We were told earlier this week that there was another glitch in the 2 yo & 7 yo sisters case and they were postponing a best interest staffing until they could figure things out.
Today we got an e-mail that they will be going ahead with a best interest staffing with us and three other interested families...but only for the 2 year old. Seems that another relative has popped up and only wants the 7 yr old but they are from another state so it will be several months before the workers know if this family member will work out/pass a homestudy. So the plan is to choose a family for the two year old and get her moved to her family and then if things don't work out for the 7 yr. old she will probably be placed in the same home as the 2 yr. old.
So on April 12, 2011 we should find out if we are the chosen family for the 2 year old!!
If we are not chosen to be her family then we will continue with the other two situations we have our homestudy submitted for:
Three siblings (b-3, g-2, b-1)
3.5 year old girl
Wednesday, March 30, 2011
Monday, March 28, 2011
Spring Break
This years Spring Break wasn't quite as exciting as years past. The week started out with me being sick...and when momma's sick nothing much fun happens! Thankfully Brooke has some great friends that she could go spend time with and have some fun but poor Lexy got stuck with me :(
On Sunday, Brooke had a couple friends over and they partied into the wee hours. :)
On Monday, I had a doctor appt. (bronchitis and lung infection). Even though I wasn't feeling well Lexy and I still went to McD's for lunch, spent some time at the park and did a little shopping at Wally World. Then Lexy got to go outside and play with Daddy when he got home. Brooke went shopping for the day with a friend and her mom.
Tuesday, Lexy had her annual check up at the dr. after she chose Dairy Queen for lunch. We went back by DQ after her appt. and got ice cream. We spent the rest of the day at home trying to get mom better. :) Brooke went with a friend to her grandparents house for a couple of days.
On Wednesday, Lexy and I went to Power Play for some fun playing games. Lexy had a good time with Ryan & Molly.
On Thursday, after having our previous plans cancelled, I contacted Avree's (Lexy's best friend) mom and much to Lexy's delight we headed up to Jumping Jax for the day :) Brooke went to a slumber party with her besties.
On Friday, Lexy and I picked up Brooke and her three best friends (Taryn, Lindsey and Suzy), grabbed lots of donuts and drinks and headed up to the city for the day. We spent the morning shopping, the girls tried on pretty much every piece of clothing in each store and took pictures galore! :) After going to Pizza Street for lunch we headed to the movies where Lexy and I met Avree and her mom to watch "Rango" and the older girls met up with some other friends and watched "Beastly". Afterwards for the first time ever Lexy got to go with her friend to get cupcakes, buy stuff for crafts and then go to her friends house to play and have dinner before coming home! Lexy loved it, mom had a little anxiety!
The weekend was spent relaxing at home watching movies, snacking and spending time as a family.
On Sunday, Brooke had a couple friends over and they partied into the wee hours. :)
On Monday, I had a doctor appt. (bronchitis and lung infection). Even though I wasn't feeling well Lexy and I still went to McD's for lunch, spent some time at the park and did a little shopping at Wally World. Then Lexy got to go outside and play with Daddy when he got home. Brooke went shopping for the day with a friend and her mom.
Tuesday, Lexy had her annual check up at the dr. after she chose Dairy Queen for lunch. We went back by DQ after her appt. and got ice cream. We spent the rest of the day at home trying to get mom better. :) Brooke went with a friend to her grandparents house for a couple of days.
On Wednesday, Lexy and I went to Power Play for some fun playing games. Lexy had a good time with Ryan & Molly.
On Thursday, after having our previous plans cancelled, I contacted Avree's (Lexy's best friend) mom and much to Lexy's delight we headed up to Jumping Jax for the day :) Brooke went to a slumber party with her besties.
On Friday, Lexy and I picked up Brooke and her three best friends (Taryn, Lindsey and Suzy), grabbed lots of donuts and drinks and headed up to the city for the day. We spent the morning shopping, the girls tried on pretty much every piece of clothing in each store and took pictures galore! :) After going to Pizza Street for lunch we headed to the movies where Lexy and I met Avree and her mom to watch "Rango" and the older girls met up with some other friends and watched "Beastly". Afterwards for the first time ever Lexy got to go with her friend to get cupcakes, buy stuff for crafts and then go to her friends house to play and have dinner before coming home! Lexy loved it, mom had a little anxiety!
The weekend was spent relaxing at home watching movies, snacking and spending time as a family.
