What's goin' on...?

Well again it’s been forever since I last posted, but I’m going to stop apologizing for that because apparently I’m not that sorry J  Honestly I get a little intimidated because I follow so many great blogs that I know that I could never measure up to their postings.  But that’s okay too.

So, this isn’t going to be too long because I’ll probably mostly likely not have more to update you with tomorrow.  But my main reason to blog today is to ask for prayers.  The kids have a court hearing tomorrow at 8:30AM.  This is another one of those permanency hearings, which is normal (I think?) since it will be 9 months exactly since they have been in care.  We were informed today that there will be a meeting before court tomorrow morning where all important people involved (CPS caseworker, CPS caseworker’s supervisor, the kids’ guardian ad litem, and I’m not sure who else….no, not us of course!  we are just the babysitters here people) are going to try to reach an agreement, that we don’t agree with J  I know, I know - welcome to foster care.  But it doesn’t mean we can’t pray and ask God to give those people wisdom and that the kids would receive justice in His eyes.  So…please pray for the meeting and court tomorrow.  I am nervous and anxious and sad for what we expect to hear tomorrow - we’ve been told that they will probably propose another transition schedule to be put into place.  Yes, another…did I tell you all about the first one?  I can’t remember.  It’s been a little bit of a rollercoaster as far as their case goes.  They had a return date set for Feb. 15^th, and we were given that date early-ish January.  Their caseworker gave us a transition schedule where they start with longer visits, then do an overnight, then do a weekend, then a return.  All of that was going to take 3-4 weeks if I remember correctly.  So then “something came up” and that transition got put on hold.  Then “it got resolved,” so we have just been waiting, in limbo sort of, to hear if the transition is back on.  Which leads me back to what we expect to hear tomorrow.  We aren’t sure if it will be another month long transition (I’ve heard that was a pretty long transition schedule), or a few days, or a few weeks, or maybe we won’t even know anything tomorrow.  Again - all we know is that we know NOTHING J    

The kids are doing great.  We are constantly shocked by how far they have come since coming into care.  It’s truly amazing.  Whenever we are going through a tough time or dealing with a tough behavior we can ALWAYS say “yeah but think about what it was like when they first came.”  Here are some of their favorites (isn’t this what parents do??):

Big Brother

·       racing game (Mario Kart Wii)

·       playing ipad games, mostly a motorcycle and “bear game”

·       anything that has to do with technology

·       pee wee sports (we finished up his first basketball season in February…he was an all star if I do say so myself)

·       chocolate milk

·       chocolate ice cream

·       climbing on things

·       being overly dramatic (so much emotion for such a little body…seriously)

·       donuts with dinosaur sprinkles

·       spiderman

·       telling stories

·       reading stories (he is super sad when he can’t read his book in his bed before sleep time)

·       hugs and tisses

·       bananas for school

Little Mama

·       her hair with yarn extensions that are twirl-able

·       watching finding nemo on the ipad (every. single. time. and yes we do get a lot of ipad time on hair days)

·       talking about monsters, but also she hates them

·       not pee wee sports (she did basketball this time since she was old enough and she did much better by the end, but I’m not sure I see her playing sports…but she’s also 3)

·       attention

·       pink

·       trying on shoes 

·       dress up (especially in kiki's shoes and scarves)

·       babies

·       corn dogs

·       edamame

·       helping (or running things, whatever you wanna call it)

·       when Dave pats her back at bedtime after she’s had a “good day at school”

·       hugs and kisses

·       bananas for school

 We love them so incredibly much.  I don’t know how to do the next part.  Right now my plan is just not to think about it.  Which is probably a good thing for everyone right now, but I know I’ll have to face it at some point.  Luckily our backyard is being demolished (again) so maybe there will be some projects in our future to distract us from the next part too. 

 Love you guys and thanks for the prayers!

Kristy

tap the breaks, please

It's coming.  The day they will leave our house is coming and I can't do anything about it to push it back.  Yes, it is still foster care, and still ANYTHING can happen.  But according to CPS, the day is coming soon....possibly January, which I'm telling myself DOES NOT start tomorrow. 

