Mommy Time

Just an update on my current placement. She's still just as lovely as ever but she has grown very attached very fast. It's to the point where I can't get anything done around the house because she is screaming for me to hold her. I get worried that she's doing the same thing at daycare but her teachers say she's not. Mom has missed her first two visits and one court hearing so there's no telling where this case is headed. I'm excited that I get to meet her siblings this weekend for a visit. I will let you all know how that goes and I'm going to log off and have some alone time while she's sleep :-)

Placement Update!

I've been so busy I could barely find time to post a quick update. Baby girl is doing so well! She's a great sleeper, she's very happy and my family is pretty much obsessed. She's enjoying all of the attention she's getting and she starts her new daycare on Monday so we are settling in for now. Mom's court date is next week so hopefully we will get some news about where this case is going. I will just enjoy her as much as I can for now and treasure the time I get to spend with her.

First Placement!

I got my first placement today! She is a BEAUTIFUL 10 month old little girl. This child literally looks like she could be mine. I got the call about her yesterday. Her and her three siblings were taken into care immediately for just about every reason imaginable. She was placed in a home with her three siblings until today when they delivered her to me!

I just want to take this time to give a special thanks to a great friend who came over and helped me take care of her while shopping (she came with no clothes that fit). I could not have made it today without her. This is much harder than I thought!

I want to tell you all about her but I'll keep this brief. I have to get some rest because we have a long day ahead of us tomorrow. Did I mention she's BEAUTIFUL. She's such a good baby. She doesn't wine or cry, she's attached to me already, and she fell asleep with no problems at all. I will keep you all updated.

Waiting by the Phone?????

I read a lot of blogs and message boards about foster care/adoption and often I hear people talk about waiting for a call and jumping everytime the phone rings. Maybe I'm strange but once I found out I was licensed I never waited by the phone. I'm thankful because I would be going nuts right now since it's been weeks since I got a call. I often leave my phone at home when I run to the gas station or leave it at my desk while I go to lunch. In some ways I believe that I will havc some sort of intuition when a call is coming. I also believe that everything happens for a reason and if I miss the call, that's the way it was meant to be. I would love to hear from other parents on whether you are or plan to wait by the phone.

Update

Please excuse me if my update is a little choppy. I'm trying to update and watch the NBA finals at the same time. Miami is winning so I'm a little excited :-)

Let's see where did I leave off.......Oh! I was waiting for my licensing worker to submit my paperwork to become licensed and I hadn't heard back from her in about a week. Well imagine my surprise when exactly 2 weeks ago I got a call from a placement worker asking if I could take a 2 month old little girl. I said yes of course and she told me that the case manager would be calling me back with an update. About 15 minutes later the case manager called me and said the family was going to court the next morning and she would call me after court with an update. I ran home, cleaned, switched the car seat to my new car (I haven't sold my old one yet), arranged all my girls clothes, cleaned some more, and waiting patiently. The case manager called me around noon the next day and told me that the child was not removed after all......bummer but at least I know I'm licensed now! Like I said that was about two weeks ago and I haven't gotten anymore calls since.

In the mean time I have been keeping myself VERY busy doing all the things I won't be able to do once I have a child in my home. I've been going out every weekend, enjoying the beautiful weather, staying out late and sleeping in even later. I figure once I get completely comfortable and take the car seat out the call will come.

Miss Me?

I'm so sorry I have been MIA. My internet at home has been working off and on and I just didn't want to deal with it. Anyway let's catch up! At this point I'm done with my classes, I have complete the MOUNTAINS of paperwork and I have been waiting for a month for my caseworker to write up my home study. I'm trying to be patient because I'm sure she has a million things to do but to be honest....my patience is wearing thin. I emailed her last week for an update and she said she would be mailing my homestudy to me for approval within a week. I live 4 minutes away from the office so I don't understand why I can't just come in and go over the home study. Oh well I don't write the rules so I will continue to wait not so patiently and I will update you all on my progress XOXO.

P.S Did I say how sorry I was?????

