No way!

Really??? How can this be??? ANOTHER tooth!!! This boy just is not a happy person when teething. This makes 5 teeth in 6 weeks! He just cries and wants to be held (which is no easy task! He's a big boy!) for several days before it finally pops through. He got over the flu last week, now this. We are ready for a break and to have that sweet happy baby back!

On another note...he is crawling on hands and knees now about 50% of the time (rather than army style)!! It all depends on how fast he wants to move!

Tomorrow will be his first day in nursery at church! He has been doing well in church the past 3 months, but now he is really starting to babble and although it's super cute, it's not so super cute in church! So...we're gonna give it a go! I think he will be fine...I hope! I'm ready to get back to focusing on worship and the message and not keeping a baby quiet ;)

Court results

Not too much to report! Mom didn't show because of lack of transportation, so what I anticipated being discussed (visitation) was not addressed. Something got thrown out of the case plan and another more important thing was added, actually two things. Our GAL called me today and she read a few things of the "every single detail about this case" report and there were definitely things in there that I also had not heard. I thank God that at that time, Little Man was not old enough to really know what was happening!! Of course in the spiritual realm that's a different story!

So...all in all things are pretty much the same. There was another detail about the legal father that needs to get cleared up and we are hoping to get all of Little Man's medical records (prenatal through birth) from the hospital records should he chose to divulge just which hospital that was! I have to check with the CM to see when the next court hearing will be...at that time Mom should be there and visitation discussion will happen then. For now we will stay at 1x per week.

Sooner than expected!

Well I found out today that Little Man's mom is already 4 months pregnant! I was under the impression that she was "just" pregnant! S0....that means that we will probably have another little one in July or so!!! I was thinking we'd still have the summer...allowing L.M to get a bit older, but nope! (We are assumming he will still be in care at that point) I guess I should start getting ready for another baby! Oh my gosh! I guess I will be a bit busy! Anyone have any extra crib?? LOL!! Never thought I'd have two in a crib at once :)

SICK!

Ugh...the past couple of days here have been horrible :( Mr. A had the flu on Thur. and we thought it would stop there. Umm...nope! Little Man woke up from his nap yesterday afternoon covered in vomit! YUCK! He proceeded to vomit several more times and then continued with dry heaves for almost 2 hours :( Poor thing was miserable! He finally stopped dry heaving and went to the hiccups and then fell asleep. Thank God!

I wasn't feeling too great myself, but thought I was could go to bed early and sleep it off...wishful thinking for a Mommy! I woke up at 10pm and didn't stop vomiting until almost 3:30! I think I got about 1/2 hour of sleep and then at 4:00am Mr. M woke up and started as well! Two parents down is NOT a good a thing. Mr. A is still battling something with his stomach and although Little Man kept his food down today and no more vomiting he was definitely not feeling optimal. He went to bed early and I am hoping that with a long night of sleep for everyone, that we will be up and running again tomorrow! Praising God that the child who deals with sickness the worst has been spared from this and continuing to pray protection over him...seriously...I don't know how he has not gotten this!

Keep praying!

There could be some movement on the DNA testing issue...keep praying ya'll! :-)

8 months old!!!!

Today is Little Man's 8 month b-day :) He celebrated by starting to cruise the couch! I put him down on his mat yesterday and he climbed up to the toy box as usual. He then transferred to the couch (where he usually hangs out),but then saw something interesting at the other end and cruised 4 feet! He'll be walking soon :)

At lunch today he ran out of puffies (those little baby finger foods) and he started babbling and babbling with full intent. At first I didn't know what he wanted becuase I didn't look at his tray, and I just thought it was cute, but then I realized he was starting at the container and his tray was empty. As soon as I gave him some more he stopped! He's getting this conversation stuff down! LOL! :)

He also babbles a lot when we are in the car. Mr. A yelled out "Mom, what he saying??!!" as if I have a baby translator or something! LOL! The boys are really good at teaching him new signs and he'll probably be doing that soon too! Lots of fun :)

Court results

Well, it is official that he has been adjudicated, so instead of seeing his CM face to face every week, that only has to happen every 30 days. There is still a paternity issue that the court is not willing to pay for, so it's being left "as is." This makes me so angry that a little person's life will be hanging in the balance with no "proof" of who his biological Daddy is because no one will pay for it!. This means that there is a chance that Little Man may be moving from our home....we will wait and see if there is a family member (albeit they *may* share no more genetic relation to this child than us!) that will take him in. Things may remain the same and birthmom can continue to work her plan and things can progress forward. I guess we continue to wait on the Lord and see where He has things moving! There are so many more details, but it gets exhausting playing the "what if" games. It's so much easier knowing that He is in control and has a unique and precise plan for Little Man's life :-)

Court today!

Today is the adjudication hearing for Little Man's parents! Some things are going to be brought up in court today that **could** (or could not) change the course of things ahead. So...we pray and fast for the answers the Lord will give us and I wait with great anticipation as to what has been decided!!

