Different

Edited to add: This was supposed to post yesterday... not sure what happened.

"Not alike in character or quality; differing."  I'm rejoicing in the fact that the holiday season is different this year.  There's the obvious growth from a couple to a family of four that has taken place.  There's the excitement of seeing Christmas through the eyes of a child who talks about Santa and signs Jingle Bells non-stop as well as the innocence of the season through the eyes of a child who trusts you so completely to care for their every need.  There's the closing of the chapter of Christmases past where I told myself "This year will be our last Christmas without a child..."  There's the keeping of traditions and creating new ones as we celebrate our first Christmas together.  It has all been so wonderful, the feeling of contentment and satisfaction so overwhelming that, at times, I've been brought to tears as I rest in the newness of it all.

It doesn't take much to make me tear up these days... seeing our set of four stockings that a friend's mother made for us.  Picking out and purchasing our tree together and watching A help D- the happiness in the eyes of both as they wheeled the cart around together in the cool night air.  The basket of Christmas books A chooses from each night before bedtime- a new tradition we've started.  The sock monkey ornaments with the names of A and H hanging on our tree.  Adding two new people to my Christmas shopping list- getting them something they want, something they need, something to play with, something to read.  Picking out a book for each was so special; writing a note inside the cover to A and H made me cry as well.  I love these two more than words can say so trying to write a note to convey that love was difficult.  I wanted to just squeeze the book as close to my heart as possible and say, "There- did you feel that?  I love you so much my heart hurts."

We'll be spending time with both families over the holidays and just returned today from spending a few days with the foster grandparents.  They are such a special presence in our lives- we love them dearly.  We'll go to our church's Christmas Eve service and then eat dinner with a friend's family before coming home to let A and H open a gift (Christmas pjs).  Christmas morning will be celebrated with just the four of us and I'm so looking forward to having the morning to ourselves, to open gifts together and to rejoice in the birth of our Savior.  D's family will come later that day.  We all live relatively close to each other so we do see each other more often, but it will be so fun to just hang out without having to be anywhere.  Plus A and H love their aunts and uncles so I know it's a treat for the little ones, too! 

Merry Christmas!

Tiny

I know we're not supposed to post pictures of A or H (to protect their privacy), but I figure pictures of little feet are fine, right?  H has the tiniest, most petite little feet- so tiny that at 7 1/2 months old, we are finally fitting into 0-3 month shoes.  She was sporting these little shoes yesterday and I just had to take a picture:

 

We are so excited to be celebrating our first Thanksgiving as a family of four- we have so much to be thankful for!   

Friday Night (Lights)

My school's football team made it to the play-offs, so last night I bundled up and went to the game.  The game was predicted to be a blow-out (in our favor), but when I left at half-time, we were only up two points.  It was only 8:45 so I made a trip to Target where I walked the brightly lit aisles, looking for pajamas, toothbrush and toothpaste, a teddy bear, fleece blanket, clothing for a two year-old boy, a nightlight, a Bible for children, socks and underwear. 


No, we're not going camping.

So many children (and teens) come into the foster care system with very few belongings.  Since the circumstances surrounding why they have been removed from their homes are never good, they often leave quickly, with only a trash bag to hold the few things they have brought with them.  This is where Project Care Case comes in: they provide suitcases filled with the essentials to help make this transition a little more bearable for these hurting kids.  A and H have both been on the receiving end of PCC, and while A came with many belongings and a heart of love, H came only with the clothes on her back. 

Project Care Case is making a difference in the lives of these kids, so when we sent out invitations for A's birthday, we asked that guests bring a new/gently used suitcase to give to PCC.  The response was great- and it came at a needed time!  PCC was/is facing a suitcase shortage, as well as a depleted supply of the items that go inside each case.  Yesterday, a plea was sent out on facebook, asking for people to sponsor a case for one of eleven children who are coming into care for the first time.  I called D to see if we could take care of one- there was a need listed for a 2 year-old boy so I thought that was right up our alley- which led me to Target last night, searching the aisles for the items on my list. 

When A and H came into our lives, we were overwhelmed with the outpouring of love, donations of clothing, toys, diapers, formula, gift cards and meals that we were blessed with.  Many things came to us anonymously so we have no idea where to begin in thanking those who gave.  Giving back in this way is our way of showing our thanks to all who gave so freely to us. 

Do you know of an organization like this in your area?  What are your favorite non-profits to support? 

Oh, and for those wondering about the football game... we won 68-36.  Yes, that's a football score, not a basketball score.  We play 6-man which often means high scoring games. 

