Baby Steps

Guess who is walking! Over the last week Turtle has gone from taking 1-2 steps between the couches to standing up by himself in the middle of the room and walking! I am one proud mama! The progress he has made these past 4 months has been nothing but amazing. When he came to us at 10 months old he was just barely sitting up by himself. We have been blessed to see him roll over, army crawl, crawl on all 4's, pull himself up, cruise around the furniture and take his first steps. I know that these are exciting milestones for all parents but we celebrate each and every accomplishment as if it was the most exciting thing that has ever happened! At a family party tonight he showed off his new skills to our family as they cheered him on! Have I told you  how amazing he is! I tell everyone that being a foster parent has been the most rewarding thing I have ever done. I love it. It is hard work, an emotional roller coaster, but it is times like these that make it all worth it!

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!

Why?

I know that I am going to get asked this question alot. The honest answer is "why not?" I don't have a good answer, or maybe a good enough answer to make other people  "get it." All I know is that all of my life, or at least since I was a very young teenager I knew that I wanted to foster and that desire has never left me. I don't remember having a specific conversation with my husband about this but we must have because he has known from day one that this was something I really wanted to do. Having children and raising my family has been and always will be my first priority but I know that there is room enough in our hearts and in our home to welcome even more children into our lives. So now that we feel that this is the right time in our lives to begin the process of becoming licensed foster parents we are jumping right in. Hang on! It's gonna be a wild ride!