So after their court date, they had what is called a permanancy conference.  In a nutshell, at the conference, we were informed that mom is doing very well (according to the state, who happens to have very different standards than we do) and that they will look at returning the kids home with her after the holidays, sometime in January.  Wow - it's so hard to even type that.  It just makes is so much more real, as I just try not to think about it most of the time.

We have known from day 1 that this was coming, but now that it's here, I just want to slow down time.  I haven't taken down "Christmas" yet at our house because maybe that means "the holidays" aren't over yet.  (and maybe partly because we just got back in town from Houston on Saturday...but the thought has crossed my mind that if I just leave them up, I can prevent them from leaving)  But I just have to keep reminding myself that no matter how much time or effort we put into these kids, we are not the ones that will save them, or protect them.  God is their only hope.  And my presence does not bring significance, only God's.  Our sermon yesterday spoke on Haggai 2, where God's people were rebuilding the temple and were discouraged by how it was no comparison to the original.  And God reminded them that it didn't matter how it looked or how much gold or silver it had.  What mattered was His presence and the fact that He was with them.  Dave and I can provide these kids things like new clothes, a nice house, healthy food, cool toys, etc.  But all that stuff doesn't matter.  God is what matters and what He give us matters - salvation.  And just because they leave this house, it doesn't mean God leaves their lives.  God is with them, just like He was in the new temple.

v.6-9: "This is what the Lord Almighty says: 'In a little while I will once more shake the heavens and the earth the sea and the dry land.  I will shake all the nations, and what is desired by all nations will come, and I will fill this house with glory,' says the Lord Almighty.  'The silver is mine and the gold is mine,' declares the Lord Almighty. 'The glory of this present house will be greater than the glory of the former house,' says the Lord Almighty. 'And in this place I will grant peace,' declares the Lord Almighty. "

Another thing Haggai told them was that they didn't need to sugar coat their disappointment or hide their sadness and mourning of the old temple.  I think we do that all the time.  We try to turn a bad situation good, or we look at "the bright side" of things.  Not that that's a bad thing, but sometimes I think it's okay to recognize our crappy situations or whatever life throws at us.  I think it makes us focus more on the eternal and what God has done for us.  One thing I have learned about being a foster parent is that it truly is crappy.  I don't know why anyone would sign up for this.  The state says "here, take these kids, love them, keep them save and healthy (oh and you and your house have to pass multiple inspections in order to take these kids), and we'll take them back when their bio family is doing what they are supposed to, or wait, maybe just showing an interest in what they are supposed to be doing."  It's so insanely crazy.  We are going to be left sad and alone and worried for these kids.  There's not a whole lot of "brightness" to this situation.  I am not ready for this.  I'm not ready to let them go and maybe never see them again.  I'm sure you never can be "ready," no matter how hard of a road it's been...and trust me, it's been hard.  But man will we miss them.  I can't type all the things we will miss about them...as I'm sitting in Starbucks and don't want people to stare at my weeping.

I guess it's a good thing I'm not one of those people that "could never do this, because it would hurt too much when they left."  I guess since we are doing this, the whole sending them home thing will be cake though, right??  I think I will start anwering the question, "so will it be hard to send them home?" with a "nah, piece of cake."  No offense if you've ever said or thought that...I'm just trying to look at the "bright side."  :)  I know most people cannot even relate to what we are doing and sometimes you just don't know what to say...I actually love talking about it and love that we do this...most of the time anyways...so I'm glad you are at least asking!  But yes, it will be hard....it will be more than hard.  It will be excrutiating, maybe the hardest thing I've ever done.  But that doesn't mean we won't do it again, and again, and again.  Because I don't think God calls us to do things that are always easy.  I think He calls us to do things that glorify Him, and I just pray and hope that we have brought glory to Him in caring for these kids.
  

