Updates

Things are going well here at the Howie House :) I know we're about to enter into the busyness of the holiday season, but I'm excited about it all. I truly love this time of year. Who doesn't?! Next week is going to be fun! David's whole family will be in town for Thanksgiving, so we'll hopefully be spending a good bit of time with them. My birthday is also next week, which isn't all that exciting as an adult, but it will be fun to go Black Friday shopping on my b-day ;)

David and I have been talking lately about how we want to "do Christmas" with our little family. Up until now, we've just kind of gone with the flow and done whatever. Now that our kids are getting older, I feel like it's really important to decide what we want Christmas to look like for our family each year and kind of come up with a "plan." Of course we want to be flexible, but we definitely want Christmas to be very Christ focused and God honoring in our home. We just need to decide the best way to implement that for our family. I also really want to establish some "Howie family traditions" that our children will grow up with and look back on fondly. Most of us have those things that were really important to us as children and now are very nostalgic for us as adults. I want to create those kinds of things for our children.

I've also been thinking about our adoption a lot lately. It's really hitting me that the time to get things going on that is almost here. Over the past several months, I've honestly pushed the adoption to the back of my mind. It wasn't forgotten, and from time to time, David and I would discuss it. But we've really focused on our time as a family of 5. We've adjusted well, and frankly, things are just really nice the way they are. It would be so easy to just stay in our little comfort zone a while longer. It's starting to feel real that, in the not TOO distant future, our family is going to grow and change. We will have 4 children, and one of them will likely have some kind of special need. We won't be in our comfort zone any longer. But God hasn't called us to a life of comfort and ease. He has called us to be holy and to be like Him. We are excited to serve Him in this way, and we're incredibly excited to welcome another precious child into our family. Even though our family feels great the way it is, I know it will be even better for having this new member in it. But I'd be lying if I said I wasn't nervous. I'm nervous about the adoption process itself. I know it will be long and probably filled with a lot of ups and downs. I'm nervous about being a mom of 4 young children. I'm nervous about having a child with special needs. I'm nervous about bonding with a child who will be a stranger the first time I hold him or her. I'm nervous about adjusting to our new normal. I'm just nervous. But I'm also excited. I want God to be honored through this whole process.

So, as we enter this holiday season, we have a lot to be thankful for and a lot to look forward to! We are truly blessed!