PEEK A BOO!

This really makes me smile!  The other night after I gave Marcus his bath, I noticed that he was covering his face with his towel and peeking out at me trying to play peek a boo.  I called Paul and Isaiah in and we were able to catch a little bit of it on camera.  Such a funny, smart boy!

Brotherly Love

Marcus has been with us for about 2.5 weeks now.  He is doing amazing, and is such a sweet, sweet little guy.  He is so happy and loving and him and Isaiah just adore each other!

The past few weeks have been a whirlwind.  Marcus and I have been SO sick!!!  Poor little guy!  He comes into our home, and started daycare for the very first time in his short little life.  So, I am sure that between me working at a school and probably carrying a lot of germs around with me, he was also exposed to all of that at his new school setting.  So, he got very sick and also caught a cold from me.  So, we are finally getting through that!  We actually took a trip to the ER on Friday April 22, because we were SO SO worried about him with being so sick and all.  But the ER doc (who turned out to be the same doc who treated Isaiah when he was there for his asthma last year) had seen a TON of kids with the same illness.  It was a yucky bug, and it lasted for over a week.  But, little guy is feeling much better, and I am on the mend as well.  Luckily, Paul and Isaiah managed to avoid it, as well as my mom who was visiting from NH!

 Marcus loves to play.  Most of the time, toys that aren't even toys keep him the most entertained!!! Isaiah loves to play with him, and Marcus is even starting to walk a little bit.  He still prefers crawling (or crab walking in his case because he crawls with his legs straight up behind him) because it gets him where he needs to go faster, but he is venturing to walk a little more each and every day!  Grandma Kathie was so excited to meet him...He even met his Great Grandma Hannah, Aunt Trish, Uncle Jim, cousins Megan and James, his Uncle Donnie and Uncle Donnie's girlfriend Kylie.  He has stolen every one's hearts!  He is also a little ham and loves to make people laugh.  So, we are enjoying our time with him, and hope that everything with his case works out so that we can adopt him!

During the past couple of weeks, we also had work done to our front yard.  Everything looks much cleaner now, and with the new little bench out their, we can sit our their at night while the kids play.  Since we are close with our neighbors, we enjoy being outside and playing with everyone.  Hot summer is quickly approaching, so when my mom was visiting, we took the boys for ice cream (more than once lol).  Isaiah LOVES ice cream (he takes after me in that regard, and Marcus had his first ice cream cone!!!!  Actually, to be honest with you, I got an ice cream cone, took one bite and let Marcus try it.  He LOVED it and took the cone from me and ate the ENTIRE thing!!!!  SO cute!

Lots and lots of pics to come.  I need to upload them to the computer.  Til then !

Love, Us!

Welcome Marcus Julian!

How could one not love that face?  This is our newest addition, Marcus.  He is such a sweet boy!  He is currently a foster child, but we hope to adopt him in the coming months!  Please pray for us!

He came to live with us on April 18, 2011.  This would have been my Granny's 87th birthday!  I feel she was looking out for us!

He is 11 months old, and he will turn 1 on May 8.  This is my godfather Uncle Eddie's birthday as well, another blessing from God!  We love him and he is such an amazing little boy!

Taking a Moment to Take it all In!

It has been one month and one week since we reopened our foster home.  It has been a roller coaster ride and it has had its ups and downs.  We said good-bye to three foster kids, and sent them to their new homes and new lives.  Last night, we welcomed a 16 month old, Tylan.  He is a exuberant little guy and has been doing well in the 14 hours he has been with us! 

It is amazing that we keep going.  Ty is the 4th child we have had in our home, and each one of them is unique and special in their own way.  We love spending time with them, and loving on them while we can.  Isaiah loves being a big brother to his little foster siblings, and he seems to have adjusted well to the increased chaoticness (is that a word?  Well, if it isn't it is now) that is now our lives.  He loves telling people about them, and looks forward to seeing them everday.  He loves helping out with diapers and feedings.  He loves just watching then laugh and play, which in return makes me laugh too. 

Of course, each day has its challenges.  Parenting two or even three kids when you have been parenting one for so long is a huge thing.  We just take it one day at a time.  That is all we can do!

We have had a lot of people comment on our journey of fostering.  They want to know how we do it, and how heart breaking it must be, etc.  etc.  Of course it is heartbreaking.  But, these little babies, who have no voice in the world NEED someone to advocate for them. I would feel selfish if I did not.  I stand by the mantra I have always said...if I touched the kids lives even a FRACTION of the amount they have touched mine, then I have done a good job.  We will love them while we can!

Remembering the Greatest Man That Ever Lived!

I am tired!  It has been such a crazy week.  Welcoming Devon into our home, getting onto a new schedule, and learning each other and how we all work together as a new family unit.  This weekend was the first weekend we had together so far, and it was a rather uneventful one!  On Friday night, we played over at our friend's house and the kids all had a great time with one another!  It was fun to see Devon interact with all of the other neighborhood kids.  He gets along really well with others, and he seems to really enjoy playing with the other kids, including Isaiah.

