Sierra

sierra.  (see-er-uh)  n.  1. a chain of hills or mountains, the peaks of which suggest the teeth of a saw.

Synonyms: bluff, cliff, elevation, peak, pile, ridge.

On the same day when I experienced a low on the foster care roller coaster (Elmer's TPR trial being continued), I also experienced a peak when I was called for a baby girl.  So Baby Girl's blog name will be Sierra.

Sierra is still in the hospital.  They anticipated discharge last Thursday or Friday, but things changed.  I have been able to go several days and snuggle with her.  She is such a sweet baby with squishy cheeks!  I saw her today, and unfortunately right now she is progressing backwards instead of forwards.  So it doesn't look like she will be released this week, either.  Hopefully she will get back on the upswing soon and can come home early next week, but the doctors say she is not really following any protocol so it is pretty much impossible to predict when her discharge will be.  Pray for Sierra to start making improvements and move her way out of the hospital!

Highs and Lows

I had been waiting for a TPR Trial since our last court date on September 15th. 

And I had been waiting specifically for it to be yesterday for the last two months.

During that time, I have been anticipating that the ruling would be "Termination of Parental Rights."  And for the last several weeks, every time I have thought about that, I have gotten sad.  I want nothing more than for this little boy to be mine forever.  But it makes me terribly sad that his parents' rights have to be taken away from them in order for that to happen.  I'm not saying that is not what SHOULD happen, because neither of them has shown any capability to be a safe and successful parent, either before Elmer was born or since then.  But the overwhelming emotion for me in recent weeks when thinking about Elmer's TPR has been sadness - both for his parents and for his loss of his biological parents.

{During that time, I also have been anticipating that at least Bio Mom will appeal the TPR ruling.}

So when I walked into the courtroom yesterday morning, listened to the DSS attorney say that the case was being continued because the parents' lawyers were not served in the required time frame, and walked out less than three minutes later with no progress made on this case, the sadness rushed over me for an entirely different reason.

I am sure that we won't have a new trial until at least April or May.  I am so ready for this baby to have permanency and to know that he is never leaving.  And there is NO EXCUSE for the lawyers not to be served.  Parents, sometimes you can't find them to serve them.  Lawyers not being served, someone just didn't do their job.

So I went back to work after a nice big ice cream sundae, and less than two hours later got a call asking if I was interested in taking placement of a four-week old baby girl when she is released from the hospital later this week.  I told the worker I would call her back in 10 minutes after I determined if I could figure out childcare until she could go to daycare at 6 weeks.  When I figured out that I would only need help for next week because she will be six weeks old by the following week, I called the worker back and told her "Yes!"

Now we are in a holding pattern to see when she will actually be released, I have told Elmer that a baby is coming, and I am waiting to hold a sweet baby girl in my arms.

Calls Galore

It has been a heck of a roller coaster day!!

Around 1:30 I got a call from foster care placement saying they had a disrupted foster home - the foster parent was being investigated and the kids removed - and needed to place six children.  I recently gave my twin bed to Bop because his mattress was VERY old and lumpy.  So I told her I could take one if they could go in a crib.  She had a two-year old she needed to place, and I said I could take him.  A little over an hour later, she called back and said that she was able to find a home that could take both the 2-year old and his sibling, so he would not be placed with me.  BUT she has a 4-year old she would like to place with me.  I said no since I did not have a bed and a 4-year old is likely to outgrow a toddler bed very quickly. 

Then about 45 minutes after that (around 4:30), she called back again, saying she needed to place a 22 month old boy.  I again said that I could take him, and he finally arrived just after 8:30. 

I asked if he needed to eat, and she said that yes, he did.  (Um, was this child seriously in custody for four hours - surrounding dinnertime - and no one had fed him?!  I'm hoping this was not the case, but...)  I gave him some graham crackers and he just stared at them, picked them up (many times), tried to feed them to me, and a couple of times put one in his mouth but then acted like he didn't know what to do with it.  So then I gave him some yogurt.  He opened his mouth for that, but then made a face once the yogurt was in, like he didn't like it; but then he ate 6 or 7 bites of that, making a face every time it hit his tongue but otherwise seeming to like it.  He did drink some juice, and eventually started tearing up in the high chair so I got him down. 

