The family's growing fast!

Oh my gosh, it's been so long since I wrote anything. We are all getting ready for Santa. It doesn't really feel like Christmas without snow but both DH and I are excited about Santa coming. Little Prince still wants a "horse-with-a-long-neck" (aka; giraffe) and toys. I happen to know he's getting a 4ft giraffe! Princess is getting her share of presents also. We simply can't wait!

We have two new additions to our family. Six month twin girls! The agency called us a week ago Tuesday, around 10am and asked us to pick them up at 1:00 from the local office. As luck would have it, I was at work and DH was at home with LP and Princess. Because he couldn't fit our two plus the babies in the car, I was going to leave work long enough to meet him at the office and get everyone home. Well, nothing could be that simple... It turns out something happened at the office and DH was told he would have to pick them up in a little town about a hour north of us. I couldn't leave work for that long! He had to ask our neighbor to come over to watch the kids so he could drive to get the girls. When he got there, the caseworker informed him that they wanted to take the babies to be checked out by a doctor and DH could pick them up at about 2:45. Mean while, I left work to get baby supplies like diapers, formula, bottles, etc. I was like a confused, new mom. I had to guess at the diaper size (I guessed right). I also guessed at the formula type which was wrong. I bought regular Similac and they actually needed sensitive. We only gave them one day of the regular and knew we had to buy the sensitive. They also came with bad colds and a bottle of Amoxicilin. They were both suppose to be on the antibiotic but "mom" could only get one filled. I know it against the law blah blah blah but I split the bottle between the two of them to try to make it for the next six days. It didn't stretch that far. Now I have a feeling I'm going to have to take them to a doctor for another prescription.

They are good babies even if they are sick. Little Prince seems to like them and wants to help with everything he can. He is acting out a little by not listening to what we tell him but that's understandable. Princess seems to care less. She did notice them the other day, while they were having "tummy time" on the floor. She sat down by one of them with a big smile on her face. Every thing was fine until she stuck her feet in the baby's face. The only time LP gets jealous is when I'm feeding one of them and he can't sit on my lap. I let him sit by me any other time I'm holding one of them but it's too hard when I'm feeding them. He is helpful when they are crying by putting their pacifiers back in their mouths or covering them up with a blanket.

We should be moved into the other house by the end of next week. We received the keys and signed all the paper work earlier this week. Little Prince still hasn't decided which room he wants so we are going to decide for him and pick the blue room. I thought Little Prince finally realized that we were all moving but when we were in the car together, driving to get the keys, I told him we were going to the new house and he told me he was going to miss me. I said "honey, you don't have to miss me, we are all going to be living together". I guess once we are moved he will understand.

Princess has been acting out also but more in the way of whinning when we tell her not to do something or to do something like go to the bathroom or go play in her room she cries. She has done backwards with potty training. We have gone through so many pullups it ain't funny. Hopefully after we move we can get back into a routine with her. I think we will pick the mint green room for Princess. It's has teddy bear border which kind of fits whats in her room now.

We have no idea what room the babies will be in. I hate the thought of them being upstairs and us down stairs but we will put a monitor in their room so we can hear them. I'm a pretty light sleeper but I don't look forward to running up and down the stairs every time they cough or cry!

I have a feeling I won't get to write until after the holidays but I hope everyone has a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!

Away from the family and missing them lots

It's been a long five days away from the family. I had to go out of town for work but it was also fun. I talked to Little Prince everyday, if not twice a day.

This morning he asked me if I was on my airplane yet, "no, not yet". I only talk to him for a few minutes but he would tell me he's being good or he told me he was watching a movie and what movie. One day he told me he was pooping in the potty! DH has told me Little Prince has made it to the potty every time except one. He even told DH he had to go when he had diarrhea. We are so proud of him. One day DH told him he was so proud of him and he responded "so proud you cry?" I asked DH why he would say that. DH had told Little Prince, days earlier that he made him so happy that he could cry. It's amazing what he thinks and puts together and some of the things that comes of out of his mouth like; he was telling me "poop came out of my butt down there!".

DH has been asking him what he wants Santa Claus to bring him. He wants a horsey-with-a-long-neck (giraffe). But the other day he said the same thing but added a toy box. DH thought he said tool box but Little Prince said "no, toy box like _____ (princesses). He has a little one but I guess he's planning for more toys! We have already started Christmas shopping quite a while ago. The bigger items are a tricycle for him, a little bicycle for her and a sled/toboggan for the both of them. We have also bought them puzzled and more educational type toys. They will be having a very good Christmas.

We are sure Princess will have a good Christmas also but we can not be sure what she wants. She has been acting a little beyond her norm. She's wetting her pullups a lot and not going potty when we put her on the potty. She still goes into the bathroom herself if she has to have a bowel movement but wetting is a different story. Maybe she has a bladder infection or she is being effected by us moving, into another house, more than what we think. We can't really tell how much she understands or how much something is going to effect her. The morning I flew out, I was getting her ready for school and I gave her a big hug and told her I was going to be gone for a few days but that I would be back. She gave me a kiss and a hug (sometimes done to make me stop talking). But when I took her to to school, she didn't want to get out of the car and didn't want to go with her teacher. She actually hugged me and buried her head in my shoulder. I tried to get her to go with her teacher, finally the teacher had to pick her up and carry her into the school. Was it because she knew I was leaving?

I will be so glad to be home. The second half of our group's flight was cancelled on the way down here, so we had to rent a car and drive about three hours. Now we are trying to get out of here and before we even left the hotel, we were told our flight was delayed by an hour. When we got to the airport Delta transferred us to American so we could get home at a decent hour. Delta was very helpful, keeping us together and we are only getting home about an hour and half later than originally planned. If we would have continued with Delta, we would have missed our connecting flight and probably would have gotten home much later.

That's Nasty too.

The word "Nasty" can refer to all kinds of things. Little Prince calls food he doesn't like - nasty, or messy stuff - nasty and anything he thinks looks weird is "nasty". Well the other day, DH and Little Prince come home after taking Princess to school. Little Prince went running for the door but DH said "wait while Daddy finishes his nasty (meaning cigarette). So, they walked around for a few minutes, looking for some trim, in the garage. After about two minutes, Little Prince looked up at DH and asked "are you done pooping, Daddy?" DH told him that Daddy didn't poop and Little Prince said "_(I)_ didn't poop either". I couldn't stop laugh when DH told me that. You wouldn't believe what comes out of his mouth sometimes.

Little Prince still has it in the back of his mind that we are either moving without him or he's moving without us. This morning DH packed up most of his closet (I haven't started on mine!). Little Prince asked him what he was doing and DH told him he was packing his cloths so we can move to the new house. DH looked down at LP and he was standing there with his little lip sticking out - pouting. DH told him we are not moving without him and he brighten right up. I don't think LP will feel comfortable until we are all moved. Then we will have to deal with foster kids coming and going. We are hoping that LP understands that when the kids leave that he won't be leaving.

The court appointed person for the kids, asked us if we had started the adoption process. We haven't yet. Actually, I think we will wait until the termination of parental rights are done before we proceed. We have no doubt that we will be adopting them but the kid's therapist brought up a good point; sometimes if the adoption process has been started before TPR, the courts look at it as if the foster parents and the county are not for reunification. We are not really in any hurry right now anyway. As far as we are concerned, they are our children already.

We have already started Christmas shopping. We bought quite a few puzzles and educational games and toys. Since Princess likes music, we bought a set of music makers too. Oh, and DH order Princess a tricycle! When she started school, she couldn't ride at all, then she could peddle but not steer. Now she takes off and you practically have to jog to keep up with her. We didn't know her progress until her teacher let us borrow a tricycle for the weekend. She had a ball, riding up and down the sidewalk. We don't think LP will have a problem once he has one that he can reach the peddles! I told DH we can get him one and put blocks on the peddles until he grows a little more.

ASL sign language

Look up a sign.

Kids Eat Free Site..

I just found this site that tells you what restaurants have "kids eat free"by your zip code!

No New Mommy!

You know from my last entry that we will be moving into a bigger house with more than enough room for more children. Well, while we were looking at the house, I asked Little Prince which room he wanted for his room. He kept saying "no" to every room I asked him about even though three of the rooms were decorated in small children themes. I thought; no big deal, he can pick later.

As DH was in talking to Linda, I put the kids into their car seats. Little Prince told me he wanted a new mommy. I asked him what he said and he said it again but wouldn't tell me why. He actually told me to go away and he wanted a new mommy! I tried not to let it bother me but it hurt me for him to say that. And yes, I know he's only two but it still hurt. When DH got out to the car I told him what Little Prince had said. DH asked him about it and when LP reiterated what he had told me, DH told him that wasn't very nice. We decided to drop it because maybe LP didn't know what he was saying.

The next day, Little Prince was talking about not having his TV anymore, his movies anymore and so on. As he's talking to us about this, it dawned on DH, Little Prince thought he was leaving us and moving in with a new family! You should have seen the look on his face when DH and I told him we were all moving and that we will never send him away and we will always be his mommy and daddy. The smile on his face was priceless! For the last few days that's all he talks about..."I take my movies and Daddy and Mommy and "Princess" and ____ (insert pet names). This is going to work out so good. Little Prince will have children in a safe neighborhood to play with and have the experience of multiple brothers and sisters.

