Notes from Mickey

Time flies but not all fun

2011-11-05T05:31:00.007-04:00

A lot has happened in the last year. Probably the biggest one was Little Prince and Princess have our last name now. Although Little Prince doesn't know that he ever had a different last name and Princess wouldn't comprehend it. We kept their original first names but changed their middle names. In fact, Little Prince picked his own middle name from his favorite movie. I'm still nervous about posting true names and pictures. At least until we are not doing foster care anymore.

Now for updates with foster children. Kaykay "left" our house three hours before she turned 18 (beginning of 2011). It was a big mistake on her part. Because she left foster care before 18, she lost her medicaid and any college money she would have had. But she also lost the support she was getting by staying with us. I will always hope it wasn't planned on her part but I will never be sure of it.

October 2010 we took in two familiar faces. The placement was two little girls that we had for respit when we first got our license. For the blog, I named them "Cuddly" and "Curly". They were two years older then when we first met them and had way different personalities from each other. Cuddly wasn't very huggable anymore. She had picked up bad habits such as lying. Curly was better in some aspects but we could tell she was going to need a lot of therapy (which I'm sure she has not received). The girls stayed with us for about four months. They had been in foster care for almost two years before they were returned to their parents. I know you are probably thinking happy thoughts but believe me their parental rights should have been terminated along time ago. The parents didn't do one thing that the court had ordered them to do to be able to get those girls back. I just don't understand what happened with that case. I often wonder how the girls are doing.

It was a few months later before we got anymore calls. The next placements we took in were two sisters. The oldest turned four with days of coming to us. She was super smart and knew it. Her and Little Prince got along like "peas in a pod". She could be a little stinker but we very much enjoyed her. She really missed her parents and that's what made it harder on her than the other kids we had. For privacy reasons we will call her Queenie. Luckily for Queenie, and us, we were able to call her mother every night so she could say "good-night". Queenie was a beautiful little girl with long blond hair and blue eyes. She acted a lot older than she was because I think she was the one who took care of her mother instead of the other way around. Queenie's little sister was the first medically fragile, physically handicapped child we have ever had. We'll call her Anne.

Anne was two years younger than Queenie and had Cerebral Palsy. Anne also had a feeding tube and had to be fed every four hours. This next bit of information is something that could discourage future foster parents, but please don't let it. Everything works out. The afternoon I got the call I picked the girls up from DCS mid-afternoon. They told me that Anne needed to be fed through her feeding tube and they had formula from her home. The mother was in no shape to explain how to feed her. Including how much or how often. I figured it was no big deal, I would call the doctor when I got home. Well, I could not get a hold of "her" doctor or anyone else to tell me how to take care of her. I called everyone I knew from nurses to friends. No one had an answer. I even talked to a doctor on call for her doctor, he "couldn't" tell me because he didn't have the chart in front of him. Finally, I found a number on the an invoice that came with the feeding bags. The answering service got a hold of the person on call and she walked me threw it. All I can say is "don't give up". Anne did not have any body weight to lose and she hadn't eaten since 3pm that afternoon. Everything turned out OK.

Shortly after Queenie and Anne came to us we left for a family vacation. We couldn't take them because there wasn't time to get a court approval and we wouldn't have been able to care for Anne the way she need to be cared for. Thank goodness, our good friend was able to take the girls in and care for them while we were gone. It didn't go off without a hitch though. Hours after we left, Anne got sick and ended up at the hospital. It wasn't a good situation for our friend. The foster agency wasn't a big help either. Everything turned out fine within two days. I was very thankful for having a friend I could count on (I still count on her). After we returned from vacation I had to set up therapy for Anne. She received Speech, Physical and Occupational therapy every week. Each therapy was done by a different person, on a different day. I am glad for the experience but it was not an experience I would want to repeat. Queenie and Anne were with us for a little over a month but looking back, it seemed like longer. They made quite an impact on our lives. We are very thankful we have healthy children. The girls went back to their parents for about two weeks and last I heard they were with their grandma.

Two weeks after the girls left we received a call about three sisters. The youngest was six and the oldest sixteen. The middle girl was barely a teenager. The two youngest ones were removed from the home because of an issue the oldest one had with one of the parents. So needless to say, the middle child, "Tiara", did not speak to her older sister, "JoLo" unless it was necessary. In fact, Tiara only talked to anyone when it was necessary. However, she was very good at taking care of "the little one". It was apparent that she was used to getting her sister up and ready for school every morning. Tiara and the little one were only with us for about two weeks before they were returned to their mother. JoLo stayed.

JoLo is very different than KayKay. JoLo talks a lot and isn't afraid to share her feelings. She spends time in her room but also spends time with the family. She treats Princess and Little Prince as if they are her little sister and brother. She is responsible but it's also apparent she has been sheltered from others. It is alleged that one of her parents did unspeakable things to her for the last four years so keeping her sheltered kept her from talking about it and telling others. I say "alleged" because the parent has not been charged with any crime. I believe JoLo with be with us until she ages out or she is moved to a relatives home. Either way she will be happy.

Another foster parent aggravation; JoLo did not start therapy for over four months after she was removed. In this parents opinion, she will need therapy for years.

Our first teenager

2010-08-28T14:58:00.004-04:00

Kaykay has been with us for a month now. It's going a lot better than I was worried about. She spent a lot of time in her room the first week, which made me worry about getting to know her. If you can't talk to someone and they don't talk to you, how do you know what their needs are.

Kaykay really opened up after the first week. We talk a lot now. I actually think we are becoming pretty close. She told me about her family and I told her a little about mine. She has only been in foster care since she was fifteen, so about two years. For only being seventeen and what she's been through, she has pretty good goals. She wants to go the college and knows what she wants to do.

I told her I would do everything an adult has to do to get her into college but she has to do her part. I'm talking to the social worker about Kaykay staying in the foster program until she's twenty-one so she can go to college and not worry about a place to live, transportation and a job.

The only problem that we are having is her using her cell phone a lot and staying up too late. She gets up on her own in the morning for school, but is pretty tired when she gets home, but she still stays up. It hasn't really been a problem but I want to see her grades at the end of this session. We may have to restrict the time of the cell phone usage.

She has a boyfriend but that hasn't really been a problem either. Although I wish he would call before he shows up. I actually told Kaykay to suggest that to him so we can have the option of saying yes or no to his visit. He doesn't drive so he has to arrange someone to pick him up and I think he waits until he needs that ride before he thinks about it. Seems like a good kid though.

Gone but not Forgotten.

2010-07-30T10:57:00.003-04:00

The "three" left in early July. Right before Ike's birthday. We knew it was going to happen soon but when I got the phone call from the caseworker it really hit me that they were leaving. I had become pretty attached to Ike and Flower. I actually got most of the kids stuff together the night before in preparation for the court decision. The Aunt called about a half hour later and we arranged for her and her husband to pick the kids up. They picked the kids up within 3 hours of us getting the call. I didn't tell the two little ones they were leaving but I did tell Ike. He was okay with it but I think he wanted to stay. He did however, decide to leave his bike and scooter here so he could have it when he visits. I think he just wanted to leave roots.

Their Aunt brought them back for a visit, the next week, and so we could give him his presents. DH gave him a race track and I gave him a Teddy bear I made at Build-a-Bear with a special voice recording just for him. He really liked both his gifts.

I've kept in contact with the Aunt. In fact, I talked with her the other day. She told me that Sugar Ray is having problems. He's not talking as clearly, he looks right through you, he won't or can't follow simple instructions, and he cries or whines when asked to do something. Anyone that has experience with Autism might recognize these signs. She is having him evaluated for Autism after speaking with a relative who's child has Autism. Even though Sugar Ray got on my nerves, it still breaks my heart to think of him as having Autism. There is no way that the mother will ever be able to take care of him, if that's the case. She has her own problems.

The mother is in rehab and may possibly get the kids back afterwards. Ike is not happy about that decision at all. I don't really blame him but maybe she will be okay after she gets help.

We have not seen the kids since that first visit. I wondering if we will ever see them again. We can only pray and hope for the best for those children. We both miss them and I think of them every day. I wonder if that's the way it's going to be with every child?

Soon to be three less

2010-07-04T11:30:00.006-04:00

Some of you might think after the lice thing, I gave up. It's just that we've been so busy since the kids are out of school. We still have all five kids, for now.

