Harts in Durham

Ok, fine, the title might be a little misleading. No big news here, but it’s been so long since I updated this space and actually finding time to sit down and write something certainly feels big :).

I realized recently how nice it is to have something to look back on and see what I was thinking/feeling during a certain time in life, especially while we in the process of adopting our girl girls ;). I wish I had been better about writing here during the last year because it was such a unique one. But the truth is, I’m exhausted. Like literally I think most of what we’ve experienced in the last 12 months has felt like a complete blur because it was all so overwhelming with the highs and the lows and the life changes–some having to do with adjusting to life as a family of four, some things that we brought on ourselves that added to the stress of it all. I feel like I’m just now starting to climb out of the fog that has covered me for a year. Just the other day I was trying to think what I was thinking and feeling last year at this time (when we had been home with our girls for just a couple weeks), what our days looked like and what we were doing with our time. The only thing I could come up with was that I was tired. Just sheer exhaustion.

In a lot of ways this year has been a struggle. I’ve been so happy but there have been many days that I’ve felt overwhelmed, frustrated, and really alone. Adoption is such a funny thing, there’s so much support while you’re walking through it, but at the same time it can be a very isolating journey–for adoptive parents and adopted kiddos alike. There are a lot of things that happened surrounding our adoptions that I’m just now beginning to process. Part of coming out of the fog of the last year, perhaps. But while I feel like some semblance of peace has settled over our home life, these feelings of anger and confusion are starting to come to the surface. Obviously, things to deal with so we can move on in a healthy way. If you’re an adoptive parent reading this and processing things that seem overwhelming to you, you are not alone. Adoption is amazing, yes, but it is also hard and admitting that it feels like more than you can bear at times does not diminish the sheer miracle of adoption! In fact, I think it only serves to highlight God’s amazing grace.

Our crazy family. Literally, this was the best picture we took. Sigh.

So, what about the good stuff? Oh friends, there is so so very much. These little girls are such a joy. There have been lots of shenanigans in the Hart household over the last year.

We’ve been busy with work and play…

learning so much in homeschool…

visiting our favorite aunties…

and somewhere in there I got a little crazy and started my very own business (which, seriously, am I nuts?  …don’t answer that).

This wasn’t a great all-encompassing update, but I hope it got you up to speed a little bit with what is going on with us. My goal over the next couple months is to write here a couple times a week. And maybe I’ll even start on that adoption story I promised you guys over a year ago ;)! Thank you for reading and following along with the life of our family.