My Family Moments: Maybe a while longer...

Wednesday, July 4, 2012

Maybe a while longer...

Today was a busy day that ended with the most nerve-racking moment in our Fostering Journey! Holy Moly!! This afternoon Erwin, Abby, Baby Girl & I met Baby Girl's biological brother. I should say one of her many siblings. The county contacted the ones that had been adopted and Big Bro's family responded with interest in meeting her and possibly moving forward with adoption. We met at Angel's offices where I felt most comfortable even though we both live in Chula Vista.

I had spoken briefly with Big Bro's older sister to set up the meeting. Mama doesn't speak English, so this was easiest. I did have Ethan leave a message in Spanish when playing phone tag. Pretty Cool huh? Anyway, older sister's name is Abigail. I couldn't believe it when she left the initial message. I looked at it as a good sign. Super sweet girl.

I didn't know what to expect. My biggest fear was they were going to want her right away and we would be left with a few days time for packing and saying goodbye. I was sweating like a pig and my heart was racing when they walked in. Big Bro is barely 2yrs old and he was escorted by Mama, Papa, Big Sister and Bigger Sister Abigail. He looked exactly like his little Baby Girl sister. It was crazy. And for a 2yr old who just walked into a room of strangers and toys, he was so focused on Baby Girl. He was gentle and loving and so sweet.

Big Bro's Mama and I compared little pieces of information, like sleeping habits and personalities, dimples and hair styles. We also figured out, and are 90% sure, the kiddos have the same Bio-Papa and Bio-Mama. Pretty excited for the kiddos if this is for real.

All ended sweetly. Big Bro's Mama shed a few tears when Big Bro caressed Baby Girl. He held her and hugged her ever so gently. I think he knew in his soul this was his sister, whether his mind understood it yet. For now, Mama relayed, they are not interested in adoption. They would just like to make sure that Big Bro and Baby Girl have a relationship. I think this will be a great thing for all and I will do my part happily.

We may have our sweet Baby Girl for a while longer. Feels good that this road is still filled with much more promise than bumpity bumps. ;)

Nite Nite!
:)Amy

p.s. Happy 4th of July! Be safe!!

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"Foster Family" Terminology

SW: Social Worker = This is a professionally trained (at times I feel from a YouTube video) individual who works for any County or private organization. My foster baby will have a SW and I will have a SW who is also known as a CCW. (see below)

CCW: Clinical Case Worker = This is a professionally trained individual, also known as a Social Worker who works for Angel’s Foster Family Network. They are assigned to a maximum of 12 families at one time and lead them through the fostering system. They are our right hand gal. (no males as of yet) This person does all the legal pushing and pulling on our behalf so we can focus solely on loving and caring for our foster babies. I would not and will not ever do my job as a foster mom without these people.

Supervised Visit = The bioparent has rights to see their child no matter the circumstances. Most often the visits begin as 1 to 2 hours, 1 to 2 times a week. An adult that is approved must watch the parent with the child at all times. (sometimes a lot of work and sometimes boring as heck)

Unsupervised Visit = The bioparent has rights to see their child no matter the circumstances before. If they are improving their situation then they will eventually get the right to have visits without supervision. The foster parent must drop off the child at an approved location and pick them up later. Most often the visit is for 2-6 hours 1 to 2 times a week. And these will only increase in length as the situation improves. (super hard for the foster parent to move to this step)

Foster Baby/Child = A child that has been removed from their biological family due to many different reasons affecting the welfare of the child. They are then placed in protective custody under the County and State.