We think the Ike, Sugar Ray and Flower will be leaving us soon. They are going to live with their great Aunt and Uncle. They are nice people and we think they will be happy there. The kids have been seeing their mom during the weekends that they are with their Aunt. Mom hasn't shown up for her visits during the week, for the past three weeks. I have a feeling they won't be going back with her. I'm hoping the mom will give the Aunt guardianship or even give up her parental rights.

I think Ike's father will give up his rights, Sugar's father is unknown and Flower's dad is going to be spending more time incarcerated than originally thought. I don't think there is any way he will get any of the kids after he gets out.

Flower had her 1st birthday last month. I made her a pretty little birthday dress and cupcakes. I was so impress with myself for the way the dress turned out. One of the neighbors knew I was looking for a dress, but instead of a dress she found a little tshirt that said "Birthday Girl" on it. I cut the bottom off the tshirt and sewed material on to make it into a cute little dress.

Ike's birthday is next week. DH wants to get him a race track and either give it to him early or take it to him next week. The Aunt said she would like us to continue to see the kids and we think it would be a good idea, at least for Ike's sake. He has become very attached to us. He told me the other day, he wishes I was his mommy. We have been snuggling in the evening, after the little ones go to bed and before his bedtime. We usually watch something on TV that we both pick out. He told me he never knew what snuggling was until he came to our house. I think that's so sad.

I hate to say it but I will probably not miss Sugar Ray. He gives me such a hard time. I know it's his age, but he cries every time I ask him to do something or even ask him if he wants to do something, like go outside. I don't think he even thinks about what I'm saying before he starts whining.

Flower used to scream like crazy but she has gotten so much better. We have got her off formula and only give her baby food occasionally. We mostly give her table food cut into little pieces. She still gets a bottle, but we give her milk instead of formula. I'm going to miss her most of all. If I had a choice, I would keep her.

Speaking of keeping, we got the good news that Princess' dad has signed off on Little Prince. We can go ahead towards adoption! We already have a lawyer that will handle all the paper work and the kid's caseworker is thrilled and is providing us the nessessary information. Little Prince has picked out a new middle name. We are changing Princesses spelling of her first name and adding DH's mother name for her middle name. I can't give the names yet but hopefully soon. Hopefully we don't run into any snags along the way.

Wrote but forgot to post!

2010-05-01T08:37:00.003-04:00

As anyone who has read "Notes from Mickey" lately realizes, Princess hasn't said a word in several months. Yesterday, DH called me at work to tell me that Princess was in a really good mood and came up to him, in the kitchen, and said "Mama". DH told her "no, I'm daddy", she said mama again and he said "no, I'm daddy". Then she said "Mom!", he said "daddy", she said "MOM" quite clearly and forcefully and then ran off laughing. This is exciting! I told him I didn't even think she thinks about me but then he reminded me, we don't know what she thinks. I wish I heard her say words but hopefully it will come eventually. She did say "yum" the other day after I gave her a cookie, but I thought it was more of a sound than a word.

We have been working on Ike's behavior at school. He has never acted out at home but he has rotten school days. He got suspended again last week and he had only been there for 10 minutes! I actually think it was wrong for them to send him home. He doesn't hurt anyone but he does knock thing off tables or knock chairs over. Anyway, they called me at work to tell me we need to pick him up. I had to call DH who was on his way to take Princess to school. Like I said, he had dropped Ike off about 10 minutes before that. It took him about 30 minutes to get back to pick up Ike. Ike spent most of the rest of the day in his room. I don't know why he had so much anger. He's only six. He had another bad day on Wednesday of this week but he at least was able to stay in school. They called me to let me know and I told them they could not keep sending him home. I didn't tell them but he has a right to an education and this school is suppose to specialize in behavior problems like ADHD. Right after school he had therapy. The therapist started a behavior chart which has worked for the last two days. He has to get 4 stickers in a week to get a prize. He gets a sticker for each "happy face" and each "okay face" he receives. He is graded in the morning and the afternoon. Thursday he received a one of each and Friday he received two stickers. It's only been two days and he was received four stickers already!

LIC*E

2010-04-19T22:40:00.004-04:00

As you can tell by the title, one of my worst fears have come true. When we first start the foster care process, I feared having head lice come into our home. Well, it happened last Thursday.

I dropped three of the children for a parental visitation and within five minutes, the worker who was supervising the visit, called to tell me they found lice on Sugar Ray's head. GROSS! The mom wanted me to shave his head but she did it before I picked him up. I immediately checked Princess and Little Prince's heads. I didn't find anything but then I didn't know what I was looking for. I called my sister in hopes she could tell me what to do. She told me what to look for but I still didn't find anything on their heads. After I picked the kids up, we stopped at a pharmacy to get RID or something like it. I talked to the Pharmacist first and was told I shouldn't use anything like that with the younger children and that I should contact their doctor. I got lucky and was able to talk to their Pediatrician. He suggested using olive oil over night and then call if I found anything in the morning. I double checked all heads when I got home. I didn't have to worry about Sugar Ray because he no longer had hair but I checked the baby and Ike's. I didn't find anything. I rechecked the other two but noticed nothing unusual. I gave Little Prince and Ike hair cuts.

Ike's hair was already short so I just trimmed it. Little Prince lost quite a bit along the sides and the back. I left quite a bit of length on the top. I washed all the bedding in hot water and put all the stuff animals away. I thought we were safe - until the next morning.

Before my day even began, I woke up early with a migraine. I ended up calling in to work. My day just got worse from there. First I gave everyone a bath and checked heads again. I check LP's first. I found two live ones! I immediately put Olive Oil on LP's head and wrapped it in glad wrap. I also soaked my hair with Olive Oil. I had been itching but I was hoping it was psychological. I washed all the bedding again. I left the oil on my head all day but I washed LPs out after about two hours. I then took him outside and told him I was going to cut his hair like daddy's. He liked that idea. I cut it pretty short on the sides and left about 3/4 of a inch on the top. It looks really cute, kind of like the kid on the movie "Jerry McGuire". Later, I was looking at my head in the mirror and found a slow moving "bug". I guess the oil did something but I was grossed out by it. I put more Olive Oil in my hair, wrapped it with Glad Wrap and then took out my blow dryer to heat my head up. I don't know if it did any good because after that DH ran up to the store for some Lice treatment.

He was so sweet, he did my hair for me. I didn't like the thought of using a pesticide on my head but the thought of bugs in my hair was worse. It was funny the next day at work. I got two comments about how good my hair looked. I told my friend I should "do" hot oil treatments more often! Anyway, I think they're gone now. I'm going to have DH do another treatment on me this weekend just to be sure. I still don't know where they came from. The only two that go to school didn't have them. Maybe I got them from work, from a patient? Who knows.

Princess and the pea?

2010-04-11T15:05:00.004-04:00

Princess has been doing very well for the past several weeks. The one thing she does, that I can't figure out, is her eating habits. For instance, I gave her fresh cut strawberries with her dinner the other night. She liked them and ate everything on her plate. A few days later I did the same thing but for breakfast, she refused to eat them. When I told her to eat, she stuck one in her mouth and would not chew it or swallow it. She even drank her juice with that piece of strawberry in there! The strawberry was still in there, when I took her to school, forty-five minutes later. Finally she swallowed it before the teacher got her out of the vehicle. She has done the same thing with chicken, beans, broccoli and carrots. One day she likes them and the other she acts like we are trying to poison her. I say that because DH was reading about Autism one day and he said that their sense of smell and taste is very strong that sometimes it's too much. Maybe hers changes from day to day.

Well, she was almost potty trained a year ago but went backwards for several months. We had to start reminding her to go to the potty and most of the time her response was crying and running to the bathroom. Once she was in there and on the potty, she would be fine. Starting in March she stopped the crying but we still have to reminder. She wears big girl panties during the day and pull ups at night. She hasn't had an accident for quite some time and has woke up dry for the past four days. She has even went in on her own a couple times over the past week.

Little Prince has been doing well the past couple days with not having an accident in his big boy pants. I think it might have changed when I asked him if he was peeing in his pant because he saw Sugar Ray do it. He told me "yes" which surprised me but he hasn't had an accident since. He has, however, continued to do things that Sugar gets in trouble for. My mother told me to ignore it but how can I give him the impression that it's OK for him to do it and not Sugar. I know he's doing it to get attention but I give him a lot of attention anyway. It was funny last night, when I got home, both him and Sugar came running to the door - mommy, mommy, mommy. It feels good but on the other hand I feel bad they don't do that to DH. I sometimes wonder if I should tell Sugar to call me by my name instead of mommy. I don't mind if he calls me mommy if it makes him feel safer. Sugar and LP do a lot of things together and I know they are learning good things from each other too.

