after central authority signs. I  can hardly imagine what it would be like to get a call saying you can go pick your daughter in South Africa, within as short as 2 weeks notice.

This little person's 2nd Birthday is April 27. What an amazing gift it would  be to be with her family.  The weeks are stacked against us but, I know our God is good and able if it his will.

On Monday Morning at 10 am I gathered the toddlers to Pray. We all stood around J (because if he holds hands, he just bites ) and lifted Prayers to our Heavenly Father. I asked if anyone wanted to pray and S (in the red shirt)  chimed in and said "Me"! It was so great to listen to him repeat after me as he talked to Jesus. He got to pray for the government and a forever family for himself but also his  brothers and sisters too. *happy tears*