Psychotropic Meds

Last night we had a mandatory training (for all new foster parents) on psycotropic medications...what they are, side effects, why they are used. etc. It's incredible to think about little children being on these incredibly strong medications! They are all very closely monitored now between case management, FDS, courts, etc because last year in another county a 7 year old (yes..you read that right) commited suicide after being on a very inappropriate cocktail of these meds that shouldn't have been given to children or combined together! That simply breaks my heart!!! Thank God that at this point we don't have to worry about the medications aspect. Tylenol for teething is the strongest drug we give...but we document that too!

Oh my!

I had a feeling about 2 weeks ago that I would be getting *news* but I really didn't expect it this soon! Little Man's mom is ...yep..you guessed it...pregnant! Little Man will be a big brother in early fall. Her response to the CM after a little shock on her face was "Well as long as God gives them to me I will be happy!" Ummm...UGH! I'm not sure if she realizes or not, that if Little Man is still in care that this baby will not go home with her from the hospital. Our home could be growing too...if L.M. is still here we will be the first to be contacted so that the siblings can stay together. Maybe it will be a girl??? Maybe???? God seems to think boys are for our family! Don't get me wrong, I wouldn't change a thing about our family, but maybe a little more estrogen in the house to help me out would be nice huh? :-)

What he's been up to..

I went in to get Little Man up from his nap this morning and was stunned! There he was standing at the end of his crib!!!!!!!!!!!!! He is still only 7 months old! At this rate he is going to be cruising and walking in the next couple of months!!! I'm not ready!!! LOL!!

His crabbiness has continued over the last couple of days and this morning I peeked in his mouth and #4's tip is starting to come through! Thank God they happened together and hoping for a break now :)

Whew...last night I was making dinner and he wanted to be held. At that moment I just couldn't (not even safely in the carrier) and he went ballistic! Whew...he was MAD! Mr. M tried holding him and to console him, but he screamed louder. The second I took him back the screaming stopped and he was laughing again in seconds! Little Stinker!! He knows what he wants I guess-LOL!

His Medicaid mess still hasn't been totally cleared up, but as of March 1st he should be "good." I can't wait to get him in to the Dr. to be weighed! I'm sure he's at or over the 20lb mark! He is a pretty average length I think. He has a long torso and really short, chubby legs :) Mr. A was the same way :)

He is at his birthparent visit as I type. I took his little feet prints today and made a little Valentine's card for them. They were really happy with pictures last week, so this should really excite them :) I'm not trying to be their friends, but I think that little things like this keep an open connection between us and in the end will only benefit Little Man.

#3

has broken the surface....THANK YOU GOD!!!!!!!!!!!! The poor kid doesn't want to eat or sleep and is just plain ugly when he's teething!! #4 isn't too far behind, so we aren't out of the woods, but each one through is one less ya know?! The baby teething tablets, motrin and orajel are good friends!! :)

Oh what a mess!!!

Each day I seem to learn more twists and facets of this story!!!!!!!! Literally it makes my head hurt!!! I don't think I could have even made up anything as twisted, scandalous, and crazy as the story that surrounds poor Little Man!!! "This" is going to a loooonnnnggg process to say the least :(

A few pictures

Ok..since you can't see his face I thought these would be ok to post :) The first he has gotten himself stuck! He thinks he's pretty hot stuff pulling to stand and took it a step further this time! I guess he was trying to get something in the bottom-LOL!!

This one is him standing at our window (his new favorite spot!) He loves to watch out the window :)

Today's happenings

This morning we had our last monthly FDS visit (for newly licensed people) and now we are going to quarterly. It's nice just because there are so many people coming and going from our home on a weekly basis! She tried to hold him and oh my you should have seen the look on his face! She got him for about 2 seconds before he started screaming!!! She handed him back and he shut it off immediately-lol! He knows!



Little Man left (an hour late!) for his visit today. Once again, he left screaming. It didn't help that it was yet another different person taking him there this week, so he was NOT a happy little person when they pulled out of here :( I heard today that they are changing the vistiation to a more local center (easier for parents and not so far for "M" in the car) so that is a big positive! Maybe sometime I could just bring him...I'm very interested to meet the parents :)

I guess the "whole" truth came out yesterday and it's a HUGE mess!! How can someone be told to be in court, take classes, etc but yet have NO rights to a child and no input in court and not have the classes paid for??? Obviously I can't go into any details here, but there is definitely a "twist" around every corner and I don't see it ending anytime soon. On the other hand, his birthmom is starting her classes tomorrow and working her case plan before it's even officially in place! Good news for Little Man!!

The communications between us have been very different lately. They seem so appreciative now and were almost in tears because I sent some very cute pictures of Little Man for them to keep. She even called me a "blessing"!! If you read the entries from the beginning of January you would see a complete change!



Two days ago made 2 months that Little Man has been with us! It seems like a long time ago, but at the same time it seems like yesterday he was dropped at our doorstep! We feel so blessed to have this sweet little baby here with us...he has started babbling more and more and getting some constant/vowel combinations in there too :) So cute to have him look at you and with all sincerity try to "tell" you something :)