DH ordered that program to teach your babies to read. Both LP and Sugar watch it twice a day. After the DVD, we do the word cards with LP. There are ten cards and yesterday LP got every word right without any hints. We only started the program less than three weeks ago. We are so proud of him. I bet he will be able to read by the end of the year.

Is the Stress too much?

2010-04-09T18:20:00.009-04:00

I don't like to write about negative things but I think the stress is finally getting to me. It's not just one thing, it's everything together. Each child has contributed to my stress in the last few weeks. The children are not really to blame, it's really the way I deal with the situations that come up. We will start with the littlest person in our home.

Flower is the baby that doesn't sleep through the night. I can probably tell what you're thinking - get up and put a pacifier in? Oh no, she doesn't take a pacifier she either wants to be held or she wants a bottle. We make sure she has a full belly at bedtime but she still wakes up every 3 to 4 hours and stays up for about 20 minutes to a half hour. So it's not just disturbed sleep, it's get up, stay up until you're wide awake then try to go back to sleep so you can work in the morning. The only thing she responds to is patting her bucket harder than she should like it. I'm really wondering if she was a drug baby. I know some of the drugs babies, that I've come in contact with, like more physical stimulation when trying to calming down. If you pat her bucket she usually goes back to sleep. At least she can't get out of her bed like Sugar Ray does.

Sugar Ray stays asleep but he has a heck of a time getting to sleep. I bet I had to go upstairs five times last night to put him back in his bed. I've tried to be comforting but kneeling down by his bed and rubbing his back until I thought he was asleep but it never fails - as soon as I get back downstairs he's back, at his gated doorway, crying. I have also tried getting upset with him and that doesn't work either. It wasn't any better when he was sharing a room with Ike. We had to move Sugar Ray to a room of his own because of what we found out at Ike's school meeting.

Earlier in the week Ike had another bad day at school so I decided to meet with his teacher for about five minutes to let Ike see that I talk to his teacher and his teacher talks to me. His teacher, Ms. Sped and I have been using a communication book so I know exactly what is happening at school. We made a deal with Ike that if he is a good boy at school he will receive a quarter when he gets home. Well, earlier in the week Ms Sped wrote down things that Ike was doing and it wasn't good. Ike starting yelling at her that I was going to see it and that Ms Sped doesn't ever write anything good. She tried to explain that what goes into the book is only things he does and he can control what he does. The therapist called DH at home to ask for a meeting in the near future but when I called her back I couldn't get a hold of her. So anyway, I wanted to meet with him and the teacher together so he knew we were on the same page. By the time I got to school the asst. vice principle and the therapist were also involved. We met for about a half hour without Ike in the room and brain stormed to get ideas to help him with his anger problem. By the way, we have not seen any anger issues at home. I also found out some things we were unaware of like this has been going on longer than just this school year. The therapist also told me that he had bad anger issues at his mothers home too. He actually tried to kill his little sister. Keep in mind Ike is only six years old.

When I got home, I told DH what I had learned and we decided immediately to move Sugar to another room. If Ike was to get upset with Sugar for not going to sleep he could try the same thing with him as he did with his sister. If he did that we wouldn't have a clue until morning. Scary stuff. We also called Linda at the agency to let them know that maybe this is more than we can handle.

Linda was totally unaware of the past actions of Ike and she actually thought he should be in a household without other children. We are not going to do anything drastic yet but he will receive counseling/therapy starting next week. I really hope we can solve his anger issues. I'm thinking between not getting a good nights sleep and the stress of his actions at school it's really getting to me and DH.

Princess's teacher told DH today that she thinks that the stress of these kids is too much for me. I'm wondering if I look that bad? He told me she has noticed that I look run down. It could also be that when I thought I was going to only have a five minutes meeting with Ike's teacher that turned into a half hour meeting, I forgot to pick up Princess from school. I was a half hour late and boy did I feel like a bad mom. How could I forget my own daughter? Then to top it off I forgot their parental visit the next day! They still made it to their visit but they were a hour late. I'm sure I will hear a comment from the anti-foster parent woman but if I were her I wouldn't bother.

Speaking of visits, we started the visits with Flower's other parent at the county facility. DH stayed with her though the visit and it went well. The parent held her the whole time. DH told me there is a good bound there. So far, the other kids are not included in that visit.

Little Prince is being a normal three year old brother. He copies everything Sugar does, good and bad. Sugar will do something that I will then tell him not to do and LP will turn right around and do it himself. LP has also had accidents in his big boy underwear for the last three days. I think that happened because he sees Sugar do it in his diaper. I'm hoping that Sugar will copy LP and be interested in potty training soon. Boy, he can make a diaper stink!

Princess still has to be reminded to go potty but she is doing better. She really has been a very good girl. She's doing well in school. She can trace her name and write two of the letters without tracing. We are so proud of her. She can dress herself but sometimes she puts her shirt on backwards and her shoes on the wrong feet but she has come along way. She laughs a lot and is very happy most of the time.

All in all, I guess it's not so bad. We just have to adjust to having five young kids in the house.

And now there's five

2010-03-28T10:58:00.007-04:00

Tink went to live with her daddy a few days ago. We got a call the night before that she was being moved to her fathers but were asked not to say anything to her just in case it didn't happen. That night, at bed time I basically said my good-byes without her knowing it. I told her to be a good girl and that she would always have a safe place here. I had to work the next day, so I waited for her to fall asleep when I packed up her clothes, leaving an outfit for her to wear the next day.

DH called me the next morning, at work, to tell me that the case worker picked her up in the morning (it was suppose to be after her afternoon nap). Everything went fine and Tink was happy she was going to her dads. Ashley, the caseworker, sat her and her brothers on the stairs to talk to them about what was going on. I really thought Ike would be more upset but he seems to be OK.

Sugar Ray is doing better being in the same room as Ike. I know Ike wants his own room but I keep reminding him he can have which ever room he wants after Sugar is able to sleep by himself. The first few nights we let Sugar fall asleep down stairs before we would carry him up to bed. Last night DH just had him get into his bed at the same time as everyone else was going to bed. He stayed in bed all night and didn't even cry. I wonder if Sugar Ray would like to share a room with Little Prince. They are almost the same size and we have another toddler bed. I guess the better question would be if Little Prince would like it.

Sugar started calling DH "daddy" a few days ago. We didn't even notice until Ike asked about it. DH told him that Sugar probably doesn't understand that he's not his daddy but he hears LP calling him "daddy". He doesn't call me anything. I don't want him to call me "mommy", that would be disrespectful to his mother.

According to the new caseworker (we'll call her Cathy), the mother has the worse case of ADHD she's ever seen. I don't know if she's on medication but that could explain the issue we had with Ike's missing pills.

Looking back on the posts, I noticed I didn't tell the part of the story of the missing pills. When we received the placement, Ike came with three pills of his ADHD medicine along with a sample of a medicine that is suppose to keep him from having outbursts. I didn't think much of it and beside I had to take him to the doctor the next day. Well, the prescription was actually filled the first week in March which means there should have been at least 15 pills left. When I noticed there wasn't any refills, I called the automated line at the pharmacy for them to call the doctor to get a refill. The next morning I called the pharmacy to make sure the prescription was ready and they told me they couldn't fill it because it was a narcotics and I would have to get a written prescription from the doctor. I understood and called the doctor to get a prescription. When I got to the doctors office, they gave me the hand written prescription for a 30 day supply even though they told me I should have pills left. They know I'm the foster mom and are also familiar with the bio-mom. Meanwhile, the little ones are getting restless because it's nap time. I drove through the pharmacy to drop off the script and showed my ID. I told them I would be back later that evening. She responded with "no problem". I called about 8:00 that evening, right before DH was going to run up and get it. The pharmacy didn't fill it! They told me that it was filled on March 5th and I should have plenty of pills left! Oh, this did not make me happy...I told her that if I had plenty of pills left I wouldn't have made a special trip to the MD to get another prescription. This conversation went on for at least 10 minutes. I dont' usually loose it but I did that time. She proceeded to tell me they would have to call the doctor to verify that it was OK to fill it. By that time the doctors office was already closed and Ike didn't have any meds for the following morning. I "suggested" they red flag it or something so the doctor would be called first thing in the morning.

