Readers - Hello!

After my last post, I got some comments from people I didn't know were reading my blog. And now, I'm curious! If you are reading my blog, and if you don't mind doing so, would you post a quick comment as to how you found me? I started this blog as just an outlet for me, and have quickly found many people in my situation that I can connect with, and it's wonderful! I have some absolutely fantastic friends here in my town, but only a few of them truly understand this "foster world". It's been so nice to connect with other people through this blog who are in the trenches of fostering.

So, drop me a line, I'd love to meet you! Even if you are not a foster parent, and are just reading my blog for kicks and giggles, drop me a line! Please????

Naming Help Needed, please

I have an issue that I need some advice on. Our oldest foster child, Little Man, should be legally free very soon, and we will be starting the adoption process with him. We have been calling him is birth name since he came to us, mostly because his visits with birth mom have continued twice a week. He will be three in March, and has been a foster child since 9 days of age, and has been in our home since he was 14 months old.

We had always talked about changing his name, and even have one picked out. I'm still pretty sure we will be doing this. However, my dilemma comes to the scrapbooking part. Of course, I am very behind in scrapbooking, so there are hardly any pages done of any of my kiddos. But when it comes to scrapbooking him, do I use his birth name on the pages up until we get to adopt him, or do we use his permanent name on anything pre-adoption? I don't know why I struggle with this, but I do.

Our other two kiddos - full siblings - have not seen their birth parents in almost a year, and so we have been calling them their permanent names since April '07. We will be faced with the same kind of dilemma with some of their pictures as well.

Does anyone have any experience or wisdom in this for me???? Please????

I scrapbooked today!!

This was a huge accomplishment for me! I love to scrapbook, but ever since we moved into this new house - March '07 - I have not been able to get my craft room set back up like it was in our old house. Right now, the craft room has one worktable, and it is covered with random stamping and scrapbooking things. It also has a sewing table, and I keep that pretty accessible, but otherwise the whole room is filled with boxes of craft stuff - and other crap - that I just can't find time to go through or move! The room is right above the boys' bedroom, and it seems that the only time I really have to go through it is when the boys are sleeping, and I hate to make the noise it takes to clean out that room. My goal is to have my craft room all set up by the end of February. I know it seems like a strange prayer request - but please pray that I get that goal accomplished. I really need a room that I can retreat to every once in a while and get back to my stamping, scrapbooking and quilting.

I got a double page spread done today - at a friend's house for a CTMH workshop - and it was of Little Guy's first haircut. Of course, he got this haircut over a year ago! But better late than never I suppose! Now I am really itching to do more scrapbooking, especially since Baby Girl's 1st birthday (did I just SAY that?) is next Thursday, and the party is next Saturday, and I want to have a small scrapbook on display of pictures of her throughout her first year. We'll see.......

Done with Speech Therapy!!

Little Guy is officially done with speech therapy. His therapist re-tested him today, and he is doing remarkable well considering how he started. She is really pleased with his progress, as are we, and has decided to let the therapy go for 6 months and re-evaluate him at the end of July. This is good news - first, because he is doing so well, and second, because now we don't have to have bad Friday afternoons. His ST was on Fridays at 1 pm - which was really bad for napping. He normally goes down for a nap around 12:30 or 1:00, and Fridays really threw him off. And he's my one kid that desperately needs to adhere to a schedule. Little Man is fine when our schedule gets wonky, but Little Guy really doesn't do well.

So, hats of to our wonderful therapist - she really got him talking well! Now, if I can just end his little temper tantrums......

Yikes!!!

Court Updates

I just wanted to give a quick – and positive – update on Little Man’s case. We had asked for prayer this month because there were some issues coming forth that might delay the termination trial yet again. But praise God – it is going on as scheduled!! The judge did get changed, but the case will be heard at the same time as the last judge. And the birth mom’s request to have in-home visits with Little Man has been denied. So we just want to thank you for praying with us – God is Good All the Time!!! The next step is the actual Termination Trial, and that will take place January 28-31. We have been told that the decision on the termination will be handed down soon after the end of the trial, possibly the same day or the day after. Our prayer now is that the termination of parental rights be done, and that would mean we could start the actual adoption of Little Man. So please continue to pray with us.

Also, the termination hearing for Little Guy & Baby Girl’s case will be on February 1st at 1:30 pm. We are not anticipating any problems with that one, however, as the birth parents have not been heard from for almost a year now. Can you believe that Baby Girl will be one year old shortly? Wow! Time does fly! So soon, very soon, all three of these beautiful children will officially be our children – thanks to God! He is so faithful to us!

Term Trial for Siblings

We have been waiting for the publishing of the termination trial notice in our local paper, and it finally happened. The social worker was not able to serve Little Guy and Baby Girl's birthparents, so it had to be published. The trial date has been set for February 1 at 1:30 pm - it's such a relief to now have a date to look forward to. I really doubt that the bp will show up, and even if they do, I doubt that the courts would find in their favor. Baby Girl is almost a year old now, and they haven't seen her since she was two days old.

Little Man's term trial is set for January 28 & 29 - so that last week of Jan/first week of Feb is going to be very busy and very stressful for us. Please, please - keep our family in your prayers! Rumor has it that Little Man's bmom is going to petition the court for a new judge to be assigned the term trial. The judge currently assigned has already heard one of her appeals and did not find in her favor, so now she wants him off the case. I have also heard rumor that she is going to petition the court for overnight in-home visits with Little Man! She has not ever been allowed unsupervised visits with him, so I don't see how they would allow this, but I am not surprised anymore by what the system does. I'm just praying hard that this does not get allowed.

I'll update more as I have time.