I thought once we told the agency we would take the house, we would be nervous but either one of us are having negative feelings. Like DH said, someone is looking over us up there. This is what we were meant to do. I always knew that there was a reason why we couldn't get pregnant, this must be it.

Too good?

We looked at a house today and have decided to move and sell our current house! It's a big decision but it's just too good to pass up. The house is almost twice as big as ours and has more than twice as many bedrooms and bathrooms. It will let us take in more foster children which is what we wanted to do but didn't have the room. I can't really write about the details but it is a real sweet deal.

The kids are doing real good. Princess is doing fine but we haven't heard her say anything for what seems like forever. Although, DH thought he heard her say "daddy" tonight but can't be sure. We started giving her sub lingual B12 everyday about two weeks ago. We haven't noticed any improvements but I figure it can take longer than two weeks. She does seems to be going into the bathroom more but still wets at least 2 to 3 pullups a day. She has also started throwing herself on the floor/ground more than she ever did. She doesn't really throw herself, more like drops herself. I think she expects us to hold her up and at first we were but not now. Both of us just lower her to the floor/ground and tell her to get up. Usually she gets right up. Today was kind of funny. I picked her up from school and she pulled the same thing. Well, she had her backpack on so when she went to the ground she looked like a turtle on it's back. She had to roll over and get on all fours to get back up! I didn't let her see me smile but it was pretty funny. When I told DH about it, he told me she did the same thing the other morning on the way to school.

Little Prince has been testing me like there's no tomorrow. He tells me "no" when I ask him to do something. He gets mad and throws stuff. He stomps his foot and yells. I was about in tears the other night. I know I shouldn't take it personal but he was really trying me. He doesn't do those things when DH is home, only when DH is at work. I know I just have to stand my ground and get past this time in his life. Linda, at the agency, told me to try "time in" instead of "time out". I started trying that today but didn't really get a chance to use it since both DH and I was off work. I love the little poop but boy he knows how to push my buttons. Oh, since the last entry, Little Prince has decided he prefers to poop and pee in his diaper rather than go in the potty. How do I know this?...he told me that today. I asked him if he was going to poop and pee in the potty and he told me "no, I poop and pee in my diaper". I asked him if he likes pooping and peeing in his diaper and he said "yup". I even asked him if he wanted to wear his big boy underwear and he told me he wanted to wear his diaper. I think he's back to wanting to be a baby again. DH are going to start watching what we say about being a baby and we are going to make a big deal about being a big boy. We give him lots of loves and snuggles but sometimes I think he wants to stay little.

Speaking of little, when I took them for their first doctor checkup, Little Prince is in the 10 percential for his height and 20% for weight. Princess is in the 40% for height and about the same for weight. What can I say...good things come in small packages!

I was doing fine, making my own bread until my breadmaker died. I wasn't happy. I poured in all the ingredients and then found out the motor burned out. I had to take everything out of the machine and put it in the Kitchenaid. I guessed on the mixing and then had to guess on the baking time. The bread didn't rise until it started baking. It looked good until I took it out of the oven. By the time it cooled down it looked like a brick and was about as heavy as one too. DH and I ran all over the place yesterday trying to find a bread machine. We finally found one at Bed Bath and Beyond. I have always liked that store.

Intellegent First Aid

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Much to tell...

Wow, I didn't realize that it's been almost two weeks since I wrote anything. Nothing much has changed. Princess has good days and bad. The last few days have been pretty good. She's been giving me a lot of attention with hugs, kisses and smiles. She's been using one of the magnet picture I put on the refrigerator. She wanted to play with the piano the other day and I told her she had to ask. So I showed her the music magnet. After that she would bring me the magnet a couple times a day to play on the piano. DH told me today that he bets she could be taught how to play. At first she just hit the keys with either her fingers or her arms but after I told her she had to use her fingers, that's all she did. Some other good things lately is she went to the potty at least three times yesterday without being asked and her and Little Prince have been watching movies and playing together nicely.

I peeked into his room one afternoon to see what they were doing. They were sitting in one bean bag together watching a movie. It was so cute. Then last evening I heard them giggling in her room and I went to check on them. He was laying on the floor and she was sitting on him. Usually it's the other way around. They wrestle together but usually he is the one that pulls her down and sits on her. She is definitely acting more like an older sister should. Little Prince gave her a kiss and a hug at bedtime and she smiled. In the past, she just layed there.

Little Prince has started this thing with not wanting to wear a diaper but he's not good enough about using the potty to wear big boy underware. It was so funny..a few days ago he said he had to go potty so we ran into the bathroom and I pulled down his pjs and took his dry diaper off to sit him up on the potty (chair on top). I told him to stay there until I came back. I was gone less than a minute when he met me in the hall with his pjs up. I asked him if he had a diaper on (like I didn't know the answer??). He said "No" and tore off toward the livingroom. He's fast and hard to catch. I picked him up and said "oh no you don't, you have to have a diaper on until you start telling me you have to go potty". I short time later he did the same thing! He so funny me makes us laugh a lot. He also amazes us about how much he remembers and the things he says.

Yesterday he was laying on the couch with me (I was unusually tired...other story), and he looked up at me, before he gave me a kiss, and said "I'm so happy". I thought that was amazing for a two year old to say. I just didn't expect it.

Wednesday I took both the kids to the zoo for treat or treat. We went with my friend, her husband and their little boy. We all had fun. Little Prince was a lion and Princess was a pumpkin. I wanted her to be a lamb or Dorothy but I couldn't find a costume. I was glad she wasn't Dorothy by the time we left the zoo. There were a lot of Dorothy's. The zoo was set up really neat. They had different areas set up with different themes. First there was Shreck and Theona. I don't remember the rest of the order but I got a picture of our little lion with some of the Wizard of Oz characters. I took lots of pictures to keep for the kids and to show DH since he was home sick. Little Prince wasn't scared of anyone. He would run right up to the characters with his bag open. He even walked right up to the Davey Jones Locker dude and he was kind of scary. The only thing that was kind of disappointing was they didn't get much candy. We thought that every character should have been giving out something but it was only about 10 booths that had anything. I don't think the kids cared, they don't usually get very much candy anyway and Princess doesn't get anything but an occasional sucker.

Princess is doing real good on the GFCF diet. I have gotten used to make my own bread and having home made pancakes in the freezer. One thing that we are concerned about is her elevated lead level. They had there first doctor check up a few days ago. The doctor was really nice and examined them thoroughly and also ran a CBC (blood test). They told me I could wait for the results but Princess was upset from the exam so we left. The nurse told me she would call only if they found something unusual. She called the house before I even got home. DH told me they found an elevated lead level. That 3.0 and under was perfect but Princess' level was 7.0. She also said they don't do anything until it's a 10. Does that make sense? Should we try to detox her ourselves or have her tested later? What if it's effecting her learning?

Let's keep it going

Princess has had three good days in a roll. She's even been giving me hugs and kisses. She's gone to the potty on her own several times. She still gets frustrated when we don't know what she wants. I either never noticed or she just started to forget her signs. She won't tell you what she wants whether it's a cookie or a drink. We are really starting to work on this since it can be very frustrating for both her and us. I made up some little picture squares to go along with the ones her teacher sent home. I then glued them to magnets to stick on the side of the frig. I'm going to start working with her tomorrow. I'm hoping she will point or even bring us a magnet when she wants something. I'm only starting with about a dozen basic needs. I will only work on a few at a time.

Something else we've been working on is Little Prince's potty training. I can't seem to get him to go the potty before goes in his diaper. When I do ask him if he has to go potty, he cries and says he's fine. Even when I try to change his diaper, he makes a fuss. He has never got in trouble for messing in his diaper so I don't understand what's changed. Tonight right before dinner, I asked him if he wanted his big boy pants on. I hung a pair above the toilet a couple days ago to remind him that they were there. He didn't want them on at first and kept saying "diaper" but finally I talked him into it. I thought it would be a good idea to have him go in the potty first but that didn't help. Half way through dinner he told me he was wet. We went into the bathroom and he tried to go in the potty and I put a clean/dry pair of underwear on him. After he had eaten all his dinner, no more than 30 minutes later, he told me he was wet. I admit, I got upset. How could he pee his pants again when he just went and didn't have anything to drink with dinner? This time I put a diaper on him and proceed to clean up the mess. He didn't just pee a little bit but a big puddle on the chair. I even had to wash the padding on his booster/high chair. I wonder if he just doesn't want to be considered a "big boy". Sometimes I think he wants to stay a baby. Maybe he's just not ready for potty training. We are going to continue to ask him to try to go in the toilet and maybe soon he will do it himself.

She's back?

Princess is having a great day today. She woke up when she wanted to and was in a good mood. She received something to drink and then went potty when she was asked. Then she was asked to get some socks from her room she left to get them. After a little while, DH went to check on her. She was sitting on the floor of her room, with her back to the door, putting on her socks. She already had a pair of shorts on (they were sitting on her vanity). DH went to her dresser, without her noticing, and got out a t-shirt and walked out. A little later Princess came out with the t-shirt on and her shoes on..the right feet no less!!

