Friday, March 23, 2018


 

The Caldwell family is "moving on up"….in size and location!!

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Surprise!!! In a super shocker to everyone, and I do mean everyone, we are excited, blessed, humbled and to be totally honest, somewhat terrified, to be expecting a new little Caldwell this October. That's right, Caldwell child #5 is scheduled to make his or her appearance late October 2018!

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"How did this happen??!!" to quote my mother in law 😊 All we can say is Proverbs 16:9, "We can make our plans, but the LORD determines our steps".  We felt very content and our lives were very full with our 4 kiddos….so I can only imagine having a 5th will only sweeten this family God has given to us.

To be honest, having children biologically was never something really in our plans. I plan to write an entire blog post on this later, but Zack and I felt called to adoption from the very beginning of our marriage.  Through different experiences God allowed us to have both independently, and as a couple, adoption is how we felt called to grow our family. And once we adopted, God fulfilled any desire to grow our family and parent children. So, having a child biologically just really wasn't on our radar….but it certainly is now!

I began to suspect something was up when we were staying a few days in a hotel in Winston Salem before we closed on our house. I noticed the usual pregnancy symptoms…but honestly, I just figured the stress of being separated from Zack for 6l weeks due to his job, selling and buying a house, and moving were just throwing things off. On the day we closed on our home here in NC, I decided that I better check, just to make sure. So, while I was at the grocery, I decided to pick up a pregnancy test. Self checkout, please!!

I was shaking as I carried in the groceries, but I tried to carry on as normal, as I was surrounded by my mom, our kids, and the painters and other workers doing a few fixes in our home. I ran into the bathroom downstairs and read the directions as fast I could. I struggle with even peeing in a cup (sorry if that's too much info ) so I wanted to make sure I got this right. I did the deed then laid the test on the vanity with shaking hands, and waited, but I didn't have to wait long. As soon as the urine passed the little window, both lines appeared and my heart was beating a million miles a minute. Could this really be happening!? I double checked what I was seeing and compared it with the little instruction pamphlet. Yep, two pink lines meant….pregnant!! I shoved the test inside the box and stashed it under the vanity. I walked out like no big deal and realized that our world had just changed! In an amazing, blessed way of course, but still changed dramatically! A thousand thoughts were going through my mind until I heard little Eden's voice, "Mom, what's this?" You guessed it, she had found my secret box under the vanity. I quickly stole it away and put it in my pocket, and mumbled, "Oh nothing".

The next few minutes I thought about how to tell Zack, then my mom and dad. Zack was at work, though I was supposed to be meeting him soon to secure a U-HAUL so we could finish unloading our storage unit. I was supposed to drive the van with the trailer hitch, but my mind was so blown that I drove the wrong van all the way there, lol. I told Zack I had a good reason for my mistake, then I pulled the test out of my pocket. I can assure you, he was in shock as well! He was thrilled, though overwhelmed. He wanted to tell everyone immediately, but I assured him we needed to think through some things first . I also wanted to take another test, just to be sure. So, the next day, I went back to the grocery store, only the self checkout lane was closed, so the poor teenage boy that was my cashier and I had an awkward conversation, to say the least.

The second test confirmed the results of the first, so we were pretty sure we had a 5th child on our hands! The next day I told my mom before church, she and I together Facetimed my dad, and later that day Zack and I called his parents after church. All grandparents were shocked, thrilled, and excited. Now they are just totally elated!

I am thankful that so far I haven't had anything more than nausea off and on everyday (not just in the morning….Morning Sickness is inappropriately named, in my opinion ), and have just been flat out exhausted. One of the most interesting things is that I have had an extreme aversion to certain smells, unfortunately those smells happen to be the smells of our home. So, I just wear a mask in most rooms. I can stand to be in the kitchen and most of the time our den, and my bedroom and bathroom are okay. Walking into the living room, foyer, hallway, basement, and any of the kids room results in some serious gags. I actually have a box of surgical masks I have been wearing, and that seems to keep the nausea at bay, though I do get some weird looks from the neighbors if I forget to take the mask off when I go outside.