The next morning I called the pharmacy again. They had already called the doctor and were waiting to hear back. I called the MD's office to try to move it along. They told me they would be able to make the call within about 20-30 minutes. I told them that was fine since I was on my way to take two of the kids to the dentist. Noon rolled around and still no call to the pharmacy from the MD's office. I called the MD's office again. They assured me they would call immediately. I should never have waited until late afternoon to check on the filling of the prescription but I figure it was too late for Ike to take his meds anyway. So I called about 4 ish to let them know I was coming to pick it up...they didn't fill it!! They told me because I should have pills left that Medicaid wasn't going to cover it. My question all along was "Why didn't you call me?". I then had to call the caseworker at CPS to see if they could do anything. She said they could go pick it up but not until morning. So Ike didn't have meds all day but he actually did alright. I just reminded him to stay calm and if he needed to be by himself he could. Thank goodness it was a nice day outside for playing.

Not a big happy family yet.

2010-03-24T22:29:00.007-04:00

I have to say, last year at this time, we never dreamed we would have six kids in the house or even be in this house. We have been staying very busy. I realized today, that if I didn't have to "police" the children all day, I could get a lot more done.

Today was nice enough for them to play outside. They play pretty well together when they want to. However, Ike and Tink are really good at excluding Little Prince. He so wants to play with them and be around them. When I took them for their parental visit, the other day, Little Prince didn't want me to leave them (especially Tink). He also wants to be sure he says good-night to Tink. I really don't know why because she sure isn't nice to him. She takes his toys away while he's playing with them and she yells at him a lot. It could have something to do with her past experiences. The day after they came, she told him she was going to be the mom and he was going to be her baby, then she proceeded to shake her finger at him and say "I don't care about you". Where do you think she could have heard that? Isn't that sad. I wonder, if Ike wasn't here, would she be any different.

Ike and Tink were suppose to be going to their fathers but after court the other day I found out it isn't going to happen for some time. I'm not sure what's going on but I have a feeling they are going to be here for awhile.

It seems like everything is fine until they have been to a parental visit. The first visit neither Tink or Ike wanted to see their mom. They told me, after I picked up Ike from school, they just wanted to go back to my house and play. Now, after the visit they were glad to have seen mom. Today after their visit, all of them were doing some serious crying. Tink was crying because she didn't want to say goodbye to mom, Ike was crying because he didn't get ice cream, I think Sugar Ray was crying because he was tired and Flower was wet. After we got back to the house, they played outside and the two older ones were back to excluding LP. I think Ike is getting the idea that it's not just a sleep over anymore. I wonder if that has something to do with his attitude after the visits.

I did have to switch Tink's and Ike's rooms around. We haven't been able to get Sugar Ray to sleep without a major melt down on his part. At first, we had him in a crib in his own room. He would scream like crazy. By the third night he figured out how to get out of the crib. I told DH we can't keep putting him in the crib if he's going to climb out - I'm afraid of a head injury! So DH and I desided to let him lay in bed with Ike until he would fall asleep. I gave him about an hour before I went in to get him. I wish I could have taken a picture of the two of them, they were all inter-twined. There was no way I was going to get him out of bed without waking him up. So the next night we decided to change Ike to a room with two twin beds (Tink's room) so Sugar Ray could sleep in the same room without sleeping in the same bed. Now if he would only stay in his own bed, we would get some rest at night.

All in all, everything is going fine. We are still having trouble with lying but we are hopeing that will resolve it's self when Tink and Ike learn they can trust us. Sugar Ray is still hitting the other kids and the dogs but not as often. I'm sure things could be worse and I'm glad they aren't. Who knows what will happen in the next few weeks.

Wow, now there's six!

2010-03-21T10:45:00.012-04:00

Our household grew! We took in a sibling group of four on Thursday. They range from under one year to almost seven years. Two boys and two girls.

The girl is close to Princess's age but doesn't seem to give her the time of day. We will call her Tink, after Tinkerbell. She is definitely under weight and so is the oldest boy. Tink is four years old but even 3T cloths are too big. They didn't come with much in the way of cloths so I have been dressing Tink in the cloths Princess grew out of. I haven't seen it but DH tells me that Tink is sweet when she knows we are watching. She feels quite comfortable in our home, enough to tell me that she wants to stay and not visit with her mom. Tink has an older brother that we will call Ike.

Ike seems like to be a good boy but has issues. He has ADD and is on medicine but I'm wondering if he's received it like he is suppose to. The first evening he was in our home, he was a wild man. I didn't know how we were going to handle him but the next day was a little better and the weekend was even better. He's also under weight and doesn't eat a lot at one time. I also think he has trust issues. I have caught Ike lying about the same thing, several times. He doesn't know I know that it's not true but if it continues I will have to have the truth come out. He's kind of stand offish but I'm guessing he just doesn't feel comfortable yet. Ike has a little brother that we will call Sugar Ray.

Sugar Ray likes to hit anything and everyone. The second day we had them, I bet he stood in the corner at least five times for hitting one of the kids. When he doesn't get his way, he drops to the floor and starts screaming. He's starting to warm up to us. I asked him for a kiss and after about 3 times asking he gave me a little one. He does want me to pick him up and he will snuggle with me when he gets tired but I'm sure he misses his mommy. Sugar Ray has a little sister that we will call Flower.

Flower looks so sweet but is full of it. She's the baby but she has a temper just like just like her older brother. She really seems to have problems going to sleep at night. I've tried holding her but she wakes up as soon as I lay her down. She doesn't just wake up, she screams. She's definitely more advanced than the twins we had. Flower is quite mobile. It's quite a feat to get her dressed or change her diaper. I tried to give her a bath, the first night, in the baby tub but she wouldn't stay in it long enough. Last night I held her in the regular tub. Flower can roll over and start crawling before you even realize she's moved. She pulls herself up to stand and investigates everything she can touch. She's a stinker but cute.

Possible help for Autism

2010-03-07T09:04:00.002-05:00

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2010-03-06T20:04:00.005-05:00

Princess is improving all the time. Her one teacher actually said she's amazing. Yesterday, DH called me at work to tell me something exciting. I've asked him not to call at a certain time but he couldn't wait. He called to tell me that after asking Princess if mama made the cookies for her, she said "mama" and then ran off laughing. We haven't heard many words from her in months. I could almost say she hasn't really spoke anything in months except jibberish. Maybe one day she will just start talking but until then we will communicate with sign language and pictures.

I haven't gotten very far on her picture book. I have the binder, the pictures, and the velcro. I have even went into her classroom to see how they made their book. The teachers gave me some good ideas. I will start with only things she likes to do and things she likes to eat. I'm also going to take pictures of places we go so I can show her where we're going before we leave. I have to get it done before we get more kids!

We got a call yesterday (DH did), from the agency, about a sibling group of four. We don't know exactly how old they are but we believe they are between the ages of 6 months and 6 years. The oldest is the only one in school. We know it's a mix of boys and girls but we're not sure how many of each. We are taking them in on Monday some time. Monday is going to be really busy.

We have decided to throw Little Prince a birthday party for his third birthday. We don't know if he's ever had a birthday party before but hopefully he will remember this one for a while. I have invited two friends from work that have children about his age. Even though the party will be a few days after his actually birthday, it will still be great for him. I think I will try to make a Mickey Mouse cake and get some balloons. I will have to make some GFCF cupcakes for Princess. I figure I can freeze all but two them to keep for later. Anyway, I have a lot of stuff to do next week.

Hopefully DH and I can get the rest of the stuff out of our house we are trying to sell. The realitor told us we should either lower the price or do some painting. The house is in good shape but I painted in colors we like and they are not neutral. The living room is dark green and the master bedroom is kind of a pink/mauve color. So I will try to get over there in the middle of the week to paint those two rooms at least.

Another Step

2010-02-16T18:06:00.007-05:00

We are very pleased with the results from giving Princess Vitamin D and Probiotics. She has been taking them for about a week. She seems to be thinking clearer and not looking so blank. This morning she spilled her juice and when DH told her it was an accident, before he could reach for paper towels, she grabbed a towel and started to clean it up off the floor! This a big thing for her. The other night I heard her up at about 3am. When I went up to see what she was doing, she had taken her wet pullup off, put a clean one and put on a pair of sweat pants. Of course I made go back to bed but I couldn't believe she did that. She's not whining as much when we remind her to go potty. She even puts her bowl or plate in the sink when she's finished with a meal. Yesterday after breakfast she figured out how to carry her plate, fork and sippy cup to the sink at the same time by holding her sippy cup in her mouth. She just seems to be "thinking" more.

