November

Ok.. I just have to say.. I would so like to go back and redo the last month completely differently, not due to anything related to H, really, though we have seen the end of the honeymoon period and she has started pushing more, but mostly due to other household and teenager related issues... We had our home visit and all of that went well. We had an actual visit with mom on Halloween. It was kind of short notice and there were some last minute changes, but she did get to visit with mom for a bit, which was good. And she continues to have nightly phone calls with dad. We got a call from the caseworker today. H will be leaving us this week, they are just waiting on an approval from her tribe and then they will be moving her into the same home her siblings are in. We will be sad to have her leave, but it will be good for her to be in the same home as her siblings, and will make scheduling easier for everyone. Not sure when she will be leaving. We were told that it could be Monday or Tuesday that they get the approval and then she'd likely to be moved that day or the next. So we wait and see, and then wait for the next placement, hoping, of course, that we will get an adoptable one soon.

about a month in

Well, we're not quite to the one month mark, but, a lot of crazy fun has happened. "H" is a great little girl. We are having so much fun with her. She is very smart and has been working with some really old computer software (muppet baby learning software, from like 1997...) on a really old laptop (about the only thing the lap top can run, and it's about the only thing that doesn't reject the software..) that is helping her with capitol and small letters and same and different, as well as her computer skills. She's also got a Sesame Street art program from the same era. There are a few other games in the program, but she's not quite up to them yet, but she is getting there. We have been going to story time at the library and she has been having fun. Last week we had a fireman there and they got to crawl around inside the fire truck. We also had a doctor's visit last week and are waiting on visits with the dentist and a cardiologist for a heart murmur the doctor noticed last week, though he's not worried about it, just, while she has access to care, get in as much as we can. She got to visit with her siblings 2 weeks ago, and this past weekend she got to visit with her maternal grandparents and an older sister that they are raising. Today we had a home visit with her caseworker and got caught up on what is going on. Looks like she will not be with us much longer as they are going to be moving on getting all 3 of the kids in the same home. There will be a meeting to plan that in about 2 weeks, and sometime after that, depending on how things go at the meeting, she will likely be leaving our care. This makes me sad, but at the same time, she really should be with her siblings, and the plan for these kids is reunification with their father, if not with their mother, so she doesn't really fit with our plans for adoption, so we will move on. And try not to have too much of a break down when she goes.

We have a Placement!!

Ok, you might be able to tell, we're excited. After having our license for a month, and waiting, and waiting for a placement, Thursday I had a doctor's appointment in town (which was also, thankfully, in the midst of a break in the rain and storms we've been having.. early Alaskan hurricanes going on the past month..) and as soon as I walked in the door, there was a phone call from OCS calling to see if we would be available to take placement of a 3 year old girl. So, of course, I said yes and I went in Friday at noon to pick her up. We don't have a whole lot of information on her just yet. She is 3.5 years old and she has a younger sister and older brother also in foster care. They have been in foster care since last Monday and while at their emergency intake placement, she had been bullying her younger sister, so it was decided to separate her for the time being. (Of course, all new foster homes are limited to a maximum of 2 children in care at a time for their first year anyway, so there was no way we could have taken all 3 regardless..) She is very bright, already knows her letters and numbers and colors, full of energy.. of course, she's 3 so the word "no" is a favorite and we are having the usual "i'm tired but not going to take a nap/go to bed if i can avoid it" melt downs as we try to establish a schedule and all, but over all, the last 2 days have gone very well and we are excited to have her here. We don't know yet if this will be a short term or a long term placement. They are still trying to get in touch with family members to see if any of them could take her and/or any of her siblings. If so, she could go with them at any time. So we are trying not to get too attached or make any long term plans with her just yet, but it's so very hard.. lol.. and we're kinda doing it anyway :)

Done!

Ok.. we have completed the box steps we needed to have for the windows in the basement area where the girls are currently situated while the upstairs remodeling has displaced everyone.. and we got B2's out of state background clearance (though she leaves in a week anyway.. *sigh*) so.. we are now all set to officially get our foster care license and start taking in foster kids! Not sure exactly when that will all officially happen, but there are no other problems preventing that, so yay! Hoping soon we will have further updates on that. (As well as a new job for Hubby soon, but more on that later.)

Home Inspection done!

A week and a half ago we got the call to schedule our home inspection. This is pretty much that last step we had before placement approval. Well, we're also still waiting on B2's background check since they have to do it in 2 states because of the split time thing, but that should be here soon.. Anyway, yesterday we had our inspection. I, of course, had spent the prior week getting the house as clean and tidy as I possibly could. Not the biggest concern in the inspection, but, it was something that everyone always does in the midst of the "will they think I'm good enough" panic. We passed with flying colors! We do need to build some steps under the basement windows to make them easier to access in an emergency but that will be easily done next week after Tom gets back. So I think we are set. Just have to wait for paperwork to clear and we will be off and running.

Home Insepction!!

Well, we got through our 2 day CORE training classes for Foster Care. Was so happy we managed to find them scheduled for a time Tom was actually home as well. (yay!!) and we've got B2's background clearance being done (shouldn't be a problem, but they have to run them in 2 states since she lives part time here, part time there..) and I got the call to schedule our home inspection. That's the last thing we need before we can get a placement. I'm so excited, though it's going to be a busy week. Inspection is on the 10th of July so I will be busy this week cleaning. I know we don't need a spotless home, just a safe one, but we just finished fostering a little pup who chewed up everything she could get hold of and, well, she made a bit of a mess.. She found a great new home at Saturday's doggie adoption clinic though, so we're taking a bit of a break from dog fostering until after inspection. Will make things a little easier on me. Really isn't much by way of other news. Just going to be busy, busy busy cleaning. Of course hubby's not home this week, or next, so the garage and construction zone will not get quite the cleaning they should, but will do what I can to tidy them up a bit. Had planned on spending a good chunk of time this week and/or next getting those areas ready for the next phase of construction, but that will have to wait until after inspection now.. ah well. :) Good cause and all!

Ok.. so I've been really really bad about posting on any sort of regular basis. I will blame just being busy, and/or sick... Winter and spring came. It was very cold and we had a lot of snow. And then I had lots of cleaning to do in order to get ready for the arrival of my 2 youngest step daughters for the summer. We also managed to get some work done on the master bath remodel, which is all very exciting. I so want to be back in our own room by next summer (am hoping for the end of the year, but.. always plan for delays.) and Had to get the garden started, though there is still work to be done with that. Also, we started fostering dogs last November and we've had a handful of great little dogs (6 in total) come through our doors. One of them stayed, but the other 5 have also found great homes. The last little guy that came through got adopted very fast. We only had him for 2 days. He got a great home and we're all very happy. If he'd stayed any longer he might not have left. Hubby and our oldest step daughter were both falling for him. If her husband had been home to test for allergic reactions, she might have taken him. Meanwhile, we had a bit of a snag with our recommendation letters. 2 of them got mailed in properly, a 3rd was dropped off by hand and seems to have gotten lost in the office, and the other 2 had them but forgot to mail them. But that has been taken care of and the last 2 were mailed in. We only need 3 turned in, so that will be good and we should be able to schedule the initial home study/inspection here in the next few weeks. We are taking our CORE classes this week, so those will be out of the way as well. Yay! And the older of the 2 girls has arrived. She's old enough that we have to go in this week and get her background check done, but she's also young enough and stayed out of trouble that there shouldn't be any problem :) This means we could have a placement anytime now! I am so excited and so anxious.