View of My Bed in the Morning

This is why I never sleep in! Four kids in my bed and the little one said, "Roll over. Roll over." Seriously, it's great that they all want to snuggle with me. . One of the hard parts of foster parenting is that we're expected to treat foster kids like our own kids but there are certain regulations that we have to follow that make that really hard. One is that foster kids aren't allowed into your bed. It's obvious why they have rules like this in place but it's sad that it's necessary. It's all about protecting the children. Although it's really hard when a needy child just wants to be loved and snuggled like the other kids and I have to figure out a way accomplish that when they see my other kids climb into the bed and cuddle with me and they can't. For quite a while, no one was allowed onto our bed so it was nice once the boys' adoption was finialized and I could let the kids come to me in the night after a nightmare and just hold them and let them fall asleep in my arms. *** Here's a blast from the past. I think my sister and I must have been getting along on this particular morning :)

Zeke

The first picture of Zeke was taken a month before he moved into our home in 2006. The second picture was taken in 2007, after having been with us for a year. Sometimes when I'm feeling like I'm just treading water, I look at these two pictures together and praise God for how far we've come!