When I got home, Little Prince was engross in a TV show and didn't even notice I was home. It gave me a chance to change my clothes and give Princess some loves. She was full of smiles. I picked her up and she rubbed her cheek on my cheek. It was so sweet. She was laughing and hugging. I love it when she's like that. Little Prince noticed me during a commercial. I found out he had been watching Jurassic Park. Well anyway, I guess Princess is "back" or was she just having a good day.

She is still on the Amoxicillin so we were expecting she would be regressed until at least early next week but maybe, just maybe it wasn't the Amoxicillin. Maybe it was either the Motrin, fever, or did the daycare give her something again while she was there last Sunday?

The kids had to go to daycare for six hours Sunday morning. We really tried to work it out so they wouldn't have to go but DH needed some sleep and I had to work. Anyway, the daycare lady didn't seem as friendly as usual. Maybe she was just tired. Two of her own kids have been sick and she told me that she had spent the last few days on the couch. I guess we won't know exactly what caused the regression until maybe Princess gets sick again.

FRUSTRATION is the word of the day.

First; Princess has regressed back again. We are thinking it's because of the Amoxicillin or I guess it could be the Motrin. We really don't know what caused it, but it's not good. She sometimes looks at us like she doesn't even know us. She has forgot signs until we reminder her by asking what she wants and trying to guess. She's throwing fits and wakes up grouchy.

This morning I woke up to Little Prince giving me a kiss to wake me up. What a wonderful way to wake up. Princess was another story. We tried to wake her up slowly by turning on the hallway light, which shines into her room but not on her bed. She seemed to be waking up nicely until she actually got up. All she did was cry. I thought maybe she had to go potty but she cried the whole time she was on the potty and still didn't pee. We thought maybe she was thirsty..no, maybe hungry...no. In fact, she cried all the way through breakfast - sucking the syrup off her GFCF pancakes. Finally we had to head out the door for our long ride to their parental visit. Both of them were good almost the whole way.

Little Prince fell asleep until we got off the exit. For the first time ever, when he asked me if we were going to the store, I told him we were going to see his mommy. I shouldn't have done that. We got to the facility, that supervises the visits, and were told that last week was the last visit (second frustration). I called the kids case worker to find out what was going on. By this time I was steaming. Little Prince was crying and saying he wanted to see "mommy". I told him he could go home with me and see "daddy". He said "no". I shouldn't let a 2 year old hurt my feelings but it did. I got him into his car seat and he gave me a big hug.

Anyway, I called the case worker. I had already talked to her last week about this and was told the court was not taking way visitation or counseling. She confirmed the same thing she had told me last week which was totally different than the person that supervises the visits said. So as it stands right now, there are no more visits until we hear differently, either from the case worker or the foster agency.

By the time we got home, Little Prince was full of all kinds of kisses and Princess was ready to go to school. Everything worked out fine. The kids were exhausted by the end of the day and both of them went to bed right after their showers. I just hope their not up in the middle of the night.

The moral of this blog entry is for new foster parents. Confirm visits and if there is conflicting information, let the foster agency figure it out.

Sick again

Princess gave us quite a scare this morning. It actually started last night. She fell asleep on the couch around 6pm (before I got home). Around eight, DH carried her to bed. I really didn't think she would sleep all night. Before we went to bed about eleven, we checked on her. She seemed to be fine. She slept through dinner and we hadn't changed her into her PJ's. When DH and I went to bed, I made him a deal...if he got up with her in the middle of the night, I would let him sleep in this morning. She never woke up.

Little Prince came in our room at about 7:30 this morning and wanted his car we had to take away last night (different story). I got him something to drink and turned a movie on for him until I could fix breakfast. DH got up shortly after that and I told him we should check on Princess. She usually wakes right up or is already awake and hops out of bed to greet us..not this morning. She didn't want to stay awake and she certainly didn't want to get out of bed. I felt her for a fever but she didn't feel like she had one. Then I remembered what DH told me yesterday, she was flushed before she fell asleep and didn't want to eat a snack. Later she ate a little breakfast and I gave her a shower. She then fall asleep for over an hour in front of the TV (doesn't usually nap). We were hoping she wasn't getting sick.

Then in the afternoon, DH made a comment that I was probably going to end up in the ER later. Sure enough. Before he had to leave for work, we decided I had better take her to the emergency clinic up the street. Before we did that, we took her temperature it read 99.6, which I didn't think was right. She felt quite hot. When I got in to see the nurses, they took her temperature and it read 103.4!! They put a Tylenol suppository in while they were at it. She doesn't like anyone (including myself) touching any where down "there". They also swabbed her nose for the flu test. She began to calm down and stop crying then they came back to tell me the doctor wanted her tested for strep. We had to hold her down again and they swabbed her throat. Keep in mind, she doesn't like any of this and we had to wrap her in her blanket to restrain her. She was not happy! Well, both tests came back negative. The doctor looked in her ears (restrained again) and said the right ear looked a little red. The only thing he could find was maybe an ear infection and that's what she's being treated for. I have my doubts..I still think it's the flu. Many people have been sick for days before they test positive for the H1N1 and I think it might be the same for her. There are several people I know who have it. Two of the people I work with and one of thems whole family (two year old and 6 month old, along with hubby). I just hope she doesn't get worse. Scary stuff.

Feeling like a kid again

Princess seems to be saying bigger words. After DH gave Little Prince a cookie yesterday he said "yummy", then Princess took a bite and said "yummy"! She also said "bubble" while we were playing the blowing bubbles game.

The other day, I showed her how to stand on her head. I asked her to put her head down and put her arms out to the side. At first she had one hand right but the other one, she had the back of her hand against the floor, we fixed that. She couldn't balance very good but she got the idea. Then I remember when I was little I used to stand on my head against the wall. So I got her to do it against the wall, while I held her feet. We only did it a couple times and I figured I would try it at a later date. A couple days later, DH got my attention and told me to look in her room, she was trying to stand on her head against the crib! She was really trying. I was impressed, she remembered. More and more she seems to be getting better.

Little Prince is doing good with his ABC's. We sing the song every time were in the car and several times through out the day. When we get to the end we say "now I know my ABC's, next time won't you sing with ME". He always says "ME" really loud and then we go back and forth with each of us saying me. It's so funny. He misses a couple letters when he does it on his own but we've only been working on it a couple weeks. He also will tell you his name now. Before, when you asked him his name, he would say his sisters name. He's a smart little dude. He surprises me everyday.

Yesterday, DH was vacuuming the living room and Little Prince grabbed his bean bag and put it on the couch to get it out of the way, then went back for Princess' bean bag and moved it to the couch. I think that's pretty smart for a 2 year old. Oh, I don't think I told this before but he knows his right hand, leg, arm from his left! We ask him every once in a while where his right hand is but last night he ran into the wall with his arm. DH asked him if it was his right or left arm and he answered "left" and when showed him where it hurt.

We are going to start working more with both of them on their ABC's, numbers and colors.

Improvement coming, daycare going

For the most part, Princess is back on track. It took a couple days to get her back where she was...a couple of long days. Now we are working with her "telling" us what she wants. She knows a little sign language but doesn't really tell you what she wants. If she needs something, she usually starts fussing or gets mad. We gave her GFCF pancakes and a fried egg the last few mornings for breakfast. We taught her the sign for pancake this morning. She has also learned the sign for sandwich within the last few days. Anyway, a couple hours after breakfast, she started to fuss and I asked her what she wanted. She gave me the sign for pancake!! I was so surprised that she remembered. She doesn't sign it perfect but she got the point across. She also signed the sign for sandwich at lunch time. I asked her if she wanted PB&J for lunch and showed her the sandwich sign and she did it right away. That's definitely better than a couple days ago. She couldn't even maintain eye contact. She is back to being able to watch TV through a half hour show. We can only hope for continued improvements.

Improvements should continue with the right diet. I made GFCF white bread in the bread machine. It turned out really good. My next thing to make is GFCF pancakes from scratch. We will be able to control her diet better with the school giving her one of the snacks we send and the rest of her meals coming from us. She will know longer be going to daycare after this weekend.

DH and I will work out our work schedules to make sure we don't need daycare. DH works nights and I work days (3 days/wk). On the days I work he will go to work late and leave early. He works for a really good company that lets him use his FMLA that way.

Little Prince is doing good. We are working on using the potty. We are still having a problem with him pooping in the potty but he did it yesterday for the first time. We showed him how happy and proud we were of him. But today we weren't so lucky..twice. He pees in the potty if you remind him so hopefully it will all come in time.

What the #$%!!

Princess has regressed! The other day, when I picked her up from day care, the daycare owner told me what she gave Princess for lunch...she gave her chicken nuggets! I don't know if that was what made her regress or if it happened more resently. I have a feeling that she was given the wrong food yesterday. I don't really trust the lady from yesterday. I have a feeling she doesn't really care what she feeds Princess as long as it's easy. Little Prince told me they had hot dogs. So did she feed Princess hot dogs with the buns. Anyway, Princess is back to flapping her arms, spinning, babbling..the whole 9 yards. She even cries when I try to get her to go in the potty. We are keeping them home until Friday, both DH and I have to work. I have to work next weekend but that will be the last time they go to daycare.


