REWIND... July 2015

We were on a once in a lifetime trip to Hawaii, with our kids and mom n dad and Ritche and Faye. For a whole week. We had been on a foster break since "Lucy" went to her new home in May. The end of the school year was always crazy busy including Ethan's birthday, volleyball tourney in LA and this trip. It all happened perfectly. We told Angels that we will open up our home again the day after we get back from paradise on 7/14. Usually takes a little while to get that first call. I knew I'd be ready so I wanted on that list ASAP. During the break I had gotten a few calls from Angels just verifying the date we were returning. That's fine... I'd rather they know than forget and have my next baby go to someone else.

It was Friday around 9am. We had already been to breakfast and I was getting ready for a nice little nap before the days trek. We only had today and the next day left because we were flying home on Sunday. My phone rings and it says Angels is calling. It was closer to Erwin so he answered it. "Well I know you aren't exactly home yet but we just got s call about a little boy who needs to be removed today. Do you want to hear about him?" Erwin looked at me and since he was repeating the callers every word, I shook my head yes as I was clearly thinking, 'What the heck?!'

"He's Caucasian. He is 2 months old. It's a south bay case. And a domestic violence case. Mom will have visits but not Dad." Now since he has to be picked up tonight, how is that going to work? Angels was going to give the worker a call and see about pickup being on Monday possibly. I was intrigued and kind of excited because I had never had a full Caucasian baby. Like NEVER! That was one of those silent thoughts that you usually don't tell anyone. But because I am obviously the whitest of my little family of four, not to mention one of the few white people in our US/Mexico border city, its something that has been a joke of sorts for me.

I sent the bat signal out to my foster Mommas and sure 'nuff momma K offered to pick him up tonight and deliver him to me Monday if it was allowed. Lots of back 'n forth phone calls and texts later, we rcvd a pic of our sweet 6 week old baby boy who would be waiting for us when we got home on Monday.

I just got a placement while in Hawaii on vacation. Lol... What a crazy world this fostering thing is!

p.s. I have to find a different way of organizing my thoughts/posts until I get back on the telling the story as it happens. lol... Hope you can keep up.

Waiting again...

I’m waiting and waiting and waiting… Ya know during this break my family and I took between sweet foster babies, I would constantly ask myself if I was sure I didn’t want to bring another baby into our home for a while. I would answer myself almost immediately with a resounding YES I am sure I am not ready. I need this break and mu family needs this break. After focusing on my health, my husband and my kids for 2 ½ months, it was time. A few weeks before we opened up I felt that little twinge of wanting a new baby in my arms.  I would see babies in the mall, or in the arms of other foster mommas and begin to wish I had one too. The weekend before, I was dying for a baby! I wondered how I had gone so long without one?! So crazy how the heart and mind work.

After the one false alarm, the 10 days I waited for the next call, seemed like forever! I would turn the ringer on my cell phone every now and then to make sure I wasn’t missing a call.  The question “Any babies yet?” came from everyone and their brother who knew we were a foster family.  Even Abby was asking every day. “Has Meredith called?” And then, Meredith called. 4:55pm. I usually stop staring at the phone after 4pm.  Not sure why. Business hours maybe? Lol… There is a 3 week old baby girl who will be discharged from the hospital tomorrow and they need a home in place. But it will be short term because the family already has the two siblings. They just have to make some calls to northern California and make the transfer. Perfect!

We all happen to be sitting in the same room when the call came in.  This was a first. Usually, it’s just me and I have to gather as much info as I can, which is almost always just the gender and why the child was removed.  I then have to call Er at work to get his opinion/okay on moving forward. That’s the deal we made on day 1 of being licensed. We would always be sure the baby was a good fit for our family together. This time, he was right there and could here Meredith speak all the details through the phone.  “Perfect! No Visits! Yes, we’ll take her!” is what he was screaming from across the room. I just giggled and Meredith laughed and most likely was shaking her head on the other side of the phone call. Er was excited because this little girl’s biological mom has not been involved in her daughter’s life since she gave birth. She is MIA basically. That means, no visits. That means less stress on me. And that means less stress on Er. He won’t get the venting calls from me after a missed visit that I drove across town and sat for 15 minutes only to get right back in the car and come back home. So, we said, “Yes!” We will take her.

Begin Again....Again

“We had our telling today and signed the adoption papers!” Those words are music to my ears! I thought I would start again with a text I got from “Lucy’s” soon to be adoptive Momma. That makes my record of positive outcomes 2 out of 5. Positive Outcome for our home is when the baby is sent to the safest home with the most love, attention and possibility for healthy growth. This little girl has grown leaps and bounds and I wish I could show you before and after pics. She is going to be a beautiful and strong woman one day!
I have been watching my phone intently for the phone call to come thru for baby #6. We had a false alarm last week. The day after I told my agency that we were ready for another kiddo, I got a call that there was a newborn baby girl being discharged that very day. I was ecstatic! I had already started switching my baby boy clothes out with my stash of baby girl clothes. During our break with no kiddos, I fell in love with a specific brand of baby clothes and started purchasing an outfit every now and then when I found them for a good price. (shhh! Don’t tell Er.) So, the fact that a baby girl was my first call was just perfect.  Some would say too good to be true. An hour before I am too pick her up, I receive a text stating that the baby has been placed with a family member that happens to have her 5 other siblings.  Bummer for me, blessing for baby. I was back to waiting. It ended up being perfect for our family, that baby was not placed with us.  That very weekend we had lots of volleyball, including a beach day that gave us 25mph winds swirling tons of sand in our faces and all over. Not exactly the best environment for a newborn baby. God, again, had a plan.