Update-ish

Hi!  I've been getting a lot of questions about how court went...which is great because that means 1 - you read my last blog (thank you!) and 2 - you probably said a prayer for the kiddos (thank you!!).  So...I'm updating you to tell you we don't have an update yet :(  We (Dave) had originally planned on going to court (which is allowed, but not required), but were discouraged from going from both their CPS caseworker and ours.  Now that we haven't heard anything, I think if we had to do it over again we would probably go because I'm very curious as to what all was said.  But oh well...we'll learn from this!  I also learned that CPS caseworkers generally always discourage foster parents from going to court cases...because let's be honest, we're just the babysitters, right??  He did however encourage us to go to their permanancy conference, which from what I understand, is more informal and more of a meeting where everyone gets to participate - so Dave could give input if needed.  He said that would be happening soon, but did not give us a date.  He (and by 'he' I'm referring to their CPS caseworker) said that this hearing was really just to talk about birth mom's progress and not to talk about a return yet, or what that would look like.  He did tell Dave at their last visit that he probably wouldn't recommend return until at least February...which we were very relieved to hear.  It also means that it APPEARS that we will have a kid-filled Christmas - yay!  But again...it's foster care, so you should probably just delete that sentence from your memory because ANYTHING CAN HAPPEN :)  So...I did email OUR caseworker and asked her to get a report for us, but that has not been sent to us yet.  If we get that and there is anything to update about, I will certainly let everyone know!!  Thanks so much for caring and for praying and for asking....I really appreciate it!

Also - who told brother that I wrote a blog about her hair getting easier??  Because here is what her hair looked like when I picked them up from daycare the day I wrote that post and according to sister, brother was the culprit:

in case you can't tell, that is sand-like
 dirt and grass all up in there

So...our past 2 evenings have been all about taking out that style, washing, rewashing, parting, and doing a new style.  I had to know this was coming some day - what little kids don't play in dirt??

Birthday parties, hair, growth, and prayers

I know, this is a super random blog title, but it's what has been going on in our house the past few months.  We celebrated both birthdays since my last post - sister's was in October and brother's was just yesterday.  I'm glad that they are finally different ages again.  It was really weird answering the question "How old are they?" during that 2 month period when they were both 3.  We did park birthday parties for both (only in Texas can you do a December birthday party at the park), and I think they both really enjoyed it.  I did mostly fight the "urge" to go all out and do a cute, themed birthday party....even though he did request a Spider-Man party so that included Spider-Man-ish cupcakes and some Spider-Man napkins from Party City.  The one thing that took a little bit of time was I did make a "Happy Birthday ____" banner for each of them.  And we didn't even get to hang hers up at her party because we didn't get the pavilion that we were hoping to reserve and there was no where really to hang it.  Apparently I also only pick super windy days to have birthday parties, so even though we did hang up his birthday banner it was flapping all over the place and you couldn't really read it.  All this to say is I've now learned that our birthday parties from here on out will indeed have a theme - "less is more." (actually that's a name of a friend's blog...great name I might add!)

Ok, so on to "hair."  It is getting easier!!  No, I didn't say "easy."  I said "easier."  It still takes me a good 2 hours to just style the hair.  That doesn't include the time it takes to take the previous style out the night before.  So, it does take up a lot of our Saturdays (usually that 2 hours is spread out with a few breaks, because getting a 3 year old to sit still for 2 hours is no fun for anyone).  I am super thankful for 2 things when it comes to hair because without them, I would be lost - first is her daycare teacher who will do her hair when I just don't have the time (busy weekend, or on a weekday if her previous style is looking rough), and second is a blog that has saved her hairs life - www.chocolatehairvanillacare.com.  If anyone is doing chocolate hair, I definitely recommend this site, and from what I can tell from her followers, it's not just vanilla ladies out there following her.  She's pretty amazing when it comes to knowledge of how to care for and style "chocolate hair."  I usually stick to the basics and part her hair in sections, rubber band them, and then put twists in with clips at the end, but I have been getting a bit more adventurous in my styles.  For family pictures I just had to try something different, so I did flat rope twists, which probably mean nothing to most of you, but just think an easier version of cornrowing.  It turned out good enough to keep for family pictures, but it didn't last long.  The best part of that whole style was that at the visit that week, the mom told Dave that I would have to teach her how to do that style....what???  I may have finally earned some street cred, I dunno. 

