Foster2Forever

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Another Custody Battle

As you know, I have a new nephew who has been fighting for his life in NICU for the past few weeks. However, there is another fight for his life brewing.  This poor baby entered the world with parents in the midst of a divorce.

Unexpectedly, the father has filed for custody of the baby. Amidst the joy of the birth of her first child, my sister is not only worried about her premature baby’s health, but frightened that the father’s family will do everything possible to get custody of the baby.

Please pray for my sister, Randi, and her baby!

Dragon is a fictitious name.

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A New Family Member

For those who follow on Facebook or Twitter, we have a new member of our family!!!

Welcome, Dragon!!! (see photo below)

Last night, my sister’s blood pressure was out the roof and little Dragon just wasn’t strong enough to enter the world the old-fashioned way. So he came out in the fashion of Alien – ouch! Right before midnight – a month early – all 4 pounds, 11 ounces of him. A clone of my sister with dark hair. Rushed into NICU. Dragon is still in NICU this morning… Prayers are appreciated!

20121115-100158.jpgWith a new baby, will come lots of photos. And most of us now share our photos online – Facebook & Instagram. But all those digital photos are sometimes difficult to show others, especially grandparents. What I do is create photobooks!

With me being a working mom of two preschool boys, it’s extremely difficult to find the time to compile a photobook.

Blurb has a creative publishing platform that allows you to create beautiful photobooks using your photos from Facebook and/or Instagram – within minutes.

I created a photobook of my Lil Bit!

Once you’ve made your book you can share it with others on your Facebook, Twitter or website & blog. Easy to make! And easy to share!

Blurb is a creative publishing platform that allows anyone to create, share and sell a professional quality book. Make a portfolio of your client work, an archive of your blog, a cook book of your favorite recipes, a photo book of your family pictures or a quick book of your Instagram photos – the possibilities are limitless. It’s easy and quick to do – with a variety of software options you could complete your dream book in next to no time. This is a sponsored post written by me on behalf of Blurb. The opinions and text are all mine.

 Have you ever made a photobook exclusively from your Facebook or Instagram photos?

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Orphan Sunday

On Orphan Sunday, Christians stand for the orphan.

We are a people called to defend the fatherless…to care for the child that has no family…to visit orphans in their distress.

What are you doing to spread awareness on Orphan Sunday?Will you share this post?

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Fifth Disease Virus Hits Our Home

On Friday night, it was still over 100 degrees in the evening here in Texas. We loaded our small family of four into our GMC Yukon to have dinner at a restaurant with an indoor playground.  I was hesitant to visit Chick-Fil-A after I was verbally accosted in Chick-Fil-A by a single man for being a bad parent when I was wrangling five small children by myself.

On the way there, Stinkpot became his demanding self, repeating: “I don’t want to go to Chick-Fil-A!”

As I looked back at him to get on to him for making demands, I became immediately alarmed.

Stinkpot’s face, arms and legs were covered in hives!

“Oh no!” I exclaimed. “Pull over! Stinkpot’s covered in hives! It looks like a horrible allergic reaction.”

We quickly deduced that he was allergic to a new flavored drink from Dollar General.  He was breathing fine and his tongue wasn’t swollen so a dose of Benedryl and an early bedtime in our bed is how we began our Labor Day holiday weekend.

In the morning, I woke to check our polka-dotted 5-year-old.  The rash was worse!

A quick trip to the urgent care facility gave us the diagnosis:  Fifth Disease

“What the heck is that?“

From the KidsHealth website:

Fifth disease is actually just a mild viral illness (from a type of parvovirus) that most kids recover from quickly and without complications.

Fifth disease begins with a low-grade fever, headache, and mild cold-like symptoms (a stuffy or runny nose). These symptoms pass, and the illness seems to be gone until a rash appears a few days later.

The bright red rash usually begins on the face. Several days later, the rash spreads and red blotches (usually lighter in color) extend down to the trunk, arms, and legs. The rash usually spares the palms of the hands and soles of the feet. As the centers of the blotches begin to clear, the rash takes on a lacy net-like appearance. Kids younger than 10 years old are most likely to get the rash.

A person with parvovirus infection is most contagious before the rash appears — either during the incubation period (the time between infection and the onset of symptoms) or when experiencing only mild respiratory symptoms.

