Our crazy, fantastic life

Life sure has been crazy over the past few weeks... here is a picture blog to update everyone :)

On October 16 Bryan joined our family. He is 10 and has learning disabilities. 

We love taking family walks :)

Christian turned 4 on October 20th

Thania (13 years old) and Angelita (7) joined our family on October 23. Both girls have Cerebral Palsy. 

Rafael had his 8th birthday on October 24th.

Thania LOVES cake

Our very full dinner table.

Breakfast in the highchair corner.

The girls in their new beds.

The Fulp family (and our friend, Lisa) joined up with Krishauna and her "family" from Casa Bernabe (13 boys, the house parents, house helper, and an additional helper) for a trip to the zoo.
This picture is Krishauna introducing some of them to Esperanza. 

We stuck with the buddy system.

Look how thrilled they are to be my buddies.

 A few of the boys watching the monkeys

 For lunch, Dominos gave us a fantastic deal on pizza.... Thank you Dominos!!!!

The group eating.

The kids (especially the boys) LOVED the penguins. 

The whole gang. 

The world series.... Red Sox won!!!!! Wooo-whoooo!!!!
This is the real way to watch a game... eating, feeding Christian, and soothing Esperanza.

Fun time "swimming" with Thania.

And I have some big news (it might not seem like big news to you guys, but believe me it is) but twice in the past week or so, Christian has held his cup at his mouth for about 30 sec. (that is huge because he seems to not understand the concept of movements that he does and its affect on things around him.)

So, thats about it. Our life is mighty crazy, but I wouldn't change it. So, this is a very big hello from the ever-growing Fulp family :)
(well 18 of the 20 Fulps)

As life gets crazier... #5

Life I crazy, that much is sure. We are now up to 5 kids in the home.... I have already introduced to you Rafael, Alejandra, Jenifer and Esperanza. I would now like to introduce you all to Christian.

He is almost 4, has CP, Autism, and is both hearing and sight impaired. We are learning every day how to properly care for him. He moves constantly!... so brushing his teeth is not an easy task. Oh, and did I mention that he screams when we do. Our neighbors must think we torture the kid (I promise you, we don't!) 

We love our expanding family!
Up next... blog post about everyday life here at Hogar de la Esperanza :)

Esperanza

Note: I am going to be sharing some pictures of my new little sister, but due to her special needs some may be bothered by her pictures. If you do not know how to look at her through the eyes of God, please do not continue reading. Also, please do not share her pictures or details apart from this blog.

Ok, so I wrote this update a week and a half ago, but didnt feel like it properly portrayed my thoughts or feelings, so I held off. Well, due to the chaos of our house, I am just getting back to it and I am just going to post it. I am sorry if  what I say does not make sense, please just try your best to understand, and if you don't, that's fine. 

If you would like to read more about the following post (from some people who are better with their words) feel free to visit...

My dad's blog http://hopeforhome.blogspot.com/2013/09/loving-hope.html

or Brittney's blog http://brittneyfulp.blogspot.com/2013/09/esperanza.html

"Guide me in your truth and teach me, for you are God my Savior, and my HOPE is in you all day long." -Psalm 25:5

For me, as a Christian, I feel that hope is such a simple concept yet, at the same time so complicated. So, to just hear it broken down I looked it up... "Hope- The feeling that what is wanted can be had" (Dictionary.com). Ok, simple enough. The hard part is putting that into "action" while still looking through the eyes of God.

Let me further explain....

I hope that one day I will be able to visit Wrigley Field and see the Cubs kick the Yankee's little butts. I hope that one day I will be able to tour Venice, Italy. The list goes on. But really, in the end, when I am standing before God, will it really matter if I got to see all the things I wanted? Of course not!

But... then there are things that are a little closer to God's heart. The state of someones heart, the impact we have on others... a child's life.

That leads me to another form of "hope"... I would now like to introduce you all to the newest Fulp, Ruth Esperanza (Hope in Spanish). Esperanza has Kleeblatt Schadel Syndrome. "This syndrome is caused by premature fusing of the fibrous sutures, resulting in abnormalities of the skull and facial bones," (a quote from my dad's blog because I sure don't know how to explain it). People often call it "clover head" because it causes three large lumps on the head. Before we actually received her, we looked at pictures of this syndrome online.... but nothing compared to the severity of little Esperanza's case.