The last 2 thoughts will have to be quick as I need to go wake the little ones up in about 5 minutes.  Growth - Dave and I love to sit and talk about how far they've come.  We got a date night the other night and it was so fun to talk about what they "knew" when they came, and what they know now.  It's just crazy amazing.  These kids have grown so much, physically, mentally, spiritually, socially.  It's so good to think about where they came from because then it makes whatever we are dealing with at the moment sooooo much LESS, because we can say "well at least they aren't doing ____ like they did when they first came."  And I'm not saying this to make us look awesome, because we're just not.  I think they would grow just as much anywhere else....well not anywhere obviously, but you know.  It just shows that they weren't getting all the basics that you truly need - love, conversation, routine, consequences, and most importantly Jesus.

Ok last and certainly not least - their court date is TODAY, so please pray!  From their caseworker's report, it seems that this one is maybe not as big as we had thought as far as discussing their return and what that's going to look like, but I'm still nervous and anxious to hear what goes on...and I understand that it's foster care and anything can happen.  I will write a quick update after today to let everyone know what did, or didn't, happen. 

Thanks for reading!!

Kristy 

Long overdue

Okay I first want to apologize...this post is way long overdue and people have been asking me to write another post for a LONG time now!  I haven't made a post in such a long time for several reasons - #1  BUSY and feeling in-over-my-head now that school has started for me and #2 - I honestly have struggled with what I would write about as our experience has been very challenging for me and #3 - just being lazy and avoiding something I know I should do.  Ok, so wow....where to start??

The last time I wrote, I think the kids had been with us for 2 weeks...well tomorrow will be 15 weeks, or 3 1/2 months.  Even as I sit here and think about what to say about them and us, I struggle.  Of course we love them and they have taught us so much, but it has not been easy.  So, I will just speak what's on my heart and hopefully you can get the picture. 

These kids are great, seriously...GREAT kids.  I can't imagine what they have been through...being yanked from their family, put in a stranger's home (who happens to not be the same color you are - so looks completely different, has COMPLETELY different routines, eats different things, etc.), and forced to adjust to a new way of living.  Seriously...can't even imagine.  Dave brought it to my attention for the first time a few weeks ago...our first memories were somewhere between 3 and 4 years old...maybe even closer to 5 with me.  Which means, they may not even remember us, specifically.  I do wonder if they will remember more vividly the details since it is related to a trauma in their life, but what exactly will they remember?  Our names?  What we look like?  The dogs (and ALL their licks!!)?  Our house?  Their rooms?  Timeouts spent in those rooms?  What it feels like to live in a (moderately) clean home, and wear clean clothes, and BE clean?  Certain foods (they LOVE to eat edamame...pretty sure they are not going to be eatin' edamame when they go home :) but who knows??)?  Church?  Praying before meals and before bedtime?  Acting out Bible stories on the felt board (thanks Jan!)?  Who God is?  Reading stories on the couch before bedtime?  There is a good chance they won't remember the details...but we do hope and pray that somewhere along the way we have taught them (really God has used us to teach them) some important ideas - how to be kind to each other,  how to love people (and animals), how to love and obey God, how to follow rules and accept consequences when you break them, and how to pop edamame beans out of the pod :)  It's just so weird and crazy and sad to think that we have no idea what all they will remember, if anything...and if I'm real honest, it adds to other things that make it hard to "finish strong" since we are pretty sure they are going home, possibly soon-ish. 