DH and I have decided it would be for the best if Princess and Little Prince don't go to daycare anymore. We will just have to work our schedules out so one of us will be home with them. It will also save us about $1000 a month and we will be able to control her food better. Plus, the owner said we should call her if we ever need daycare for a day. I think Little Prince will miss it at first but will get used to it (kind of like his bio-mom).

They had another parental visit this week. Little Prince walked right by mom again to play with the puzzles. Then walked by her again to go to the area they visit in (supervised). Princess wouldn't give her a kiss, at the end of the visit, when asked. I'm not sure, but I think that was their last visit.

Little Prince's parents are thinking about voluntarily giving up parental rights. They have until next month to decide and if they don't, the court hearings will begin. I think if the mom gives up Little Prince, she will give up Princess too. They know we love them and they love us and we can give them a good home. I'm really hoping it happens soon so we can exhale.

The GFCF diet working is great. We are seeing improvements everyday. Princess actually watch a half hour of Mickey's Club House this morning. She watched me make breakfast and wanted hugs and kisses. She is also wearing underwear instead of pull ups. She kept taking off her pull ups yesterday and I think it was because she saw Little Prince wearing big boy underwear and she wanted the same thing. So far, so good. She has gone potty at least 3 times this morning but had one accident. She has loose stool and I think she had a little gas. She goesn't usually "poop" so early in the day.

Now, Little Prince is a different story. He had three accidents (if that's what you want to call them). He stood in front of the TV, watching Mickey and peep in his underwear and all over the the rug. Every time he goes it, I have him sit on the potty. The next time was about a half hour later. This time he really made a mess. I'm sure he just stood and peep a big puddle on the living room floor. I sent him on to the potty and told him "no more Mickey today". Well, then he let out a very loud scream which woke up DH, who had only been asleep for about 2 hours. Not a good thing. Little Prince ended up in the corner for screaming. Needless to say, I'm sitting in the living room with my laptop, watching him very closely.... he just came running in from the bathroom asking for an M&M for peeping in the potty. I was so proud of him for going himself!

Seeing is believing

Princess has been on the GFCF diet for a little over a week now. We are already seeing results. We really didn't notice at first but then I realized after I picked her up from daycare the other day, she didn't make a peep in the car. She didn't make any OOOO sounds or say ticka, ticka, ticka like she usually does. In fact, I can't even remember the last time she did "ticka". Earlier in the week, I asked her to pick up her toys and put them in the toy box and she did it!! In the past, I had to tell her to pick up each toy and then tell her to where to put each toy (which was in the toy box). She is also keeping eye contact more then before and will sit and watch cartoons. Watching TV is a big improvement too. Last week she couldn't sit still for more than a few minutes. Yesterday morning she watch most of the Mickey Mouse Club House. Most days are good but we had another bad night of crying. I still thing it might be withdrawal. It was early in the week and only a few days from starting the diet.

The GFCF diet is challenging and some what expensive but we are learning. We discovered Princess won't eat the GFCF pretzels. We went to Rainbow Foods to buy some more sandwich cookies and also found some rice chips she likes. She seems to like the bread with peanut butter and jelly. I also found a blog site that had a recipe for homemade chicken nuggets. I haven't tried them yet but I will. I am also going to try a recipe I found for GFCF bread in the bread machine. PB&J is a good quick lunch for the ride home from the "visit".

The kids had a parental visit for the first time in three weeks. Little Prince didn't even acknowledge his mother like he had in the past. He just went right to the puzzle table. The mother tried to get a hug and kiss from Princess but she just put her arms down by her side and turned her head. Their mother didn't look so good. She wouldn't make eye contact with us and didn't seem happy to see the kids. I left some PB&J sandwiches for her to give them and explain which one was Princess' and they could not get mixed up. I think there is only one visit left on the books. We should know what's going to happen within the next few weeks.

So, everything is going good at this point. Little Prince is trying to use the potty more and Princess is showing improvement with the GFCF diet...seeing is believing. (Maybe someday I can show video of before and after). We are not allowed to video foster children.

Last night we attended a mandatory training for the foster agency. It was about 3 hours long and was full of information. We saw people who attended the same training as we did when we started. A group of us even got our picture taken for the local paper as new foster parents. We saw the foster parents of the twins we did respite for. I really expected the twins would be back with their parents a long time ago but they are still in foster care. We saw one of the girls (Cuddly), we both agreed she didn't have the sparkling smile she had four months ago. I hope she was just tired and hasn't given up. I also saw the girls we kept for our first respite. DH talked to the foster mama and she told him their adoption should be final in about 3 to 4 months. We are happy for them and the mama

Slow start..maybe for the best.

I talked to the DC owner this morning telling her that Princess had a bad night. I couldn't get her to sleep until around 10pm. All she did was cry and I mean really cry. I thought maybe she had a tummy ache or something like that but I never did figure out what was wrong. I have a thing about not letting them cry themselves to sleep but finally I had to just put her to bed and leave it at that. She was asleep within 5-10 minutes. Princess has been on the GFCF diet a little over two days now and that could be what was wrong. I thought maybe she was over tired, having to get up so early yesterday but DC lady told me that Princess took a nap yesterday (unusual). Then DC lady told me what she gave Princess for lunch - Manwich and broccoli with cheese! NO DAIRY!! I reminder her of the no dairy "rule". She felt bad. The more I thought about it, it wasn't the end of the world. We really want to do this but maybe easing into it will be better for Princess.

Today I printed a list I found on the Internet of the foods to stay away from. I hope this helps. DH and I want to do anything to make it easier for the school and DC. Even if we have to send food along for meals. Princess only goes to school for about 3 hours a day so she really only eats a snack. Last night could also be because she is withdrawing from the gluten and casein. As far as I understand, it acts like Morphine in her system. That could explain why she doesn't cry when she gets hurt. She bumped her head the other day and didn't make a peep. If Little Prince had done that, he would have screamed!

Speaking of Little Prince, I have never seen anyone fall down or bump into things as much as he does. He had bruises up and down his legs. He runs into walls because he looks back at something or someone and doesn't watch where he's going. He also can not shake this cold he has. I'm not sure if it's a cold or allergies. It doesn't seem to be effecting his sleep. Once in a while he asks us to "suck it out". We use a bulb syringe. He's real good about holding still and putting his head back. Gosh I love that little guy. Oh, both of them have been sleeping though the night (no parental visits for the past two weeks).

GFCF

We started Princess on a Gluten-free/Casein-free diet yesterday. We went to Whole Foods to get her gluten free snacks. We bought pretzels, cookies and cereal. I sent some to school and some to daycare. The daycare will make sure she doesn't get anything with gluten or dairy. We also bought some soy milk and rice milk. We are going to try to figure out which one she likes best.

I gave her some soy milk on her cereal yesterday for breakfast. She seemed to like it, but when I picked her up last night from daycare they told me she had two accidents. The DC lady asked if we had started the soy milk. I guess that's what did it. So far she likes everything we're feeding her. Although, we received a note from her teacher yesterday; "we gave ____ pretzels for her snack and she very politely placed the pretzel back into the bag, closed the bag and pushed it aside". We gave her a few pretzels last night before dinner and she seemed to like the pretzel sticks better than the pretzel twists. I also gave her about 3 oz of soy milk along with a half Lemon-Ginger cookie (gluten free) after she ate all her dinner. She liked it. (so did Little Prince).

Kimochis!

I found this neat blog while I was "surfing". The site was actually "Ten Kids and a Dog". There is a give away of this product called Kimochis. It's four different characters that have little feelings that a child an pick to express or learn about. I picked the cloud for the give away because the cloud "is a bit unpredictable" and because the cloud can "sometimes be moody", kind of like Princess. I don't think I have mentioned it before but Princess has autism and she doesn't really speak. I'm really thinking this might help her with her emotions. I figure it's worth a try. Please check out Ten Kids and a Dog and Kimochis

Bad Dreams?

Both kids had bad nights. Princess woke up around 12:30, crying. I went into her room and covered her up with her blanket but she didn't open her eyes and she didn't move. I think she was still asleep. I lightly ran my hand across her hair and she stopped crying. About two hours later, Little Prince came running down the hall into our room - crying. I asked him if he had a bad dream and he said "yes". I let him crawl in with me and told him after he fell asleep I would put him in his own bed. Needless to say, I fell back to sleep and it was about 4am before I carried him back to his bed. When I did put him back to bed, I heard Princess babbling in her room, she was still in her bed so I didn't bother her. I think she might have even been still asleep. Both kids had a hard time falling asleep at bedtime and both were really tired when I had to get them up at 5:30 to go to daycare. Tonight should be more relaxing since I don't have to work tomorrow and we can spend the day together.

Testing the water?

I'm not sure if Princess and Little Prince are acting like any other kids their age or if they are testing us. According to our classes, we had to take, foster children will test you and they certainly are. I don't know if the kids have picked up the acting out thing at daycare or if we just treat them differently than their past foster home.