He was overall clean except his feet were dirty and stunk (because he was wearing sandals), so I just gave him a quick swipe with a soapy washcloth (except I did scrub the feet!) and then put his pajamas on.  We walked back downstairs, and I held him on the couch in the mostly dark room, hoping he would go to sleep.  Well, he sat on my lap without hardly moving for at least 15 minutes but never even seemed like he was going to doze off.  My leg was falling asleep so I decided to try to put him in the pack n play (which I had temporarily put in my room, since Elmer was already asleep when they arrived and I had no clue if the new one was going to scream throughout the night).  He laid down without crying and I laid on the bed.  He laid there for about 30 minutes with me, playing with the stuffed dog I had given him, or tapping the canvas side of the pack n play, but never went to sleep.  I finally sneaked out of the room and if he noticed, he did not cry.  That was a little over an hour ago, and I am going to go up there to bed now.  I did check a few times and didn't hear anything coming from my room, but we will see if he is actually asleep when I go up. 

We will see how the "Twins" interact tomorrow!

Longest Placement

Evie was here for 13 months and 13 days.  As of Monday, Elmer has become the placement that I have had the longest, at 13 months and 14 days and counting. 

Still waiting on a trial date for TPR. 

I was at a friend's house the other day and went into the bathroom.  Elmer followed after me, calling, "Mama!"  I hope that he is here forever.  But even if he isn't, for now I am his "mama" and every child needs and deserves someone to call that on a day-to-day basis. 

Perdon

Pretty late in posting this, but...


We had a new friend stay with us for a couple of weeks back in late October-early November.  Her foster family was going out of the country so I provided respite for her. 


Perdon (Spanish for "excuse me," because that is how she started EVERY question... and she was very similar to Evie and asked A LOT of them) was five years old (actually just two months older than Evie - who just turned seven BTW! - was when she left here). She apparently had been moved from her first foster home to her current one due to behavioral issues, but I did not have any problems at all while she was here.  Current foster mom also said she doesn't have any issues, other than Perdon lying. 


The night before I was going to pick her up, I met up with her and her foster family to get her things, and also so that a stranger would not be picking her up from school the next day. At that point, I learned that there was a six-year old and twelve-year old who would be going to stay at a group home while the foster family was gone, since there were no other families that could provide respite.  I very strongly considered taking the six-year old as well.  I don't have space, and I knew it would be chaotic, but I hated the thought of a six-year old having to go to a group home!  However, when I asked the foster mom if she would be okay with Elmer, the mom said, "Well, you will have to watch her constantly and you will need to let him sleep in your room" because she had a history of sexual abuse and the foster mom was not sure how she would act.  That tipped the scale to the "No" side.


Perdon loved Elmer, and Elmer loved having someone to play with.  It was nice that when we walked in the door from daycare, I could get dinner ready (usually just cut up and heated up) without a baby hanging on my leg and crying, since he had someone to entertain him. 

Elmer

On Tuesday morning last week (November 10th), I got a call about a six-week old boy that was going to be discharged from the hospital on Thursday.  He had been there since birth, so my question before accepting the placement was if he was medically okay to go to daycare the next week.  The placement worker said she would check on that and would get back to me.  End of the day Tuesday, I still had not heard anything back.  (Tuesday evening I went to a dance fitness class with an instructor that I know well.  I know all the routines, but I kept flubbing.  The instructor said, "I don't know what has gotten into you today!"  I thought, "I know exactly what has gotten into me - my brain is elsewhere!!") 

Wednesday came and went and still nothing; so I finally called the placement worker at the end of the day.  She still had not heard anything back from the caseworker about if daycare would be ok.  Thursday at lunchtime I got an email saying that yes, he could go to daycare; and that she would pass along my information for placement.  About ten minutes after checking my email, I got a phone call from the placement worker.  She said the caseworker had some unexpected things come up for that day and asking if I could go pick up the baby directly from the hospital. 

So after work on Thursday, I went to the hospital to pick up Elmer.  (He is another bald-headed light-skinned boy, and I figured one of these bald babies needed to be named after Elmer Fudd!)  It was at one of the sister hospitals to the one where I work, so the nurses were so excited that he was going to someone "in the family."  It was obvious he had been loved on - they had bought him clothes and a stuffed animal and had written him a super sweet note.  They brought me in to give me discharge instructions, and then put him in the car seat to make sure he was okay in it, and then signed me out, and we were on our way.  He cried in the car and then finally fell asleep and ended up staying asleep for two hours after we got home.  At some point during that time, I realized I hadn't touched him yet!  Things were so chaotic at pick-up and then he fell asleep so I just left him alone.  I swaddled him for bedtime and he slept really well - he woke up to eat every three hours, but always went right back to sleep.  (The last couple of nights, he has been sleeping one five-hour stretch each night.) 