Ok, back to my first thought (this is what happens when you don't write anything in 3 months) - these kids are GREAT and have been a HUGE blessing in our lives.  However...they are still 2 and 3 (really almost 3 and 4).  And they are VERY strong willed children...her more so than him.  They have been very challenging at times to parent.  One of the hardest things for me is that I hear my friends, who have similar age kids, saying their kids are doing very similar things - so I proceed to treat them, and discipline them, the same as those kids who have experienced no trauma, had healthy pre-natal care, healthy births, nurturing first few years of life, etc.  And attached to that, and probably the bigger issue, I have the same expectations as a parent would have of their kids whom they've parented since day 1 of their life.  I went to a conference last Saturday that reminded me that these kids don't have all that.  Their brain responds differently and they act differently because of that.  I felt much like I do after going to an awesome training on Autism or how to be a better teacher - refreshed, rejuvenated, remembering why I started teaching in the first place, and ready to go back to my classroom and get started on all these new ideas (or remembering to implement ones I've already learned).  It was such a good refresher and a good reminder to give them more grace, more nurture, and more love. I feel in a way that I've failed these kids in some of those ways.  Not that they don't need structure and rules, and need to learn the VERY important concept of consequences and how to obey...but it's just finding that balance that sometimes I feel like I lost at some point along the way.  And maybe that's how it is with all parents - it's HARD.  And I blame pinterest and facebook and myself for making me think it was going to be anything but that.  I love my friends and their cute, silly, fun-having posts and pics with their kids, but man it is NOT all fun and games.  My good friend, and fellow foster mom, Rachel reminded me that I was crazy for ever thinking it was always going to be fun...I believe her exact words were, "WHAT??  Who ever told you that??  Cuz they are liars.  I certainly did not tell you that!!"  I'm thankful that I have friends who bring me back to reality and am even more thankful that I know and trust a God who doesn't promise "fun" or "happiness" but DOES promise struggles, blessings (which could be your struggles), growth, eternal riches, and the glorifying of HIS name, not mine. 

All this to say - it hasn't been easy, and God is certainly changing and growing me (which is probably never easy), but it has been wonderful to serve God through these kids and I pray that in the end, God will be proud of how we loved them and how we taught them about who He is and how much He loves them...which is far greater than any amount of love that I can show them, and that is why I will trust Him when they go home...because I know that He loves them and can protect them FAR greater than I can.

So here's an attempt hit the highlights of the past 3 months...

• summer was great...maybe I'm just saying that now that I've been in school for a while and it's just much more to try to handle...but I had "fun" staying home with them - particularly doing things like riding the DART train to the zoo, traveling to Houston to visit my family, swimming, playdates, staying in pajamas until noon, and being able to workout (we found out that it's FREE for us to take them to the gym and have them play while we workout...score!) whenever I wanted.  
• working and being a mom is hard...thankfully, I have a WONDERFULLY HELPFUL husband who knows how to help and knows what I need...I think things will get easier once we hire a cleaning lady (hun, by the way, I think we should hire a cleaning lady, no?) 
• daycare = sick kids...they have had a constant stream of snot for the 6 weeks they have been in daycare; they have taken 3 of my 5 sick days that I'm allotted each year as a teacher...1 of which is today...after being on antibiotics for strep throat for 8 days, the daycare called this morning to say she has a fever :(  it's been "fun" to figure out sick kids when working...although I will say having 1 sick one at home is wayyyyyy easier than 2 sick ones
• visits are going pretty well...we have come to the conclusion that their CPS caseworker is "seeing rainbows" but we are new to this so we also know that we have no idea how it all works and that anything can happen at any time...their next court date is early December and "if mom keeps it up, they see it moving pretty quickly"
• I get to plan my first kid birthday party!!  Little mamma's birthday is October 15. **warning for those that are coming - there will be no frills or thrills - we are keeping it low key...as much "fun" as it would be to compete with the pinterest and facebook moms in the "who can throw the most elaborate, fun, cute, DIY toddler birthday party" contest...I know with me working, it would just completely stress me out and I'd be up all night the night before.  So...we are having it a park and we will eat and play - on the playground equipment that is already there and is free to use and that the kids love to play on (but WHY do I still have this itch to create fun little kid birthday party activities and games??  okay, maybe there will be ONE organized game....and WHY am I still searching pinterest for cute party favors that will take hours to make and minutes to be tossed in the trash??  THAT'S CRAZY, right??)
• big brother's favorite song right now is one he learned at church (don't even know the name of it, but you all know how it goes) - "my God is so BIG, so STRONG, and so MIGHTY there's nothing my God cannot do" - love that he will just break out singing this song at any moment
• big brother has also started pee wee soccer - so cute!  he is no doubt an athlete and he really enjoys it (although we've only made it 1 out of the 2 weeks)...Dave and I also are the "coaches" so that has been "fun" (again, for the 1 week we have done it); basketball starts in December, and she will be 3, so they could both do that if they wanted
• we're thinking about doing Halloween with some friends who have 2 2-year olds and they will all be characters of the Backyardigans...so cute!  My dogs have already thanked the kids for being here and saving them from having to be dressed up to fulfill a mommy itch :)  But don't you worry Rox and Clark...I haven't forgotten about you (even though it may seem like that with 0 trips to the dog park and only a handful of walks since June 20)...there WILL be dog costumes too!!!

