On May 29 we were officially licensed (around 11am). At 5:30pm that same day we had our first placement in our arms! Granted, we'd been planning for her (yes....it's a SHE!!!! I was doing a happy dance for days!) coming to us for about a week or so, so it wasn't a complete surprise. But it was an adjustment nonetheless. Going from two boys to two boys and a girl; from one (fairly) independent and one attempting to be, to those two PLUS one who is completely DEpendent on us; more bottles, more formula, more diapers....did I mention she is only 3 months old?? :-)
I'll write more about that later. For right now, I want to start an update questionnaire that will kind of give ya'll an inside look into our fostering process, family dynamics, and updates on the kids every other week (ish). For updates on our biological kids, check out my personal blog here. (No promises on being diligent on updating but I will TRY!!)
Foster kid(s) in home: just one, we'll call her "L" :)
Age(s): 3 months old
Milestones this week: She's finally getting on a routine with us (or maybe we're the ones finally getting on HER routine. Ha!) She rolled over from her back to her belly and was NOT very happy about that initially...
Habits: She does this thing where she puts her arm/hand over her eyes when you're holding her and she's falling asleep.....every time it makes me think she's being dramatic "oh my life is so difficult" but really, it's kinda cute.
I sleep on my: Back, initially; but since she's learned how to roll over she's quickly becoming a belly sleeper.
At nap time I need: If she's sleeping in the bouncer, car seat or swing she needs a blanket to hold on to. She always need her paci! When she's in her room we have a sound machine on to drown out our two {very loud} boys :)
Eating habits: She takes 4 oz of formula every 2.5-3 hours. She's tiny so I don't mind feeding her a bit more often...;)
Family dynamic: We are getting used to being a family of 5! Not going to lie, there are days where it is super difficult. But I think that would be any child, not just a foster child. It's more about juggling the three kids and their schedules than L's case...her case seems very straight-forward and fairly simple, which I'm grateful for. It being our first and all.
Other notes: L is getting used to the boys! She actually smiles at them while watching them play or be silly. Our youngest, D, likes to crawl over and "eat" her feet or her hands, depending on what he can get to...of course we don't condone this but hey....he's pretty quick sometimes.
We don't have current weight or height as her last dr visit was almost a month ago. We'll be taking her at the end of this month. She's tiny, so I can't wait to see how much she weighs.
Size 1 diapers, size 0-3 or 3 month clothes.
We met bio mom & dad last week. They are very nice, very young, and very determined to do everything they need in order to get their daughter back. It's so encouraging to see them owning their mistakes and trying to better themselves for her. Honestly I thought it was going to be very difficult "sharing" her, but God has just calmed my spirit and given me so much peace. He is awesome. We are very hopeful that mom and dad will be awesome parents for "our" little L once she goes back to them.
This brings me to our last question:
Case updates: We won't have court until August, where we will have more of a timeline (we're guessing). We are happy to keep L as long as need be, but for her sake if she's going back to mom and dad (which she probably is), I'd rather it be as soon as they can support themselves and her, so that she doesn't remember too much of this moving around from home to home stuff. Hopefully we can maintain a healthy relationship with her parents so that we can stay informed, if not involved, with her in the future.
I'm hoping to update weekly. Thanks for your prayers and support.
Foster kid(s) in home: just one, we'll call her "L" :)
Age(s): 3 months old
Milestones this week: She's finally getting on a routine with us (or maybe we're the ones finally getting on HER routine. Ha!) She rolled over from her back to her belly and was NOT very happy about that initially...
Habits: She does this thing where she puts her arm/hand over her eyes when you're holding her and she's falling asleep.....every time it makes me think she's being dramatic "oh my life is so difficult" but really, it's kinda cute.
I sleep on my: Back, initially; but since she's learned how to roll over she's quickly becoming a belly sleeper.
At nap time I need: If she's sleeping in the bouncer, car seat or swing she needs a blanket to hold on to. She always need her paci! When she's in her room we have a sound machine on to drown out our two {very loud} boys :)
Eating habits: She takes 4 oz of formula every 2.5-3 hours. She's tiny so I don't mind feeding her a bit more often...;)
Family dynamic: We are getting used to being a family of 5! Not going to lie, there are days where it is super difficult. But I think that would be any child, not just a foster child. It's more about juggling the three kids and their schedules than L's case...her case seems very straight-forward and fairly simple, which I'm grateful for. It being our first and all.
Other notes: L is getting used to the boys! She actually smiles at them while watching them play or be silly. Our youngest, D, likes to crawl over and "eat" her feet or her hands, depending on what he can get to...of course we don't condone this but hey....he's pretty quick sometimes.
We don't have current weight or height as her last dr visit was almost a month ago. We'll be taking her at the end of this month. She's tiny, so I can't wait to see how much she weighs.
Size 1 diapers, size 0-3 or 3 month clothes.
We met bio mom & dad last week. They are very nice, very young, and very determined to do everything they need in order to get their daughter back. It's so encouraging to see them owning their mistakes and trying to better themselves for her. Honestly I thought it was going to be very difficult "sharing" her, but God has just calmed my spirit and given me so much peace. He is awesome. We are very hopeful that mom and dad will be awesome parents for "our" little L once she goes back to them.
This brings me to our last question:
Case updates: We won't have court until August, where we will have more of a timeline (we're guessing). We are happy to keep L as long as need be, but for her sake if she's going back to mom and dad (which she probably is), I'd rather it be as soon as they can support themselves and her, so that she doesn't remember too much of this moving around from home to home stuff. Hopefully we can maintain a healthy relationship with her parents so that we can stay informed, if not involved, with her in the future.
I'm hoping to update weekly. Thanks for your prayers and support.