Friday, March 18, 2011
Missing Out
"B", the little girl that could possibly be our daughter, turned 2 today! I thought about her all day, thinking about what she was doing and how the people around her were helping her celebrate. My hope is that the relative that she is living with right now woke her up with a big hug and kiss while singing happy birthday to her. I hope that she was lavished with attention today and told just how much she is loved. I wish I could have been the one to show and tell her how much she is loved, I feel like I missed out.
I think one of the most difficult parts of adopting an older child for me is that we don't know the past and can't make up for it. We can't redo birthdays or other holidays, we can't hold them more, show them more love, teach them better. Their past will always be their past, as much as we want to make up for any inadequacies, we must start fresh from when they come to us.
I can't wait to start showing our next kids what unconditional love and family are all about!
I think one of the most difficult parts of adopting an older child for me is that we don't know the past and can't make up for it. We can't redo birthdays or other holidays, we can't hold them more, show them more love, teach them better. Their past will always be their past, as much as we want to make up for any inadequacies, we must start fresh from when they come to us.
I can't wait to start showing our next kids what unconditional love and family are all about!
She's now a TWO-FER!
Well I was in the ballpark of what was going on in the 2 yo little girls case BUT...It turns out that one of the brothers that were supposed to go to another state soon is a SISTER and the workers/relative have decided that she should stay here and be adopted with the 2 yo! So we got an e-mail yesterday explaining all this and asking us if we would be interested in adopting both girls, a two-fer :)
The sister is 7 (8 in June) and a year ahead of Lexy in school. Her interests seem to be very similar to Lexy's interests. There were no concerns listed. After Mike and I talked it over we asked the girls what they thought about it. Neither girl seemed to have a problem with adding both girls to our family. Our main concern was that Lexy would have an issue with someone so close in age to her but she is very excited to have someone to play with! Lexy has a very laid back personality so we think that is why she would do just fine sharing her home, family, toys, etc. with a sibling close in age.
So today I will tell our worker that we have decided that we would be interested in both sisters and see where it goes from there!!
The sister is 7 (8 in June) and a year ahead of Lexy in school. Her interests seem to be very similar to Lexy's interests. There were no concerns listed. After Mike and I talked it over we asked the girls what they thought about it. Neither girl seemed to have a problem with adding both girls to our family. Our main concern was that Lexy would have an issue with someone so close in age to her but she is very excited to have someone to play with! Lexy has a very laid back personality so we think that is why she would do just fine sharing her home, family, toys, etc. with a sibling close in age.
So today I will tell our worker that we have decided that we would be interested in both sisters and see where it goes from there!!
Thursday, March 17, 2011
Fun new toy
Lexy found this great toy at Toys R Us (on clearance!!) the other day and she just HAD to have it! We had so many people driving by slow down and watch her playing in the front yard yesterday :) I think it will provide many many hours of entertainment this summer!
Adoption update -
Per our adoption worker, there has been a "glitch" in the almost 2 year olds case so we have to wait to hear what is going to happen. We think that possibly the two brothers (12,7) that were scheduled to move to another state are now staying so they'll have to decide if they will still split them or not.
They are still trying to get more homestudies for the sibling set of three little ones. Plus we have to wait for the court to release the journal entry saying that termination has happened and we hear that is taking longer than usual these days :(
OH THE EMOTIONAL ROLLER COASTER OF ADOPTION!!!
Tuesday, March 15, 2011
No pee here...
Lexy brought this flower to me and said....
"Happy Mother's Day two months early! I picked this in the yard...but not where Rex peed!" :)
Mean Mom
Sometimes I have to be the mean mom and it sucks! I hope someday she understands why I do the things I do. I tried to explain to her that it is my job to make sure, before she moves out and is totally responsible for herself, that she learns what it takes and the sacrifices and hard choices you have to make to make it in this world.
Her grades have always been very good and still are but she let her grades drop. I got the standard "you should see my friends' grades, they get C's, D's and sometimes even F's". I explained that it's not about the letters on that report card...it's about the fact that her grades have DROPPED. I know that high school work is hard, there is a lot more socializing that must be done, boys are a priority, staying up late is a must, computers and phones are huge distractions that we didn't have when I was her age and that she has been stressed thanks to a horrible friend situation BUT...grades slipping is one of those things that I can't just overlook. In my opinion it is a sign that her focus isn't where it needs to or should be.
I had her sit down and write her suggestions of what we should do. I wanted to make this her problem with her solutions, not me policing her. It took me all day to come to the calm state I needed to be in. She had a lot of good suggestions. We discussed them, tweaked them and added details, deadlines and consequences. We put it all in writing and both signed it.