     Well, I think nap time is about over and we need to go pick up brother from daycare.  My goal for the rest of the day is to keep them "separated" so that he doesn't get whatever she has - this should be "FUN"!!!

Also - a friend shared this blog post with me a while back and although I can't relate to everything....it gives a good "picture" of what I am feeling most of the time and she says it way better than I ever could.  So...if you've got another couple of minutes please check out this, as it gives a little more light on what it's like here in the Blevins' home these days:

http://jenhatmaker.com/blog/2012/08/21/the-truth-about-adoption-one-year-later

Thanks for reading and I do intend to post more often than every 3 months :)

Kristy

and so it begins...

Well it took 2 weeks to the day to get our first placement.  We are now caring for a 3 1/2 year old boy and his 2 1/2 year old sister (who we will call Jr and Sissy for privacy issues).  And it has been quite a week!  First, let me say that we are overwhelmed (in a good way) with all the support we have received from our church, friends, and family.  We are involved in the Orphan Care Ministry at our church and we have had people we don't even know just drop things off on our doorstep, packages mailed to the kids....it has been truly amazing to see God work through everyone that has supported us.  We have people praying for us, meals being brought to us, and everything the kids could possibly need and more being donated...we are so blessed to have such a great community!!  We have truly experienced God taking care of our every need!

Ok, so on to the kids...

They are precious.  It's probably a lot easier for me to say that right now as they are both napping....as opposed to being woken up in the middle of the night to un-consolable crying :)  Just kidding, they are truly wonderful.  I can't even imagine how hard it is to go through what they have gone through.  Then to be put into a house with a "schedule" and being told to follow a "routine," with things like "rest time" and "eating at the table."  They have really done a great job adjusting to structure...lucky (or maybe un-lucky) for them they were placed in the house of a Kindergarten teacher, with maybe too much structure :)  And it's not just the kids that are doing the adjusting around here...the adults and doggies are adjusting right along with them!  We have had our "what in the world have we done??" moments, and judging by these pictures, so have the dogs...

Clark? Are you still alive??



I know Rox, me too...me too


Here are just a few of the highlights, and "low-lights," of our week (FYI it is now bedtime...I'm also adjusting to my snipits of peace and quiet where I can do things like write a blog...so this could be brief):

HIGHLIGHTS:
1.  the best part of my day is when Dave gets home from work and both kids drop whatever they are doing and run (and jump) into his arms...this is pure awesomeness for so many reasons, but mainly I'm just so happy that they have an adult male in their life that loves them and cares for them the way he does
2.  my new nickname, KiKi...which was given on Day 2 when I was tired of being "HEY!" because they couldn't say "Kristy"...also, Jr. pronounces his /k/'s as /t/'s and so it's "TeeTee" to him; Dave once tried to call me "TeeTee in front of him, to which Jr. yelled "NO! it's TEE-TEE!!"  Lol....love it
3.  seeing how much they have learned, or picked up on, in just 1 week...they are learning how to count, name colors, sing kid songs, say prayers, share their toys, LISTEN and obey "TeeTee"....they are really picking up quickly for only being here a week....even their CPS case manager commented on that today
4.  being able to stay home with them for 2 weeks and build a strong bond and relationship to them...and have play dates with friends...and I finally have an excuse to try all the pinterest "activities" that are pinned on my "kids" board :)
5.  exposing them to new foods, places, people who care about them, and a different of living (it's just crazy what kinds of food they don't even know the name of)
6.  seeing their great big smiles and knowing there is a fun, loving, playful attitude inside both of them, even though sometimes they have to be too tough to show us that side of them
7.  realizing that even though they can be tough to handle at times, i am loving them more and more each day
8.  getting to parent with my wonderful husband...it is truly a blast, and i don't know how people do it alone
9.  even though we haven't done a lot of this yet because we truly are just trying to survive this adjustment period, I know the best part of this all will be teaching them about Jesus and how much God loves them...they already show excitement and interest in praying as they are beginning to repeat our prayers (literally, as we are saying them) that we say at meal time and bedtime

