B. Procratination. Social workers have to visit the kids in our home each month. They are human like me and often put things off until the end of the month, so we had 4 visits in the last 7 business days. It's tough to keep kids on any sort of a schedule when you have people in and out of our house, in addition to the family visits out of the house.
C. Lovely. My husband brought me a rose yesterday. It would have been romantic if he hadn't told me that it was left over from a church event and that a church lady told him to give it to me. It's still lovely.
D. Danger. Miss Personality (11 months) can now climb. I knew months ago that I would be in trouble once she gained that skill. She is one determined child, and now she has a new way to reach things. If I look away for 27 seconds, I may just find her standing on a table or a chair or the hearth.
E. Fashion. Basia got styled out today (sunglasses included) but felt that her pants (capris) weren't long enough for the look she was going for. Wow. And yet, most days she's still happy wearing yesterday's stained t-shirt with any pair of pants she can find that won't make her actually put away any of her clerr an clothes.
F. Terrible 2s. Toddlers are tough to foster. They are. Toddlers are often tough to parent. Add some grief, some trauma, major insecurity, and a toddler foster sibling--eesh!
G. Duh. We have a water table in our yard that we never thought to fill with water until a friend asked if she could fill it while she was here. It is our new best friend and the only reason I am able to blog right now.
H. Mutt. Our dog really needs a haircut. I'm not sure how to think of that at a time when I could actually go do something about it.
I. Forest fires stink. They stink even more when they leave the forest and endanger those you love and their homes. It also stinks to be too far away to offer any real help or comfort.
J. Single, double, triple. Those are the types of strollers we have, and I still usually carry one child in a sling when we go somewhere.
K. Sibling. One of our little guys has a mom who is very pregnant according o reports. What happens if they find her and take her new baby into custody? We wouldn't want to keep them apart, but can we really take another baby?
L. Really, really loud. Oh, my goodness. I cannot believe how loud Miss Personality is! She just heard kids playing in another yard and made sure the entire block could hear her response to them!
M. Birthdays. My mom has her birthday this coming week. Miss Personality has hers toward the end of the month. I am having fun planning a 1st birthday party again after almost 9 years. Hot pink with white polka dots and lime green accents is the theme of the day. I ordered her a cute birthday shirt off etsy and plan to get her pictures taken. I hate that I have this fancy photographer sister that has spoiled me for Sears Portrait Studios!
N. Miss Independent. We're working on teaching her that she doesn't have to be a parent anymore, which seems strange to have to do with a 2-year-old. You can hear me saying things like, "Mommy will change your diaper. You don't have to do it yourself." and "Ahh, no!! Don't change your brother's diaper! Mommy will take care of him. You are a kid. You don't have to change diapers. Mommy will take care of you all."
O. Spitting. I'm pretty sick of it. Peace and quiet often means that someone is spitting their milk or water all over the floor or table. They also spit out apple peals and each bite of carrot, even though they will happily take another bite.
P. Splashing. My pool is mocking me. It's over 100 degrees out here, and there it sits, begging for me to jump in. Too bad I need two or three more adults around here to be able to go swimming!
Q. Mr. Strut is a survivor. That is what I am realizing. He fights all the time, but it is because that is how he survived his first 18 months. He can't just turn that off now that he is safe and well-fed and taken care of. He sees confrontation where there is none. He sees danger when there is none. He feels slighted when he isn't. We have a long road ahead of us, so we will go one step at a time.
R. Ask Jon about getting to pray with a real (legendary, according to him) metal band before they headed off on their tour. It was a dream from his teen years come true and one of the highlights of his entire life of ministry.
S. My new home. I adore it. It is prefect for having lots of people over. It is perfect for having lots of kids. It is perfect for us right now.
T. Wee One. He is so very cute but sleeps so very little. He would love to be held 24-hours a day. He has the cutest smile and loves all the kids. His blue eyes stop traffic.
U. July. This will be a fun month for Basia with VBS, space camp, and sports camp. Brishen's going to help out at VBS and Sports Camp. Wait!! Why did I just realize that leaves me home alone with the quads for two whole weeks this month!
V. Cheating. I have my feet in the pool while the kids play with the water table. Not for long. It's stinkin' hot without the shade and sitting on the pool deck.
W. Pictures. It has been over a year since I organized pictures on the computer. Last night I was going through a few. It seems like a completely different life back then. We hiked. We camped. We slept. Sometimes I'm nostalgic, but I cannot imagine giving up what we we are doing now. Life was so much easier, but we have crossed a bridge and don't wish to return.
X. Poopy diapers. I would like Mike Rowe to spend a day at my house. I certainly believe I qualify as having a dirty job. I did keep track that it took us 10 days to get through a case of 144 size 3 diapers. That does not include the size two that Wee One wears or the size 4 that Miss Personality wears some of the time.