She immitates every hand movement I make when I talk to her. DH and I really need to learn more sign language so we can teach her. I think when she immitates my hand movements, she thinks I'm doing a sign. I did get the pictures, for her picture book, printed. I just have to get them laminated. There is always something to do.

The weather has been really wintery in the last few days. We got several inches of snow. That didn't stop us from trying to take the twins for their RSV shots. We actually got half way there and were told we shouldn't go any further. We stopped at a local store to fix the windshield wipers and that's how we found out State Troopers were giving out $50 fines if you got pulled over. Needless to say, we turned around and rescheduled the girl's appointment. Honestly, the roads weren't that bad.

2010-02-07T14:50:00.002-05:00

It's been a very interesting few days. First I want to thank all the people who read my blog and make positive comments. I actually made it over a year without a negative one until this week. I will not allow negative comments to be posted anymore, negativity breeds negativity.

Princess surprises us every day. The other day she helped her brother put on his towel before dinner. Yesterday she picked up all her toys when asked and even retrieved the baby bottles to be washed. She has been taking more of an interest in the babies. We will really have to watch her closely but it's nice to see her recognize them as people instead of fixtures. I have made a conscience effort to include her in the things I'm doing. She likes to watch me do dishes and for fun she runs around the vacuum cleaner. She was doing good with the potty training until about mid week. Then we went back to pull ups. We still remind her to go potty but at least if she has an accident, she doesn't have wet pants. She has some good days and some not so good days.

Little Prince was a real good boy yesterday. He did what he was asked without any fussing. When DH put him down for his nap, he told him he was going to have to put up the toys in the playroom after he woke up. Well, about two hours later DH heard some foot steps running around upstairs. He just figured LP was awake and in his room so DH called his name from the bottom of the stairs, LP came from around the corner and said TA DA! DH asked him if he said ta da just because he woke up? LP said "no, I clean up toys! We are amazed he remember that he was suppose to do that and that he did it as soon as he got up. LP got one of Daddy's special candies for being such a good boy.

One of my friends is letting me borrow a crib for as long as I need it. It's in good shape and came with a real nice mattress. Bouncy and Sunshine need their own cribs. Most of the time Bouncy is either right next to her sister or has her legs over the top of Sunshine's legs by morning. We will probably set up the crib tonight. Since the babies are so much littler I dont' think it will matter that I switched the mattress from LP's bed to the nice mattress. I actually think he slept better last night. He did sleep longer. He didn't get up until 6am! DH said he got up right after I pulled out of the drive. Soon after that Princess was up and then both babies. The family had a early start this morning.

Tomorrow everyone will have an early start. We will have to get up by 5:45 in order for everyone to eat breakfast and get ready to take the babies for their parental visit. I figure we will have to leave by 6:45 to be there by 8:00 for the visit. The visit will last for three hours and then we will have to get home in time to get Princess to school. We will have a busy morning. I think to waste time during the visit we will try to get the grocery shopping done. That shouldn't take more than an hours since DH will be with me and we won't have the babies. I have shopped with LP and the babies. It takes me twice as long as it should because LP doesn't want to ride in a cart. He doesn't get into anything or wonder way but he wants to know about every thing he sees. He's in the "why" stage. Some times I think he just says "why" because he likes the word :)

Response to comments

2010-02-06T17:50:00.004-05:00

First, I must say that I know we have to do what CPS/DCS request and "deal with it" but that doesn't mean we agree with it. If the mother had taken care of her kids like she should have then maybe they wouldn't have been taken away. I am all for getting the kids back to their mother when she can get her act together. As for the visits..all I'm saying it seems to be a waste of time to have a drive that long when she could see the kids for two hours longer if they were in the same town as mom. So I agree that some things that CPS/DCS does could be fixed. What I don't agree with, is all foster parents are bad and there should be no such thing as foster parents. If we weren't foster parent do you think the state wouldn't have taken the children?? Instead they might have went to a group home, used to be known as an orphanage! Yes, we do get money..should we take care of another persons children for free?? We get less than a baby sitter does and we have to supply food and clothing. The children in our home eat well balanced meals and have nice clothes. Anything we buy for them will go with them when they do leave.

As for children that are hurt or killed in the hands of the foster parents that is terrible and absolutely sick but there are probably an equal amount of children killed at the hands of their own parents. Why don't you put that in your "news" blog. Some people should not be parents and some people should not be foster parents. I am not going to try to convince you that we are good people because you already have a preconceived notion that all foster parents are bad. The world needs good people to care about children when their parents don't.

Dealing with DCS

2010-02-05T07:58:00.010-05:00

Little Prince is stilling thinking he is going to get flushed down the toilet if he falls in. He still goes by himself but the toilet he uses, most of the time, we've had to put the potty training toilet seat back on. Which means I have to go across the house to use another bathroom or take the seat off every time I have to go!!

Last week we took the twins up for a visit with "mom". It was at the DCS (dept of child services) since "mom" doesn't have a place to have visits with them. Anyway, DH and I dropped them off then we wasted time around town. We drove through down town since DH had never been in that part of town. It's a pretty little town with old store fronts and little shops. The visit was suppose to be a hour and a half long. When we got back to pick them up, DH ran in to get them (I sat out with the other kids). Soon he came back out without the babies. I asked him what was going on.."they (social-workers) are walking around the office, holding the babies". He went in a few minutes later to get them. He came back out again without the babies! "What's going on?" I asked. He told me they (three social workers) basically attacked him with accusing us of not taking care of the babies. Bouncy has had a rash on the side of her face for weeks. I asked her doctor about it during a visit in early January. He said it was probably an allergy but didn't suggest anything. Sunshine had a rash around her chin from the baby food I gave her the day before the visit. The DCS workers said it was from our cats! Who ever heard of a topical allergy to cats without a respiratory issue?? DH was so mad but was able to keep his mouth shut. The last time he came out without the babies, I told him to get in the van and I would go in and get the babies. I was NOT happy and I'm sure they talked about it after we left. I went right in their, told them it was not a cat allergy and informed them I HAD taken the babies to the doctor. The old bat supervisor asked me if the cat is around the babies when they are sleeping because we know that is a big issue..I said "no, the cat doesn't like to be around them at all". Did she think the cat was going to "suck" the breath out of them? DH thought for sure they would have the babies moved to another home.

I called the babies therapist right after we got on the road. I told Lindsey what had happened and she said we shouldn't worry about it and that they wouldn't move the babies. She also told me I don't have to contact the mom and it would be better if I just emailed herself about the babies, she would forward the emails to the case worker, who then could let the mom know. I spoke with her about the whole rash thing and how we were basically accused of not taking care of the babies. She suggested I called their pediatrician for a referral (which is what the DCS supervisor "suggested").

I called their doctors office the next day to get a referral. Jack was very help and called me right back after speaking with the doctor. The pediatrician does not usually give referrals for babies so young. The doctor also said that it is probably eczema and that babies get that a lot. She will look at them when I have to take them in for their second Synigus shot. In the mean time, Bouncy had an appointment this week for a Neonatal followup with a doctor I happen to work with at the hospital. Sunshine didn't have anything on the books but I took her along anyway. It worked out fine because the doctor actually needed to see her too. They are both doing good but Sunshine lost about a half pound since the beginning of January. Dr D suggested I increase the "strength" of her formula to equal 24 cals per ounce. It takes her a while to eat the whole bottle and sometimes we have to give her the last half like an hour later. Dr D also looked at their little faces. It was diagnosed as Eczema! haha DCS take that! She suggested I pick up some Eucrine cream and put it on their faces regularly. I'm also to put Neosporin on Bouncy's face because it looked like it could have a touch of infection. Their little face look better already and it's only been a couple days.

