I love being a mom

I love being a mom. I love being a foster mom. It is amazing to look into the rooms of my home and see beautiful gifts from God peacefully sleeping in their beds. BG is tugging at my heart. It is so fun getting to have a 1 year old in the house. She has checked out every cabinet she can reach. Dumped out all the newspapers and swam in them. Pulled the toys out of the armoire and climbed in. Screams at me if I take the paper she has tightly scrunched up in her hand, preparing to snack on it. Smacks her lips shut tight when she doesn't like what in feeding her. It's been so long since we've been entertained so much. After all, my baby is now 7. N continues to get stronger. He can out weight on his feet and loves the independence of moving from room to room. He can frustrate easily but gets over it quickly. He is so smart.  He loves asking questions. He is a sweet blessing that needs so much love.  Shopping tomorrow. Temperatures have dropped & new kiddos have no jackets, socks, shoes, etc. A morning of shopping with 5 kids and  a Gram. We shall conquer!

What a team I have

My whole body is tired. Lifting N & BG is a lot. It helps when big kids are around but they can't lift N. I have a new found appreciation for parents of children with disabilities and for handicap parking. I am so thankful for Callie's help. The nurse at school. Becky sewing shorts. Lesley's stroller with the jump seat that N can sit in  The grocery store offers. A new babysitter referral. I'll take all the help I can get. Hoping my body hold up.  They are such sweet children and they continue to bring out the best in my hatched kids. What a team I have. 

Prayers for sweet dreams

He is such a sweet boy that it brings tears to my eyes. He has been sitting at the kitchen table for 2 hours. Now he has discovered his own treasure hunt. He has taken everything out of the crayon container and smiled with glee at every item in there that wasn't a crayon. Especially the penny he gets to keep. His attention span is amazing. Baby girl is napping. Camille is outside. Big kids are doing a Starbucks run with Todd. I have the door open, partly to rid the house of poopy diaper smell, but now it's just to hear the peaceful waterfall. Then there is the sound of an airplane and a reminder of what today is. 10th anniversary of Sept 11. Heartfelt sorrow for all the loss and devastation.  Our home is sure happy. Singing "Jesus loves me", toddler tunes, and our made up tunes. Candy land, connect 4. All the favorites. There are moments of frustration, especially if Nate doesn't get a response as quick as he thinks. Moments of tiredness when I get up about 4 times a night at a minimum. Changed 4 dirty & wet diapers and that was just before church. But no fighting to or from church. Only silly giggles over Camille & Madeline teaching Baby Girl(BG) to stick out her tongue.  Thankful for today. Asking for prayers for sweet dreams for Nate. Such a sweet boy, let's pray him thru a great nights sleep. 

Day 2

Day 2 of having 5 kids. Thank goodness for my support team. Shelley's son came over & played with Nate for 2 hours. That was huge! Becky watched baby while Todd & I took Nate to the doctor. Camille & Lucas went home with buddies after school. And we did it. Made it thru the day. Tired from the day & from lack of sleep last night. Nate cried out about every 30 minutes. I can only imagine the nightmares he's having. He asks regularly if Todd is going to be mad. Do not want to even think about why a 4 year old would have to worry about making someone mad  His leg check went well and if all goes as planned he will get the casts off in 4 weeks. He gets frustrated easily but can refocus just as quickly. Baby girl wins us all over. It is a blessing to have them both. Now if the magic diaper changing fairy would only appear, I would have no complaints. Any idea what it's like cramming a diaper into a crotch opening between two casts & trying not to pinch skin or touch his "willy". I am getting faster. I'll be a champion in 4 weeks. Prayers for safe and secure feelings for lil Nate and baby girl. A great nights sleep would be wonderful too. 

We are so lucky

We are in business.  Call came about 12:30.  A little suspicious because its my case manager and she tells me she has me on speaker phone so that the other case manager can talk too.  A 4 year old boy and a 11 month old girl.  The tricky part is that the sweet boy has both legs in casts and now I know its called a spica cast.  The family he was with for a week are just overwhelmed.  They have a 4 and 6 year old and bedrooms on the second floor.  The little boy can't move by himself at all.  Its just for 6 weeks and then the cast will come off.  He is sweet and smiley.  I tell him he is cute and he says that he is handsome.  He has Camille chasing hot wheel cars & bringing them back to him.  When it comes to bedtime stories, guess who he picks to read to him, Camille.  He is brilliant.  Definitely the person to have in his corner.  The baby is precious. Huge dark eyes and so tiny.  She is crawling and pulling up, turns one in October.  Camille is already planning the party.  Miss Becky was first on her invite list. Baby girl has a few summer clothes.  Superboy has a few t-shirts since he can't wear shorts.  All are sleeping and I figure that I had better to.  I think that if everyone sleeps thru the night that we can do anything.  Sleep is a wonderful thing.  So glad to have these angels under our watch.  Lucas feeding a bottle, Madeline rocking to sleep.  We are so lucky.

A blessed weekend

We did it.  Totally mastered the weekend with 6 kids.  Even made it to church with everyone's hair & teeth brushed.  Of course, we have been told we looked like a circus act with all the kids coming out of the suburban.  Love the kids, loved the weekend.  The days were long but not exhausting.  I think they were more long because we are use to running around like crazy and not staying home all day.  Probably good for us to stay home and eat all my home cooked meals.  Got to enjoy an evening with remarkable friends.  Get teary even considering the fact that 3 or maybe 4 couples are considering signing up to do respite care for foster kids.  It sure is a great selling point to have 3 precious kids floating from lap to lap during the evening.  The most important factor we as friends have is the bond we share of knowing Jesus.  I am so blessed with remarkable friends.  Even if they don't do respite, their prayers are worth so much.  I truly believe thats what got us through this weekend.  I felt guilty even telling the foster mom how well they did.  I sure am requesting continued prayers for these 3.  The touched my heart in a significant way during the 3 days I got to be with them.  My hope is in God that whatever His plan the kids find the right home.  For now we'll settle back in and see what is next.  Tomorrow I will be doing all of Camille's weekend chores.  Her reward for being such a great helper was being excused from her weekly room cleaning, clothes putting away, etc..  She is delighted with such a reward.  She filled out her star student of the week and had to write what she wanted to be when she grows up.  "kase mardger" was what she put.  I wonder how many people will understand her heart and know how she loves doing foster care and that right now she wants to grow up and be a "case manager for foster kids".  Love it.  Love expanding her heart and showing her a different way to help others.  Of course, we'll expect her to complete her doctorate before she does anything!

We are good at this

We are a good foster care family. Having the 3 foster kids in the house feels so right as I see the positive attributes in my own family. Woke up this morning to Camille having got sippy cups & gogurts for ages 3 & 4. Lucas entertained them with the dog yesterday. Madeline watched them while I did my workout. Buddy entertained them all when he brought in his balance board to exercise while he watched them eat breakfast. It takes all of us. It makes my heart sing with joy to see everyone loving these precious children. I am also reminded of how quickly you can love a child especially these that have had a really tough road. Going into the respite weekend it began as a ministry to the children. It moved to a ministry to the foster mom after listening to her for a couple of hours this week. I could hear her frustrations, her lack of sleep & knew I needed to help her. I also felt quite a bit if anxiety about having them here after listening to her. I must say that respite care is working for all of them. The children are absolutely precious and we have seen zero problems. Talked with foster mommy and she is sleeping well & eating. It is such a blessing to share our home this weekend. I can't wait to see what's next.