To catch up, "baby" moved to the other foster home when they said she would and Brent borrowed the church preschool's giant waterslide and set it up in the backyard to cheer us all up. It was really hard to let her go; we enjoyed a weekend just the 4 of us in spite of it, though we felt a little lost. I was certain that we weren't going to take any permanent placements for the rest of the summer since we'll be traveling so much. And, I was feeling even more confident that we wouldn't take another baby for awhile since I don't consider myself a baby person. I was telling my workout buddies all of this that following Monday morning and by lunchtime I had gotten a call about a placement for a little boy just coming home from the hospital within the next few hours. They said they were desperate. I talked to Brent about it at lunch and he politely told me that I was on my own with that one since he was ramping up for VBS the following week. I nervously accepted. I didn't know what to expect from a tiny drug baby so I told DHS that I would take him but only until the end of the week--to give them more time to find permanent placement for him. So, an old lady in a sports car with an ashtray full of cigarette butts wheeled up to the church and gave me a two minute debriefing, a pack of diapers, some formula and a 4 pound, 9 ounce baby boy. Brent walked into the church, hot and sweaty, his assistant just came to his aid because his jeep stranded him across town. He walked through the gaggle of women admiring our new addition and someone asked him, "Brent, is this your new foster son?" To which, he responded, "I don't know. I just met it." Classy! I died laughing; the humor of how crazy the situation was wasn't lost on me.
We've just taken it week by week and we're finishing our third week with Mr. JJ. He's not scary...We really love the little guy. He's been so sweet and cute--both the girls are smitten. I didn't know what it would be like to have a little boy around but, it turns out, they're just as sweet and cuddly as little girls! I've really enjoyed it! It's been a nice rebound from Nadya and a good experience for us all.
Birdie's been potty training herself. It's the craziest thing. She looks so little using the "po po". She still has accidents now and then but she's doing tremendous!
We are loving summer! I had a great birthday. It was really low key, just the way I wanted it this year. However, I did request a cookie cake from either sam's or great American cookie company and poor Brent tried a few times but couldn't make it happen. Last night, he went to sam's a few minutes after it closed so today, he was determined. (I was kind of over it by now but he couldn't let it go.) brent was unloading the other things I'd asked him to pick up from sam's. I went to go meet Beatle halfway when I heard a crash. She had dropped my cookie cake into a heap on the sidewalk and on her new sneakers. She instantly burst into tears. It was so heartbreaking how sad she was that she dropped my cake. I was unusually sweet and encouraging, everyone should be so proud. :) I reassured her over and over that it was ok. We scooped it up and I have a half eaten bowl of cookie volcano cake beside me right now and it is DELICIOUS! (I hit grit only once.)
We're flip-flopping the girls' rooms around this weekend. That's been a chore but I think we're going to love it. One playroom and one sleep room. It's given us a chance to purge things as well. Plus, it already seems this transition is fostering a closer relationship between the two of them. Just this evening, they were playing tag/hide and seek. There was lots of laughing and Beatle kept proclaiming with surprise, "it's really fun to play with a baby!" I hope they are close.
My brother got married last weekend. It was fun and he looked handsome. I am very happy for the two of them and am happy to have a new sister in the family!
Saturday, June 25, 2011
Thursday, June 2, 2011
Crying on a Cruise Ship: Is that salt-water on my lips from the ocean or my tear ducts? :)
It's been a year since I've been at home! Wow! I was sitting on the floor this morning watching some Seasame Street with Birdie sharing some popcorn from a get together last night and thought, "ahhh, this is the life". While it's not always like a Norman Rockwell painting, I am so glad we had the courage a year ago to take a leap of faith and make that move for our family. I'm also really thankful that God has sustained it for a year.
Our cruise was great! I texted a friend that the first day was hell but it did nothing but get better and better after that. And then, it was over and we didn't want to come home. To briefly recap, Carnival was having computer problems when we were going to board so it took longer, coupled with the fact that my uncle wanted to get there super early, did not play to Birdie's strengths. We were "that" family with "that" wild, screaming child in the stroller. I wanted to find a hole to hide in. Beatle started getting sick and was feeling queasy in line. Poor Beatle was so sick by the time we were learning about the lifejackets. I almost went Momma Grizzly standing, packed in there with a wild child and another one crying with sick, pleading eyes. I took her to the ship's dr before we even left Galveston and she had strep and got meds. In our room, Beatle threw up in and on our bed. Once she started holding down her meds, that situation improved greatly. But trying to get situated in those tiny rooms proved to be tricky. Birdie kept trying to walk around but she hadn't got her sea-legs yet and she was getting frustrated and bumps on the head. BR took her to the pool in an effort to give me and B some time in the room and they were outed by a loud, obnoxious dad that she wasn't potty-trained and shouldn't be in that pool (like his 3 year old ever got out to pee! please!) I stripped Birdie down to hand her to Brent in the shower to rinse the salt-water off. I tended to something else and turned around and she had pooped on the floor. I think that's when I about cried when Brent reminded me we had 7 more days. That day, it felt like we had bit off WAY more than we could chew by bringing both the girls. (The whole week, it still felt like it might have been too much to bring Birdie but it worked out and we do have some great memories with her but I would HIGHLY recommend waiting until your child is 2 before going that way you can use the pools and the free childcare when you need it.) Needless to say, things could go nowhere but up after that first day. Learning your way around the ship is huge! Once we started getting the hang of that, our days at sea were great. Every excursion we did was awesome! Some adults zip-lined in Jamaica, our family swam with dolphins, held sea turtles and went to the 7-mile beach (A-MAZING!) in Grand Cayman, and snorkeled at Chankunaab in Cozumel. Great time! Great memories! Great pictures!
