Foster2Forever

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THAT Surgery – Wordless Wednesday

Yesterday, our 16-month-old foster boy survived THAT surgery. (Genesis 17:11)
In case you didn’t know, Lil Bit was born in Mexico.
Nothing to eat since Monday night. Drank 5 ounces of water at 6 a.m. First appointment at 9:30 a.m. Surgery postponed until 2:30 p.m.!!!

Lil Bit was one thirsty and hungry baby!!!

We finally got home around 6 p.m. last night.
Although tired, we had a great night at home together.
However, the local wears off today. Yikes!

Fortunately, he’s not talking yet to tell us what he thinks of us doing this to him. What do you think he would have to say about this?

Stinkpot is scheduled to get tubes in his ears Thursday (for the THIRD time). Ug!

Wordish Wednesday

 

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2010 – THE RECAP CONTINUES…

2010 began with MIRACLE AFTER MIRACLE

JULY
Our Stinkpot turned 3 years old!
Foster2Forever celebrates our first blogiversary with a re-design
July became Abuse-Your-Child month when we were called about EIGHT children
Adoption by a relative is still the plan for our then 10-month-old foster baby, Lil Bit

AUGUST
My husband and I have a 3 DAY DATE!!!
HIDE YOUR KIDS! HIDE YOUR WIFE!
Our LOVE STORY begins

Lil Bit’s birthmother plans to VOLUNTARILY RELINQUISH PARENTAL RIGHTS
Stinkpot’s REIGN OF TERROR begins
WE WILL ADOPT LIL BIT (MIRACLE!!)

SEPTEMBER
The case of the MISSING RELINQUISHMENT PAPERS

OCTOBER
Lil Bit becomes AN ORPHAN (or so we thought)
Stinkpot is OUT OF CONTROL
BLOGGY AND MOMMY BOOT CAMPS

NOVEMBER is National Adoption Month
We host an ADOPTION BLOG HOP – 117 families have added their story (Have you added yours?)
Mama Foster wrote on the LOSS OF HER DAUGHTER through foster care
Melody from I Heart…small kitchen appliances shared her experience with TRANS-RACIAL ADOPTION
We had a BABY JOIN OUR FAMILY!
Kelly from The Six of Us told us about her INTERNATIONAL ADOPTION
Katrina from Making Many Memories told us about their OPEN ADOPTION
La Mama Loca talked about BLENDING 3 FAMILIES

DECEMBER
WORLD AIDS DAY
When we DISCOVERED OUR INFERTILITY
Stinkpot’s STRONG WILL PAYS OFF

2011 will be a year of CHALLENGES and CHANGE. 
The CHALLENGE of controlling Stinkpot’s behavior.
(& getting him potty-trained)
The CHANGE as I leave my career to stay home with him.
The final adoption of Lil Bit. (hopefully)
How was your 2010? Did you experience any miracles??? 

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Prayer Warriors Needed

As foster parents, we sometimes have to face the tearing apart of our families. A family is fragmented with a letter stating that a child will be removed and placed elsewhere.


The State doesn’t always have the best interests of the child in mind when making these decisions. Sometimes the removal of a child is what is quickest, easiest and will require the least amount of paperwork.

Shannon at http://4kidsandsurviving.blogspot.com needs prayer warriors! Little Mya needs prayer!

The State is quickly moving toward reunification with her birthfamily and the 2-year-old is distressed over leaving her foster family.

Please add Mya and all her family and workers to your prayer list.

“And pray in the Spirit on all occasions with all kinds of prayers and requests. With this in mind, be alert and always keep on praying for all the Lord’s people.” ~Ephesians 6:18

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2010 – A YEAR OF MIRACLES!

What a year! Miracle after miracle occurred in our family. The Bible verse to define the year for us:
Romans 8:28 “all things work together for good to those who love God…”

JANUARY

  • 12-year-old foster girl joins our family late one night just 1 month from being adopted
  • 2 of my dear friends lost family members
  • I bought my fancy-smancy camera and was asked THIS QUESTION
  • After receiving a beautiful 4-month-old baby boy 10 days before Christmas that would be available for adoption (we had even picked a name); we were notified that he would be leaving us.