I know we probably made the mistake of giving Little Prince attention when he was crying but we are trying not to do that anymore. We started noticing that every time he doesn't get his way, he cries (without tears). We have tried everything to keep Princess from jumping on her bed but nothing is working so far. We even bought her a little trampoline with a handle bar on it and she still jumped on her bed. DH ordered the trampoline from someone on eBay. It arrived yesterday afternoon, so he put it together right after he picked them up from daycare. Princess jumped on it for about 10 minutes or more. I also had her jump on it right after I put her PJ's on. Then it was time for bed. I put her to bed and snuggled her brother. I no sooner sat down with Little Prince when I noticed her bedroom light on and heard her breathing (I can tell when she's jumping). I put LP down and went in to tell her to lay down and go to sleep. Probably about 10 minutes later the same thing happened again. This time I "escorted" her to the living room to jump on her trampoline and tell her she can only jump on it and not her bed. I let her jump until she stopped (about 2 minutes.), then back to bed. Soon after I was sitting back down with LP in my lap, I heard her again. This time I didn't do anything. LP wanted to get in his own bed, so after I took him in I made a visit to Princesses room to find her playing on the floor. I made her get in her bed and told her to go to sleep. By the time I got Princess in bed, LP was crying for me to sit with him. By the time I got to bed I was upset, worn out and wanted to sleep. I guess was upset enough that I couldn't get to sleep and I woke up so many times through out the night I was very tired at 4:30 this morning.


Since DH has to leave for work before I get home tonight, I had to take the kids to daycare at 6:00 this morning. He usually takes them, but we only have two car seats right now. I will pick them up after I get off work. Both of the kids were pretty tired this morning, although I try not the wake them it's impossible not to. Little Prince woke up as soon as I moved him and the first thing he said was "eat". I told him it was too early to eat and he was going to be "playing all day" (that's something he says when he's been at daycare). I got him dressed and then woke Princess to try to go potty. I dressed her and then rushed out the door. I have to do the same thing tomorrow morning (boo)


I hope we can get this under control soon. DH told me last night that he doesn't know if he can do it anymore. (Earlier yesterday, DH told me that LP was giving him a hard time.) I think if it wasn't for Princess, I would be fine.

School Started

Princess started preschool yesterday. The teacher said she had a real good day. They went outside and blew bubbles and laughed a lot. It wasn't as hard as I thought it would be to sign her up. I met with her teacher a few days before to inform her about Princess' likes and dislikes and what they might expect from her. I had to provide them with shot records and a birth certificate (which I still need to get). Princess went with me so she could meet the teacher and then when it was time to leave, she didn't want to go. In fact, she threw a fit - stomping her feet and messing up some balls that were laying on a shelf. At least her fits don't last very long.

Our little prince is in daycare while his sister is in school. He likes it there and he gives all my kisses away to all the nice ladies there. Princess is in the same daycare while I'm at work, she feels comfortable there. In fact, she has said a few words that she hasn't said at home. The ladies at the DC are letting us know what she's saying so we can try to get her to say them again.

The parental visit got messed up again. This time I think it was the counties fault. Someone dropped the ball and no one picked it up! No visit today.

Mommy, mommy....

We've been very busy. We got the call at the end of July for a possible placement. Two and four year old siblings. It was between us and another family. The other family was him'ing and ha'ing about it so the decision was made to place the children with us on a trial basis. It was actually considered respite with the possibility of a permanent placement. They have been with us for a little over a month now, so needless to say they are considered a placement. We will have to wait until the end of September to see if the judge terminates parental rights this time. I say this time because, the parent has received two 90 day extensions already and is still screwing up. I have met the one parent during visits. DH and/or I have to take the children for visits twice a week until the TPR (termination of parental rights) is or may become effective. I believe in my heart that these children would be better off without their bio parents but I guess that comes with being a foster parent.

We have become very attached to both of them as they have become attached to us. The little one has called me mommy from the first day and DH, daddy starting the second day. The older one doesn't speak, but is very attached to DH. I took a couple weeks off work to arrange daycare and do other things that needed to be done. DH was able to take off a week which was very helpful. The four year old has some emotional/mental issues that we hope will resolve for the most part. The way we feel right now, we would like to adopt these children but we are nervous about the older one and how much care is involved.

I know I only have two followers but I'm still sorry it took so long between postings. I will post more frequently from now on.

On the top of the list

We finally got another call. Well, let me start from the beginning. DH and I decided that the child we turned down deserved a home so I called the agency and talked to the counselor. She told me I could come in and look over the file since parental rights had been terminated. I was only expecting the read over the one child's file but was able to read over the sibling's also. By the time I was done reading I had decided neither one of the children would be a good fit. I told DH what I had read and asked him to call the agency the next day and tell them "no". Well, the next day we were out running around and he decided to just stop into the agency and see if he could read the files. After reading them we talked about it some more and decided to take the young one in but we agreed we would not be able to take in the sibling. We talked with the therapists about DH's concerns along with other problems we might run into. Everything was set and we were going to be considered until we got home.

After we got home I checked our voice mail and there was a call from the same counselor we had just visited. She had two young children who were about to be up for foster to adopt. DH and I were so excited...I called her right back to tell her "we'll take them". She gave me a little information and told me she had already sent our "home study" for the other agency to review and we are on the top of the list. I'm sure hoping we get a call this week saying we were the best fit.

PS - lesson learned; make sure the agency has all means to contact you. We missed a call for a 3wk baby because I was at work and DH was sleeping after working all night. They didn't have my cell number. I guess it wasn't meant to be.

Waiting

It feels like it's been a long time since we had kids in the house, even though it's been a little over a week. I kind of miss the girls. They pop into my head often as I think about what they would be doing if we still had them. I also wonder if they went back to their parents.

DH and I were talking the other day how weird it's going to be to only have one instead of two in the house. I guess it's not set in stone that we will only have one. Maybe we will have siblings again. If one of them was little and the other was older, that would be alright. The way I feel right now (could change), I would really like a little one.

The agency called with a placement. It was a preteen that had some issues that we would rather not deal with. The child also has a older sibling that they would like to place in the same house at a later date. If we would have taken this placement, we would not be able to take a younger child or a child of the opposite sex while they were with us. We would have considered it if not for that reason. It was a foster to adopt placement.

Training

We are able to get a few hours of training the other night. We met some other foster parents along with Linda at the local library. Anyone who had kids in their house at the time, was allowed to bring them along. Two families brought their foster children. A few kids were up for adoption but they were older than I would prefer.

We watched a movie and then discussed it with each other. The kids were in on the discussion also. It was sad to hear about how they felt. One of the kids said they felt abandoned by their parents. It's sad. DH whispered to me that we could take them, but I didn't say a word. I think he got the idea that I didn't feel the same way. Plus, we received our actual license and it states we are approved for two children and the kids are a family of three. I just don't want to start out with teenagers.

Linda told us the first two girls, that we had for respite, might need respite again at the end of summer. But she also told us that some of the people in the agency are saving us for a placement. I'm sure the right placement will come along soon.

The house is quite

Foster mom called to ask if she could pick the girls up early. They were suppose to be picked up the next morning but instead the family got back from vacation early. I told her if it would save her a trip into town, that it would be OK to pick them up that evening.

Since I knew she was coming right before the girls would usually go to bed, I gave them their bath early and dressed them in their PJs. DH and I played with them until foster mom showed up. Cuddly discovered she could bounce on DHs lap while he held her hands. I took some great pictures for our album. Then Curly wanted to bounce but didn't seem to have as much fun.

I was surprised that the girls didn't want to go to foster mom when she arrived. Cuddly actually wanted to get up into my lap and Curly wasn't sure of the situation either. After a little while, FM was able to get a hug out of each one of them. We helped them to the car, all the while Cuddly cried. She stopped crying after FM got her strapped in her seat. We stayed by the car talking to FM for a little while. By the time she drove away the girls were fine.

DH made the comment of how quite the house was after they left. It didn't take long before we got use to the silence. I was glad, by the next morning, she had picked them up early. I had to get up early for work and it would have been harder for DH to get them ready to leave. I don't think we really miss them. They just weren't there long enough and we knew they were only going to be with us for a short amount of time.

Regarding the pictures; we can take pictures for our own use but can't show them to anyone. I would love to post some but I'm not allow.

The time wasn't long enough

We had a lot of fun with the girls. I wish we had them longer but being a respite situation, we knew when they were going back to their foster family.

Most everyday went the same way. We tried to stay in a routine. When they woke up in the morning, which seemed to be earlier every day, we started by changing diapers. I would go in to their room when I heard the glowing seahorse music. I asked them "who would like their diaper changed?". It was always Curly who would want to be changed first. Cuddly was a little slower to wake up. Then we would get something to drink and snuggle in my chair and watch a little cartoons. After about a half hour, we would have breakfast of mini-mini wheats with milk and a sippy cup of milk. They were good eaters. They always wanted more after they finished what I had given them. In fact, they finished a whole small box of mini-mini wheats in four days! After breakfast they would decide what they wanted to wear. I would give them a choice of two outfits but they always wore matching cloths. Then we would play until it was time for a nap. They liked to color and play with the doll house. They also like to push this little grocery cart around with pretend food in it.

