Life has been cray-cray around here.
We finally received our license on 02/07/2013! Yippie!
We had the pleasure of providing respite care for 2 of the best kiddos!
It was only for 4 days, but we loved on those kiddos!
The day they went home I got a call about a baby.
A tiny bitty baby.
I basically sent the 2 older ones off with their foster momma
and
30 minutes later I was holding the most unbelievably delicious little baby girl I've ever laid eyes on.
It was love at first sight.
(I will not be sharing full on face photos, its a safety/protection thing)
She has been with us for almost 2 months now.
She is perfect, but sweet little Peanut.
She eats well and sleeps through the night.
We helped her through some tough issues the fist few weeks, but she has since been great!
I am still on cloud nine.
Adjusting to life with a newborn was both harder and easier than I expected.
Let me explain that bit of crazy. LOL
I anticipated sleepless nights, middle of the night feedings, physical issues (for baby) possibly.
That was the easy part because she is a great baby and aside from the first couple weeks and working out a schedule/routine those haven't been issues.
What I did not expect was the flood of
"I didn't birth this baby but I feel totally postpartum crazy, I thought that was driven by hormones!"
That's the part no one tells you about.
Its all good now, but at about the 24 hour mark, once the baby intoxication wore off I suddenly had the realization that not only are we responsible for this little life, but totally accountable for her to others.
She isn't ours (yet). She belongs to someone else biologically. She is monitored by about a million other people. Caseworkers, CASA worker, PIC and CHET screeners, doctors, the court system and judges.
We are accountable to a lot of people, not just to her.
It brought on such a variation of emotions and I wasn't prepared for that.
By about the 36 hour mark I really had worked myself up into a frenzy.
By hour 48 I had calmed and gotten some much needed sleep.
When hour 72 rolled around we had a good routine in place, baby was happy, I was rested and all was right again.
Then came baby intoxication #2!
It hasn't worn off.
Everything she does is perfection. LOL
She is sweet, cuddly, smiley, happy, rarely fusses unless she needs a diaper, food or is tired.
That sounds like she probably fusses all the time, but the reality is we have learned to read her cues and attend to her needs before she can fuss too much about them.
We are settling into this new life and already talking about taking more placements.
We would love to have a 4 and 2 yr old too.
There are lots of small sibling groups needing placement, but none have been/felt right for our family.
We are determined to keep our son (he just turned 7) as the oldest child in the house so we won't take any child over the age of 5.
So we will be patient, believing that God will usher into our home the children that need us most.
Until he does we will relish every second with our boy and our little lady.
I hope to write here more often now that our house has settled down a bit.
The foster care system is equally frustrating as it is rewarding.
There are loads of emotions to work through while also navigating paperwork and court dates and appointments.
Its a lot to take on, but the moment we did it I became exactly who I had waited a long time to be...
a mommy of children.
I have loved the last 5 1/2 years with just my son, but I knew there were more children for us. I have felt incomplete and now I am not only filling my heart, but I am fulfilling the call that God placed on my life.
And that my friends is a certain kind of satisfaction that you cant find just anywhere!
Until next time, blessings!
XO