The babies mom can't seem to make up her mind if she is going to give them up or keep them. Or maybe she has made up her mind and is just working the system. We have a new case worker (we'll call her Charity). Charity wants to have a meeting next week to discuss the plan and to set up visitations twice a week for about three hours at a time. How are we going to spend that much time away from home? If one visit is down near our home, they can visit with the babies at the facility and I can get other things done like take Princess to school and take care of the other kids responsibilities. But if we have three hour visits near "mom's home", I have two hours of drive time and then three hours to waste around that little town. I don't know what to do besides suggest that the time up there be shorter and the time down here be longer, or that babies mom come and get the babies in the morning and bring them back later in the day. We are going to be getting more children in the house and then what are we suppose to do?

Bad day for Daddy and LP

2010-01-23T16:30:00.000-05:00

One of Little Prince's greatest fears came true today - he fell into the toilet! He has been afraid of falling into the toilet for some time. Most of the time he goes to the bathroom by himself but sometimes he asks us to help him/hold him so he doesn't fall in. Today he did fall in and then my sweet DH tried to tell him he was too big to fall in (too big to go down into the toilet) but Little Prince didn't believe him so DH held him and carefully lowered him down into the toilet. Well, that back fired! Little Prince started crying and now he won't use that toilet. DH told me that he carried his little stool across the house and used our bathroom in our room. Poor little guy. We will have to get him over that fear, I don't want him using our bathroom!

As you may know, DH works all Thursday night, then comes home so I can go to work and then stays up with the kids until I get home Friday evening. I don't know how he does it or how much longer he can do it. He calls me a couple times a day just to talk to me. This afternoon he called to tell me he was having a trying day. LP was upstairs crying so DH asked him what was wrong (from the bottom of the stairs), LP answered "I poopy'd". DH told him "that's OK, I will be up in a minute to wipe you". Well, when he got up there, LP had a case of diarrhea. It was all over the floor, down his legs, all over the toilet and he was standing there saying "I sorry Daddy, I sorry Daddy". Another "poor little guy". Daddy told him it was OK and that accidents happen. DH said it took him a while to get it all cleaned up and then he put LP in a "warm" shower.

I wish I was home. Actually, I received a text message from DH early this morning saying that he wishes our house would sell so we could pay off some bills and then I could quit working. We do miss each other. We don't have a day off together anymore and that's harder than we thought it would be. We thought we would have the evenings together but what we didn't think about is it wouldn't be just him and I. It really changed when we received the babies.

I learned two days ago that bio-mom is thinking about give up custody of her kids. There is a couple north of us who would like to adopt the twins and their sister would stay within the her family. I hope it's as easy as that but I have a feeling that terminating parental rights (TPR) is going to be a long, drawn out process. From what I understand, the man named on the birth certificate is not the father and the actual father lives outside the country. Fun, Fun. Oh, another thing; bio-mom wants me to text her every few days to let her know how the babies are but she hasn't even kept in contact with the case worker. If she is so concerned about the babies then why doesn't she ask the case worker to contact me? I don't want her to have my cell number so I called our cell company to find out how to block my number. They informed me that there was no way to do that but that I could block it when I made a call. I let the caseworker know what the cell company said and now he wants me to call her every few days to let her know how her kids are!

5 Minutes for Giveways

2010-01-22T12:05:00.002-05:00

What a great blog site. These two sisters give way a lot of great stuff. Everyone should check it out. You can get to the site by the button to the right. Good luck but let me win first..haha

Vegetables - yuk!

2010-01-17T15:21:00.004-05:00

For days now we have been giving Princess green beans. Just last month she loved green beans but now she has decided she doesn't want to eat them. It was the only vegetables she would eat. It started at lunch, yesterday, DH made her a nice lunch and she refused to eat the beans. Last night at dinner he made another meal with beans and she refused to eat them. This morning at breakfast and at lunch, she received green beans again and refused to eat them. Needless to say, she was starving by dinner time (3:00). So, DH decide not the fight with her about beans and made her chicken and french fries. He gave her one french fry, she stuck in her mouth and refused to chew it and swallow it!! Finally she ate it and he gave her the rest of her lunch. The first thing she reached for was a french fry!!!

I don't understand why she won't eat green beans anymore or other vegetables. Could her tastes change so fast? We will have to find a different vegetable that she likes.

Some sick, some injured

2010-01-15T17:47:00.003-05:00

I'm getting over sickness. I can't believe how sick I've been over the last two months. I think it's finally going away. I feel much better today. The sore throat really had me worried but at least I can swallow again. I hardly ever called in to work and now since we got LP and Princess I've called in the maximum of five times. Needless to say, I got a written notice today. They give you sick hours but you can't really use them. I think I have over 200 hours saved but if I call in three more times before July I won't have a job!

The children are fine. I'm so thankful they didn't get sick. They've made up for it in injuries! Both Little Prince and Princess have fallen down the stairs. The stair are carpeted but there is hard wood at the bottom. Little Prince has fallen three times!! The first time he didn't get hurt, the second time he hit his head and made a knot above his right eye. The third time scared me half to death! I heard him fall all the way down and then hit the floor. He was still laying there by the time I ran from the kitchen. I picked him up and turned him over. He told me he hit his head and then I noticed his bloody nose. I quickly woke up DH and told him. I didn't know if he hit his nose or really hit his head so hard it made his nose bleed. He had another knot in the middle of his forehead, a fat lip, a bloody nose and a bruise across his right cheek along his jaw line. But according to LP "he didn't fall, he rolled down the stairs". Then to make things worse, Princess tried to fall later that night.

I had just gone to bed, thinking everyone was asleep. Then I hear the pitter-patter of little Princess feet running up and down the hall way upstairs. I jumped out of bed and ran up the stair. I told her she was suppose to be in bed. She had actually undid her gate and set it nicely again the wall. Well, I couldn't put her in the "corner" upstairs because she would have woke the other kids up. So, I escorted her down the steps...half way down she slipped and I hung on to her arm. I thought for sure it was broke. I called DH and told him what had happened and he came right home (he was on his way to work). DH took her to the ER and was there for about 4 hours while they did xrays and "popped" her tendon, in her elbow, back in place. She walked around for days like it was a rag hanging from her shoulder. They gave her a sling to use which she didn't and when she didn't think we were looking, she would move her arm. It's better now but that really scared me.

The babies are getting better. I had to take them up for a doctors appointment last week. They still needed their last shot of Synigus (spelling?), it's for RSV. While they were there the doctor looked at their ears and listen to their lungs. It's turned out Bouncy had an ear infection so we had to get a prescription for her. Sunshine was fine and got a clean bill of health. I think they might be behind on their immunizations but it's a long process when you are dealing with doctors in different cities. I'm trying to get records consolidated.

All the kids are sleeping upstairs most nights. The twins take turns sleeping down stairs only because they are taking turns sleeping through the night! It's weird how that happens but I was so tired today that I think I will try to keep them awake after their last bottle and try to get them to sleep for the night at a reasonable time.

Little Prince has been sleeping in his room but has developed a fear of monsters. He thinks their in his closet. We have told him there are no such thing as monsters and he doesn't believe us and then we told him this house doesn't have monsters, still doesn't believe us. So, now we tell him that monsters don't like giraffes and his 4ft giraffe, next to his bed, will keep the monsters away. It seems to work except he's still getting up between six and six-thirty every morning. At least this house has alarm tones on the doors that go off is someone opens the door. We know as soon as he is up and out the door. Then he stands at the top of the stairs and calls for us to watch him come down the stairs on his "rump".

All is well at the new house. I am planning to do some more packing at the other house so we can be totally moved over here. We haven't unpacked everything yet but we want everything to have a place and that takes time.

It sure is harder to take time to blog with four little ones in the house. I will try harder next time. I don't like to make long entries but the last two were catchup blogs.

The family's growing fast!

2009-12-23T17:58:00.004-05:00

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

2009-12-09T12:59:00.004-05:00

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.

2009-11-27T13:11:00.006-05:00

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

2009-11-26T10:08:00.001-05:00

Look up a sign.

Kids Eat Free Site..

2009-11-15T10:41:00.001-05:00

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

No New Mommy!

2009-11-14T14:24:00.004-05:00

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?

2009-11-12T20:34:00.013-05:00

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

2009-10-31T16:49:00.001-04:00

Take the First Aid Quiz at
http://www.5minutesformom.com/intelligent-first-aid/

83%

Find Quiz Answers Here

Much to tell...

2009-10-31T14:25:00.004-04:00

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

2009-10-18T23:04:00.005-04:00

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?

2009-10-15T15:48:00.009-04:00

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.