On Saturday, we basically spent the day as a family and just enjoyed having one another around.  Come Saturday night, we once again met up with neighbor friends, and went to dinner.  Both Isaiah and Devon were on the their best behavior, and it was not overly difficult (knock on wood!!) to have the two of them out at a restaurant together.  I think Devon enjoyed the experience, and I am not sure if he has eaten out at a restaurant before or not, but he seemed to thoroughly enjoy it.

Unfortunately, later that night, Isaiah's asthma and allergies began acting up, and he was breathing horribly, so we gave him his nebulizer treatment.  We were up for a big part of the night, so we were all exhausted on Sunday and just relaxed.  We had some little friends over from next door to play.  :-)

Since I napped on Sunday to catch up on some sleep, I was up very late last night and now I am dead tired.  I am ready to go home and sit on the couch and relax and play with the boys.  Today is a hard day, it marks 13 years since my dad passed away.  So much has happened over the past 13 years, and I know he would have loved to be a part of all of this...Isaiah's adoption, us fostering again etc.  This is the first anniversary of his death that I will not be making my yearly phone call to Granny.  We thoroughly enjoyed crying, laughing, and overall remembering what a great guy he was every year on this date.  Sure, we talked about him all the time, but it was special for us to sit on the phone and chat about him and really give ourselves the opportunity to open up and discuss how we feel and what we wanted to remember most.  I hope that she and my dad, and Gramp are all looking down on us smiling, because I know I am smiling up at them :-)

Tomorrow is Gramp's birthday.  I hope Heaven is planning a big party for him, and that he gets to eat his beloved ice cream and play a round of golf :-)

Welcome Devon!

After just one week and three days since we were re-licensed as foster parents, we received the call.  There was a 3 year old little boy who is in need of a home.  He had just been removed from his mother, and he and his two siblings (a 2 year old and a one year old), were in need of placements.  We gladly accepted, and awaited Devon's arrival.

We had received the call at about 4:50 PM on Monday evening February 28.  Isaiah was so excited when he heard that his new friend was on his way.  It took quite awile for him to get here, and he finally came at about 8:15 PM.  Isaiah could no longer contain his excitement.

Devon was worn out from a long day, and was already fast asleep in the back of the case manager's car.  We scooped him up and brought him inside, and he slept the entire time I changed him and put him into pajamas. I then tucked him into bed and we did not hear a peep from him until 6:30 AM. 

It has to be hard adjusting to a new place, and new people.  I can't imagine what he is going through.  He is adjusting very well, and he is getting into the routine of things.  He is attending daycare where he has made friends, but this is also the first time he has ever been in one, so he is having to become accustomed to the routine of it.  He LOVES the playing and he and Isaiah have really enjoyed one another.

I have to toot Isaiah's horn for a minute.  He has really opened his arms and welcomed Devon into our home.  He is kind and caring, and has shared EVERYTHING he owns with him.  He has truly been such a blessing to little Devon, and I hope their bond grows suring the time that Devon is with us.

:-)

A New Journey

Recently, we began the licensing process again to become Foster Parents.  We were foster parents for almost 3 years, and we adopted our wonderful son, Isaiah.  We have been doing a lot of soul searching in the past 6 months, and have gone through many different phases of what we would like to do in order to grow our family of three.  We have decided to pursue fostering again, and have completed our re-licensing paperwork to open our home.  On Friday, we were re licensed and now we wait. 

We are interested in taking children ages 0-5.  We will be taking one child at a time.  Many people have asked us if we prefer a boy or a girl, but with everything we have gone through in the past 6 months, it would be hard to say.  Our hearts are open to every foster child who walks through our door.  We will love them like our own, because in our eyes, the love we give them is our own love and we love them as much as any other child.  IF one of them becomes available for adoption, we will pursue that, whether it is a boy or a girl.

Waiting has been difficult, as the last time we fostered we knew of the child before we were even licensed.  He was a 13 month old little boy who was being fostered by friends of ours.  They had adopted a sibling group of 3, and found out another baby had been born to the mother.  They agreed to foster this baby and hopefully adopt her as well.  In order to do this, they had to have the 13 month old moved to another home.  They loved him dearly, and were very sad to see him go.  The foster mother called me and asked me if we would take him.  This way she knew he was safe and sound and she could still see him.  We said yes immediately, so a day after we were licensed he came into our home.

I know God will bring us our foster child in due time.  I am very excited at the thought.  It will be a whole new ballgame this go around.  We know what to expect.  We went into it blindly last time, and we actually usually took two kids at a time! This time will be different though for many reasons.  We have Isaiah, and it will be interesting to see how it plays out with him.  He is excited to open our home to another child, and he understands that they will be staying with us while their parents get "better," because they are unable to care for their child at this time.

Last time we were licensed, we took children ages 0-2.  We usually had an infant in the house, as well as a two year old.  We have been out of the diaper and crib stage for awhile now, so if the child is young that will be another big adjustment.  

We have never taken children age 3-5.  Now, we are well versed with the 3 and 4 year old ages, heck Isaiah is now 4.  But, I have never cared for a 5 year old, and if the child is in Kindergarten, that will be a whole new ballgame to us as well.  Even the daycare the children will attend will be different, as the daycare Isaiah went to when he was a foster child is now closed.

We will be embarking on this journey and I hope to keep you up to date here.  Wish us luck!