Yesterday was my first ultrasound, and we are thankful that everything seems normal and that the heartbeat of the baby is strong. My mom and Eden were able to be there, and Eden couldn't help herself when she first saw the baby- she let out the longest "Awe!" followed by, "The baby is adorable!". Zack unfortunately was out of town due to work, but with the wonders of technology, I was able to send him the photos and video, to which he responded, "Wow, wow wow!".  As this is our first ever pregnancy, and as I am early in the pregnancy (9 weeks), we know that there are still many unknowns. We also realize we are totally clueless about anything to do with being pregnant, and all that having a newborn entails. We trust God is in control of every aspect, and we look to Him for our joy and peace throughout this process.

Switching gears….We have also moved on up North in location, to North Carolina. The weekend of February 18th, we said goodbye to our home for the past 3.5 years in Charleston, SC, and began a new adventure in the other Carolina state.  

First, just to catch you up on the family (I realize that almost two years have gone by since my last blog post. That is rather shameful, and though my mind had lots of ideas and topics I wanted to blog about, I guess other priorities just won out…not saying that those priorities were better, or more important).

Noah is now a middle school student! So hard to believe as I can remember meeting him for the first time (now almost 8 years ago!) and seeing his sad eyes looking up at Zack and I…then that first smile…then the first time he experienced Ketchup. He has made a great transition from elementary school to middle school. He is in the band and plays the trombone. He is playing soccer this spring and beginning Tae Kwon Do. He is a strong, independent young man and we are very proud of him.


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Caleb is in 4th grade and keeps us on our toes! He is full of life and laughter, and has had no problem making friends here. He (like his mom and dad) loves this time of year because March Madness is in full swing-he is my basketball watching buddy.  He is also playing soccer and beginning Tae Kwon Do.

Emmie is in 2nd grade and has really grown to be a fabulous big sister to Eden. She is a huge help to me around the house and God continues to grow her sensitive, servant heart in beautiful ways. She is also playing soccer this spring and looking forward to beginning Tae Kwon Do soon.

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Eden is 4 years old now and though tiny for her age, has a huge heart and is a little firecracker! She made the most seamless transition into our family in almost every way. She has acquired English amazingly and is very articulate….just ask her brothers! She won't start Kindergarten until 2019 and that is just fine with her. She is looking forward to beginning gymnastics soon!

So, how did we get from one Carolina to another? For some time, Zack and I had been praying about a job opportunity that would allow us to be closer to home, (Kentucky will always be home) as the trip for us and our parents was starting to get old, yet we all desired to be a part of each others lives as much as possible. We also missed the Kentucky like seasons, hills and mountains, etc. God certainly was gracious to us during our time in South Carolina, and to be honest, we struggled to know if it was selfish to pray for God to open an opportunity for us to closer to family, as everything was going just fine in Charleston.

During the early spring and summer of 2017, we had three different possibilities that seemed "sure things", not work out. The first would have put us in Nashville, TN., the second outside of Atlanta, and the third in Greenville, SC. Each time the door seemed open, but then would eventually close. The first opportunity in Nashville was offered to us, but we just didn't feel like it was right for various reasons. The second and third seemed so sure that we even put our home on the market, but then at the last second, the opportunities were removed. As 2017 began to come to an end, we began to think that maybe it just wasn't God's will for us to leave Charleston at this time. Then Zack got two phone calls from two different companies around the same week, and things got kicked into high gear, to say the least. Both opportunities would have taken us North- one way North, to Cincinnati, the other to North Carolina. In the end, it was a pretty easy decision. Zack accepted his current position in North Carolina around Thanksgiving and was to report the first of the year.