2009-10-14T20:03:00.006-04:00

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

2009-10-09T12:44:00.003-04:00

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

2009-10-08T16:22:00.003-04:00

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

2009-10-06T13:17:00.004-04:00

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 #$%!!

2009-10-03T11:42:00.004-04:00

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.

2009-09-27T10:41:00.004-04:00

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

2009-09-25T06:39:00.011-04:00

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.

2009-09-20T16:43:00.006-04:00

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

2009-09-19T11:48:00.004-04:00

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!

2009-09-12T17:54:00.004-04:00

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?

2009-09-12T15:00:00.001-04:00

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?

2009-09-11T12:33:00.004-04:00

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

2009-08-28T16:16:00.005-04:00

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....

2009-08-27T17:55:00.002-04:00

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

2009-07-19T15:04:00.002-04:00

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

2009-06-30T18:43:00.004-04:00

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

2009-06-25T11:40:00.001-04:00

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

2009-06-21T08:20:00.002-04:00

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

2009-06-18T21:20:00.006-04:00

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

2009-06-12T22:00:00.005-04:00

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

2009-06-12T10:58:00.004-04:00

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

2009-05-30T21:22:00.002-04:00

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

2009-05-30T08:25:00.007-04:00

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

2009-05-29T10:19:00.001-04:00

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

2009-05-28T22:45:00.003-04:00

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

2009-05-26T23:01:00.005-04:00

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

2009-05-23T18:00:00.003-04:00

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

2009-05-19T09:54:00.004-04:00

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.

2009-05-02T08:05:00.003-04:00

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!

2009-04-23T08:26:00.002-04:00

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!

2009-04-06T19:49:00.003-04:00

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

2009-04-02T19:19:00.003-04:00

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

2009-03-21T19:57:00.003-04:00

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

2009-03-07T11:29:00.002-05:00

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

2009-02-17T13:30:00.002-05:00

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...

2009-02-04T10:57:00.005-05:00

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?

2009-01-28T14:11:00.003-05:00

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!

2009-01-27T09:12:00.006-05:00

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!

2009-01-13T11:14:00.005-05:00

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

2009-01-13T10:16:00.004-05:00

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

2009-01-06T22:00:00.004-05:00

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

2009-01-02T21:38:00.002-05:00

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?

2009-01-01T12:44:00.003-05:00

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.

Questions...oh the questions

2008-12-31T13:56:00.003-05:00

I picked up the packet from the foster agency yesterday. I didn't open it until last night. Good thing I picked it up instead of waiting for Linda to mail it. There are about 15 pages of questions concerning our parents, siblings and ourselves. We each have to fill out our own questions. There are also questions about our relationship and how we feel about discipline. I answered about half of the questions last night and I will probably finish them on Friday while I'm off. There is also a application that entails a lot of personal information (ie. bank accts, credit balances, bills, income, etc). I don't think DH wants to give that information but we really don't have a choice if we want to do it. I agree with DH - what does our income have to do with caring for a child. I understand they wouldn't want us living on the street but I think we should be able to give a range like over $50,000/yr or something like that. They also ask of we have life insurance and (I think) how much! DH is going to fill the application out because I told him he has better handwritting than I do. The only thing I think we will have a problem with is the medical form. We have to have our doctor fill it out and I don't know if we have to have an actual physical or if he will just fill it out from past information. I guess I should call our doctor's office and probably call Linda's office to see what the norm is.

I didn't get to pick up the table and chairs yesterday. In fact, she didn't even email me back until this morning. But she had a good excuse - she had received some very bad news. She wants me to meet her either Friday after 4pm downtown or at her house after 6pm. I think we will try to meet her Friday downtown so it's at a public place. DH doesn't feel good about me going by myself to a strangers house. I don't blame him, crazy people out there.

Something to write about?

2008-12-29T22:21:00.004-05:00

Well, first thing this morning I had to take our fuzzy boy child to the eye vet for his 6 month check up. He had eye surgery back in February. His pressures are fine He just has a little cloudiness behind the lens but nothing to worry about right now. The picture is him with a cooled eye mask on prior to his surgery. His eyes were all red and irritated. I remember I thought it was funny that he let me put it on him and then went right to sleep.

On the way back from the vet I called Linda at the foster care agency. Linda finally received the last reference back. She told me she was planning on calling us today. The next step is a two hour meeting which we plan on doing next Monday. Linda will have a packet ready for me to pick up tomorrow. She said there are a bunch of questions to fill out and some of them are kind of invasive. I guess I'll find out how invasive tomorrow. We also have to have a child care plan and a fire escape plan. The child care plan doesn't have to be detailed so I don't have to find a day care quite yet.

I have to tell you, I can't stay off "Craig's List"! I think I check it at least once a day. Today I bought a little table with 2 chairs for $35. I trying to arrange to pick it up tomorrow. We're really looking for a crib that converts to a toddler bed. We don't want to buy one or the other because we don't know how old of a child we will have. If anyone has a comment about how old a child usually is when they can be switched from a crib to a toddler bed please leave a comment. Any information is welcome. Both DH & I are going to be new parents from scratch. Foster parents that is and neither one of us know what is age appropriate. I can't wait until we get our first placement and I have something to write about every day!

December 23, 2008

2008-12-23T08:51:00.004-05:00

I can't believe Christmas is right around the corner. I can't keep thinking about the possibility of having a child in our home next Christmas. I know we can't reflect our religious beliefs onto a foster child but I hope they believe in the joy of Christmas. DH and I have never had the opportunity to have Santa come to our house for a little one.

On another note, I called Linda yesterday to see if she received all the references back. The only one she has not received back is from one of DH friends, who has an adopted daughter. I would have thought he would have been the first to send it back. Linda said she will let me know when it arrives. She also added that our friend "Cheri" wrote the story about the baby duck on the back of the paper along with some other nice stuff. I will post the story about the duck soon. After I let DH know about the call to Linda, DH called "Sam" to ask about the paperwork. Sam said he personally took it to the post office. Hopefully it didn't get lost and it's just late because of all the holiday mail. It just seems like everything is moving so slow. I guess I'm the type of person that wants everything right now. I didn't think I was impatient but I guess I am.

So much for getting rid of the double bed and getting bunk beds. Sis is making me a quilt for our spare room that "will look wonderful" on the bed. I didn't have the heart to tell her we were planning to change the room. She's been working on the quilt since January! I guess I could always get a wall hanging quilt rack if we don't keep the bed. Time will tell.

Bike Seat

2008-12-15T23:53:00.004-05:00

I picked up the childs bike seat today. It's in good shape. I really hope we get a placement that can ride in it. I talked to my sister today and told her that I finally told Dad about our foster care plans. He didn't really say anything. Sis said that probably because he doesn't feel positive about it. I think we will talk about it more after DH and I are certified. Well, it's getting late and I have to get up with our furry boy child. He has diabetes and we test him before breakfast and his dinner. In the picture, he's actually waiting for his feeder to start, except it's about 5:30am and he doesn't get fed until 8:30!

2008-12-14T09:37:00.002-05:00

I am a
Snapdragon

What Flower
Are You?

December 14, 2008

2008-12-14T06:52:00.002-05:00

Only 11 days left 'til Christmas! I have all my shopping done which wasn't much. DH and I only bought a few things for each other. We figured we better not go over board so we can have funds left to buy for a child later on. I would like to make or buy another bed so that we have two but maybe it's still to early. I called one of the references yesterday to see if they received the paperwork. Her husband answered the phone, she was sick in bed but he was going to ask her if she received it. Then late last night, DH's good friend called to tell us that he filled out the paperwork for the foster care reference and either mailed it or is going to. I think he thought DH was home but DH started his new shift of 6p to 6a - 7 days a week. We won't see each other on the days I work. At least it's only until the end of January or possibly February. He needs to take the overtime as he can get it. It would sure help to get bills paid off before we get a placement. I bought a child bike seat, to fit on my bike, off Craig's List yesterday. I will pick it up tomorrow. I love to ride my bike and it will be nice if I can take the (future) child with me. It's a nice one, according to the picture and I got it for $10. I don't think there's a day goes by that I don't get on Craig's List.