She by NO means was happy when our conversation came to an end (except for the fact that she could leave the room!). I'm still the MEAN MOM but I'm hoping that someday she'll understand why I'm OK with that. I see so many of her classmates going down the wrong path, focusing on things that should not be focused on at this age...I just want better for my child.
PS As I wrote this, she came in and told me that she found some extra credit that one of the teachers gave out, she excitedly said "I'll do it tonight". This teaching life lessons stuff is hard work but oh so worth it when you see it working!
Her grades have always been very good and still are but she let her grades drop. I got the standard "you should see my friends' grades, they get C's, D's and sometimes even F's". I explained that it's not about the letters on that report card...it's about the fact that her grades have DROPPED. I know that high school work is hard, there is a lot more socializing that must be done, boys are a priority, staying up late is a must, computers and phones are huge distractions that we didn't have when I was her age and that she has been stressed thanks to a horrible friend situation BUT...grades slipping is one of those things that I can't just overlook. In my opinion it is a sign that her focus isn't where it needs to or should be.
I had her sit down and write her suggestions of what we should do. I wanted to make this her problem with her solutions, not me policing her. It took me all day to come to the calm state I needed to be in. She had a lot of good suggestions. We discussed them, tweaked them and added details, deadlines and consequences. We put it all in writing and both signed it.
She by NO means was happy when our conversation came to an end (except for the fact that she could leave the room!). I'm still the MEAN MOM but I'm hoping that someday she'll understand why I'm OK with that. I see so many of her classmates going down the wrong path, focusing on things that should not be focused on at this age...I just want better for my child.
PS As I wrote this, she came in and told me that she found some extra credit that one of the teachers gave out, she excitedly said "I'll do it tonight". This teaching life lessons stuff is hard work but oh so worth it when you see it working!
Monday, March 14, 2011
My Instructions...
Lexy gave me instructions before going to school this morning...
1.) dress Brownie in this specific outfit
2.) make sure to put his glasses back on!
3.) bring Brownie with me when I pick her up from school
Please tell me other moms are crazy enough to follow all the instructions?!
PS: at least these instructions didn't include feeding and brushing Brownie every couple of hours like the schedule she wrote out for me when she first got her other stuffed dog, Butterball! :)
Snow?
We woke up to SNOW this morning...even Lexy is done with this snow thing! When I told her it had snowed she said "enough already, I want Spring!" haha!
I wish I would have taken pictures this weekend, I've been lazy about that lately. Friday Brooke and I went for a girls night out. She asked if we could on Thursday night and I couldn't think of anything I'd rather do then spend time with her! I was a little afraid that this was a ploy for a shopping trip but not only did she ask for nothing (she even spent a little of her own money on some makeup) but she told me of a couple of invitations she had passed up that night to spend time with me. :) We ended up not getting home until almost 1am after having chinese for dinner, doing some shopping and seeing a movie!
Saturday Brooke had plans so Mike, Lexy and I headed up to the city for some fun. Lexy had gotten three different coupons from build a bear workshop for her birthday so we headed there first. She ended up making a cute little dog that she named Brownie, a collar/leash and a pair of glasses for him...all for FREE! Then we headed to Toys R Us to return one of Lexy's birthday presents and we walked out of there with two toys and only spent $4 more!! What a cheap fun day!
We have no new updates on our adoption situations. Our worker said that all homestudies were to be turned in by last Friday on the almost 2yo little girl. Hopefully they will narrow the families down and set a date for a best interest staffing this week!! They have given families about two more weeks to submit homestudies on the sibling set of three so we'll be waiting a while longer to hear on them..
I wish I would have taken pictures this weekend, I've been lazy about that lately. Friday Brooke and I went for a girls night out. She asked if we could on Thursday night and I couldn't think of anything I'd rather do then spend time with her! I was a little afraid that this was a ploy for a shopping trip but not only did she ask for nothing (she even spent a little of her own money on some makeup) but she told me of a couple of invitations she had passed up that night to spend time with me. :) We ended up not getting home until almost 1am after having chinese for dinner, doing some shopping and seeing a movie!
Saturday Brooke had plans so Mike, Lexy and I headed up to the city for some fun. Lexy had gotten three different coupons from build a bear workshop for her birthday so we headed there first. She ended up making a cute little dog that she named Brownie, a collar/leash and a pair of glasses for him...all for FREE! Then we headed to Toys R Us to return one of Lexy's birthday presents and we walked out of there with two toys and only spent $4 more!! What a cheap fun day!
