One Week Home

It is Saturday, January 4th and we have been home one week with Miles. The kids have been out for Christmas break and Zach took the week off to get us settled. We finished up some Christmas celebrations, brought in a New Year.  (OK, I must admit, I was not awake to see the New Year, but I know it is now 2014)  and celebrated Miles 4th birthday.  It sounds like we had a busy week, but we have actually been keeping Miles home with just our immediate family.  He has been through so much and experienced, so many new things that were out of our control.  Now that we are home, we are doing our best to slowly introduce him to new people and new experiences. 

I have loved being home as a family this week.  It is nice to just slow down and enjoy being together.  I am so proud of the behavior of each of my children. My older kiddos have experienced a lot of change in the last couple of weeks.  They have taken it all in stride and have amazed me this week. Syd has been a great help and although she is dying to take care of Miles, she knows that it is important that Mommy do this for a while and has been more than willing to do the other things I have needed her to do.  Ethan, has never once complained about his fractured hand.  He has definitely been limited on what he can do, he had great difficulty building legos or even playing his new video games, but over and over he has adapted and adjusted his daily activity, wowing me with what he can do with one hand.  Miah experienced a major shift in roles with Miles arrival home.  She went from being the baby of the family to a big sister. This has definitely been a challenge for her, but she loves Miles fiercely with that big huge heart of hers and has really impressed me with her ability at 7 to understand that Mama needs to spend a little extra time with Miles.

One of the neatest things about bringing Miles home to a houseful of kiddos; was seeing how he was immediately comforted by his siblings. I think it is natural for kids to feel at ease with other kids.  All four of my children were playing on riding toys in the driveway within hours of Miles arrival home.  Any fears of this being hard on my children, or worry over adding another child to an already large family dissolved the moment I saw all my children together.  Their unselfish love for their new brother has blessed my heart. They are not worried about dividing resources to yet another sibling, or having to divide time with mom and dad between 4 kids and not 3.  They have a new brother to love and to play with and to grow up with, which outweighs any sacrifices they might have to make to bring him into our family.  I am so thankful that I have been able to witness God's miraculous love at work this week in growing our family from 5 to 6.  I do not have the ability to put into words the beauty of watching God's love in action between my kids.  Now, don't get me wrong, I know the newness will wear off and I will be back to refereeing, moderating, and on some days trying to keep  my kids from killing each other, but for today, I thank you Lord that I get to witness this miracle of love that you have given to our family.