One of them always cried when it was time for their nap. Actually, you couldn't say "nap" or "bed" without Cuddly pouting or flat out crying but she was usually the first one asleep. After they got up from their nap, I would change diapers again then they would have a snack of either gummy bears, goldfish, or animal crackers. One afternoon I tried to get them to eat an Orange. Both of them said they didn't like it but either of them would try it. So I tore it all apart and Cuddly finally ate some of it. Curly tried a little bitty bit.

We had very little problems and a whole lot of fun. Lunch consisted of either jr. lunchables or mac-n-cheese. At first they didn't want the mac-n-cheese but then I ate it and told them it was really good and I would pretend it was fantastic. That got them to try it and even finish what I had given them. A couple days later I fixed it again but added chicken. They liked that too. Actually Cuddly liked the chicken more and Curly like the mac-n-cheese more. Curly actually finished her sisters mac-n-cheese. For dinner they pretty much ate what we ate. Both of them loved chicken and green beans.

After the first night they would ask me, a few times through out the day, if they could take a bath. I would always tell them they would have to wait until later. Bath time was about an hour before bed. They like the bubble bath I would add to the water. They cleaned themselves with their own wash clothes and toddler bedtime soap. I would wash their hair about every other day since they really didn't get dirty. I thought it was interesting that Curly would wash her sister. She started that about the second or third night. At first she just wanted to wash Cuddly's feet but then it was her bottom and private parts. I didn't want to make a big deal about it but I've wondered if I should say something to the case worker.

Bedtime went about the same as nap time. Sometimes with a little crying and sometimes with a lot of crying. I didn't discover that Curly wanted to sleep in her own bed, instead of with her sister, until the last night. She kept crying, so I asked her if she wanted to sleep in the little bed, thinking that she would say "no" but, to my surprise, she asked if she could take her pillow with her. I moved her to the toddler bed and she was asleep in minutes. We did the same thing for her nap the next day.

Two but smaller

The twins are adorable. I sure would like to have childern like them but I know the main goal is to get them back home. The first evening was busy but not too bad. DH was really tired by the time I got home. He had worked the night before and hadn't slept. As soon as I got home we ate dinner. DH had ordered Dominos for all of us. Mac & Cheese with breadsticks for the little ones. I had a pasta bowl which the twins thought looked better than what they had. I shared a little bit but was afraid that the spiciness would give them a tummy ache. After dinner, I gave them a bath which went really well. They splashed to their hearts content. Then we put PJs on and snuggled in the chair. Soon they were ready for bed. Well, their little bodies were but they weren't. "Cuddly" cried when I meantioned bed but she stopped before too long. Both her and "Curly" kept looking to see if I was still sitting in the chair across the room. DH told me they did the same thing when he put them down for their nap. He's such a softy, he bought them some toys before they arrived. One of the toys, they both love, is a glow seahorse. It lights up and plays music everytime they push the tummy. That's how I knew they were asleep, they stopped pushing the tummy.

Double the fun

We are doing respite again. I'm so excited. I've had a hard time getting to sleep for the past two nights. We are taking care of twin toddlers for about 5 days. I was hoping I didn't have to work today but here I am. I haven't met the girls yet, DH has them until I get home this evening. He's real nervous. He's so cute, he called me early this morning from the store to tell me he was buying juice and diapers. He also bought a couple booster chairs (we don't have highchairs). Anyway, after they arrived, he called me to tell me that the girls are scared of the dogs. He said they are fine as long as they are sitting on his lap but as soon as they get down and the dogs come around, they start crying. I told him they will probably get used to them (I hope), but to call me if he has any problems. Not that I can leave work or anything but I can try to give moral support...lol. I can't wait 'til this evening. Right after work I have to get them dinner asap and give them a bath. Soon after that will be bedtime. I'm looking forward to reading them a bedtime story and tucking them in. I will try to write more in the next few days but I have a feeling I will have my hands full!

If we hadn't said "no" to the teenager, we wouldn't have gotten the twins. I spoke to the foster mom who the teenager is with. She told me it turned out that she knows the girl and her home is a better fit. I was glad to hear that they found a temp. home for her.

Empty Net

It was the last day with the girls. DH had them all day by himself. They slept in until about 8am. DH made them a nice breakfast of pancakes and eggs. They all watched a little TV together and later the girls played out on the front walk with sidewalk chalk. They made nice pictures of rainbows and other drawings. DH said they were pretty good girls for him. Mid-afternoon he had to take them for a two hour, supervised visit with their mother. He just dropped them off and went back two hours later to pick them up. Since mom brought them lunch, DH didn't have to fix them anything until dinner. He fed them an early dinner of hot dogs and chips. I'm sure foster mama will feed them a snack later. He also gave them an old digital camera that still took pretty good pictures. He told me the little one was taking all kinds of pictures of our furry kids. I didn't think I would make it home from work in time to see them before foster mama picked them up, but I did. I fact, I made it home about a half hour before she got here. Anyway, by the time I got home the camera was broken. DH told me the pictures were coming out all blurry and that he saw the big sister force the telephoto in. I think between that and the little one telling me they dropped it a couple times - it's broke. I'm going to retrieve the pictures that they took and print out copies for them. We spoke with foster mama for a few minutes after the girls were in her vehicle. We told her how good the girls were and that they are welcome to come back again. I also told her how the visit with their dad screwed up that night and the next day for them. It was only because of them getting their medicine late. I didn't tell her about the underwear issue. I figure she didn't need to deal with that unless it happens again. One thing that was kind of weird, after foster mama was walking to her vehicle I walked inside and counted the money she paid us. It was a hundred dollars short. DH hadn't counted it when she handed it to him. I felt weird about it, but I went back outside and asked her about it. She said she was sorry and gave me a hundred dollar money order to make up for it. Was it a mistake?

I looking forward to our next placement. I'm sure it will be respite but I hope it goes just as well. The agency wants to place a teenage girl with us next month but we've already planned on saying "no" to that placement.

Lesson Learned

I learned that you have to ask questions and not just assume. I washed the girls dirty clothes while they were at school yesterday. I only found one pair of underwear for the one girls. Does that mean she's been taking a shower and putting on the same underwear or did she forget extra underwear, or worse than that; has she been going without underwear??? Well, I was able to rule out one of the possibilities. I looked in her case and found several pairs of clean, folded underwear. I knew I had to handle this with kid gloves. After dinner I told her how important it was to keep yourself clean and change underclothes everyday. I also told her I only washed one pair of her underwear. She told me that she had changed everyday and that she had put the dirty ones in her case. I could not very well tell her that I had looked in her case but hopefully she understood about keeping herself clean. Now I kind of wonder if she has been actually taking a shower or just letting the water run.

Long day, long night

After the long day yesterday the girls were beat. The oldest actually fell asleep in front of the TV way too early. I woke her up but she had a hard time staying awake. Both of them went to bed around 9:30 which is about a half hour past their bedtime. Of course at about 1:30am I saw a light on (from my room) in the living room. The oldest was laying on the couch and her sister was getting a throw to cover up with. The youngest went back to bed and I let the her sister lay on the couch with the lights down low and no TV. I knew she would fall back to sleep. Well, at 4am I woke to a bright light, from a flashlight, shining in my eyes. It was the little one telling me she could not sleep. I ended up waking up her sister off the couch and sending them both back to bed and crawling back to bed myself. At least I did not have to work that morning.

Parental visit

It was a long day. The girls had a visit with one of their parents last evening. DH and I dropped them off for what we thought was going to be a two hour visit but the "supervisor" informed us it was going to be from 6 to 8:30 instead. The girls didn't get to eat dinner until after we got back home and by their visit being so late in the evening, they didn't get to take their medicine until they were about to go to bed. I let them stay up a half-hour later so they could wind down. Both the girls were sleepy this morning and really didn't want to get up. They have another visit on Saturday but that one is early in the afternoon. DH will have to take them and drop them off. I have to work so I will have to say my good byes tomorrow night. It's been real nice having the girls here. DH told me tonight that I have been real good with them. I like this.

They're here

We have two beautiful girls for the rest of the week. I picked them up from the daycare late this afternoon. They talked all the way home and basically until they went to bed. Actually they calmed down about an hour before bedtime because their medicine kicked in. They are good girls that listen very well. I made a nice home-cooked meal of meatloaf, mashed potatoes and green beans. They finished everything on their plate plus one of them asked for more meatloaf. I think they normally eat a lot of fast food. While dinner was cooking they took turns playing Outdoor Adventure on Wii. Then after they took their showers they played with the Fisher Price dollhouse until they didn't want to play together anymore. I dug out some books for the youngest one to read while her sister continued to play with the dollhouse. They didn't give me any guff about bedtime and I was happy about that. Since they are still in school, I will have to get them up early to eat breakfast and drive them their school. I hope everything goes good in the morning.