FEBRUARY

MARCH

APRIL

MAY

JUNE

I’ll be back later for the “rest of the story”…

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Running with Santa

Our 3-year-old, Stinkpot, is the most strong-willed, stubborn, hard-headed, determined little rascal that you can ever meet. He has now gotten kicked out of his SECOND, yes, second day care in a month!  We are beating our heads up against the wall trying to figure out what in the tar nation to do with our little Damien!

However, I am in awe of him!
I’m beaming with pride due to these very characteristics that are causing us so much heart burn.

A few weeks ago, I ran in a 5K Jingle Run (I finished 5th in my old lady division) and entered him in the kids’ 1K Run with Santa.

Here is our Stinkpot ready for the start of the race!
He was so focused on running the race, that he ran smack dab into the photographer!
But he picked himself right up and began running again.
For the entire 1K, he ran until he was tired, then after catching his breath, would begin running again.
He ran the race ALL BY HIMSELF! AT 3 YEARS OLD!
Here he raced Santa (and won)!
What an amazing finish!
This kid will be the death of me!
But wow! With that determination, isn’t he going to be a great attorney someday?

Today I linked up with 5 MINUTES FOR MOM! Add your Wordless Wednesday post below!
Have a very merry Christmas!

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HOW TO MAKE 3 FAMILIES INTO 1 (Blending Families)

PHOTO CAPTION CONTEST WINNER
The winner of yesterday’s photo caption contest is Denver Laura of Fertility Alphabet Soup who is making the leap from fertility treatments to foster care.  This month, she had the joy of an 8-month-old baby boy in her home and then the disappointment of his leaving with a relative. Go give her a *BIG* virtual hug!!!

BLENDING FOSTER KIDS INTO ONE FAMILY
Now – Say a BIG “Howdy” to La Mama Loca, a foster mom that has adopted 5 of her foster children! Her family of 7 is about to move from the Midwest to Puerto Rico…

Hello and thanks for reading about our crazy family! Just over five years ago, my husband and I jumped on the foster care roller coaster adventure. Never did we imagine the ride that was in store for us!
In January of 2006, we received our first call, three children, ages and names unknown.  That list of questions to ask before you take a placement….right out the window! All we knew when we went to pick them up several hours later was that there was 1 boy and 2 girls, they were approximately 3, 4, and 5 yrs old, sick, and none spoke a word of English.
Papa Loco, my husband, is fluent in Spanish, and I know enough to be dangerous! We picked the kids up around 7 in the evening and from then on out, our lives changed dramatically!  While I had a degree in Education and we had both been around children all our lives, for the first time, we were totally responsible for these precious lives! It was a bit scary, but we made it through!  I think back to those early days and I am amazed at how we all clicked and made it work.  Going from no children to three children does not work for everyone, but for us, it did.  Due to the nature of the kids case, we were still unsure of their full names and ages until about 2 weeks into the case:
  • Smarty Pants had just turned 5 years old, less than two weeks before we got him.
  • Sweet Thing was 3, almost 4 years old.
  • Drama Mama was 2.5….and every bit her nickname!

Over the next few years, we added other foster children into our home.  Almost a year into their placement, we added Goofy Girl.  She had been a pre-adoptive placement and been doing (free) respite from 14 mos-18 mos.  The kids were so excited to have her finally move in.  They have always had warm and loving hearts and welcomed her in.

For the first two years of the older three’s case, and first year of GG’s case, we had no parental visits.  This is rare.  We took it for granted.  After a year in care, Goofy Girl’s bio mom showed up…demanding visits.  This time she had her boyfriend, who she claimed was GG’s bio father, in tow.  Visits were hard.  Very hard!  From 11 mos-2 yrs old, GG had no contact with her bio mom.  I was her mom, Papa Loco was her Papa.  It took many months for her to feel comfortable with leaving our sides.
Several months later, we added La Loquita to our family….Goofy Girl’s sister.  She was with us from 1.5 months old to 7 months.  She had a short 3 months reunification with bio mom, but surprise, we got a call one late night saying she’d been removed again…did we want her back?? Of course, she was our baby girl!