We have no new updates on our adoption situations. Our worker said that all homestudies were to be turned in by last Friday on the almost 2yo little girl. Hopefully they will narrow the families down and set a date for a best interest staffing this week!! They have given families about two more weeks to submit homestudies on the sibling set of three so we'll be waiting a while longer to hear on them..
Thursday, March 10, 2011
Donkey Basketball
Well Lexy and I were right, Donkey basketball was definately funny! I don't think I've laughed that hard in a long time :)
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| Our city manager had to say sorry to the donkey and give it a kiss on it's butt when he accidently hit it with a ball :) SO FUNNY! |
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| The first 125 kids got a ticket (Lexy got the last one) to ride a donkey at half time! |
Lexy said this was THE BEST way to spend her birthday ever and wants to rent a donkey on her birthday next year haha!!
Tuesday, March 8, 2011
Lexy is 7!!!!
Since we had Lexy's party on Sunday we're not doing much today. She is taking brownies (while we were making them she asked if they were still homemade even though we bought the box at the store...I told her they were ABSOLUTELY homemade :-) and juice to school for her class. Daddy is going to be a Watch Dog at school and spend the day with her too! Lexy has asked for Mommy's spaghetti for dinner...and what that special little girl asks for she receives! And while we gave her her gifts at the party, I did buy her a little smurf figurine that she carried all over Toys R Us begging for the other day (after I made her cry when I made her put it down) and I'll give that to her today.
And for birthday entertainment we will be going to a Donkey Basketball game tonight. Lexy thinks it will be funny..I'm thinking the same thing! Real people (from around town) riding on donkeys playing basketball. Now THAT is entertainment lol!!! Brooke will also be performing several dances with her cheer squad.
I thought for her 7th Birthday I would ask Lexy about her favorites...
FAVORITE:
color - blue, purple & lime green
animal - dog
food - pizza
dessert - brownies
place to go - Great Wolf Lodge
movie - Justin Biever, Never Say Never
toy - Party Animals
singer - Justin Bieber
song - "Stuck in the Moment"
friend - Avree
boy - Brandon
restaurant - McDonalds
store - Toys R Us
subject in school - Computers
tv show - Wipeout
thing to do with mommy - cook
thing to do with daddy - play kickball
thing to do with sissy - play
thing to do in summer - go to the pool
thing to do in winter - play in the snow
What do you want to be when you grow up? Singer
Who will you marry? Justin Bieber
How many kids will you have? 2
Where will you live? Hollywood
Lexy, I love you OH SO MUCH!!!! I'm so glad that God made you my daughter and me your mommy!
Adoption Update
Well we were the only family to come forward for the sweet little almost 2 year old. So now they have sent out an e-mail looking for more interested families that are foster adopt. One good thing is that they are only looking at families that already have a homestudy done so the staffing should still happen very quickly.
I talked with our adoption worker today and she believes that two other familis have come forward today. I'm happy that more families are stepping up but a little sad that WE already committed but they had to go look for more.
Our worker said that she doesn't think any other families have come forward for the sibling set of three. She said that unfortunately there just isn't a lot of families that are willing to accept three kids at once. :(
It saddens me that it seems to be challenging to find homes/families for both these situations...I told our worker we'd just take them all...I was only half joking. :)
We have all paperwork done and sent in on our side so now we are just waiting for "the powers to be" to decide they have enough families interested or they just simply aren't going to receive any more interest so that they can set up a staffing to choose a family!
I SO feel like nesting. I had to force myself to not buy a ton of stuff at Wal-Mart yesterday. I kinda need to know how many, ages and sex of our next kid(s) before I start buying :-)
Hopefully SOON!!!!!!!
I talked with our adoption worker today and she believes that two other familis have come forward today. I'm happy that more families are stepping up but a little sad that WE already committed but they had to go look for more.
Our worker said that she doesn't think any other families have come forward for the sibling set of three. She said that unfortunately there just isn't a lot of families that are willing to accept three kids at once. :(
It saddens me that it seems to be challenging to find homes/families for both these situations...I told our worker we'd just take them all...I was only half joking. :)
We have all paperwork done and sent in on our side so now we are just waiting for "the powers to be" to decide they have enough families interested or they just simply aren't going to receive any more interest so that they can set up a staffing to choose a family!
I SO feel like nesting. I had to force myself to not buy a ton of stuff at Wal-Mart yesterday. I kinda need to know how many, ages and sex of our next kid(s) before I start buying :-)
Hopefully SOON!!!!!!!
Monday, March 7, 2011
A Penguin Party
Lexy decided she wanted a penguin themes party for her 7th birthday. I thought it would be easier to find penguin decorations than it was so most everything ended up being handmade! Brooke and her friend Taryn helped set up and were in charge of the games. It turned out to be a really cute party and Lexy and her friends had a great time!
