LOVE. IT!

Where Does the Time Go?

It's almost November?! We have been so busy here at the Fitzgerald home! Izaiah is growing exponentially. He is cuter and funnier than ever! He had to switch Kindergarten teachers again. Let me show you just how many he has gone through:

1. Ms. Totten
2. Ms. V
3. Ms. Glass
4. Ms. Totten (again)
5. Mr. Richardson
6. Ms. Anderson
7. Ms. Anderson (same name, different teacher)

This time it was because there was a kid in the room that has bad behaviors, too, and they would feed off one another. I don't think the teacher could handle them both. Then we had the issue of the school nurse refusing to give Izaiah his medicine because his heart rate was up! Of course it's up! Because he's running around hyper because you haven't given him his medicine! Then some days she just wouldn't give him his medicine. Then she'd call us 6 times a day. Then she'd tell me Mark had been up at the school to get Izaiah when he didn't. Then she'd say Izaiah was sleeping through class everyday (that part was quite humorous). Then she'd call and leave messages on my voicemail about chocolate. I think that nurse is losing it. Either that or she's getting dementia. The principal was so exasperated with her because Izaiah would have to spend an hour in her office every day after cussing out the teachers because he hadn't gotten his meds. Then the principal started sneaking behind the nurse's back to give him meds. Then the nurse got wind and would call us to come pick him up because she refused to give him anything. It was CRAZY for awhile, although humorous now :)

My job is nuts...NUTS! But I'm going to love it once I get into the swing of things. That should be in about a year. One of the biggest, sneakiest things God has used me for in my life happened at work and it's an amazing story. I will try to blog about it soon. Other than that, I took my first kid into foster care on Friday. It was awful. I'm so thankful to be that person, though, that it brings tears to my eyes. I have wanted to be "that social worker" ever since I was nine and read a book with a social worker character that was cold and jaded while working with kids, like it was just a normal, boring day when she brought a kid into care. To get to be the one to love on those kids during such an awful, traumatic experience means so much to me. I wish I could take that hurt and feel it for them.

Our neighbors are awesome. Our home is awesome. Friends are awesome. God is awesome.

The adoption process has officially begun! Hopefully things will be finalized by January. Ran into some pretty big - yet minor - setbacks. I'll blog about that later too. Promise.

Washed By The Water

Sometimes it's hard for me to see past the hurt in my life, especially the hurt that people I once respected and trusted have caused. This puts into perspective for me that God is good, even when others are not. Those people, too, are washed by His blood.

Lady Gaga's super shocking performance!

Am I the only one who thought this was brilliant?

What Does a Mommy Say?

We were in the car quizzing Izaiah on what noises each animal makes. Here's how that conversation went:

Me - "What does a pig say?"

Izaiah - "Oink!"

Me - "What does a cow say?"
Izaiah - "Moooo!"
Me - "Good, now what does a horse say?"
Izaiah - "Naaaay!"
Mark - "And what does a Mommy say?"
Izaiah - "NO!"

A Little a This, A Little a That

Hello all! There's been so much going on I barely get a moment to breathe these days! Izaiah finally got a teacher - Ms. Anderson. However, in a school of amazing racial and ethnic diversity, he is the only one in his class that's not fully African American. I'm not entirely happy about that since we chose the school mainly for the diversity. The other 2 classrooms have mostly Caucasian students, with a slew of African American, Asian, Latino, and Middle Eastern children. I don't really understand how that happens really, but I also don't want to be the mom calling to demand that her child be placed into the "white kid room". Race is so complicated.

I started a new job on Monday. I will be working with child abuse hotline investigations and family preservation services with the state of Missouri. So far everything is going well. I really like my supervisor so that's a good start. I've gotten close with some of the people I've been in training with, so that's good, too.

Mark and I had a date night last night and went to see "My Sister's Keeper". Hands down, the SADDEST movie I have EVER seen!!! I cried through the WHOLE movie. It was one of the best I've seen, though. Totally worth it. Just make sure you're alone in your own living room when you watch it.

We're getting to be friends with our next door neighbors. They are really awesome! Ladd and Jen have a 4-year-old daughter, Mya, and a 3 month old little boy, Adrienne. Izaiah LOVES playing with Mya, and they are SOOOO sweet together :) Ladd is a general contractor so he's really helpful with getting the house fixed up. Jen is an artist/photographer. They are really neat neighbors to have!

When we moved in, the neighbors all said that there hasn't been any crime or theft or anything on our block in at least 4 or 5 years. Well, here we come and jinx that. We left the garage door open one day and our car got broken into. No biggie, except that they stole the garage door opener from my car. That was a little unsettling, but not a huge deal.

