Wednesday, May 23, 2012

Still Waiting...

Well we are about 2 weeks past our "45 days" it would take for them to write our homestudy, and still nothing.  I decided I needed to start reaching out just to make sure we are still on their radar and that our file did not get lost in the merger transition.  So I emailed them Sunday night and a lady did write back Monday morning that she has our file and it is going through a "file audit" to make sure it has everything it needs, and then they will set up an appointment where we would be officially licensed and put on the open list.  She said she had hopes of getting that file audit done on Monday and calling me as soon as it's done to set up the appointment, but I've learned, not so quickly, that I should not count on that being true.  As my friends in foster care would say "welcome to foster care!"  :)  To give our agency a break though, I know they are swamped with the merger just happening May 1st.  Also - God definitely knew what He was doing (once again) when He had us wait until school was out to be on the open list.  School is killing me this week, and I cannot imagine taking in any kids before school gets out.  So, all that to say...sorry I haven't updated the blog in a long time, but there hasn't been a whole lot of updates going on.  However, I have been having fun getting the "kid rooms" ready and so with that, I'm going to follow suit as some of my other foster friends have done and make a list of "Top 10 Things To Do When You Are Waiting For Kids."  Some of these I stole from these said lists, but here it goes...

1.  get kid rooms ready...we have 2 rooms that we have been working on.  We are done with the first, and in the process of the 2nd.  The first is more of a "big kid" room, and the 2nd will be more of a "baby/toddler" room...which could be a 2nd big kid room depending on who we get!  Here are before/after pics of the 1st room, I will post pics of the 2nd room once it is finished:
Before
After
Here are some of my favorite parts of the room...
 
sign with fun lamp
chalkboard doors with "art table"

painted boards with clothespins for hanging pictures, school work, etc.

2.  put new plants in the backyard
monkey grass, the dogs has pretty much left these alone

some sort of cool purple plant...the dogs tend to leave plants alone have tiny leaves

palm tree - dogs have not left this little guy alone...he's looking kinda sad

3.  get haircut
4.  change oil in your car
5.  do respite care for foster friends
6.  buy kid food!! 
am planning on making some freezer meals, but we'll see if that actually happens...it's a good thought though :)

7.  give dogs a bath

not a fan of baths

also not a fan of baths...sorry doggies!




8.  PINTEREST projects!!! yay for pinterest!
coasters made from tiles, scrapbook paper, and photos (couldn't get the picture to turn, and i'm tired of messing with it)
this was my favorite...i sent some to my mom for Mother's Day


Crayon Art for the kids' room



This is all you need! (and a blowdryer)



this is actually not pinterest...the idea/technique came from my crafty cousin!


9.  get as much sleep as possible = sleeping in until 11:00 on saturdays :)
10.  take a vacation!!  (we haven't done this yet...thinking about taking a small trip somewhere soon)

(sorry for all the pictures being sideways and weirdly placed...i'm getting super frustrated trying to fix this, so I'm quitting!!)

I'll update the blog with pics of the finished 2nd room, and hopefully the next time we'll at least be on the open list!!

Kristy