Meet the mama

We just met with the foster mother of the two girls we will be taking care of (respite). It went great! The girls are real nice and mama is real nice too. She has been doing foster care for many years and has a lot of information. The girls are sisters that have been in the system for quite awhile. They both have ADD and take medicine for it twice a day. They are on a strict schedule after school which I'm sure helps them stay organized. Mama has given me their schedule and all the information we should need to be successful. I will be able to call her if something goes bad but I don't foresee any problems as long as we stay on schedule. I don't have to work for the four days they're here so I will be available if something happens at school. Mama said sometimes one of them will act out in school and she will get a call but I'm hoping the girls will be on their best behavior. Our furry kids met them at the door and gave them lots of doggy kisses. In fact, DH had to put them (the dogs) in the other room so we could talk. Anyway, I have to pick the girls up at the daycare they go to after school. From what I understand the State pays for the daycare because they are foster children but they have to attend the daycare for a certain number of hours per week. They also receive free lunches through the State. I'm going to have to check into how that works just in case we get a school age child.

I'm feeling a little nervous but excited at the same time.

Respite

DH and I were talking just yesterday that it's taking forever to get a call. Then it happened. The agency called with a possible respite placement. Two girls for 4 days. We should hear from the agency again today after the therapist finds out details. I think she just called yesterday to make sure we would want to do it. This will be a good way to get experience.

FYI; Respite is when you take care of foster children for a foster family. Kind of like babysitting for a day or several days.

We also made a visit to our local CPS office to find out who would fill out and sign our FMLA paperwork. For those of you who are unfamiliar with FMLA (family medical leave act), it's a federal act that protects your job if you have to take any time off work for medical or personal reasons. There are several reasons you can qualify for FMLA, usually it's for a medical reason like maturity leave or to take care of a sick dependent. DH and I haven't received the FMLA yet. I found out we can qualify for it through a federal website when we started the foster care training. According to the site, we could have used it for our training but either one of us wanted to take advantage of the system. I just hope the website is correct. Oh, needless-to-say, CPS was no help with FMLA. They had actually never heard of it being used for fostercare.

Waiting for placement.

We're done! The home inspection went great. Linda only had us change a few things like; move the fire extinguisher from the pantry to hanging it on the wall in the kitchen and moving a few items away from the furnace (31" from furnace). Then Linda took pictures of the bedroom (mostly the beds) and a picture of us for her file. She also took pictures of the front and back of the house. We looked over the Home Study (bio). Linda told us we could take our time to look it over but she did such a good job with it, we signed it.

DH and I were able to get everything done, plus some, before she got there. DH had ordered locks, for the sliding door, online. It only took him maybe 15 minutes to install it. It's like a dead bolt that goes into the frame of the door then locks with a key. I was able to clear out the closet and get all the latches on the kitchen drawers and cabinet doors that I thought might have dangerous stuff in them. I latched the cabinet under the sink because of the dish soups and I latched the knife drawers, the silverware drawer (forks) and the junk drawer. We tested all the smoke alarms, which worked fine. I knew they worked because sometimes I set one off when I cook. lol That morning DH & I did some cleaning that I didn't really think we needed to do. DH dusted and vacuumed while I folded clothes and put them away. I really don't think that Linda would be been concerned if there was dust on some nicknack's.

Hopefully the next time I post, we will have a placement. We may start with something called respit. It's basically caring for foster children while the foster parents take a break or vacation that the kids can't go along. Some foster parents only do respit. We are thinking it may be a good temporary thing to do to get use to having an older child in the house. Linda talked about a temporary placement of a teenage boy. She said he's a real good kid but needs a temporary home because the foster parents are having personal problems. That's all I can say about the situation.

So the bottom line is, we will be eligible for a placement early next week (maybe Monday) but we won't actually be licensed until the state finishes the paperwork. If a placement comes up, Linda will call the state to hurry things along.

All Most Done!

We only have the final home inspection to complete. DH & I completed the CPR class almost two weeks ago. It was different than the one I had taken previously. This one recommended that you don't check for a pulse before doing chest compressions. So, now we are both certified in CPR.

We also completed our Home Study. It was basically a bio of our lives growing up and after we met. It included things like what we do in our spare time, our jobs, and basically how we feel about life.

The next thing is the home inspection. It's scheduled for next week. There are a few things we have to complete before Linda comes for the visit. We still have to finish the drawer and cabinet latches, make copies of the insurance policies, install the lock on the sliding door and install an alarm on the dog door. We are hoping the alarm on the dog door takes care of the pool issue. The pool is not open yet so it still has a safety cover on it but the agency is still concerned.

I am a terrible "pack rat" and I know that I need to throw some stuff away but it's so hard. I'm going to work on it this weekend. If nothing else, I will pack stuff up and put it in the attic!

Last Class Finished!

We finished our last class. It was a very good class right from the start, however we did go over sexual abuse which wasn't my favorite. I'm going to miss going to class every Saturday even though it did took up a whole day. The only thing we have to do yet is take the CPR class (which we're doing this week), complete the home study and have the final home inspection.

The Home Study will take about two hours. It's basically a bio of our lives so the agency can match a child with our family. We are still hoping for a child under five, so I hope we don't have to wait too long. I'm really hoping to have a placement by mid-May.

I will continue to blog after we get a child, but I will have to protect their identity and observe their privacy. We signed an agreement to protect privacy. I have been reading other blogs that even post pictures, as long we you can't tell who they are.

I really hope everything goes alright. I'm getting kind of nervous just from the things we learned in class like how these kids can really test you and how they have a hard time attaching to you. I guess whatever will be, will be....kay sira sira LOL

Second Class with First Class People

We have finished our second class with one more class to go. I sure like the people that are doing through the classes with us and also the people who are teaching it. Last week we had different therapists than the first class. Linda has been at both classes and I'm sure she will be at the next one also. We learned a lot about why the children act the way they do and what we can do to help them get through it. Some of it was pretty shocking. They told us about how some of the children have been treated in the past. I think most of you could use your most vivid imagination and still not come up with the things we heard.

Oh, I also found out that I have to take the CPR class because my card is not the same class as the one required. We are going to talk to someone we know, that is an instructor, to see if she can teach it so DH doesn't have to take another day off work.

I think I'm going to try to write a children's story about a duck that lost it's mother, went into foster care and then finally found a home with other ducks. Look for it in future blogs.

First Class

Well, since I last blogged we attended our first of three classes. It went great! We learned a lot of stuff about what to expect and a lot of rules to follow. We are rethinking our preferred age group. We are still nervous about older children but we can always say "no" to a placement if we don't like the info given. We are thinking. maybe a boy under 10 would be OK. We are also thinking about a temporary placement called respit. Respit is taking care of a child or children for another foster family while they go on vacation or just need a break. It might be a good way to have a older child in the house but on a trial basis.

We met some really nice people that were there to be foster parents. One's children are already grown, one couple has small children and the other doesn't have any children (like us) but works with small children everyday. We are approximately a little over a month way before being licensed. yehhhhhh!

Update on DH; he's lost about 10+ pounds and has been exercising and watching what he eats. He went back to the MD and was told he doesn't need medication for elevated blood sugar. He has gotten his levels down to a good level and continues to check his blood about twice a day. I'm so proud of him and he's looking but good too!

No physical yet

DH went for his physical about two weeks ago and didn't get it. Instead the MD did blood work which showed his sugar was elevated. I don't want to say high because I have heard of people with a lot higher, but it wasn't normal. A few days later he went for a glucose tolerance test. He had to drink liquid that was real high in sugar and then be tested every hour for the next four hours. Needless to say the MD diagnosed him with diabetes. It's been a stressful few weeks. The MD seems to think he can control it with diet and exercise and we think so too. From the day he had the test, DH was been watching and planning everything he eats. He's also been exercising. The MD wants him to check his sugar twice a day for two weeks. DH has been checking it at least five times a day!! He has gotten it down to almost normal, just by eating right. He says he feels like he's eating more than before but I think he's eating more often but smaller portions and the right combination of foods. I'm sure we can beat this or at least deal with it. It took me some time to plan the two meals he has to take to work today. I guess it will get faster as we get more use to it. His next appointment he will have his physical.

Baby Bed

I've been checking out crib sheets at different stores and online. They're a lot more pricey than I thought they would be. I wondered into a used kids store and found 3, almost new, crib sheets for under $5. I bought all three! Two are white and the other is more of a pink color. I figured I'm going to need at least three, if not more. Yesterday I made up the bed with one of the sheets and a piece of fleece I had bought.

I want to make one of those tie together fleece blankets but I wasn't sure how much fabric I was going to need. I went to the fabric store about 3 times to check out the fleece and finally I found what I wanted and it was on sell. I asked the lady if she had a suggestion for how much I need. I picked out a front color and a back color. I got about 1.5 yards of each. The lady suggested that I cut the "ties" only about 2" since we don't know if the child will still be "sucking". I never thought about it but one of those longer 4" ties could be swallowed and someone could choke!! I haven't cut the fleece yet but maybe I'll do it this weekend. I haven't bought any toys but I've sure been tempted.