We are loving having my sister living with us. It's so fun having her and Carlos around all the time.

And the biggest news lately deserves its own post, so that will be the next one. Keep reading :)

Dana Brooke

Dana and I with our kids from the inner city

I was in 8th grade when I met Dana. She was almost three years younger than me, but you'd never know it. We were fast friends and thick as thieves. We went through so much together over the years. I always told people that Dana was my soulmate. No one ever understood me the way Dana did, and we had the kind of friendship that one only finds once in a lifetime.

Over the years we drifted apart, as she moved to Chicago to pursue a career in acting and I moved to Arkansas and got married. There was the presence of an antagonist in there somewhere coupled with me being at a bad place in my life, and Dana drifted completely out of my life. I was distraught over it for years. I know that makes me sound pathetic, but it was one of the hugest losses I've encountered in my life. Dana got into some awful things back in Chicago, and it felt like there was nothing I could do to save her. I cried night after night after night for God to keep her safe and to bring her back to me, but He never did. As she faded further and further away, I grieved her like she was dead. I fought with God over why He would not rescue her, and why He would not rescue me from the guilt and pain of not having her in my life and of feeling somewhat responsible for the hurt and horror she was going through in her own. I wrote her all the time, but could never bring myself to send the letters. I never knew where she was anyways.

Two weeks ago I randomly saw her on someone's facebook page. I wrote her, and before I could agonize over my wording or freak out about whether or not to send it, I pressed 'send'. I cried the whole day, not knowing if contacting her was going to make her upset or make me vulnerable to being hurt again.

Three days later, Dana is sitting on my couch. A couple days before I wrote her, God spoke to her and told her to come back home. He provided a way out of her current situation, and completely rescued her heart and her mind. It turns out that I had written her the day before she left to come home. We spent the next 2 days together in tears and in prayer of thanksgiving for God delivering her and restoring what has been broken.

She has been through sooo much, and she has a really tough road ahead of her. But what once was lost has now been found and I am once again dumbfounded by God's timing and His goodness, even when we think He has forgotten us. There's so much I could say. There is so much evil that has been overcome, and so much hurt that God has begun to heal. What Satan meant for evil, God turned to beauty.

With my Dana back, I am able to laugh again, and it feels really, really good. Please pray for Dana as she starts her life over, and begins a journey of healing and recovery. God has been sooooooo faithful and will continue to be, no doubt. I will praise Him until the day I die.

First Day of Kindergarten

We survived the first day of Kindergarten! Izaiah woke up so excited about school. We all waited at the bus stop for over 30 minutes until we gave up and I took him to school. We picked Ms. Totten as his teacher, but about 2 weeks ago she got promoted. They moved him to Ms. V.'s room, but then hired Ms. Glass, so he got moved to her room. Two days ago Ms. Glass decided she did not want to be a teacher so she up and left. Soooo, Ms. Totten is taking over until they hire someone. Can you keep up with that? :) Hopefully that will be a smooth transition.

Izaiah did not want me hugging him, kissing him, and esPECially not blowing him kisses. My little boy is growing up...*tear*. There were no tears from me today; I am very proud! Fun Fact: I never went to Kindergarten. My mom attempted homeschooling me, and that didn't work out so well! Izaiah got home and said that Kindergarten is "boring". Oh dear.

Everything

I feel like this so much of the time. Distracted, tempted, anxious, hated, depressed, DEFEATED. Thank God we are loved by the creator of Love Himself. Without Him I would be NOTHING.

New House News

We are finally in our new house! It's been a crazy whirlwind! Mark is loving fixing things and I am loving decorating it! Izaih is not loving his new room so much because it has lots of windows. He's still getting used to everything, but he loves having a backyard to play in! I have learned that I really love pulling weeds! Who knew? It's very therapeutic, you should try it. We love our neighborhood! Everyone is so nice and fun. There seem to always be parties and events and team sports to get involved in. I can't wait for Fall!

Today is Izaiah's last day of Preschool. This preschool has been the HUGEST blessing, despite my initial hesitation. Izaiah is doing soooooooo much better, and has really been able to work through some of his past trauma. God has so many great plans for him and his sweet little tender heart. Izaiah is just so wise beyond his years, and it really shows when you would least expect it. He has learned this amazing way of comforting people when they're sad. He is learning what it means to really love people and is finally embracing letting himself be loved. Everything about him is a miracle. I didn't understand how in the world parents could say they love their child more and more every day, but I totally understand it now.

Pictures coming soon!