December 8, 2008

2008-12-08T09:40:00.003-05:00

I haven't written in a few days because nothing has really happened. Linda is probably going to send out the paper work, to our references, today.
I have been thinking about making a toddler bed. We already have a double bed in our spare room so we would have a bed for a toddler if we have side rails on it but should we have another bed just in case we get two children. The only way we would accept two children is if they are siblings. Anyway, I was thinking about making a bed. The bed would have a headboard like a picket fence. I can use posts that are pre-made for staircases (or something like that). For the pickets, I think 1"x2"s would work good. That way I could sand the sides so there would be no rough edges. For the actually bed part, I could build the sides out of 1"x6"s and MDF to hold the mattress. I would paint the whole thing white and maybe put decals of birds, butterflies, or something like that. I still want it to look like a kids bed. I had actually thought about making the whole room theme - "Noah's Ark", but maybe we are getting a little ahead of ourselves.
There is a little baby at work that I'm "in love" with. It's a little drug baby that is suppose to be discharged within the next week if all goes well with weaning. They discontinued the Morphine yesterday and they are discontinuing the other drug today. I don't feel good about the home Charlie is going to. His grandma has only visited a few times and mom is not a good example of a mother. She comes in or calls but you can tell she is still "using". Mom actually lost custody of him so grandma is the guardian. But here's the kicker; mom lives with grandma! I don't like to think about the life Charlie will have.

December 3, 2008

2008-12-04T09:16:00.000-05:00

Well, yesterday I took some of the paperwork to Linda so she can get the reference forms sent out to the people we have chosen to be our references. I hope the people we have chosen will get the forms back soon. After Linda gets the references back, she will send out some more paperwork for us to fill out. I also gave her the varies copies of forms we had to collect (IE drivers license, SS cards, marriage license, divorce certificate, birth certificates). The only forms I was missing were the rabies vac. for the dogs. Then the next step is meeting with her for two hours. I think she said it will be like an interview. Actually we have to meet for two-two hour meetings in the near future. I also asked her what would be the best way for DH to get the first aide training. She said they will have a class in February to cover CPR and body fluid pathogens. I don't have to go through the training because I go through it working at the hospital. I just got my CPR card renewed and the fluid pathogen training is online and ongoing at the hospital so Linda said they have a form that I could just get it signed by someone at work. I can't stop thinking about having a child in our home! I hope we have a good experience. I'm really hoping for a 2 or 3 year old. Oh, one of my co-workers is going through the journey also. We talked about it a little the other day. Tom brought up the point that the agency him and his wife are going through, doesn't place violent children or fire starters. DH and I already agreed we didn't want a violent child but I had never thought about a fire starter. I added firestarter to our list of unacceptable. Linda said that was fine and that the agency will not even call us with a placement.

2008-11-25T10:30:00.000-05:00

This is the first entry for me on this site. "If'" you are interested in the previous entries, go to http://360.yahoo.com/mickeybuddydaisey . I moved from yahoo because I kept losing my postings. I wonder if I can transfer my yahoo blog entries to blogger? I would sure hate to loss them.
Nothing has happened in the last few days. DH filled out the form to request the divorce certificate from his first marriage. The Foster agency needs it. I have to fax it this evening after work. I may try to fax it from work but it's a long distance number so I would need approval. The only time I have reservation about becoming a foster parent is early in the morning when I don't want to get up for work. I'm wondering what it will be like it get up in the middle of the night for a crying child. Or how many times I will be late to work because the child wakes up while I'm getting ready. I guess I will just plan to get up a little earlier to allow for time.

November 23, 2008

2008-11-23T22:00:00.000-05:00

I picked up the car seat today. It's nice looking and new. I haven't tried to put it in the SUV yet. I think I will wait until after we are certified. I also made copies of our birth certificates, our marriage license and our social security cards. I kind of screwed up at work the other day, I was looking at the car seat online and MFF was seating next to me and made a comment about getting a child and the possibility of adoption. Well, it was right before shift change so there were a lot of people in the room. One of my coworkers over heard and asked my if we were getting a baby? MFF quickly jumped in and told her that we were becomming foster parents before I could even say "maybe, don't know". Everyone else started asking question all at once. I didn't go into detail. DH & I were trying to keep it on the "down low" just in case it doesn't work out. I haven't even told any of my family except my sister. I'm sure there will be lots of questions at work tomorrow.

November 21, 2008

2008-11-22T01:35:00.002-05:00

Somehow I lost my last entry. Wednesday (two days ago), Linda came over to the house and was here for about two hours. It didn't seem like that long. We talked about all kinds of things. DH & I learned a lot and asked a lot of questions. We told Linda that we only wanted one child to start with. We don't really care about the ethnic background or gender. The next step is to get references. I think we have picked our four. Now I just have to get the names and addresses to Linda. Then we have to collect a bunch of documents. I think we have everything except DH's divorce papers from "before my time". After Linda left, I had to drive over to pick up a toy box I bought on Craigs list. It's really cute. It has Noah on one end and his Ark on the other end. I got it for $12. A little girl was selling her toys to buy her hamster a new cage. Yesterday I found a new car seat on Craigs list selling for $120. Today I offered her $90, she took $95. I'm picking it up Sunday. I just hope I'm not getting too far ahead. DH asked me today "what if we don't go through with it, what are we going to do with the stuff". I told him we would just sell it or give it away! I don't forsee us not following through. We could have a child in our house by April. Oh, Linda told us that it probably won't be a real young child (infant). I'm guessing maybe 3 or 4 years. The car seat fits 5-100 pounds.

November 12, 2008

2008-11-12T21:09:00.000-05:00

Linda returned my call that I placed yesterday. She will be coming out next Wednesday for the home inspection. I traded my day off next week - Thursday for Wednesday. I have a lot of cleaning to do to make a good impression. Our house isn't dirty but it's cluddered so I have to get rid of stuff and find places for other stuff. We also have two dogs and a cat along with a cat, down the road, that has adopted us. So, needless to say there is hair where there shouldn't be hair! I don't know for sure what comes next. I guess I will find out next Wednesday. Oh, I bought my first item. I went into Tuesday Mornings to look around and found a little, tan, stuffed dog for $1.99. I thought it would be good to give to the first child. I also bought a book of ideas to play with a baby/child. I think it will come in handy

November 10, 2008

2008-11-11T00:48:00.000-05:00

'Linda' called me back today. Linda is our contact at the foster agency. She answered some of our questions like when we would be taking the classes, what the next step is and how we are reimbursed for expenses. It turns out that they only have classes every six months and they just finished classes. The next set of classes are not until February or March. We could take them early through the county but there is a charge and we would still have to take extra classes for this agency. The next step is a home inspection. She will come over when it's a good time for her and us. She said part of it is measuring the bedroom, checking the smoke alarms and things like that. Before she leaves, she will give us a check list of things that will have to be done before we get certified. She also agreed with me that we should watch for a crib, a toddler bed and possibly things like a high chair. The reimbursement is actually a per diem. The per diem is paid the 10th of every month. It's approximately $35 per child for normal, reasonably adjust children, $40/child if they are in diapers and $45/child for teenage sex offenders. Like I previously stated, we only want under school aged children and I'm actually thinking about telling her we only want one or two, no more. She wants to approve us for three children but I know that would be too much. I think I will call her tomorrow to see if she can come over next Wednesday.

November 07, 2008

2008-11-07T18:43:00.000-05:00

Up to this point I have only written about growing stuff (see past blogs) but I think I will start writing about our journey to become foster parents and what it entails. So far I have contacted a private agency and have received a packet (more like a pamphlet) of information. One of the first things we have to do is have a home visit. I tried to call our contact (we'll call her Linda) both yesterday and today but yesterday she was out of the office for training and I'm guessing it's the same today. I have a couple questions for her, like how much is reimbursable. I know daycare isn't but what about food and other everyday stuff. I have heard that some states pay a flat amount but it's hard to find out how much. We are not doing this for the money but we don't want to spend the money we have saved for retirement either. I have told her that we would prefer an under school age child of no particular race. We would prefer a single child but will be approved for up to three. Linda said they usually come "more than one". They don't split siblings up. I have checked out quite a few websites for information. A lot of people suggest we have items on hand. Like a bed, clothes, sippy cups, bottles, toys, car seat, etc. I got on Craig's list yesterday to look at what was available. I found a car seat and some other stuff. I even went to goodwill and found a baby bathtub. I did not buy anything. I think it's too early. I have read that this could be anywhere from a 4-6 week to a 6 month process. I guess it depends on how fast we complete the 20 hours of training and how quick the back ground checks and inspections go.