Bath, Books, Bedtime

Our little guy has been with us for 5 hours and he's already stolen my heart.  

I spent yesterday emailing back and forth with our FRW.  She was tying up all the last minute details and keeping me posted the whole time.  We were told R would be coming either yesterday or today. The paperwork stuff didn't fall together in time so we ended up waiting until today.  Everything started all over first thing morning.  More emails back and forth and then finally. . . the phone call from our FRW.  "You're approved!"  I was so excited that I almost cried. I was driving down 91 South and almost pulled over.  She let us know that she was going to talk to R's social worker and that I should expect a call from her.

I called Justin to let him know the news.  We were officially foster parents.  We are foster parents. We talked about being home by 3:15ish so we'd have some time before he arrived at 4:15. I hung up with Justin and continuing driving to my office.  I made it almost into the parking lot and my phone started ringing.  It was R's social worker.  Despite being in the right line to pull into my office's parking lot I switched lanes and pulled into the parking lot across the street.  Apparently this was a conversation for the Walgreen's parking lot.

I was only on the phone with the SW for a short time, but I let her know that a ton of questions to ask her when she brought him to us.  The next couple of hours are  blur.  So much happened - phone calls, getting things at work organized (haha), figuring out an unexpected flat tire on Justin's car, and eventually getting home.

We did some last minute stuff - installing the highchair, getting some toys out, and installing the car seat. You know, nothing major.  The SW pulled into the driveway and I had to restrain myself from running out the door and looking like a total crazy person.  I patiently waited for her to come to the door.  R arrived and immediately changed our lives. 

Justin and I are no longer two people living our own life.  I don't want to sound dramatic, but I already feel like there is someone way more important sleeping in our house tonight.  (Just don't tell the dogs I said that)  I'm already looking forward to waking up tomorrow morning and seeing his (hopefully) smiley face.  I want to hear his giggle and see what else he likes to eat.  This is the best adventure I have ever been on.  I'm not naive. I know part of this excitement is the "first parent" honeymoon phase, but that's okay.  I'm okay being that crazy first-time parent.  A few years ago I didn't think I would ever get to have these first moments.  Smelling his hair fresh out the bath, reading a book, singing him to bed, and listening at the door to make sure he'd fallen asleep.  

I cannot wait for tomorrow.  

Things Are Getting Real

We had a visit with our FRW this afternoon.  Earlier in the day she had emailed asking for a final document and to let us know that she had a kid to talk to us about.  Obviously Justin and I spent the rest of the day thinking about the "kid".  The conversation went from normal to crazy real quick - A baby? A Toddler? Siblings? Teen Mom? Yup - quick escalation. 

The excitement happened fast but we were also quick to keep it in check. We've been told things can change from day-to-day and even hour-to-hour when you're working with DCF.  We spent the day finishing the kid's room and rearranging the living room. We'd spent the past few days cleaning, organizing, and finally painting both rooms so everything was everywhere. 

By 3pm we were ready for our visit. Our FRW arrived and we jumped right into the kids (yes you read that correctly - multiple children) she wanted to talk to us about.  Here's what we know:

1) The first little guy (R) is 18-months-old.  He has global developmental delays and has been night-to-night for a while.  Night-to-night means he's been sleeping at different foster homes because his social worker hasn't been able to find a permanent placement for him. He goes to daycare Monday-Friday and, because his teachers there have been consistent throughout multiple prior placements, the plan would be for him to continue there. He would be coming to us either Monday or Tuesday.

2) The second little guy (J) is 7-months-old.  He was premature and born exposed to drugs. He had some medical complications and is currently "in a hospital bed" because his needs were too great for a typical foster home.  His health has improved and is no longer in need of the medical placement so he'll be loosing his medical bed May 31st. The plan for this baby would be developing a transition plan with his current caregivers and social worker. We'd be visiting him in his placement until he's ready (and we're ready) for him to come home with us.  

So let's recap - 2 kids. 2 kids under 2-years-old. 2 kids under 2-years-old within the next 2 month.  

FRW made sure we knew that she wasn't asking us to take both kids, especially since this would be our first placement.  She thought both would be good matches given my background in early childhood development/early intervention. She was especially hopeful that we'd be interested in taking R because he'd been night-to-night for awhile. Justin and I asked a few questions and talked about both kids for about 15 minutes. 

We agreed to take both R and J.  We might be crazy. We might be over-zealous. We might be welcoming two little boys into our lives for a week, a month, 6-months, a year, forever.  

What we are definitely doing is beginning this amazing part of our lives.