One of the people I work with brought in a trunk load of toys today. We went and transfered it from their trunk to mine. There's a doll house, a little grocery cart, a basket of toys, a tent that fits over a bed (I think) and a crib bumper pad of Mickey Mouse (Mickey - cool!). I know more people are giving us stuff. The room will be so full of stuff there won't be any room to play!!

Oh no, it's going to take forever...

I spoke with Linda yesterday to find out the next step. One of the things we have to do is either get physicals or at least find out if our family doctor will sign a form affirming that we are in good health. We have the same doctor but I saw his nurse practitioner last time and I think she will be able to go by the last visit for my form but I think they will want to see DH. Also, we have to have our four furry kids in for their shots. DH is taking the girls on Tuesday for updated shots including rabies and we will take the boys in March. Otherwise there is a few things I have to collect like proof of insurance and our daycare plans. I'm sure I can wait on picking a daycare until March or even April (we won't be licensed until the end of April). We probably won't have a placement until mid-May.

I spoke with my dad last night and he won't be able to visit until the first week in May. He will be here for at least two weeks. I was really hoping it would be the end of April but it just won't work out. Anyway, DH and I both feel we should not accept get a placement while he's here. A new placement might work out fine but then again the child could have a harder time adjusting if their is another adult in the house. Also, Dad would have to share a room if the placement is a boy. Our luck they will call us with a placement and it will end up being a baby and I won't want to say "no". I guess whatever is meant to be will be. It's in God's hands.

And the next step is?

Our background checks came back yesterday. All is good. I wonder when we can have our second two-hour meeting? I can't seem to get a hold of Linda, they must be closed today because of the weather.

We've been hit hard with winter weather and the area is not use to it. A lot of people called into work today but as my boss said "Healthcare doesn't get snow days". It would have to get pretty bad for me to call in. I figure you just drive slower than usual and watch out for the other guy.

I got on the American Red Cross website yesterday. They are offering CPR classes next month (and in March) but DH would have to take two days to get all the training he can get in one class if he waits until April. I think we will wait for the agency's CPR class in April. It's kind of a let down, but that means we probably won't have a placement until mid-May.

"Good things come to those to wait"

Are we Criminals? Not hardly!

It's been a little while since I have posted but nothing has really happened. It seems everything is going so slow. I'm the type of person that wants it here and now.

Late last week we had to get our fingerprints taken for the background check. I had to go to a website and fill out a form, then print the paper that contained a bar code (we each needed one). I had set up the appointment with a local business to do the fingerprinting. The location was pretty convenient, not far from the house. It was all digital which means it wasn't messy like the ink prints. It didn't take her long to do mine except my fingers were dry so she had to put lotion on them a couple times. DH didn't take very long either but he has part of a finger missing on one hand so the fingerprint looked funny - the machine excepted it anyway. We should get the results back today or tomorrow by email. After we get them back, I have to forward them to Linda so she can see a copy ASAP. They will give her the results directly but not for about two weeks.

I received some bad news last week - the CPR class is not scheduled until the end of April. I really thought we would be licensed at the end of March but it doesn't look like it. DH did get the shift he wanted at work so he might be able to take a class during the week. I'm going to call the Red Cross and/or the American Heart Assoc. I think both give CPR classes that also cover infectious diseases.

Daycare without a clue!

I'm lost when it comes to finding a good daycare. I found a whole list of them on the state website which was very helpful. It listed the hours of operation, occupant limit, license dates, owners, and phones numbers. I was able to pick out the ones I wanted to call. I know I need one that is open at least until 7:30pm which is hard to find. It's also hard to find one open on the weekends. I called several daycare yesterday. Most of them are open 24/7, some closed on Sundays and one closes at 10pm. I guess any of these times would work. The one closed on Sunday would mean DH couldn't sign up for a Sunday that I was working (which is only one to two times a month). We really only need care from approximately 2pm to 7:30pm but you can't pay by the hour. Prices seem to range from $90/wk to $125/wk. I asked, most of the ones I called, about meals. Most serve breakfast, lunch, dinner and two snacks. I think the time the child would be in daycare, they would get a snack and dinner. If DH had to work early, the child would get a morning snack and lunch also. I like the thought of dinner since by the time I would pick them up it could be almost 8pm by the times we got home. That's pretty late to fix dinner. Some of the daycare are "level 1" which I think the state is going to make mandatory within the next year or two. It would be bad to find a daycare and then have to switch if the state didn't approve later on. Most of them didn't have a problem with different children coming after I explained that we may have a child for a week, a month, or a year. As long has they have shot records and papers they don't care. I'm sure we can work something out with pay. I would hate to pay for time not used but on the other hand, I would hate for someone else to take the spot and the daycare be full. DH and I have to talk about how convenient the location is. I think most of them are about 10 minutes away from the house. I want to narrow it down to a few and then I think we should visit them to see how they "feel".

Almost a room, almost a child

I've tried to post this twice already, I'm going to try one more time.

Sunday, I worked on the room for several hours. We accumulated a lot of stuff. I took everything out of the room and had to find another place to put it. I took out everything but the bed, dresser and mirrored vanity. After I cleared most everything out, I was able to set up the crib. I thought there were directions, but the only directions I received with it was to convert it to either a daybed or a full size bed. I figured out everything but how to put the rail on to use as a crib. Right now it's a daybed to be used as a toddler bed. (I'll post a picture when the room looks better.)

I spoke with Linda yesterday to let her know I was able to schedule the training classes through the county. Initially, the agency didn't have their own scheduled so Linda wanted us to use the county. I had been trying to get the county training person to call me back starting last week but - no luck. I tried one more time yesterday morning and she answered her phone. To make a long story short, we are scheduled for training, starting the second week in March with the county. Since we are using the county training, we have to take an additional two hours through the agency to learn their info. Then when I spoke with Linda yesterday, she informed me they have a class starting the end of March. We decided the schedule the county has will work better. It's three Saturdays in a row so DH won't have to take any time off work. I will have to switch only one Saturday, but I will probably work a Sunday for someone in trade. Linda said we will probably be certified by the end of March!! - almost a child.

Almost 2 hours

We met with Linda yesterday for almost 2 hours. Actually, DH said it would have been a shorter meeting if I didn't talk so much, but I had questions! ha ha. Anyway, there was a lot more paperwork to fill out and sign. We had to give them permission for a back ground check on each of us and we went over what our roles are and the agency's roles are. Linda also brought up the training. They still have not scheduled a session and they won't until they have more people needing training. Linda wants us to attend the county's training, which is fine but it would include another two hours on top of the counties for their agency. I called the county contact today but she hasn't called me back yet. I will have to rearrange my weekend schedule at work so I can be off three Saturdays in a row. I'm hoping I can trade someone Sundays for Saturdays. It would mean I would have to work about five Sundays in a row but it would be worth it. We can either do the training in February or March, it will depend if there are openings. Linda also told us because we are not going through the county for foster care, we could be bumped out of the training if they get too many people. The sooner we get through the training the sooner we can be foster parents. Linda also told us we will be the only foster parents in our town which is really surprising since our town is pretty good size. She also told us there is a shortage of African-American foster parents, and that about 70% of foster children are white.

The List

Watching Craig's List has paid off. I found three different baby cribs last night. I sent emails to all three and this morning two had emailed me back to say they were sold already. I thought, well I'll just keep watching. But the third person emailed me back and the crib was still available. We emailed back and forth a few times and finally I sent my cell number so she could call me. I wanted to pick it up on Monday so DH could go with me but the seller was busy on Monday. She told me her hubby could deliver it and we decided to meet at a local gas station this evening. It's a beautiful crib! I can't believe how good a shape it's in and the quality. It's got to be at least a $300 crib and I got it for $125 with a matteress. Also, it's one of those convertible cribs that converts to a toddler bed and then to a double bed. I'm soooo excited, I can't wait to set it up but first I have to rearrange the room and get rid of some stuff to make room.

I guess the seller of the table and chairs I was suppose to get decide not to sell them, since she hasn't emailed me back.

Dad approves?

During my conversation with Dad, on Sunday, he asked me what's happening with the foster parent thing (or something like that). I told him where we were and that we're suppose to meet with Linda next Monday. He asked me all kinds of questions that I didn't have answers to like "does the agency know the back grounds of the kids?, how do they match the kids with the foster parents? are the kids screened for self injury issues?". My guess is that it would depend on the situation. If the kid(s) are taken out of their home during a police matter, like drugs or violates, then they probably don't have much back ground information. Maybe it depends on if the child (children) are long term or short term placements. Linda told us they try to match the child and the foster family as much as possible but I wonder if it means they pull the child out of a foster home if they find a better match somewhere else? I don't think they should move a child if there's not a problem but I don't know what actually happens. Dad saw a lot of troubled youths when he worked for the state but those were older kids not like the four and under that we would be getting. Now, on the other hand, I think my brother is worried about how we will feel when the little ones have to leave. I'm concerned about that also but I won't know exactly how it is until it happens for the first time. That's just part of being a foster parent.

I see all the pictures of kids during Christmas from the varies blogs I follow and I can't wait to have my own, to take pictures of. Of course, I won't be allowed to share them with anyone but I can have our own private memory book to keep.

PS. I haven't discussed foster care with Mom yet.