Crash course in parenting - Life as a foster mom

...because I plan to spend a few hours on this beautiful day today working outside! :) Bio mom asked us via our notebook if we would take the baby when she is born. Talk about heart-wrenching! I think it took a lot of humility for her to even ask at all. She wouldn't have asked if she didn't think we would do a good job. I had to explain to her that when we originally started doing foster care a few months ago, we requested 1 child under the age of five. Now we have three children, one of which is not under the age of five (and thank GOODNESS for that!), and that we simply could not commit to adding another child, especially not a new born baby. I told her that I have cried over this decision (and I have!) and that I hope she knows we did not make it lightly. She wrote back and said it was OK and that she understood. So, hopefully she really does understand. I thought it was really good that she asked if her daughter could come stay here when she is born though. Also I ...

How's THAT for a title? I'll start with the baby. Turns out we are NOT going to be getting her, not even as an emergency placement. The caseworker finally called me back and said that they can't do an "emergency" placement for the baby because technically it's not an emergency since they know she is coming. An emergency placement is when kids come initially come into care, and the state can place them somewhere for up to 30 days and then move them to a more permanent place without being penalized. So the caseworker said she would need a firm commitment from us in order to place the baby here initially. And we can not give it at this time. I am really sad about this. I would really love to have a girl in this house full of boys! When I was talking with the caseworker I expressed my concern that I really wanted to keep the kids together but I wasn't sure if we could handle it. She said "If [bio mom] keeps having children, which she probably will,...

Got a call today that the little boys are going to start having visits with their bio dad, whom they have not seen since March. The first visit is this Thursday. I'm a little worried about C and his behaviors getting worse as a result of this. But of course, as per usual we just kind of have to deal with it and try to help him work through it as best we can. And who knows, maybe he won't even remember his dad so it will be no big deal. How long can kids that little remember people? Also I was thinking today that if it turns out that this baby girl is his daughter, then is he going to have visits with all three of them at the same time? And if so...wow! Going from not parenting any children at all for six months to suddenly parenting three children under the age of three...Yikes! I would probably be terrified. *side note: Is it bad that I am thinking "well, if the little boys have a few more hours of visits during the week then I get more 'free time'"? ...

Let me begin this little blog with a short story. A few months ago, shortly after all three of the boys moved in with us, my dear husband gave me a Saturday morning to myself. Of course I chose to go shopping. And of course, aside from purchasing a few items for myself, I also bought things for the boys. For the 11 year old, D, I had no idea what to get. So I bought him one of those metal water canteen things to keep water in. He was pretty excited about it, which made me happy seeing as how I was totally stabbing in the dark on this gift. Shortly after I purchased it, D went through a smoothie-making phase. This was after his summer program was over so he was home all. day. long. And, naturally, bored. So he experimented with various types of smoothies. Some of you can already see where this is going... Last night, he approached me and told me he was failing math. After we talked about that a little bit he apparently got brave, because he said "I need your help cleaning...

Well since I can't post pics of the boys (sadly, because I have some pretty cute ones!) I figured at least I could post pics of their toys! I hit up several garage sales today, all within about 1/2 mile radius of each other which in and of itself was awesome. Also, I don't haggle with garage sale people on prices unless I think it's really super over-priced. The way I see it, I'm paying way less for the item than they paid for it new - I'm already saving a TON of money, so saving 50 more cents or a couple of bucks isn't a huge deal to me. So with no further ado - A bead toy (thing?) for $1, and a xylophone dog which was I think a dollar or two. A toy where the balls go in the top, go through the thing and do some fun stuff and then come out the bottom. Bonus that you have to hit the balls with the hammer to make them go through! I think this cost $3. My "big ticket" items. A very life-like grill with burgers, chicken, hot dogs, and condiments. The ...

That is, that is what both boys are right now. Hysterical. As in, screaming. In their beds. Actually it has gotten a lot quieter in the last few minutes thankfully. Last night C was up well past 7:30 laying in bed screaming, yelling "NO!", etc. (yelling "no!" or "Ugh!" is his MO when he doesn't want to do something, like sleep!). His bed time (and Y's!) is 7:00 because they typically sleep until anywhere from 6:30-7:30, and we leave the house at 7:20 so that early of a bedtime ensure they can sleep as long as possible before they must be awake for the day. ANYway, since he was up he kept his little brother up. And now they are both going nutso. They need naps this morning, they do! I'm giving them until 10 and seeing what happens. :/ I hate that! There is not much you can do to discipline a child when they are behaving like that at bed time. He was staying in his bed so that was good. I got him out and held C until he stopped crying, t...

That sometimes we make mountains out of molehills. Y woke up a little earlier than usual today, but it wasn't too bad. Could've been worse for sure! But honestly I had also turned the baby monitor way down, so he might've been awake for a while before I heard him. At any rate, it gave me an opportunity to let him have a try at spoon feeding himself. He wasn't real interested in actually putting it into his mouth, but it did end up all over his tummy, hands and tray! I took over towards the end because we had to get on the road. I gave him a good 30 minutes to try it himself. I think he actually got about 3 spoonfuls during that time. We'll try again though. Not sure if/how I should approach this whole sleeping thing with his mom. This is the second time she has put the boys to sleep (that I know of) during their visit. Two times out of about 3 months isn't too bad at all. But it just seems strange. It would be one thing if I asked her to, or like if she ...