New Nickname

So I guess Mr. A was not really liking the nickname Little Princess, so he has changed it to Little Strawberry because she wears a lot of pink :) I thought it was adorable that he thought of that! He's doing great with her and helping take Little Man's attention away from the baby. Even Mr. I is doing great with her and wants to help, which if you remember was not the same sentiment when Little Man came-LOL! Little Man is SUPER jealous, but it's something he's going to have to get used to...like it or not! Little Baby is on his/her way...before we all know it!

Little Princess

Around 3:15 our Little Princess arrived! Our friends dropped off a bouncy seat, swing, and lots of clothes for her, so we are set for the week! She had a dr. appt this afternoon and unfortunately she has thrush--yuck! So...I thought we were done with meds, but apparently we have another week of them! She is just 9 lbs and super, super cute! A tiny peanut compared to Little Man!! The kids have taken very well to her, well...except for Little Man! If I am holding her and not him he follows me around pulling on my pants and screaming! He's going to need to get used to not being the baby around here! He'll adapt pretty quickly I'm sure...just in time for her to go to her permanent placement! LOL!

It's a GIRL!

I got a call last night around 11:30 from my friend saying that placement called and they wanted them to take in a 4 week old little girl and would I still be willing to watch her for a week until they get back from vacation. Sure! So this am we are getting a little girl! I can't believe it's not a boy-LOL! There is a good chance that she may not even be here (or at my friends) for long as there are siblings and they are trying to get a family member to take all of them. So...we will love on her for as long as we have her :-) I am assumming Little Man may not be too fond of her, but we shall see!

Babbling away!

It has been so much fun to watch Little Man grow and change almost daily! The other day Mr. A and I went into to his room to get him up from a nap. When he saw Mr. A he made an approximation for his name "do-do" Mr. A wasn't so happy it sounded that way, but I told him he should be honored! I wasn't sure if it was just a fluke or not though, until this am when we were all playing together and Mr. A was making Little Man crack up and he was chasing after Mr. A and babbling "do-do, do-do" trying to catch him!

He will repeat consonant-vowels after me such as "mama, dada, papa, baba, etc"

This afternoon I was eating a sandwich in front of him and I wasn't sharing so he got a bit loud. I then gave him a tiny bite of bread and he immediately held his mouth open for more. I have been trying to teach him the sign for more and he watches my mouth. I encouraged him to say it and then he said "mum mum!" I gave him another piece and waited. I kept eating (all the while he has his mouth open wide!) and after a minute he repeated "mum mum." It was so cute! He is recognizing the power of words and communication (young!) It's so fun :)

Update...

No baby! There was a change of plans and the foster family that has the baby's siblings decided to take him as well! That is so good because I am so adament about keeping siblings together whenever possible :) That's the whole reason we are taking Little Man's sibling in! So...we were ready to accept another one, and if God has another short-term situation for us we will be totally open!

Another one!

About 2:45 this afternoon I get a call from our FDS and she is giggling as she says hello to me. I asked her what was going on and she said that placement is having a hard time placing a 3 month old white male. Would we be interested in taking him??? As I am thinking about the insanity of it, I thought about our friends who are going on vacation all next week, but to have an opening in their home. I suggested that we take him for the next week and a half and then they could take him more permanently next Saturday. Our FDS called them and voila...another little boy is due to arrive here in the few hours! I think I might be a bit crazy, but at the same time it will be good practice for when/if we get Little Man's sibling. Thank God that the family he is going to is giving us a crib, mattress (to borrow until he lives there), clothes and diapers! God ordained all this knowing this situation would arise! Mr. M does indeed think I am a bit crazy, but that's ok....he knows it's not about me!

Early morning call

At 4:15 this morning our phone apparently rang (we didn't hear it!) When I checked the messages this morning it was placement calling to see if we could take a 1 yr old Hispanic male until Monday. I totally would have said yes, but we are already at capacity :( We plan on increasing our cap. soon so that we can take in Little Man's sibling this summer. Maybe we will do it early and practice having 4 kids! Well....that's if I can convince Mr. M!! A few respite situations have come up lately as well and I would have loved to help!

Update

Little Man is doing better...well...mostly anyway! Last night he was up for over 2 hours for no real reason :( We had a check up today and he was still wheezing, so she had me give him another treatment in the office before we left. I started to give it to him when his quick grabby hands ripped the top off and all the medicine went flying into the air...lovely! So we started over again! She said he should be significantly better by the end of the week. We were able to make the pulmonologist appt for April 23rd so hopefully we can get some answers so we don't have these 3-4 week cycles of sickness all the time!