Borrowing a miracle, Esperanza will pass soon. No words can describe the difficulty of this. We receive a new little sister, and the same moment we are falling in love with her, we know that we may only have her for a few short moment. As Britt said, "We get to carry her to Jesus." That is an amazing privilege and a terribly difficult responsibility.

This is where the real hope in life becomes hard. We, as her family, hope that she will stay with us for a long time, but God might not want the same. We hope that He will choose to miraculously heal her, but God might choose to do that through taking her. Hope no longer becomes simple.... it is rather complicated. How to you really balance your hopes and wishes with His?(Please do not get me wrong, I am in no way doubting God's plans, just explaining the confusion that sometimes seems to come along with a life submitted to Him.)

We must learn to hope, but with the full realization that that might not be Gods will. We must learn to hope while (at the same time) surrendering our hopes and dreams to him.

But, in all things, we serve a wonderful God. He is all-knowing and all-powerful. Our God reigns.

"When peace like a river attendeth my way

When sorrows like sea billows roll

What ever my lot you have taught me to say

It is well, it is well with my soul"

September 15th was Guatemalan Independence day, so...

From 14 of the 17 Fulps....

Feliz día de independencia!!!

(Happy [Guatemalan] Independence day!!!)

Very last thing.... we received a 3 year old boy on Monday, Christian... but I will update you on him (probably) over the weekend :)

Hogar de la Esperanza

Few updates:
I am assuming most of you know, Hogar de la Esperanza is up and running! Praise God!!!!
For those of you who do not know, I (with God's guidance) have decided to stay here in Guatemala for about another year to help run the home. I am still planning on returning to Uganda, but I want to open a home for special needs girls there, so this is preparation.

I will start by introducing our 3 new family members.

This is my little man, Rafael (7 years old). He was the first child in our home to make Hogar de la Esperanza a reality. Rafael was added to the our family on August 22, 2013. He is my little snuggle buddy.

On the afternoon of August 26th, Jenifer (11 years old) became an unofficial Fulp. She is one of the funniest, most unique girls I have ever met. Jenifer can talk and she ALWAYS speaks her mind. She is a blast, I love this girl. 

Sweet Alejandra (11 years old) was our 3rd arrival. She joined our family on August 26th just a few hours after Jeni. Alejandra is one of the most joy filled girls you will ever meet. She can not talk, but she communicates through pointing and facial expressions. She is a very bright little girl.

To continue, basically my "job" is schedules, medicines, feeding, changing.... you name it. So, in a nutshell, I get to take care of kids and love on them full time. It is a total blast! Between me and my mom, we take charge and make the plans. From 8-5 we have volunteers who help. Having more people around to help, it allows us to do one on one time with the kids, allowing them to learn at their own pace and at their own level. It also gives us time to do stretches and physical therapy stuff with the kids each day.

Brittney, Kristin, Me, Kathlyn, My mommy (aka Wanda), Emily A., Aura, Emilee S., and Taryn

Morning is for physical therapy and educational play. In the afternoons we spend time outside with the kids... going on walks, playing in the courtyard, etc.

In the evening, after the staff goes home, we just hang out as a family. Playing games, talking, watching a movie... I love our expanding family!

Even though our lives are getting crazy (well... more crazy then they were before) we still make plenty of time to still goof.

Prayer requests:

1. Pray for wisdom as we are making decisions on how to properly run the home. We have a lot in place but seeing as we are still very new, we have to make changes to better fit everything.

2. Prayer as we are bringing in more kids. We are licensed for up to 10 kids... and we have NO idea who these kids are or when they will get here. Prayer for that to go smoothly.

3. As always just pray that we will be led by God on a daily basis. That we will each grow closer to him each day and in so, bring those around us to him.

Last thing. If you do not get my facebook post (which lets you know when I update my blog), and would like a an e-mail letting you know when I do, just send me a quick e-mail and I will add you to my list. (Even if you had previously done so, please do it again, I have to re-do the distribution list).

Thank you, everyone, for your prayers and support.

Dios te bendiga (God bless you)