Almost There

Please excuse my neglect. My last class is in a few days and I am sooooo overwhelmed. As part of the class we have to write an autobiography about ourselves and our family. I haven't even started yet. I still need to get furniture, car seat and I still have some paperwork to finish up. I plan to use this weekend to finish everything up. The classes have been pretty steady and I have actually grown attached to some of the other familes. In other news, my mother just got a job offer in Kansas and while I'm super happy for her, I was really counting on her to be here during this process. I'm looking on the bright side at least we will have some place to visit. Make sure to say a prayer for me and my mountain of paperwork!

Yes! By Myself.

I went to the doctor today to get my physical and maybe I'm just being too sensitive but it really irked me that my doctor kept asking "How are you going to do this by yourself?" I wanted to say the same way millions of other men and women raise happy healthy children by themselves. People always ask "How can you have a foster child and work? Where will the child go while you're at work?" I just want to say "They'll stay at home in a playpen" Anyway that's my vent she did inspire me to renew my membership at the gym which I'm very proud of :-)

First Home Visit

I had my first home visit today and it was not as invasive as I expected. She didn't even look around my entire house she just wanted to see the room that the child would be sleeping in. She was surprised at how much stuff I had gotten already. The majority of the visit was just signing and going over paperwork. My licensing worker is nice and since my classes end on March 12th she said I can expect to be licensed sometime in April. She also told me that there is a need for my age range which is 0-3 but there are also a lot of families with that same age range. After this visit I'm pretty much at ease about the process from this point on.

I'm Back

I haven't forgotten about you all. There just hasn't been much to update and I don't want to ramble. I have my 5th class tomorrow and to be honest, I'm ready for these classes to be over. They're helpful because they help you understand what's going through a child's mind when they are placed with you but since I am fostering infants I feel like most of it doesn't apply to me. I have started getting the room ready and I plan to go shopping for furniture in the next couple of weeks. Oh! I also have my first home visit on in 3 days so I will update once that's done. Well back to work for me. Have a good day!

EXCITED!!

Ok so I never mentioned this but before I decided to become a foster parent I volunteered for a local nonprofit organization called the Foster & Adoptive Care Coalition. They help foster and adoptive parents by providing respite events, training as well as gifts on birthdays and holidays. Anyway, I went to one of our meetings tonight and I met a girl who was just listened a few weeks ago with the same agency I'm working with! She was so nice, she gave me her phone number and said I can call her if I have any questions. Her and her husband are also respite providers so I will have someone I'm familiar with in case I need respite care. I'm so happy I met her she was full of great advice. She said since she has been licensed she has gotten 4 calls, all for infants but no placements yet.

Second Week of Classes

I just got home from my second class and about a third of the class wasn't there. We did get a little snow today so maybe people didn't want to drive or maybe the first class scared them away :-/. It will be interesting to see if they come back. We talked about the basics, how to support emotional, physical and social development and things like that. We talked about taking vacations with foster children and leaving foster children with babysitters. I was shocked to hear some people ask if it was ok to leave their foster children with their 14 and 15 year old children! What would make you think that's ok? I don't know maybe it's just me. Anyway, I'm tired.....GOODNIGHT!!!

First Day of Class

My first class was a success! It didn't even seem like it lasted 3 hours. I wasn't the only single parent there (thank God!) The class was about half and half. I was shocked to see as many African American people there also. We learned so much in such a short time. We even watched a movie about difficult foster children. The other parents were soooo nice. I was also surprised at how far some people are traveling for these classes. I'm super lucky because the classes are literally five mintues away from my house.

I have heard people say that they use scare tactics to try to scare people away who are just trying to adopt infants but that wasn't the case here at all. They let us know that there are infants available and it is possible to adopt. All in all it was a great class and I'm already looking forward to next week! I'll keep you all updated.

Today is the Day!!!

After about 4 months of waiting I finally start my classes today. I woke up this morning wondering if it was too late to change my mind about all of this. Then I thought about all of my friends and family who are more excited than I am and I figured it's too late to turn back now. Be expecting a long update tonight after class if I'm not too tired.

It's A Boy!!!

Yesterday I went to my best friend's baby shower. We had such a good time and while I was there I realized I have such a great support system in my friends. Most of my friends are mothers and they are full of so much knowledge! They are all excited about me becoming a foster parent and they have offered so much help already. I couldn't imagine going through this process without them.