Court

Court is scheduled for 1:30 this afternoon. Please be praying for TRUTH and for light to illuminate the dark places of this case!!

I knew what I was getting into

My sister posted this song on her blog a bit ago and I simply love it.

"Just don't give up and don't give in. If you don't quit. You win, you win

Everything is in my hands. It's gonna be alright. It's gonna be okay."

God knew exactly what has/is/will happen in my life. He knows my sins, He knows my faults, He knows my ugliness and He still chose me!! Nothing that happens in my life, or how I react to it is going to surprise Him. He loves me! No circumstances that happen in my life need to steal my joy (if I choose to not let them). Everything is going to be alright! :)

Setbacks

So so so so sad :( Just when you think all is going in the right direction and reunification would happen soon...BAM! Bio-dad's daughter has tipped off the CM about things that have been happening in the home and lies that have been told. UGH! We go to court on Monday and this will all come to a head (dad has no idea the daughter called the CM). Let's just say that I am SO THANKFUL that the visit has been cancelled for this week (because of one of Dad's lies) and no more unsupervised visits until after court...maybe not even after court. Please pray for this situation! What a mess! :(

Understanding the system

Being a foster parent really gives you an education into the dependency system! Whew...I had no idea all the twists and turns!! So YES indeed because LM's bio-mom did not show up the court recognizes her rights as terminated, BUT not until Dad's right are terminated will the order be signed and then she will have 30 days to refute.

Additionally, 4 people have been listed as possibilities to care for LM and must be explored. One is his Grandmother (maternal) and one is his aunt (also maternal). Both of these people have had issues with CPS in another state, so they are out. The other two I do not know anything about and I'm not sure they are even actually related.

Am I worried? NOPE! I refuse to worry about this anymore :) God has placed him in our care for the past 2 yrs. I know that it has happened where children were moved after periods even longer than that, but I really don't think that is going to happen in this case. We have TOTAL FAITH and PEACE that LM is to be a PERMANENT member of our family and we just have to "wait it out." It would have been nice if the Dad stuff were done last month and the 30 days could nearly be over, but that's not what happened. We wait on God's perfect timing and plan for our Little Sassy Man! :)

Poll closed

Ok so you all have weighed in your opinion and I can tell you that the winner is not the one with the most votes (John) :) So now you have a 50/5o idea of what his middle name will be :) John was my choice because I liked the way it sounded with his first name and it is in both of our families, but alas I did not win! :(

Name Chosen

Little Man is notorious for simply repeating EVERYTHING we say!!! We will give him two choice and all he does is repeat both choices. "Do you want crackers or an apple?" He'll say the say thing "cracker or apple?" So the other day we were jokingly playing with him and the two names we have been tossing around. Hubby says one and I say the other. We asked him which name he wanted and added in his first name. When we gave him the choices he said "no!" to one name. What? He then walked around saying his full name!!! He had chosen for himself :) I'll leave the poll open for the few days left just for the interest factor, but Little Man has his "new" name chosen! I CANNOT WAIT until it is official !!!!!!!!!! :-) (and you'll have to wait too!) He'll have the same initials as his Daddy :)

Changes

So I haven't gotten any notification since over a week ago until this morning when the FRS called and said bio-Dad is getting a 4 hour visit today so I need to pack extra supplies. Umm...ok. When I asked her about the homestudy, etc she didn't know. Awhile later...a week and 2 days after my initial email I get a response from his CM saying she has been terribly busy, but there was a hearing for Dad on Monday asking for reunification. It was denied but 4 hour unsupervised visits were granted. She hopes to do a homestudy next week or the following. If everything is ok, overnight visits will start. The reality of actually having to say goodbye to one of our babies is happening in my head and it's not pretty :( Of course I am happy for his Dad and *hopeful* that things go well for them together, but reality....

Wah....The FRS...the only realistic one of the bunch just told me she has another job lined up :( The CM is already so busy she can't even return an email...no idea what's going to happen there!