Drummer

When we picked up our little guy I could tell right away that he was having respiratory issues. Most of my own kids have suffered from this and it was easy to see. CW told me he has had pneumonia and rsv, poor little guy! After getting him home we quickly tested his pulse ox, he was getting enough oxygen but having to work so hard to get it. I started him on breathing treatments but by morning I told my hubby I was taking him to the ER. It's a good thing I did, Drummer ended up having bronchitis and double ear infections. I am so glad they didn't have to admit him and I was able to bring him home and love on him some more! We are doing treatments every 4 hours trying to get him cleared up, almost a week later he is doing better but still not completely recovered. I emailed CW Sunday night and basically said he was too sick to be moved anywhere and that with my experience with these kind of issues it was best if he stay put. Not bad for my first go at all this, I love this little guy and I am not letting him go that easily. After a talk with her supervisor, CW agreed to let him stay until he is better so that when he is moved he can go into daycare. Say what?! First I was super excited that Drummer gets to stay but then I wondered if anyone realizes how sick this little boy really is. This is the third or fourth time in 6 months that he has had respiratory issues, he cannot go into daycare! Every time he gets sick it will more than likely go straight to his lungs and he will require a week or two of around the clock treatments. Nothing against the other foster mom but he seriously needs to be in a home where he can get the care that he really needs. I met with his GAL yesterday, expressed my serious concerns about having him moved but I don't know if I was taken serious or not. It is obvious how happy he is here, and for our first placement he has been a dream! I have been told absolutely nothing about his case. I think because I am still looked at as a temporary placement that I am being kept in the dark. Apparently there is a court hearing tomorrow. I tried to pry info out of the GAL but he wouldn't budge other than the fact that "mom just isn't getting it". I just looked up his parents online, don't know if that was particularly smart they look a little scary! I still didn't find out anymore except when they had been arrested and that Buddha looks more like his mom. Honestly, I really don't want to know much, I don't think it affects us in any way. My job is to love this little boy, and keep him safe, that's easy!

Rollercoaster

Wow, what a crazy few days its been! CW lady ends up calling me back about an hour later and asks if I would take him for the weekend. I was hesitant but I want to foster and this kiddo needed a safe, loving place to go so I said yes! Apparently the other foster moms license needs to be amended so that she can take both kids and that just wasn't going to happen Friday afternoon. About 1/2 hour later she calls back, I was like "are you kidding me?" when I saw the caller ID, I don't think my heart can take this! Well, she just wanted to meet halfway since she was driving from over an hour away, I was sympathetic and quickly agreed to meet her and pick up the baby. I quickly ran to my favorite store and picked up a few things now that I new what size I would need, ran home grabbed the hubby and we were out the door to meet our new son! I have so much more to add but right now I am running out the door to yet another appointment!

No go

I am sad. My first introduction to foster care sucks.The caseworker just called and explained that the foster mom who was taking the sibling wanted to keep both of them. Understandable yes, I am glad that they get to stay together but I can't help but feel disappointed. I guess this is the reality of what we do. Maybe next time I won't get so excited, now I have to go put everything away. My little girl is sad too, I guess I have learned something through this. I need to do a better jjob at protecting my kids' feelings and my heart too if that's even possible.

The Call

Our lives changed today at about 1 0'clock. My husband always calls me about that time on his way back to the office after lunch so I didn't think much of the phone ringing at that time until I heard the caller ID say the one thing I've been waiting to hear since Wednesday! Our placement coordinator knows the child we are willing to take so she has been submitting us when a case comes available. I was wondering if she would call us every time she submitted our name but apparently not because CP$ called me directly and said our agency said we would be willing to take this little boy. Well of course I said yes and she said she would have the caseworker call us. I quickly called my husband (after I jumped up and down!) and told him we got the call but I didn't know anything else yet or if it was even a done deal. About 10 minutes later the caseworker called and gave me all the information she had, she was so super nice! Going into this I was really worried about dealing with all the adults involved, the kids would be easy, the adults maybe not so much! I have only had one conversation with her but she was beyond friendly and I am excited to work with her. I called my husband back, gave him all the details that I had and talked about what needed to be done. We also talked about how sad this really is. I can't imagine what these parents must feel right now. After doing my little happy dance my heart ached for this family but at the same time there are obviously things going on in their lives that warrant their children needing a safe place to call home. I am so glad that I have kept up with the house this week! I did major cleaning on Monday & Tuesday so I just had to keep it straightened up. After getting off the phone I ran around making beds, unloading the dishwasher, vacuumed the kitchen area and picked up some toys. Then I got to the fun part of going through the clothes I have gotten here and there, putting away the girly things that we won't need and taking inventory of what we need. i haven't gotten much in the way of clothes but I do have some new onesies and socks and blankets that will help until we make a run to the store later today. I washed up the baby tub, set up the swing and the play mat and now we just wait! They are coming from over an hour away and had to make another stop first so luckily I have had about 3 hours to prepare myself and my kids for our new arrival. I have been thinking about this day for so long, I can't believe today's the day!

