Resurfacing

So remember all that hoopla at Christmas about Baby going for an overnight visit with aunt/uncle?? Yeah...remember they never called again and Baby didn't go anywhere? Well, I got a call from Baby's case worker today saying that the Aunt called and asked for an overnight visit with Baby. THANK YOU JESUS she sees things from Baby's perspective (with my help :) ) and said NO. She offered to start with a day visit. I gave her a bit of history on said Aunt/Uncle and that she may want to double check what days they are working and make sure they CONFIRM the visit with her before she drives an hour out to my house ot get Baby. She seemed enlightened and said she'd call me right back. That was an hour ago. We'll see....there are several ways this could go. If they really wanted to see him and were thinking of his best interest things would be different. I just have this "hairs standing on end" feeling when I speak with her. Something is shady with them and I just haven't figured out the "why" and "what" yet.

As for Baby's visit with Dad....the GAL is fighting hard to get things put back the way they were and return to 4 hour visits until an approved homestudy is completed (this would require Dad to have housing of course!) or his lawyer takes them back to court for another hearing. Dad is gonna hit the roof when he is told. He texted me yesterday and asked why I have a problem with an 8 hour visit and that he would take good care of Baby. I was not about to get in the middle of this. Yes, I have my opinions, but no sir....I just texted back that the visit length is not up to me at all (remember I wasn't even at the staffing!) and everyone is just thinking of Baby's best interest (not having a place to nap, etc). I didn't get a response.

I will be very interested to see where this case goes, how much involvement aunt/uncle have (they've expressed interest in adopting Baby but all the workers say that's not happening for several reasons), and if Dad will be able to pull things together. Should we be able to adopt Baby in the future this would not be an easy road. Keeping in contact and maintaining relationships with 3 siblings on Bio-Mom's side (2 separate homes) and bio-Dad could be a lot to handle. Of course we would do it, but it just wouldn't be easy. Too bad we were never guaranteed "easy" in this life huh? Looking forward to eternal life which will be much more enjoyable :)

Radon Verdict

So.....they said we don't have to redo our radon!!!! Yay :) After reading the manual (that they don't include in the packet!) we placed it in a bad spot, so our real reading probably isn't high.

I got a call from the health dept today and we are scheduled for that fun tomorrow. At least I have a good excuse for a not perfect house...moving...I can use that for awhile don't you think? :) It was funny when he called because we are in a new city now and figured we would get someone new, but "our guy" just happened to move to this area too (job wise that is)!! I like this guy because he isn't all crazy and picky and just really looks at the necessary stuff. :)

Our afternoon...yes 4 hours (including driving) was spent at the WIC office getting the 2 boys re-certified. We were moving along well in the back from the registration lady to the nurse to the nutritionist and then came the wait.....UGH! I hate the last step waiting for checks. Usually it's not too bad, but today they had one lady printing out the checks and she called one person about every 20 min. They closed at 5pm and when I left at 5 pm the entire lobby was still full. This particular office is in a bad part of town and of course there was contruction so the way I always take (and only way I know) was closed so I had to find a new way. Good thing I am not directionally challenged and it was daylight!!! Of course I hit rush hour traffic. Fun times! No more afternoon WIC appts! :)

So, that was our day...baby was up at 4:45 this am and I never got to go back to sleep so this momma is hitting the hay early!!!

Staffing

I usually try to make all court and staffing appointments but today I just didn't have the time to attend baby's staffing. His wonderful GAL called me soon after they got out to give me the highlights which I will bullet point for you for ease :)

• No one was comfortable with an 8 hour visit for Dad (well except Dad's attorney who was not there of course and Dad)
• A 6 hour visit was agreed upon to start...every TUESDAY :) Yay..an actual day I can rely on each week!!
• Dad will be monitored during his 6 hour visit with pop-in visits from his case manager
• Dad will be monitored during his visit occasionally by the GAL
• Dad will at the very least have a stroller for Baby to sleep in. This should be interesting because Baby is too nosy and has NEVER fallen asleep in a stroller. At least it's a place for him to sorta lay.
• Some(official) paperwork that our GAL has requires that a homestudy be done for a visit lasting 8 or more hours, so until he has a place to actually live with an approved homestudy he won't be getting those 8 hours.
• Dad was defensive, and they had to consistently reassure him that this is NOT about him, but about what is best for the Baby!!

