How We Are Doing

We've been home a month. More actually.
People have been asking me like crazy, "So, how are you doing?"
This post is to address that very question.
I have no one word to sum it up…so if you'll forgive me, I'll give you little answers and you can see if you can come up with something to give as a one word answer.
We are BLESSED. Esty is doing remarkably well with the incredible life change she has had. She has opened up to me sharing some very hard things from her past. She has begun to anticipate routine and eat cheese I mean nibble at cheese and hope for noodles. 
We are BUSY. Life with 7 children is all about survival. Add the compounding of two of them having special needs and you have an extreme situation. Further compound it by emotional needs of ALL children, spontaneous injuries (2 broken arms in the past weeks) and their laundry and you have a severely busy situation.
We are TIRED. If there was one thing I have said over and over in the past weeks it is, "I am only ONE mommy and there are SEVEN of you," wishing desperately I could clone myself. I literally cannot keep up with the needs of just Esty alone, so adding in the other 6, I am just never enough. I am spread thin, I have no margin and I pass out in bed each night. 5 am comes early.
We are UNDER ATTACK. Satan hates adoption. We have adopted three orphans in a rapid fire succession. I do believe we are under the enemy's attack. I think that God's hand of ABUNDANT BLESSING in all the funds being raised and being able to bring these three treasures home in an average of 10 months each was incredible. And I think it's Satan's ploy to put us through the wringer now. Stand with us by praying for our marriage. Pray for our patience. Pray for us to extend grace in lavish amounts. To ourselves as well.
We are MISUNDERSTOOD. There are so many misconceptions of our family. People love to say how they think I am Superwoman (oh the thought of it actually brings tears to my eyes) or that we have "saved these lives." We are not the Savior. Spend about 10 minutes here and you'll be convinced of that. We are also misunderstood when people send me messages on Facebook saying, "now that life has slowed down for you, could you…." I laughed at that one. Apparently because I am not fundraising anymore at least that person believes that life has slowed down for us. See? We are misunderstood.
We are BEHIND. As I said above, meeting everyone's emotional needs take time. It's a real challenge to sit and hold when the house around is cluttered from the last "concert" given by the boys, laundry awaits (I do 3-6 loads daily) and the breakfast fall-out still sits in various places children fueled up before the great 7:30 exodus. I hate having all these messes, but emotional needs MUST come first. Our house is in shambles.
We are SILLY. I am forever amazed at my children's ability to laugh. We dance, goof around, have tickle-fests and make up silly songs. Just yesterday Zeb sat in Esty's room and sung a song with great gusto playing on DQ's pink guitar how "Esty is going to walk!! She's gonna waaaaalk!"
We are SCHEDULED: "CRAZY." Esty's medical needs alone have us taking 4-6 trips into the big city each month. We are usually gone all day. So far, we have not gotten any good news regarding her health. She has a great prognosis that she will walk, but her physical health is not good. Neglect does that. It breaks my heart. Each time we go off to clinic, hospital, or the like I need childcare. I have a dear BFF who steps in faithfully for that, I would not be able to do this life without her. Love you, Kerry!
We are WELL FED. Our church family has so blessed us with groceries and meals and God has provided for our needs so beautifully. We are eating well and even Esty is making progress in her consuming of American foods. I continue to enjoy making dinner for everyone. This is one spot of true grace in my life….feeding 9 people 3x daily could get very monotonous, but I truly enjoy it.
So…there are probably other ways I could add to this list, but in effort to go solve the problem at hand with the kids, I'll end it here and let you decide the ONE WORD you'd sum up how we are doing!