Vacancy

I just met with the placement coordinator from our agency, it was really a simple meeting just going over the ages of the children we are willing to accept and some other details. She had mentioned that she wished she had come last week because she had 6 calls for newborns. She wanted to know when we would be willing to take our first placement and I said right now, we are ready! She is going back to her office to submit our names for 2 of the kids right now. I sincerely doubt we will hear anything about those kiddos but I am glad she knows that we are waiting. So glad to know that we are finally on the vacancy list and can accept a placement. I know that this will be life changing for my family. I hope that I wont be overwhelmed and will still be able to meet every ones needs. A lot of people are counting on me! I just feel so grateful for my family and especially my husband who really didn't want any part of this but knew how important it was to me and has been 100% supportive, he is even a little excited too even if he wont admit it! So now we wait a little more, but this time its for real!

Squeak

We have been licensed for a week now, I thought by now we would have our first placement but I am learning patience! All week I have been waiting for the phone to ring, a placement coordinator from our agency needs to come out to our house before we are put on the official list of open homes. By Wednesday I still hadn't heard anything so decided to send a friendly little email to the licensing specialist to let her know we hadn't been contacted yet. My husband always says the squeaky wheel gets the grease. I don't want to be a pain in the rear but I truly just can't sit here and not know whats going on. As long as I know the status of things I seem to be able to move on. I really have no problem waiting, I know we are not the only ones who are, I just want to know that our file is not sitting there collecting dust! Later that evening our licensing specialist was kind enough to email me back. Apparently there has been some turnover at the agency and the person who was assigned our file felt overwhelmed and quit. Not because of us, just the work in general! We were being assigned an interim specialist and she would be contacting us. So we wait some more. Today I finally got the call I have been waiting for and the placement coordinator will be coming out next Tuesday afternoon. All in all the timing has probably been a good thing. It is spring break here and all 7 of my crazy kiddos are home from school. Had we taken our first placement this week it may have been a little overwhelming. I will be able to get my house back in order Monday when the kids are gone and life returns to normal. I am all about schedules here! I am so ready for the crazy excitement that that first call will bring!

WooHoo!

It's official, we are licensed! Our licensing specialist called me tonight to let me know that our license came back approved as of yesterday. I was so surprised, I told her I have been checking my email like a mad woman and haven't gotten anything! She seemed surprised too, she said they always email it but double checked it and sure enough it didn't get sent to us. Exactly 4 months to the day from our very first PS-MAPP class! Next week the placement coordinator will visit us and then we will officially go on the list of open homes. It feels so good to be licensed, I want to shout it from the rooftops but my neighbors might think I am a little nuts! It is still a little surreal knowing that I have talked about becoming a foster mom for years and years and now we have actually gone and done it. I am pretty sure the wait was worth it, now we get to wait some more. I am quickly learning that life as a foster family involves a lot of waiting! So ready to begin this crazy, wonderful jouney!

Here

I am still here waiting, anticipating, checking my email every 5 minutes. Our home study was submitted on Friday afternoon. I figured best case we would be licensed today. I wish I could go on with life like it was any other day but the waiting is killing me! I am trying to keep myself busy but it is still hard. The thing is, once we are licensed we will still be waiting. I don't know why I am so anxious for that little piece of paper to come. I guess it is just one more step in the process before we can move on to accepting our first placement. My husband is definitely not as anxious, for him the longer we put it off the better. He is super supportive and involved but it just doesn't affect him the same way it does me. I am trying to enjoy my last few days of freedom, and full nights sleep, things are about to change. I hope to have good news tomorrow!