The rash is the result of an immune system reaction that occurs after the infection has passed, so kids usually aren’t contagious once it appears. Isolating someone with a fifth disease rash won’t prevent spread of the infection because the person usually isn’t contagious by that time.  The rash of fifth disease usually lasts 1 to 3 weeks.  The majority of kids with fifth disease recover with no complications. By the time the rash appears and while it’s present, they usually feel well and are back to their normal activities.

We didn’t notice Stinkpot having any cold-like symptoms before. He has been playing, and his rash is clearing up quickly. And he will be returning to school tomorrow.

Have you heard of Fifth Disease before? What odd ailments has your children come down with?

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When Horrible News Hits Too Close to Home

Yesterday morning when I awoke, I went into our living room and saw my husband in his recliner, just sitting there…quiet.  The television was on, but paused. His look concerned me.

“Honey, what’s going on?”

“I want you to see this story.”

View more videos at: http://nbcdfw.com.

I recognized the last name.  My husband grew up with this man, and was close to his brother growing up, spending many weekends together in their youth.

My husband is devastated at this shocking news and really just can’t believe that his friend would do this.  His heart aches for Frank’s elderly parents.

This kind of news must break a parent’s heart.

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My Chick-Fil-A Controversy for Having Too Many Kids

chick-fil-a-anti-gay-controversy-childrenI’m so sick of this Chick-Fil-A controversy! What happened to the right to free speech? ENOUGH already!

However, I recently had my own Chick-Fil-A  controversy.  As you know, I’m still adjusting to the dynamics and logistics of large family living and herding 5 children.

Last Saturday, after a quick visit with cousins out-of-town, I took all the kids to a Metroplex Chick-Fil-A before loading them back into the GMC Yukon for the ride home. My plan: play hard, then sleep hard on the ride home.

Five kids into a restaurant by myself? What the heck was I thinking? I’m no freaking SuperMom, for Pete’s sake!!!

kids-at-chick-fil-a-controversy

That being said, I thought I did fairly well ordering our meals, keeping Cupcake and Twinkie with me while the boys rushed off to play. I quickly found a table adjacent to the playroom, and set up camp. Sometime, in the midst of feeding the preschoolers and 10-month-old Cupcake, 4-year-old Donut announced that he needed to go to the bathroom. I mumbled “in a minute” as I was wondering how in the world I was going to manage taking this brood to the bathroom.

I looked up and saw that he had already darted across the restaurant and was going into the mens room. Well, “not a whole lot I can do now that he’s already made a run for it” was the thought that crossed my mind. So I watched the mens room door, and in hindsight, should have sent Stinkpot after him.

A couple minutes later, a man who had been sitting near the bathroom approached me. “Is that your little boy in the restroom? He’s needing help.”

I scooped up Cupcake, and went and opened the mens room door. Donut was in the stall with his pants at his ankles exasperated that he couldn’t find the toilet paper.  He obviously didn’t realize the large contraption in the stall is, in fact, toilet paper. I coached him through wiping, flushing, washing and drying his hands with the mens room door open while watching the other kids eat.

As Donut ran back to the table, the man spoke to me:

“I’m not one to tell other people how to parent, but you should never have your children any more than an arms length away from you at all times. You should be able to grab your kid in an instant.“

Dumbfounded, I replied, “Yeah,” and turned to go back to my table.

My response only irritated this man.

“Listen! I work in a penitentiary and there are some bad people out there! Bad people! That could do horrible things to your kids.“

Downtrodden by this single man’s judgment of me, my only reply was “I know” and I walked back to my table.

I knew he was right. I now have a large family for the time being, and I should have had a plan before I attempted to step foot into a restaurant with 5 little ones.

I also wish my reply would have been more like:

“I know all about bad people. Two of the kids’ dads are in prison and the other would be if he hadn’t be deported. If more people like you who know so much about parenting would open their homes to foster children, then I wouldn’t have 5 children in mine!“

How do you manage handling numerous children in public? What would have been your response to the single man?

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Shazam! We Have a Large Family! Now What?

having-large-family-life-blog
In an instant, with just one phone call, as is true foster family form,we went from a family of 4 to a family of 7!

In addition to our rambunctious 5-year-old RADish, Stinkpot, and our sweet 3-year-old, Lil Bit, we now have 3 additional little ones:

  • Finicky 4-year-old, Donut;
  • Energetic, sensory-seeking 21-month-old, Twinkie;
  • Precious 10-month-old, Cupcake.