I know I could think of more, but after going to bed last night at 4AM due to a trip to the ER (Jr had an asthma attack) and the stress of their first "visit day" today, my mind is a little shot.  So, briefly, here is what is the not-so-fun side of fostering...some of which we knew to expect, but most not the extent that we have discovered:

LOWLIGHTS:
1.  speaking of visit day - visit day really stinks; I took them for the first time today, and it is nothing but uncomfortable, awkward, and awful.  The kids have no idea what is going on and why they got to see their mom, aunt, and grandma for 1 hour today, and why they can't go back home after this visit.  The mom needs someone to blame right now, so of course that is me right now and makes for a super uncomfortable time of dropping off and picking up the kids at the CPS office.  Visit day really just magnifies all the brokenness that is foster care, and it ain't at all pretty.  FYI, as far as we know these kids will see their mom once a week and their plan is reunification - which is usually the plan for kids entering the system...they have a court date set for Monday, so we may know more of how it looks after that...but then again, probably not.
2.  bedtime - i'm sure this is a struggle for most parents, but it's so hard to find the balance between establishing boundaries or rules and comforting them when they truly are just missing their home in this situation (Jr has a pretty hard time being alone at night, or anytime really)
3.  my nickname Kiki - when Sissy says it 57 times in 1 minute
4.  introducing structure to kids who have had zero structure....this can be very draining
5.  trying to set up doctor appointments, dentist appointments, and figuring out daycare all in 2 weeks...ahhhh! 
6. hopefully this will turn into a highlight, but for now - learning how to take care of their skin, but more importantly and wayyyyy more stresseful HER hair.  my heart starts beating a little faster when we walk by an African American woman when we are out in public...I just want to tell her - "I promise I'm trying!!  I've read blogs and watched YouTube videos....I'll get better!!"


Mainly we just feel really blessed to be able to parent these kids for however long God would have us do that.  We know we have a lot to learn, and I'm so thankful for great friends who have walked this road before us and can give us support and advice when we need it.  I wonder how many times I will say this throughout this blog, but we could not do this without our community supporting us and just showing up.  God is so good, and it's been an amazing experience so far.

Love you guys!

Kristy

OPEN!!

Well we are officially open!!  We went and signed the final document on Monday afternoon and they even gave us an official plaque to hang on the wall.  She said it takes about a day for the paperwork to go through, so yesterday was our first official day to be on "the list"....which also happened to be our anniversary.  So that was definitely a special anniversary  for us!  I've had a ton of fun in our first 3 years of marriage, and I'm excited to see what God has in store for us next!

So what is next?  More waiting...yay!  The average time for families to get a call is 2-3 weeks, but really there is no telling.  In the meantime, I am enjoying being off for a few weeks before I start working HEROES camp that I work at in the summer.  We are also working on getting that 2nd room ready.  It is all painted and we are just working on filling it and decorating, so I will post pictures when it's ready.  If any one knows of a place where I can get yellow/grey crib bedding, let me know :)  My cousin was super generous in donating her crib, rocker, high chair, and tons of other things!  We are so thankful for her and her desire to care for orphans by supporting us...as well as others who have generously donated their things as well!  Again, we could not to this without our community...we are so blessed!

So I guess my next post could be after we have kids in our home...kinda crazy!  Talk to y'all soon!

Kristy