I think those are the highlights. Since today is Tuesday and he was at work (umm..he said this was his day off???) the visits will start next week. I just looked at the calendar and realized in 2 weeks Baby's 1st birthday falls on a Tuesday...good for bio-dad of course, but sad for me :( Good thing Baby doesn't know any better and we'll celebrate early so hubby can be there too!

Radon

As part of moving we had to have the new house tested for radon. I just found out that we came back at 3.6 (+/-).6. An acceptable level is 4.0. So...technically we could have a level of 4.2 which is considered dangerous. We are waiting to hear from the county if we will be accepted or not. If not, then we will retest. If we are still high I am assuming we will have to call someone in to help lower the levels. UGH!!! That does not sound cheap does it??? Our FDS said that the city we now live in frequently show high radon levels. Wah!!!

Court today

I took baby to court today so that his Dad could have a visit with him following court. We got there at 9 and court was to start at 9:30. We waited and waited....finally at 10:50 we get called in. The case plan was presented and most of it was agreed to.

Dad's lawyer is a good one. He was also the lawyer for Little Man's Dad. Yuck! He makes the bio-parent sound so good and suggests things that are just silly. The drug testing was reduced from a color-code system to 2 x's per month because he didn't think there was basis. Oh there is basis alright, just not criminal charges so the judge decreased it.

At the last minute Dad's lawyer threw in there "oh and Dad is requesting his visits get increased to 8 hours per week" The judge granted it! So...for 10 hours one day (2 hours travel time) a week baby will be on a visit with his Dad. Now if he had a place to live I wouldn't have such a problem with this. BUT....the 4 hour visits now are pretty much held on the bus. Dad says that he will fall asleep on the bus and sleep for an hour or 45 min. I'm sorry, but a bus is no place for a child to take his naps (especially 2!) The GAL wants to fight this. We'll see what happens.

He's going to be a mess when he gets home and especially the next day!! The only good thing about this is that we are going to have a SET day/time (oh Hallelujah!!!) for this visit every week. I've been asking for this for a long time.

I got out of court, said goodbye to baby and made my way to my car. I just had gotten off the elevator in the parking garage and my phone rings. "Hi, can you come back and get baby? We have to cancel the visit" UGH!!! So I got baby to court, exposed him to more germs (Dad let him crawl on the nasty floor---eeeeewwwww!!!!), he didn't get a morning nap all for nothing. Oh foster care can be soooo challenging!!!!

I guess the "fun" starts next week......I'm not one for rollercoasters....I think I'm getting sick! lol!

Another change....

So I emailed Little Man's adoption worker to let her know we got fingerprinted (again!) and to be on the look out for them. She emailed me back and said that she was leaving the agency to pursue a Master's Degree and we would be getting a new adoption worker as of next week. So that makes 4 case managers and 2 adoption workers for the length of this case! It's amazing that our GAL has stayed the same for the entire 2+ years!!

Baby's Dad cancelled his visit this week because it's cold here this week. They spend a lot of their visit time outside apparently so he doesn't want baby to get sick. I appreciate that part, but would really like him to have a visit (say INside??) so that I can get some packing done without a baby hanging on me-LOL! Sigh...oh well...it will call get done in time :)

Baby has court on the 12th, staffing on the 17th and Little Man's hearing is on the 30th. It's no wonder the baliff recognizes me :)

2012 here we come!

Looking ahead into 2012 I am excited to see what God has planned for our family!! We move into our new home in just 4 days!!! Little Man's adoption will be finalized this year!! We have no idea what the Lord has planned for Baby, but my gut says that this case is going to gop beyond 2012...that may be 2013! He's certainly not going anywhere anytime soon...that's for sure! Who knows...maybe God will bring us a GIRL, or maybe not...I've always imagined myself a momma to five boys. I don't know why!?

Anyway, we can plan all we want, but God determines our steps, and I can't wait to follow Him in this new year :)