Tomorrow I am going to a permanency staffing where all the "main players" will meet and discuss the case and what's happening with Mom's case plan, etc. I am hoping to hear the results of her evaluation from Friday as well. Everything seems to be on course for her, but there are potentially a few things that could extend his time in care. Still praying for God's will through it all! :)

Making a difference

Check out this hearwarming story!


http://www.thekansan.com/news/x1176895245/ADOPTION-STORIES-Foster-child-remembers-being-rocked

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!

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 :)

Is there anybody out there?

Ok..so I know a few people who are reading my blog consistently, but by the looks of sitemeter, there are more! Drop me a line and introduce yourself...I'd love to hear more about you!

So sweet...

It seems like everyday Little Man is doing something new! Today it was clapping his hands for the first time! We frequently sing a little song that says "Clap your hands all ye babies, shout to the Lord with a song of triumph. Clap your hands all ye babies, shout to the Lord with a song of joy!" He usually just watches and giggles. Today he put his hands together (one on top of the other) and clapped along. Too cute! He also raised his hands (spontaneously!) in worship today as we were singing "I am free!" :)

Isn't it amazing how something so little like clapping your hands becomes something big when done for the first time? :) My heart breaks each time (day!) he does something new because his parents are missing all these "firsts." I was thinking the other day about how just *one* choice can change the whole direction of a person's life! I know single decisions that have changed mine for sure! Because of one really bad decision they are paying the consequences, but even more, so is Little Man :(

Mr. A asked me the other day "Mommy is "M" going to stay here forever and ever?" I told him that we weren't sure right now, that only God knows that answer. I asked him if God chose for "M" to stay here would he like that and his response was "Yes..."M" is going to stay here forever and not go anywhere!" I love how he has taken "M" completely as a member of this family. Actually, even Mr. I has too now (it's taken him a bit longer-lol!) He plays this game where he says "No, that's MY Mommy" and continues with the rest of the family. Today was the first time he included "baby" too :) Their little hearts will break if God's choice is to return him to his birthfamily, but we'll cross that bridge when we come to it! :)

No way!

Little Man decided that since he is finally feeling better (from his cold and teething) that he will try a new skill...yep...already! He now pulls to standing at the toy box, and then transfers over to the couch!! He is already trying to cruise the couch to get toys, etc, but he loses his balance and falls. I don't think it will be long though! He is also now able to get from sitting to his tummy without just falling over...he goes into a side-sit and then slowly goes onto his stomach. He's not really making a lot of purposeful sounds (he babbles some), but "they" often say that when a child is working on one major skill set (gross motor) that they put another on the side burner (speech). I saw this often in my teaching :) So..we continue to use baby signs with him and he'll speak when he's ready!! :) He does scream "mmmaaaaaammmaaaaaaaaa" when he's really angry! LOL! He of course still LOVES to eat! He is starting to take tastes of "adult" food...he has tried plain baked potato and avocado most recently. He got SO mad when the avocado was gone! LOL! He's gonna be a big boy!!!

Watch this video :)

Today's Visit

Little Man's case manager drops him off every week and I get to hear about how things went and what's new in the case. Today was very different for his mom and she thinks that there is probably some unknown mental issue that could be affecting her. In her note back to me I didn't do anything wrong this week (Whoa...1st time!) but she seemed very sad and depressed. I can only imagine not being able to see my child except for 1 hour per week :( He cries during their visits because he really doesn't know who these people are. She wondered if he does the same here. How do I tell her that he's happy and content here(minus the whole being sick/teething/normal baby stuff) without hurting her feelings? He was screaming his head off when he got home again today and I immediately picked him and he was quiet in seconds. His CM noted this on the weekly visit form. My heart breaks thinking about all that Little Man has already gone through, is going through, and will go through for the unforeseeable future :(

On another note though, bio-dad is really good with him from what I hear and is able to quiet him when he is crying, gets down on the floor to play with him, etc. I can't judge him, but his past choices have led to criminal charges, so is that really the best place for Little Man???? There seems to have been a riff in the relationship b/w bio Mom and Dad, so that could potentially add another wrench in his story....So many facets to it all and sometimes it's so hard to wrap my head around some of the possible outcomes. I can't live in the "what if's" though...I need to parent Little Man the way he needs to parented one day at a time and give the outcome to God alone!!!

Our next court date is Mid-February....