Y. Family. Slowly we are taking this group of children and creating a family. We had a crazy dinner out adventure. We went to a ball game. We go to parks and museums and the zoo and play places in the mall. We have favorite books and routines that make moments in the day seem nice and not just a lot of work. We are having experiences together that are bringing us closer. Who knows how long this particular group of kids will be in our family, but we know they will have experienced family while they were here.
Z. Brishen and Basia. My kids are just plain amazing. None of us knew what we were doing when we said that we would take one or two foster kids while we wit to adopt. None of us knew the changes in store. How will they look back on this time in their lives? Have you seen that episode of Modern Family where the oldest girl is mad at her parents for giving her an easy life which gave her nothing to write about for her college essay? My kids won't have that problem!
G. Duh. We have a water table in our yard that we never thought to fill with water until a friend asked if she could fill it while she was here. It is our new best friend and the only reason I am able to blog right now.
H. Mutt. Our dog really needs a haircut. I'm not sure how to think of that at a time when I could actually go do something about it.
I. Forest fires stink. They stink even more when they leave the forest and endanger those you love and their homes. It also stinks to be too far away to offer any real help or comfort.
J. Single, double, triple. Those are the types of strollers we have, and I still usually carry one child in a sling when we go somewhere.
K. Sibling. One of our little guys has a mom who is very pregnant according o reports. What happens if they find her and take her new baby into custody? We wouldn't want to keep them apart, but can we really take another baby?
L. Really, really loud. Oh, my goodness. I cannot believe how loud Miss Personality is! She just heard kids playing in another yard and made sure the entire block could hear her response to them!
M. Birthdays. My mom has her birthday this coming week. Miss Personality has hers toward the end of the month. I am having fun planning a 1st birthday party again after almost 9 years. Hot pink with white polka dots and lime green accents is the theme of the day. I ordered her a cute birthday shirt off etsy and plan to get her pictures taken. I hate that I have this fancy photographer sister that has spoiled me for Sears Portrait Studios!
N. Miss Independent. We're working on teaching her that she doesn't have to be a parent anymore, which seems strange to have to do with a 2-year-old. You can hear me saying things like, "Mommy will change your diaper. You don't have to do it yourself." and "Ahh, no!! Don't change your brother's diaper! Mommy will take care of him. You are a kid. You don't have to change diapers. Mommy will take care of you all."
O. Spitting. I'm pretty sick of it. Peace and quiet often means that someone is spitting their milk or water all over the floor or table. They also spit out apple peals and each bite of carrot, even though they will happily take another bite.
P. Splashing. My pool is mocking me. It's over 100 degrees out here, and there it sits, begging for me to jump in. Too bad I need two or three more adults around here to be able to go swimming!
Q. Mr. Strut is a survivor. That is what I am realizing. He fights all the time, but it is because that is how he survived his first 18 months. He can't just turn that off now that he is safe and well-fed and taken care of. He sees confrontation where there is none. He sees danger when there is none. He feels slighted when he isn't. We have a long road ahead of us, so we will go one step at a time.
R. Ask Jon about getting to pray with a real (legendary, according to him) metal band before they headed off on their tour. It was a dream from his teen years come true and one of the highlights of his entire life of ministry.
S. My new home. I adore it. It is prefect for having lots of people over. It is perfect for having lots of kids. It is perfect for us right now.
T. Wee One. He is so very cute but sleeps so very little. He would love to be held 24-hours a day. He has the cutest smile and loves all the kids. His blue eyes stop traffic.
U. July. This will be a fun month for Basia with VBS, space camp, and sports camp. Brishen's going to help out at VBS and Sports Camp. Wait!! Why did I just realize that leaves me home alone with the quads for two whole weeks this month!
V. Cheating. I have my feet in the pool while the kids play with the water table. Not for long. It's stinkin' hot without the shade and sitting on the pool deck.
W. Pictures. It has been over a year since I organized pictures on the computer. Last night I was going through a few. It seems like a completely different life back then. We hiked. We camped. We slept. Sometimes I'm nostalgic, but I cannot imagine giving up what we we are doing now. Life was so much easier, but we have crossed a bridge and don't wish to return.
X. Poopy diapers. I would like Mike Rowe to spend a day at my house. I certainly believe I qualify as having a dirty job. I did keep track that it took us 10 days to get through a case of 144 size 3 diapers. That does not include the size two that Wee One wears or the size 4 that Miss Personality wears some of the time.
Y. Family. Slowly we are taking this group of children and creating a family. We had a crazy dinner out adventure. We went to a ball game. We go to parks and museums and the zoo and play places in the mall. We have favorite books and routines that make moments in the day seem nice and not just a lot of work. We are having experiences together that are bringing us closer. Who knows how long this particular group of kids will be in our family, but we know they will have experienced family while they were here.
Z. Brishen and Basia. My kids are just plain amazing. None of us knew what we were doing when we said that we would take one or two foster kids while we wit to adopt. None of us knew the changes in store. How will they look back on this time in their lives? Have you seen that episode of Modern Family where the oldest girl is mad at her parents for giving her an easy life which gave her nothing to write about for her college essay? My kids won't have that problem!
No comments:
Post a Comment