Adding 3 children may not seem like much to Michelle Duggar, but to us, overwhelming! Especially, given we now have 5 kids age 5 and under!!!

Last week, I asked Facebook fans for tips to help us transition to large family life. Your tips are wonderful and I love all you had to say!

20 Tips for Large Family Life

  1. Work together better with your spouse as a team to get things done.
  2. Be very organized! Organization will save your life. If it doesn’t come naturally, find someone to help you get it going.
  3. Make lots of lists!
  4. Use a calendar  – Check out these tips to manage numerous foster care appointments
  5. Stick to a schedule! It makes life better for everyone. Having a routine everyday helps calm the kids and you too!
  6. Plan meals in advance.  (Ramon noodles make a great, quick and cheap lunch that feeds everyone.)
  7. Serving meals buffet-style if the kids are old enough to manage can be helpful.
  8. Shop in bulk.
  9. Lay out clothes the night before.
  10. Establish a bedtime routine, such as a warm deep bath before bedtime, turn off television, dim all lights and play soft music.
  11. Assigning chores to everyone and making it fun is a good idea–“lets see who can pick up the most toys in 5 minutes…GO!” Chores will make children more appreciate and learn to be productive adults.
  12. Do at least one load of laundry every day! One large family I know had a designated day for each child to do their own laundry – helps build personal responsibility.
  13. Count. Heads. Often!
  14. Make sure that the “well-behaved” kid doesn’t get ignored! We have had some that needed so much attention that we didn’t make as much time for the child who was self-sufficient, quiet and well-behaved.
  15. Watch Karyn Purvis videos often….”they help MORE THAN I CAN SAY. BUY THEM!”
  16. Be realistic with your expectations of the children and yourself.
  17. TAKE TIME FOR YOURSELF!!! Even a brisk 15 minute walk is great to relieve stress. Check out this fabulous e-book on self-care for foster and adoptive families.
  18. Use Respite Care and take time away to recharge! Use sitters and friends. And if anyone offers help, take them up on it!
  19. Pray. Stop to make yourself have a moment in prayer also helps.
  20. Be okay with just getting through some days! That is, you say that in the beginning of going from zero kids, to one, to three – all in 6 weeks – Don’t feel guilty if a day isn’t full of educational, engaging, planned out loveliness. Sometimes things go sideways, plans don’t work out, babies are too tired/grumpy (and maybe mommas too…) – and that’s okay! Be forgiving of yourself. 🙂

 

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A Stressed Out Child

This week has been quite stressful on our family. Last Sunday, we had an emergency room scare with our 2-year-old, Lil Bit. Then Wednesday, FosterDad had surgery on his jaw.  Not only has FosterDad been out of sorts, but Stinkpot has been more than his usual handful!

child-stress-tantrumHis play therapist noticed his elevated behavior Friday.

Then Sunday, the Children’s Minister took me aside to discuss Stinkpot’s disruptive behavior.  I really didn’t know what to say.

And I really don’t know what more to do…

Please pray for Stinkpot and our family!

  • Stinkpot’s sense of security;
  • FosterDad’s healing and recovery;
  • My sibling in a pending divorce involving an unborn child;
  • LilBit’s baby brother recovering from surgery;
  • Aurora shooting victims and their families.

Big hugs to each of you!

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Hearing the Call of Foster Children


It was faint at first, but it’s been getting louder and louder lately. Now to a point that it’s deafening.

“You have to do more for the kids!”

More? We’ve been foster parents to seven children and adopted two of them.  I write this blog to encourage others to do more for children in foster care. Our foster home is open for more placements.

Is there more that I can do for foster children?

Through this blog, I’ve been presented with opportunities to do more for foster children. But time constraints keep me from moving forward.  However, God keeps nudging me and giving me every indication that He wants more from me.  (Have you read Kisses from Katie?)

James 1:27 tells Christians to look after the orphans.  Am I?

He keeps opening doors – and even windows around me!

Our church does not have an orphan ministry.  A large, growing church with two full Sunday morning services.  As a church, we can do more!

He is convincing me – convicting me:  It’s me He wants to do more….

Does your church have an orphan ministry? Any advice?

I’m Clever

Sway