Waco Moms Blog is Growing | Meet Amanda Moore

Hey Mamas of Wacotown! I’m Amanda. My family and I moved to Waco in June of 2017 and we are so happy to call Waco home!

My high school sweetheart and I have been adventuring together, annoying each other, and laughing at life’s curve balls since we were 16. Mike and I have seven kiddos ranging in age from 12 years to 9 months. The days are full and so are our hearts. We’re really enjoying raising our future bffs!

Our family stays busy between babies and extracurricular fun for our big kids. So far, our greatest adventure has been saying “yes” to foster care. Mike and I opened our home and our hearts back in 2016 and our lives have changed in big and small ways. Once we saw the huge and immediate need, we knew we could never turn away. You can read about our experience with our first foster placement here. Our family mission is to come alongside our babies’ families in crisis as a support and encouragement while they work things out and get on track. This road isn’t the easiest, it’s character-building, living in an almost constant state of uncertainty, and a repetitive exercise in the art of letting go of control.

We’ve found that people want to be involved. People want to help, but they’re not sure where they fit into this foster care puzzle. I get it. Not every family is called to be a foster family, but there’s room for everyone at this table- which is why I’m excited to be on the ground working to bring a Village to Waco families in the trenches of their foster care journey. Foster Village Waco will create opportunities for community involvement and a net of support for local foster families and families in crisis.

Foster mamas of Waco, I see you! We’re here for you! Get ready for some love coming your way!

When we’re not working on updating our Big Family Tiny House (a 1960’s rancher we affectionately known as ‘Old Ethel’ for her quirks and creaks and light mothball scent), we love exploring our new hometown. We like swimming at the lake, standup paddle-boarding down the Brazos, and splashing at Hawaiian Falls to stay cool. On a normal day, you can find us swinging in the front yard under our beloved old pecan tree, or in the back running through the sprinkler with our pup Hank while our two rescue cats watch from their spot near our poor dead herbs. (Turns out, I’m great at keeping kids alive and thriving, but plants? Not so much.)

I spend the majority of my days herding our toddlers and baby (2, 18 months, and 9 months) and rounding up snacks. This season we’re in with 3 big kids and 4 little ones feels a little like we’ve started the whole thing over again. The beautiful thing about this round, is that with some experience under my belt, I’m a little more laid back and less likely to sweat the small stuff because I know how fleeting this season of toddler-hood really is. A friend of mine sent me a post I wrote about it back in 2016 and every word rings true now. I had no idea when I wrote it, that I really was writing it to future me rather than past me.

For my ‘me’ time, I’ll head over to melt on the asphalt with my fellow camp gladiators, catch a bite to eat with my best friend who lives 6 minutes from my door (hallelujah!), or curl up with some chips and some junk tv. I’ve just started voice lessons because singing makes me happy. It’s not unusual to find this family of nine dancing in the kitchen or jamming down the road in our giant van, Tallulah The Elephant. Life is short and it’s dotted with hard things, so I’m teaching my seven to grab every happy moment and hold it tight.

I’m looking forward to bringing you along on our adventures, and learning more about this town that already feels like home. Thanks for having me, y’all.