Ok, to update about Baby...we didn't feel like we could take baby brother (that the new foster family has dubbed "Timmy". Really??? Not even close to his real name.) Honestly, I didn't really even see it coming when the case worker called and just stated matter-of-factly (liked we had talked about it before) that Baby was moving to the other foster home to be with brother. That caught us off-gaurd and kind of hurt my feelings. That family watched her while we were on the cruise and it went well. We got a call yesterday that the move could happen as soon as tomorrow! The timeline we thought we were working with was at the end of summer. When things like this happen, we know that God has all of this in the palm of His hand and we have been giving it to Him in prayer constantly. Our fleshly side gets stirred up, however, because in classes they speak like we are all a team but it really just feels like we get our marching orders and are allowed no opinion for a child that's been a part of our family for 5 months. We are trying to be positive and supress these feeling, knowing that God knows all--her future, our future, our hearts, our anxieties and demands of summer, and the needs our own children have right now. It will be really sad to see her go; like when you finish a gripping novel--you feel lost for a day or so, reliving all that you just read but then you realize you have lots more free time and throw your efforts into something else. :) We love her and will still get to see her occasionally. We're not done fostering but we are going to take this summer to be the 4 of us again. I say all of this with the prediction that she will be moving tomorrow but nothing with DHS is ever 100% so we shall see.
Our cruise was great! I texted a friend that the first day was hell but it did nothing but get better and better after that. And then, it was over and we didn't want to come home. To briefly recap, Carnival was having computer problems when we were going to board so it took longer, coupled with the fact that my uncle wanted to get there super early, did not play to Birdie's strengths. We were "that" family with "that" wild, screaming child in the stroller. I wanted to find a hole to hide in. Beatle started getting sick and was feeling queasy in line. Poor Beatle was so sick by the time we were learning about the lifejackets. I almost went Momma Grizzly standing, packed in there with a wild child and another one crying with sick, pleading eyes. I took her to the ship's dr before we even left Galveston and she had strep and got meds. In our room, Beatle threw up in and on our bed. Once she started holding down her meds, that situation improved greatly. But trying to get situated in those tiny rooms proved to be tricky. Birdie kept trying to walk around but she hadn't got her sea-legs yet and she was getting frustrated and bumps on the head. BR took her to the pool in an effort to give me and B some time in the room and they were outed by a loud, obnoxious dad that she wasn't potty-trained and shouldn't be in that pool (like his 3 year old ever got out to pee! please!) I stripped Birdie down to hand her to Brent in the shower to rinse the salt-water off. I tended to something else and turned around and she had pooped on the floor. I think that's when I about cried when Brent reminded me we had 7 more days. That day, it felt like we had bit off WAY more than we could chew by bringing both the girls. (The whole week, it still felt like it might have been too much to bring Birdie but it worked out and we do have some great memories with her but I would HIGHLY recommend waiting until your child is 2 before going that way you can use the pools and the free childcare when you need it.) Needless to say, things could go nowhere but up after that first day. Learning your way around the ship is huge! Once we started getting the hang of that, our days at sea were great. Every excursion we did was awesome! Some adults zip-lined in Jamaica, our family swam with dolphins, held sea turtles and went to the 7-mile beach (A-MAZING!) in Grand Cayman, and snorkeled at Chankunaab in Cozumel. Great time! Great memories! Great pictures!
Ok, to update about Baby...we didn't feel like we could take baby brother (that the new foster family has dubbed "Timmy". Really??? Not even close to his real name.) Honestly, I didn't really even see it coming when the case worker called and just stated matter-of-factly (liked we had talked about it before) that Baby was moving to the other foster home to be with brother. That caught us off-gaurd and kind of hurt my feelings. That family watched her while we were on the cruise and it went well. We got a call yesterday that the move could happen as soon as tomorrow! The timeline we thought we were working with was at the end of summer. When things like this happen, we know that God has all of this in the palm of His hand and we have been giving it to Him in prayer constantly. Our fleshly side gets stirred up, however, because in classes they speak like we are all a team but it really just feels like we get our marching orders and are allowed no opinion for a child that's been a part of our family for 5 months. We are trying to be positive and supress these feeling, knowing that God knows all--her future, our future, our hearts, our anxieties and demands of summer, and the needs our own children have right now. It will be really sad to see her go; like when you finish a gripping novel--you feel lost for a day or so, reliving all that you just read but then you realize you have lots more free time and throw your efforts into something else. :) We love her and will still get to see her occasionally. We're not done fostering but we are going to take this summer to be the 4 of us again. I say all of this with the prediction that she will be moving tomorrow but nothing with DHS is ever 100% so we shall see.
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