Still here. Still waiting.

Life has been busy. My kindergarten class is definitely one of a kind. They are energetic and spirited. Talkative and funny. Moments of sweetness and moments of "oh my goodness, how do I get them to stop?!" At the end of the day, my only thoughts are of getting home. My place of quiet. My escape from countless callings of "Mrs. B". And for the hour or two that I have before D gets home, it's pretty quiet. Sometimes I'll have the tv turned on, but the volume is turned way down. Right now, I'm listening to my iTunes and it's really helping me to de-stress. I smile thinking that *hopefully* this quiet won't last much longer and the sounds of a little one will fill my afternoon and evening. Even though I'm exhausted right now, I can't wait to be spending this time with our child.

We still haven't heard anything from our agency. I emailed today just to see if our AFS could give us an update, but haven't heard back yet. I'm not sure she could tell us anything anyway, but it made me feel better to have contacted her.

The room is finished! But my camera has been acting up, so I haven't gotten any good pictures of it. Once I do, I can't wait to share them! I've had so much fun putting this room together and it's really brought out a desire to do more crafty things.

Wednesday is the first day of Fall. I love fall. The pumpkins on porches, the cool mornings and evenings, anything with Pumpkin Spice. I love the way fall smells, tastes, and feels. I'm ready for a change of weather!

Diamonds and Diapers and Daycares!

Did I get your attention? Ok, so not really about the diamond part. Or the diaper part. But the daycare search has started!

Our AFS (the girl who did our home study) told us to use the weeks while we wait for approval to visit day cares so we have something lined up when the call comes. Last week, I started calling several places that accept CCMS (which basically means that they take... actually, I don't know what it means except that the state pays for the day care of the child). Of the five (that passed the research test that I put them through) that I called, four of them had no open CCMS slots. We still have set up tours with them because we feel like we would rather put the child in a place we really like and wait for a CCMS slot to open up rather than put them in an "okay" place.

Today was our first tour with a day care that is literally 2-3 blocks away from our house and the school where I work. We were both really nervous that once the place found out we were hopeful foster parents who asked about CCMS, we wouldn't be treated very nicely and kinda brushed aside. But this place didn't do that! They were super-friendly, have great security and even have the cameras where you can log on from your computer and watch what's going on. A water park, baby sign language, and great facilities...needless to say, I'm pretty sold on this place. But (there's always a but, isn't there?) it's on the pricey side, so we'll just have to wait and see what the other two are like. We have those tours set up for tomorrow.

At one point during the meeting with the director of the day care today, she suggested coming to curriculum nights the following week where we could visit with the teachers and learn about what the day looks like, as well as meet other parents. When she said that last line, believe me, I took notice. Whoa! Other parents? Like, myself included? We're considered parents?! It gave me this warm, fuzzy feeling at once, which then turned into a bundle of nerves. Aaaah! We're (hopefully) going to be responsible for another human being!

School Begins and Z Meeting

Kindergarten began again on Monday. Boy, do I have an interesting class! They are going to go down in the books- that's for sure! We had a rough first day, yesterday was better, but today was more of the same behavior from Monday. I do love a challenge, though. I think that's part of being a teacher.

Today, one little boy asked me if I had any kids. When I told him I didn't, he responded, "You should work on that." I had to walk away to keep him from seeing me laughing. Oh, kids do say the darnedest.

Tonight J hopes to meet with Z to find out what her plans are for her baby/ if she's made plans. She should almost be 3 months along. I'm really praying that she comes to grips with the situation and won't continue to live in denial. J said he would let us know how it goes...

I'm a month ahead in my lesson planning and plan to continue to stay ahead so that if/when we get the call to foster, I'll be able to take some time off without having to rush and make lesson plans.

Tonight we're going out to eat to celebrate a friend's birthday... which means I don't have to cook! Which makes me a very happy lady! (It's the little things, I know.)

This post was kinda all over the place. Sorry! Hope you're having a great week!

Brain. Dead.

We had our home study yesterday. It started at 1:00 in the afternoon. The representative from our agency left at 8:00 last night. Needless to say, it was a long and exhausting interview. The joint interview took 3 1/2 hours and then we each did an individual interview which lasted about 1 1/2 - 2 hours a piece.

So many have asked what kind of questions could be asked where an interview would take 7 hours... our answer: We have no idea. Really. There are a few questions we remember, but for the most part, the interviews are a blur. When she left last night, we went to our favorite burger place, came home, and were asleep by 10.

We're both so glad that the home study is over and done. Now, the hard part- waiting! We'll know in about a month whether they decide to partner with us and license us. Then -finally!- the fun part. Parenting!

Testing...

my signature!

See how easy it is:

Miscellaneous

Teacher in-service started today. (I'm brain dead.)

Our worker from the agency called to set up the home study. (Of course, my first day back!)

For Saturday. (Oh my goodness, this could soon be over... or just beginning!)

I'm excited and nervous. (Pleaseletherlikeus. Pleaseletherlikeus.)

Any tips?

It's About Time

After waiting 3 weeks for our home study/interview to be scheduled, I finally emailed yesterday to find out how much more waiting we would have to endure. The result: we've been assigned a person who will be contacting us soon to set up both the study and the interview. I love our agency and I'm so glad we're going through them, but sometimes I have to wonder how much longer we would have waited to hear from them if I hadn't emailed.

Our baby/toddler room is almost completely finished. The crib has been put together, art is hanging on the wall, and my sewing machine has been put to the test. The only thing left is a dresser, which we've been searching cra.igs li.st for everyday. Once it's all finished, I'll post pictures on here. I can't wait to share it!

I'll leave you with this short video of a joke, that once you hear the punchline, you'll find yourself saying it over and over. Seriously. Have a great weekend!