A year later

The blessing of the Lord makes one rich,
And He adds no sorrow with it.  Proverbs 10:22

Wow!  What a year it has been.  I have been looking back through this blog recently and in some ways it is hard to believe sweet Ella Shae is already a year old and in other ways it seems so long ago that we were living out of suitcases in a hotel in South Carolina waiting to bring her home.  So much has happened in this last year.  It occurred to me though that I set out to write this blog as a way to chronicle our journey and be an encouragement to others going through the adoption process, and while we have already brought home our daughter, the adoption journey certainly did not end there.

So, to catch you up.  We brought Ella home in May of last year (2013).  My husband Jonathan actually had to meet me in Atlanta when we went to get her because he was testing for a job with the Houston fire department that week.  A few weeks after we brought Ella home, we found out that Jonathan was being offered a spot in the HFD's July Fire academy...July...as in a few weeks later.  We put our house on the market and started packing.  The week before we moved, I found a pregnancy test under the sink as I was packing and took it on a whim.  Positive.  WHAT?!?!?  So we strolled 10 week old Ella into the ultrasound room at the doctors office and confirmed, yes, we were going to have another baby.  Heads spinning does not even begin to describe how we were feeling.

I would consider myself to be a fairly even keeled person.  Drama is generally not part of my world.  This year was full of extremes for me though, and there were many times I wanted to retreat.  I know many parents can relate.  When you bring a newborn home, you go through a time of what I would call sleepy bliss.  You are so dog-tired, but so in love with this new little person, it is hard to allow both feelings to co-exist.  At least that was true for me.  I felt that way with Ella, and then again with the move to Texas, getting pregnant with Adie, Jonathan's job, and having two babies under 10 months.  To be perfectly honest, I have felt a little bi-polar in how I have processed all of the events of the past year.  I have spent much of my time feeling so overjoyed, and so overwhelmed all at once.

With all of this going on, I have neglected some of the things I had the best of intention of maintaining, including this blog.  In short, I want to get back to focusing on the things the Lord has laid on my heart to write about.  He has given me a testimony through these many experiences, as He has done for all of you.  So, as with everything in my life, this blog may not end up the way I had planned when I started out.  I am now the mama of two sweet little lives.  I have experienced miscarriage, infertility, adoption and an unexpected pregnancy.  I need God's grace every day. Every hour.  I hope I can speak truth, life and encouragement to someone.

As I wrap up this post, would you consider submitting a guest post to be featured on SweetbabyLove?  If you are in the adoption process, have adopted, have any insights into daily life as a family (whether or not you have adopted), have experienced miscarriage or infertility, or just have anything else God is impressing on you to share, I would love to feature your post.   Email me at molly.brumley@yahoo.com if you are interested. 


                                                                                                               ♥ Molly