Quick Update

• Nothing has changed in H's case- which in this situation, no news is good news!
• Started filling out paperwork for A's adoption
• Decided on what his new name will be
• Wanted to keep the name his mom gave him to honor her, while also giving him a name that connects him to our family so in the end, he'll have the same first name but different middle name
• Paperwork keeps me busy
• Paperwork increases when both get sick and are prescribed medicine
• I'm not the best at turning my paperwork in by the monthly deadline- so thankful for our sweet, understanding AFS
• I should do a post sometime on the amount of foster paperwork we fill out each month for our little ones...
• We went trick-or-treating Monday night: A dressed as a monkey and H as a banana... or that was the plan, at least.  Then we discovered that the banana costume was not Baby Bjorn-friendly, so she went costume-less, but had fun all the same chewing/drooling on the carrier.
• H is almost 7 months old!  She's not crawling yet, but she's getting up on her knees more and more each day.  She's still a petite little thing- petite in height, but filling out in weight.  
• A surprises us each day with the words he's saying!  He's able to express his needs in more complete sentences and loves to ask questions.  Over.  And.  Over.  Most of the time, it's pretty funny.  Sometimes I have to stop the endless cycle of questions by asking him the question he's asking me.  He loves to come up to me and ask, "What, Mama?"  He also loves to count- anything and everything!  Whether he's knocking on a wall, banging a drumstick on the floor, or putting his cars in his bucket, he counts and counts and counts!  And lately, he's been a major Mama's boy!  Hugs and kisses, holding my hand, taking my face between his hands and giving me the most contagious smile- I'm loving the extra attention!  Poor Daddy... ;)

Monday Musings

Side-note: The verse I'm sharing today was prayed over us by family and friends this past week as we found out that H's case might not be as smooth and easy of a road as we once thought.  We knew bumps in the road were inevitable when trying to adopt a child from the foster care system; our fairy tale foster story has had a bit of a reality check.  And that's okay.  Because we know that if it's God's will for H to stay in our home forever, nothing can be done to change that.  And if she doesn't stay with us, then we know that's God's will, too. 

That's where I choose to keep my thoughts.  (The alternative isn't very pretty.)

Monday Musings

   

Blog Changes

I did some freshening up here on my blog- I thought it was time for a new look, one that better matched the content of the blog.  What do you think?

I haven't been posting very often- and when I do, it's usually due to the fact that I've had time to sit down and write a few posts and schedule them to post over the next few days... so it looks like I've posted a few times, but really my life is crazy-busy (as I'm sure you can relate) and blogging is often pushed further down on the to-do list.  Like on the next page.  At the bottom.  Squeezed in after the last line in teeny-tiny writing.  But you get the picture.  ;)

Speaking of pictures, we are having our first family photo session next Saturday and to say I'm excited is the understatement of the year.  Yippee!  We've only had it booked for, oh, 2-3 months... I've been working on our outfits for just as long (maybe even longer) and I'm still not sure what we're all going to wear.  I'm working under all this pressure to make sure we all look just right- coordinated, but not matchy-matchy.  Put-together, but not looking like it's taken me the months it has to get the look just right.  And who's putting the pressure on me?  Well, that would be me.  My sister-in-law is taking the pictures so I know with her talent, we could take pictures dressed in clothes made from feed sacks and she'd still make the pictures look amazing.

In other news, we made our first trip to the emergency room last week.  Little Miss H developed a cough that sounded exactly like the baby's cough on the pertussis commercial.  Do you know the one?  She kept having coughing fits and I couldn't sleep- especially after watching the video on the Sounds of Pertussis website- so I took her in around 3 am on Columbus Day.  They swabbed her for RSV- which came back negative- and only swabbed her for pertussis after I begged and pleaded.  I was told to take her to see her regular pediatrician in 2-3 days if her cough persisted and that they would call me if the results of the pertussis swab came back positive. 

Something about all of that didn't sit right with me, so I took her to see her regular doctor later that same day.  They actually wanted to test for pertussis right away (no begging or pleading there!) but I decided not to have her swabbed again since she'd already been swabbed that morning.  (Lesson learned: always consent to another swab)  Our pediatrician wanted to go ahead and get her started on antibiotics as a just-in-case measure and also promised to check with the lab at the hospital for the results of the swab.

We started H on the medicine, keeping her home from daycare as we waited to find out the results of the test.  The typical wait time of 48 hours came and went.  We called the doctor to see if results had come back.  They called the hospital to find out.  No results.  We called again the next day- still no results.  Friday rolled around and still, we knew nothing.  H's cough had improved, she had never run a fever, and had certainly not suffered from a loss of appetite.  By Monday she had finished her antibiotics so we sent her to daycare.  I called the doctor's office again to find out if they had any information.  The nurse checked and then called me back.  She was told by the hospital that this test can sometimes take up to 10 days to find out the results.  (Am I kicking myself now for not letting our doctor do another swab?  You betcha!)  Then out of the blue, on Wednesday D gets a call from a nurse at the emergency room, checking up on H to see how she was doing.  D filled them in on what our doctor had prescribed and said she was doing much better.  Right before the call ended, D asked whether the results from the swab were in or not, only to be told that the ER had made a mistake when swabbing and the lab had to throw the swab out.  (2nd lesson learned: When the health and wellness of a child is at stake, just drive the extra 15-20 minutes to the Children's Hospital- even when it's 3 in the morning and you're by yourself.) 

Thankfully, she seems to be doing just fine.  She had a few days this past week where she didn't cough much, if at all, but with the recent weather change, she seems to have developed a different cough. 


In addition, A has the stomach bug that has been going around in our area.  My little bottomless pit only ate crackers yesterday.  He who has the energy of the Energizer bunny has been a cuddly little guy who sits on Mama's lap and watches cartoons while I run my fingers through his hair.  He usually hates it when I do this, but yesterday, if I ever stopped, he would put my hand back on his head and say, "More, Mama." 

All in all, our little family of four is doing well.  Hopefully A begins to improve today because we had plans to go to a pumpkin patch after church tomorrow!

Happy Saturday!