We knew this meant we would be separated for some time- until our house sold. Zack would commute early Monday morning and stay through the week, then come home on Friday evening. I would be with the kids during the week and get our home ready to sell. It certainly wasn't the ideal situation, but we also knew the commute and separation wouldn't be forever. We listed our home around Thanksgiving, and we had it under contract the early part of January. We were thankful it didn't linger on the market too long. Getting a house "show ready" with 4 kids can be a little maddening, and we had some interesting prospective buyers….some wouldn't come in our home because the driveway wasn't long enough, some became upset because we asked all potential buyers to remove their shoes or wear the provided shoe covers- in our minds we were preserving the floors for someone who would buy our home…not everyone shared our perspective however! Others would cancel just a few minutes before a showing was scheduled. Needless to say, we prayed fervently for a buyer for our home! Wouldn't you know it, the family that ended up buying our home came the weekend I came down with a stomach bug and literally couldn't get out of bed… we had four showings scheduled! Thankfully my in-laws happened to be in town and helped get the house ready. Zack also knew the drill and directed traffic. A few minutes before the scheduled showings, he carried me out to the car, robe and all, and I just laid in the backseat until the showing were over, while he perused the neighborhood. 

We already had a home picked out here in Winston-Salem from our house hunting trips, so once our house was under contract, we were able to make an offer on the home here in Winston. We were hoping to find a home with a basement, a larger yard than our home in Charleston, and in a neighborhood where there would hopefully be lots of other kiddos for our kids to play with, as they had grown accustomed to that in Charleston.  Graciously, God answered those prayers. Our street is full of kids, we have a small basement that is a great little hangout spot, and a bigger yard with beautiful trees and privacy. More than we deserve!

The kids seem to be adjusting well to school. I am always amazed at their resilience. Eden is here with me, and will be for another year, as she can't begin Kindergarten until August 2019. I am working on getting my school counseling certification for North Carolina, so that when it is time for me to return to work, I will be ready (still determining when that time will be, especially with our new addition coming). My job may always be inside our home, which would be fine with me!

We knew when we moved, the most difficult aspect would be finding a church home. Not because there aren't wonderful churches here in Winston-Salem, but because we so dearly loved our little church family in Charleston.  I say[RC1]  "little" because we were members of a church plant when we left Charleston, and though our congregation was small in number, we were full of love for one another and for the Gospel. I can't say that I was excited about the church plant in the beginning (this should also be a blog post because God has done an amazing work in my heart in this area), but I can now say that I truly, truly, miss this fellowship, as does our entire family.

A quick rundown: a few weeks before we left for China in 2016 to bring home Eden, our current church at the time had a division that resulted in the current Pastor resigning and many members leaving. Our family was one of the families that decided to leave during this time (once we returned from China).   Our hearts were broken over the events, but we felt we had no choice but to leave the church. We weren't prepared to bring home Eden to an unknown situation in terms of our faith community, but that is what happened. In the beginning, I was very, very unsure of becoming part of the church plant, not because of the events that led to its formation, the leadership, the theology, or anything like that, but because there wasn't very much structure in terms of kids church, Sunday School, youth group, etc. Of course, when any church is in its infancy, none of those things just automatically happen, and that is okay. This was our first experience being part of a church plant, and there were many things I just didn't get and struggled with. Didn't I say I needed to write an entire blog devoted to this? I better just do that.  Let's just say that I am so thankful that God is so gracious and patient with our hearts, and I am forever grateful that He allowed our family to be part of such a sweet fellowship.

We have visited a couple different churches here, but have yet to feel fully called to a church home. There is definitely a huge hole in the life of our family as we miss the community that results when Christians fellowship, worship, and serve with one another. We pray that God will lead us to a church home very soon.  

 

So, there you have it, the quickest run-down I can give you of our lives over the last almost-two years. It has been an adventure in so many ways. The one thing that has remained the same- the steadfast, faithful love of God.  Scripture says in Hebrews 13:8 that "Jesus Christ is the same yesterday, today and forever." So many things in this world can change- our location, our profession, our health, our church, our families. But praise be to God that He is unchanging, as is His love for us



Adoption is a GOoD thing :)