Inspire Life Sunday

Today is the National Sanctity of Human Life Sunday where we CELEBRATE LIFE!!!! Our local pregnancy center (where I volunteer) is sponsoring a "Walk for Life" We have all (including those in the community) have been encouraged to put on a free t-shirt and "walk the walk" to show our support for LIFE!!! We have been encouraged to bring a pack of diapers or wipes to help the center support women who have decided (despite the obvious challenges) to give LIFE to their babies!! I encourage you to join us on the walk or find something in your local community to show your support! Here is the link to the LifeCare of Brandon pregnancy center sponsoring the walk http://www.lifecareofbrandon.com/

What he's been up to..

Little Man is certainly not lacking in the gross motor development area! Wow...at 6 months he is army crawling (and already trying to get on his knees after only 2 weeks of army crawling!!! ) Yesterday he totally shocked me and pulled up to kneeling at the toy box and was trying so hard to get to his feet, but couldn't coordinate it all yet...thank God!!

He is a really good eater!! Whew...he's huge! He loves pretty much any fruit or vegetable, and even if it isn't his favorite, he's a little piggy so he'll eat it anyway-LOL! He loves those rice rusks I posted about earlier and literally starts screaming if you eat in front of him and he doesn't have something!

We have started using baby signs with him. He watches intently. We started at 6 months with Mr. A too and he was using signs by 9 months and had over 100 by about 15 months! It's great for language development...we can't get that kid to be quiet now! LOL! We also used them with Mr. I when he came home at 1 yr, but he made more of a jump to words :)

He got his first tooth the other day!! He is definitely working on #2 right and jsut wants to be held. That's tough when he's almost 20lbs! He's been in the carrier a lot!

Little Man has to go the health dept on Tuesday for his 6 month shots. There's a Medicaid change that is *hopefully* getting taken care of so while that gets figured out they want me to get his shots taken care of. Not looking forward to that! :(

His sleeping is improving a tad...still the worst after a visit, but that's to be expected. He fell asleep by himself for a nap today (with a tad bit of crying) and slept for almost 2 hours which is his best nap yet! Night time is definitely getting better!!!

As layers of the onion to his story keeping peeling themselves back we are still left wondering what God has planned with Little Man. Again though, we are blessed to have as much time as we do with him :-)

Silly me....

Why was I worried about his face???? He's wearing jeans today...! LOL! No more jeans was the request of the day. Ummmm...ok! She seems to be getting things in "gear" so we shall see if she follows through! I hope for Little Man's sake she does!!!! She has personally asked me for my phone number and I really am not comfortable with that...hhmmmm....maybe she has email??? Not that I don't want to talk to her, but with a phone number you can find an address...ya know? We have a standing date of Wed same time from now until ???? At least it will be steady.

Noticing a pattern..

with Little Man's sleeping. The past two weeks I have noticed that for 3-4 days after his birthparent visits he awakens often and of course needs extra assurance. The other 3-4 days he has been sleeping through the night (with no feeding till 5:30am!) :) So...I guess for the time being I get about 3 nights of good sleep!! I'll take it because for the first month or so it was 0 nights of good sleep-LOL!

Of course this morning he just had to bonk his head on his hard rolling ball and get a red mark on his eye/eyebrow!! Ggggrrr...he couldn't have done it tomorrow right??? LOL!! They balked at every minor thing last week, so I am just waiting for "it." I have been putting lots of Vitamin E oil on it and it has definitely lightened it up, so maybe they won't make too big of a deal out of it??? I have learned to document EVERYTHING, and I know his CM is really good about that too. I have addressed all their other "concerns" from last week, so I hope they see that too :) His visit is scheduled for later today....

Birthparent visit #2

So this visit didn't go as well as the last one! LOL! Little Man left with a smile on his face (his case worker picks him up), but by the time she put him in the car he was screaming! He proceeded to scream the entire trip there and for awhile once he got there (they meet at the agency). He finally calmed down, and then the "outpouring" came. We did several things "wrong" with his care and the CM did several things wrong, etc. The CM gave Mom and Dad a big dose of reality and reminded them why they were sitting there rather than at home with their son. She assured them that we are nice people, she had seen our home, etc. I totally realize that this is their way of gaining some control in a situation where they seem to have none (right now). The case plan and recommendations are being developed and they have A LOT to work on. They seem to really love their son, so for his sake I pray that they are commited to changing their lives in major ways to be there for him. It is going to be a long road though!!! I guess time will tell if they are really committed to putting the work in or not!

