Poor baby :(

He is sick again :( A lovely sinus infection as well as breathing issues again! He is back on a steroid, antibiotic, cough syrup, and nebulizer treatments. Between Mr. A (also has a sinus infec./allergies) and Little Man I feel like a pharmacy! He is actually being referred to a pediatric pulmonologist to see if there is any underlying causes to this breathing stuff. I tried to call to make the appt and the lady was really sweet, but of course they asked for his Medicaid number (just got changed remember?) and I looked at the card and of course...no number! What?! So I try to call the office and their phones are down because of "network difficulties." Is anything ever simple with Medicaid? Just wondering!

I guess the extended visit today went well. She was informed of an upcoming trip that we are going on and she said that she will have him back by then. I asked his CM if that is possible and there was an "incident" between Dad and Mom the other day so, now that has to be documented. She has an evaluation on Friday that could also effect the outcome of when reunification can happen. We have a staffing on Tuesday so I will hear more then. Interesting for sure!

More change...

This "legal" dad "bio" dad stuff is getting ridiculous. Now, all of the sudden, I guess legal dad realized what "taking on" a child would do to his life and now wants nothing at all to do with any of this. Well, the courts are now going to go after him because he is legally responsible for this child still. Oh my! More drama!

Thank God the increased visitation is set to just be the same day and time/just extended! Yay!

Little Man started waving "bye-bye" this week and he says "bob, bob, bob" as he waves! Too cute!!!

More visits...

Today Little Man's mom had another status hearing to see how things are going. Apparently she is doing what she needs to do so that is good. Due to court, there wasn't a visit today, but it looks like that will take place on Friday. The judge also asked the CM to increase visitation (she did not ORDER it). So...now we are trying to "hash out" the best situation. I of course am praying that they decide to just extend the one visit and make it longer so it doesn't break up another day in the week, but I'm not really the one making that decision. Also, it looks like mom may be getting unsupervised visits as early as next month! This both worries and excites me (just being honest here!) Ahhh.....it's all in God's hands!!!!!

Sick :(

Here we go again...poor baby is so snotty and every time he gets to sleep, he coughs and wakes himself up again. Couple that with the reaction to immunizations yesterday and you get a miserable baby with a fever who can't really sleep although he desperately wants/needs to! He has been in the carrier most of the day today. He just cries and cries if you try to put him down. I think we have another long night ahead....YET I will praise HIM! :) I am definitely happy I am a SAHM because otherwise I don't know if I would be a very productive worker outside the home-LOL! I was soooooo looking forward to nap today while he went to his visit, but no one showed up :( Court was this afternoon (just a status hearing), but no one called to cancel or reschedule, so I guess someone will just tell me eventually or just show up at my door. They better hope I'm home! :) Maybe I can get to bed early tonight?????

9 month check-up

Today Little Man had his well-child visit. He is doing great and weighs a whopping 22lbs 5oz!!! No wonder I am getting so strong! His weight is in the 75th %ile and his height is in the 50%ile. The only thing that caused her to pause was his head circumfrence which is in the 90 %ile right now! She thinks that some of it is his hair (LOL!) but we will just continue to monitor it. Mr. M and I are also supposed to keep track of Little Man's wheezing episodes over the next 3 months and at his 12 month visit we will discuss if he needs to be on a preventative med or maybe further evaluation is needed. Other than that, he had his shots (and screamed so loud it about cracked the windows!) and we were out of there :)

Tupperware Fun!

Tornado (aka Little Man) finally discovered the **only** open cupboard! Is there any greater toy that tupperware? LOL!! He played the entire time I made dinner last night. It was great!! He was so close to just getting right in that cupboard with it all!

I wonder???

I really have been wondering what goes through Little Man's birthmom's mind sometimes! She has been attending parenting classes (GREAT!) for several weeks now, but in the communication book today she said that she is almost done with her case plan! What?! Ummmm...did she miss the part about stable housing, income, other evaluations, etc???? I know that it has all been explained to her!

Nothing too much has changed lately (hence the slow down in posts!) She continues to try to parent through comments in the book, but most of the time it's just silly stuff that I don't really pay attention to. Today's example would be that I put him in little "swishy swashy" pants and the waistband must have made an impression on his skin and she didn't like that (remember the jeans issue?) I have kind of taken the stance that I will take her opinion into consideration, but he is in my care right now, and if that's what he has clean, then that's what he's wearing :)

No other movement in the DNA issue :( The man who we believe to be the bio-dad has not been coming to visits regularly anymore. He technically has no rights in court or otherwise at this point. Guess we'll wait to see what happens with that as well!

Little Man is into EVERYTHING!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! He crawls all over the place (or cruises the furniture!) He unpacks the shoe bin for me, pulls books off the shelves, and opens the doors on the entertainment center and pulls out all the movies!!!!! My house is a disaster area-LOL! I clean it up and he repeats it all about every 15 minutes (or less!) He is at a very fun stage though :) He will be 9 months old tomorrow!!!! He'll have his check up next week, so I am excited to see how big he has gotten :)

Infant Massage

Back in Michigan when I was teaching I had the priviledge of getting trained to teach infant massage. I have used it tons with my own kids and here and there I have taught classes. I was massaging Little Man the other day and it struck me that my agency may be interested in having me teach a class. I threw it out there thinking that it probably wouldn't go anywhere, but I was wrong! My FDS brought it before the team today and we already have a date, time and worked out other details too!

Infant massage holds LOTS of benefits for a child that is in foster care (or not!)!

• Biggest for children in foster care is that the child's systems get regulated. After exposure to drugs, alcohol, abuse, neglect, etc their systems become very disorganized and this helps to regulate those systems.
• Bonding and attachment
• Helps them sleep (longer and deeper)
• Helps relieve constipation
• Aids in pain relief from gas and teething
• Helps the child's digestive and circulatory systems

These are just a few (of many!) for the child. Parents also benefit in bonding with the baby, learning to read the child, and relaxation for themselves! If you are a foster parent, definitely look into it in your area. You won't be sorry! Oh, and infant massage isnt' just for infants! My other kids are 3 and 5 and they still enjoy an "oil change" every now and then! It's a great time of communication and bonding :)

Recruitment!

Children’s Home Society
Recruitment Events!

*Are you part of an organization whose members have shown interest in becoming foster parents?
*Do you know of local churches, schools, memberships, etc. that would benefit from an orientation on what it means to be a foster parent?
*Want to bring in a guest speaker to discuss fostering and the system of care to your next group meeting?
*Know of reputable families or individuals that would be excellent foster parents?
*Want to spread the word on what it means to be a foster parent?


Contact Taina Hernandez to schedule an orientation to foster care for your organization!! Weekdays, weekday evenings, and weekends are available.
Office: (813) 471-0006 ext. 4903
Cell: (813) 420-5454
Email: taina.hernandez@hillsboroughkids.org


**Do your part to help inspire those around you to commit to helping our at risk children in care**

Finally!!!!

Little Man's medicaid is FINALLY officially changed!!!! His CM submitted for the change in January but we missed the deadline to have it changed by Feb 1st by 3 days! :( So..we had to wait until March 1st. I wasn't so sure that it would be done today, but I called the Dr's office praying that they could look it up for me and voila! Done! One 4 yo check scheduled and one 9 month check-up shceduled...back-to-back. Thank goodness!