Brandon, Lexy's "boyfriend", was so sweet! :) He gave her a gift (that she'd been begging for and we couldn't find), a painting that he had done himself and this card...
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| Brandon, Chase, Avree, Lexy, Ryan and Molly |
Brandon, Lexy's "boyfriend", was so sweet! :) He gave her a gift (that she'd been begging for and we couldn't find), a painting that he had done himself and this card...
Saturday, March 5, 2011
Great Wolf Lodge
Lexy's best friend, Avree and her mom (and Avree's cousin) asked us to go to Great Wolf Lodge to celebrate Avree's 7th b-day. We have never been there so Lexy was extra excited to be invited! We left right after school on Friday and spent all evening in the indoor waterpark, the girls were in heaven! Avree wanted a Justin Bieber theme so Debbie (Avree's mom) ran up to the room while I watched the girls at the waterpark and decorated with all things Justin Bieber and had cupcakes and treat sacks ready for them when we came back up to the room for the night.
Oddly enough, after Lexy and I were asked to go to Great Wolf Lodge Brooke was asked by a friend to go the same night, she was thrilled! I only saw Brooke and the other girls once during our stay but Brooke assures me they had a GREAT time!
Oddly enough, after Lexy and I were asked to go to Great Wolf Lodge Brooke was asked by a friend to go the same night, she was thrilled! I only saw Brooke and the other girls once during our stay but Brooke assures me they had a GREAT time!
Friday, March 4, 2011
When it rains it pours....
kids in our case!! :)
Yesterday I woke up in a stressed panic. I had to get everything done for Lexy's party and get ready for our night (tonight) at Great Wolf Lodge with Lexy's best friend Avree and her mom for Avree's b-day. In the midst of my panic I laughed and thought "this is when we'll get news about kids". That's how it always worked when we were fostering, on our most stressful days or when we had big plans for something we would always get a call for kids that needed us.
Sooo...as Lexy and I were rushing through Wal-Mart searching for a gift for her friend, my phone started ringing. I noticed I had already missed two calls from the same number...our adoption worker. I answered and after about an hour of listening intently while trying to manuever Lexy and a cart through the store in search of a quiet-ish place, this is what I was told...
The sibling set of three (3, 2, 1) that we thought were staying with their foster mom are now indeed in need of a home. There has been additional information given about the 3 yo (diagnosed with PDD). At this time we are the ONLY family interested. The agency doesn't want to do a staffing with only one family so they will update the profile with the new info. and if we're still interested we will be included in a staffing with whatever families come forward.
PLUS
A little almost two year old baby girl is need of a home immediately. If our worker can find three interested adopt only families by today then the worker has said they won't look for more families. The staffing will be done VERY soon and only include those three families.
So after much discussion last night, we decided that we are going to submit our homestudy for both situations. We know that our job is not to decide who our next kid(s) are so we are going to be open to whatever is meant to be.
Hopefully we'll be off this roller coaster...and on to the next one SOON!!!
Yesterday I woke up in a stressed panic. I had to get everything done for Lexy's party and get ready for our night (tonight) at Great Wolf Lodge with Lexy's best friend Avree and her mom for Avree's b-day. In the midst of my panic I laughed and thought "this is when we'll get news about kids". That's how it always worked when we were fostering, on our most stressful days or when we had big plans for something we would always get a call for kids that needed us.
Sooo...as Lexy and I were rushing through Wal-Mart searching for a gift for her friend, my phone started ringing. I noticed I had already missed two calls from the same number...our adoption worker. I answered and after about an hour of listening intently while trying to manuever Lexy and a cart through the store in search of a quiet-ish place, this is what I was told...
The sibling set of three (3, 2, 1) that we thought were staying with their foster mom are now indeed in need of a home. There has been additional information given about the 3 yo (diagnosed with PDD). At this time we are the ONLY family interested. The agency doesn't want to do a staffing with only one family so they will update the profile with the new info. and if we're still interested we will be included in a staffing with whatever families come forward.
PLUS
A little almost two year old baby girl is need of a home immediately. If our worker can find three interested adopt only families by today then the worker has said they won't look for more families. The staffing will be done VERY soon and only include those three families.
So after much discussion last night, we decided that we are going to submit our homestudy for both situations. We know that our job is not to decide who our next kid(s) are so we are going to be open to whatever is meant to be.
Hopefully we'll be off this roller coaster...and on to the next one SOON!!!
Wednesday, March 2, 2011
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