Good idea :)

So Little Man's new case worker came to pick him up for his visit today (1/2 hour late!) and I told her that I started a notebook about him for his mom so she could feel like she still knew what was going on with him, what he's able to do, etc. I told his case worker this so she would be sure to open the bag and she was so surprised that I had that idea-lol! She said that she had never heard of that before! I guess that if I were in the position of his mom I would want to know every little thing that I am missing. Praying she feels the same way! I also asked for pics of her/Dad so that we can show them to Little Man as well. All of this is in strict obedience to God. Knowing what I know, at this point I do not think that he should return to his mom, (and don't want to facilitate a relationship) BUT knowing that God can get ahold of her and do what only HE can do, makes us do what we do :)

This new CM seems like she is going to be much more helpful that the last one so that is good and she seems more willing to share info. Praying for His will!!!!!!

No meeting...

Well today we got a call from our new case manager. She called to set up another visitation for tomorrow. Mom was supposed to have her case plan meeting today, but that got cancelled...nice of someone to tell me. What if I had shown up as I had hoped to do? I would not have been happy since it's almost an hour away! I guess we have a CM from one of the two agencies that are notorious for poor communication :( So...we start over again.

Also "they" switched his Medicaid from straight Medicaid to a managed care which my pediatrician doesn't take, so now we have to climb through those hoops to change it to the one that she takes. More fun! :(

Sleep realization

As I was trying to put Little Man to sleep today I came to a realization. Every time I try to create a peaceful, quiet, calm environment for him to go to sleep in he screams and it takes him forever to go to sleep. It hit me today as I had to leave this quiet environment to discipline Mr. I for writing on the couch (gggrrrr!). As I used a "serious voice" with Mr. I, Little Man immediately quieted down and went to sleep. It then hit me...often times for his morning nap when I am trying to do school with Mr. A I had him Little Man in the carrier and he went to sleep quickly. He NEEDS noise to go to sleep! It really makes me wonder what kind of noisy/chaotic environment he developed that habit in. That sparked a memory from our training session when one of the instructors said that he would be calm and peaceful when putting her (foster) daughter to bed, but after many times out of bed she would say something like "enough is enough...it's time to go to sleep now!" in a more stern voice. She would go immediately to sleep. In her case she needed someone to raise their voice to her. Just another facet to this puzzle!

In trouble!

Little Man is moving!!! He pushes himself backwards and moves around the room and he is starting to army crawl forward as well. He doesn't make it far yet, but I have a feeling that it won't be long before are in trouble with that! LOL! :)

We have a foam mat that we have down on the floor because we have hard tile, so it provides a cushy spot for him to play. Well the border is foam as well and he loves to chew on them, but I don't want him to get in the habit of it so I usually take it away from him. Today he pushed himself backward to the edge of the mat, peeled off a border piece and looked back and me and smiled. Stinker!!

Secrets of the Baby Whisperer

I used to think that this book was probably silly (of course not having read it :( ) I now recant all thoughts and statements and wished I had read it when we had Mr. A as an infant! There are definitely things that I would have done differently. I am only a few chapters in, but it has already helped to "steady" Little Man's sleeping patterns and get him closer to sleeping through the night!! The program is simple...basically you follow the E.A.S.Y. pattern as a routine. I am all about routines/schedules, so this really seems to work for me (without having to look at a clock at all).

The E. is for eat; The A is for activity; the S for sleep and the Y for yourself (time to do what you need to do). Little Man's typical "routine" had him falling asleep after his bottle (this was started with his birhtparents) and then getting up and playing so he was more of a E. S. A kind of kid. By consciously making him stay awake after a bottle and re-working that habit he now sleeps from 7pm-2:00am. He still is getting a night feeding, but it is really because he is hungry (you can hear his stomach growl!) and he goes right back to sleep until 6 or 7am!! He is a BIG boy so I can understand the need for those extra calories at this point, plus he is starting move! Of course I hope that will soon end as well and he will just sleep ALL NIGHT!! This is a HUGE improvement from where he was.

I really expected a rough night last night following his birthparent visit, but it was just fine! He did wake up at 11:30 for "no reason" and then at 2 for a feeding, but nothing like what I had anticipated. That sparks some questions in my mind...it had been a whole month since he had seen his birthparents...did he know who they were? They must have seemed familiar (smells,etc)! I have no idea how the brain works in that manner at 6 months old, but there didn't seem to be any grieving happening last night. I have no idea-lol! I really made a point to keep him close once he got back. He always had me in sight if he wasn't in my arms and I made sure to keep everything the same as usual. Maybe that helped? This is quite an adventure!

I look forward to reading more and getting Little Man slowly but surely putting himself to sleep :)