At that point, we had 6 children in our home.  We also had Chunky Monkey…the 1/2 brother of the older three kids.  He was with us for the first year of his life.  The kids did not know he was their 1/2 brother right away.  We were really torn on how to handle this issue.  They had no contact with their bio family.  For two years, we had no idea where their bio mother was, if she was dead or alive.  It was a total out of the blue call telling us that Chunky Monkey existed and was in care! CM had weekly visitation with bio mom and his father.  He went home at 13 months old.  This was very hard for the kids.  They were very very very concerned about him, if bio mom was making good choices, if he was safe. Losing him was heartbreaking for all of us.  Yet we also saw God’s hand on the situation.  While bio mom made a lot of stupid choices in those past few years, she also realized it.  She worked hard to get Chunky Monkey back.  We developed a relationship with her, that while it has its ups and downs, has been a blessing. We now have frequent contact with Chunky Monkey, Mr. Macho, and La Gorda, the other two half siblings.

We have now finalized the adoption of our 5 children.

Each set of cases last 3.5 years from placement to adoption.
Ages at placement:
Smarty Pants-5, Sweet Thing-3, Drama Mama-2, Goofy Girl-11 mo, La Loquita-1 mo.
Ages at adoption:
Smarty Pants-8, Sweet Thing-7, Drama Mama-6, Goofy Girl-4, La Loquita-2.

We have, by the grace of God, managed to blend three families into one.  We have an open adoption with both bio mothers, but currently, only contact with 1.  We know we are not the only family these children have.  With boundaries, we have managed to have good relationships with extended bio family.  The kids know there are biological differences amongst them.  We talk a lot about how we are a family formed by adoption with a lot of people to love them.  Like any group of 5 siblings, they bicker and fight.  Yet they also have a very tight bond that no one can tear apart.

Love has brought our family together in a way, we never imagined.  We continue to pray about adding more children to our family!  We can’t get enough crazy in our lives!

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GUEST BLOGGERS NEEDED! {TOP 10 TOPICS}

Top Ten {Tuesday}In celebration of National Adoption Month in November, Foster2Forever is searching for guest bloggers on a variety of topics regarding adoption through foster care.  Today we are linked up with Oh, Amanda‘s Top 10 and listing our Top 10 adoption topics for National Adoption Month.

  1. Becoming a Licensed Foster Home
  2. Cost of Foster Care Adoption
  3. When We Knew This Was Our Child
  4. Becoming One Family
  5. Overcoming the Past
  6. Coping with Infertility Through Adoption
  7. Adopting Siblings
  8. Trans-Racial Adoption
  9. Adopting Older Children
  10. Adopting as a Single Parent

If you would like to write a post about one of the above topics (or another topic on adoption) this month, you may contact us at:
foster2forever (at) gmail (dot) com

This site is focused on adopting through foster care, so preference will be given to adoptive foster parents.

We will also be hosting an adoption story blog hop during the month of November. Any adoption story can link up (foster, private, international) beginning November 1st.

Son adopted through foster care and foster girl

Thanks for visiting and take a look around!  
(Be sure to check out the Bloggy Boot Camp linky)

5 MINUTES FOR MOM
Simply Being Mommy 125x125
Have a blessed day!

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MISCELLANY MONDAY – Orphan, Mood Swings and Halloween

OUR LIL ORPHAN
Last Tuesday was a court hearing for Lil Bit, our 13-month-old foster boy. I was out-of-town and so my hubby was there when the judge terminated the birthmother’s parental rights.  Our foster baby is now officially half an orphan!  I say that since the birthfather has not been located. The State is working with the Mexican consulate to make a good faith effort to locate him. Until then…

MOOD SWINGS
If you follow my blog, our 3-year-old Stinkpot’s strong will has been an incredible challenge for us. Last week was horrible!  Again! Temper tantrums, mood swings, and general meanness has made us worry about him.  Stinkpot’s birthfamily has a history of mental instability, and we have been seriously discussing taking him to a child psychologist for counseling, not just for him, but for us, in order to deal with him.

However, on Friday, when I went for my annual physical exam, my doctor asked me if I was having any depression or mood swings from Singulair.  (“I’m too busy with kids to even think of being depressed” was my reply.)

Since Stinkpot has been taking Singular for his asthma for nearly 2 years now – maybe Singulair could be his issue???

I have a call into his doctor to discuss it!!!

HALLOWEEN
Can you believe it’s less than 4 weeks away?  Have you already begun the quest for the perfect Halloween costume for you and your kids?  Isn’t this just the cutest costume for less than $10?

Have a great week!

Miscellany Monday @ lowercase letters

I’m Clever

Sway