He is settling in very well, and things are going better than I was expecting. 

And I have already fallen in love.

Tigger

On Tuesday around noon, I got a call for a five-month old boy but they didn't have him in care yet.  I said I had patients scheduled until five, but to call me when they had a better idea of time frame.  Well, 5:00 rolled around without a call, and when I called to ask what the status was, the placement worker said, "What?  No one called you?  They've been walking that baby around the office all afternoon."  So I left work pretty much after that and little Tigger arrived around 6:00.  (He got his blog name because he is VERY active for his age, and he has a touch of orange-ish hair on top of his head.)  Because he was in the office all afternoon, they had already submitted for the $100 clothing voucher we get when a child comes into care and had put in an order to an organization that provides clothes for children in need (which arrived the next day). 

Tigger fell asleep by 7:00 that first night, but then was up again from 7:45-10:00, and then was up again at 1:00 and 5:00, but thank goodness went back to sleep again until 9 the next morning which gave me a chance to get a shower before he woke up.  Since then, he has settled into a little bit more of a routine, but we are still working on it.  I had a chance to talk with his neighbor that had been caring for him off and on for the last several months, so I did get some idea of his schedule and eating habits (at least when he was with her - she said his schedule would always get off when he went with his mom).  She seemed like a super nice lady, and I think the reason she is not the one still caring for him is because she finally decided he had had enough chaos and turmoil in his life and that she no longer wanted to be in the middle of it. 

The neighbor told me the night Wednesday night when I was talking to her that Tigger's mom wouldn't show up to the probable cause hearing at court the next day; she was right.  (When a child is removed by EPC - emergency protective custody - they have to have court within a few days for the judge to determine if there actually WAS cause to remove the child).  Usually, this is also when/where the treatment plan for the parent is determined (what they need to do to get the child back).  So court was "continued" (delayed) until Monday.  

If mom gets Tigger back, it will be a minimum of six months to complete her treatment plan based on what the investigator said.  So far, there has been no mention of his dad or other relatives that may be interested in caring for him. 

Tigger is such a cute and happy little fellow!  Life's about to get busy again!

Baby Boy

I am up waiting for the investigator to bring the placement paperwork to me, so figured I would write before things get too hectic. 

Investigator dropped off nine-month old Baby Boy (blog name TBD) a little before midnight, and then had to go to the DSS office about twenty minutes away to get the paperwork.  She was also going to pick up some of the formula he needs (I have some formula here that I had bought for the little one that didn't end up coming earlier this week, but it's not the right kind for him).  He ate some cereal and applesauce, and I just finally put him down asleep in the crib a few minutes ago. He was so wide-eyed for a long time while I sat there and rocked him.  He didn't cry as long as I was holding him, but it was obvious that he did NOT know where he was and he was confused by it. 

They said that he was removed due to poor judgment of the parent(s) and they anticipate he will be returned to either parent(s) or family after court this week.  But this is foster care, and I am much less naïve than I was when Evie was placed.  I know to expect anything! 

Always a Roller Coaster

After getting boxes of infant stuff out of storage, and washing baby girl clothes and linens and bottles, and getting a swing from a friend of mine, I got a call this morning that Baby Girl would be going to live with her grandfather after court today. 

I don't know if I'd rather have no time to prepare for a new child; or have all weekend to prepare for a child that doesn't end up coming.  Either way, it's always a roller coaster!

More Dreams

I once wrote about my crazy dreams.  When Evie left, I knew I would start having them again.  And sure enough, the FIRST NIGHT that she was gone (even though I was at someone else's house), I jumped up out of bed freaked out about where she was.  And then a week or two later, I had the same craziness of walk downstairs/turn off the alarm/open doors to search for Evie. 

Yesterday I got a call for a 2 1/2 month old baby.  I thought she was coming yesterday, but now they are saying it will probably be Monday.  And sure enough, thirty minutes after I went to sleep, I bolted upright in bed, heart pounding, freaking out about where the baby was and if I had fed her.  She hasn't even gotten here yet, and I'm already having my crazy dreams!!

My Mountain Retreat

Last weekend, I took a solo trip to a little cabin outside of Asheville for some R & R.  It was just what I was looking for!  The weather was BEAUTIFUL - mostly 70's and no rain. I spent a lot of time driving through the mountains and along the Blue Ridge Parkway with the windows down and relaxing music playing. I got in a lot of hiking and visiting waterfalls. I spent one afternoon relaxing at a spa on the top of a mountain. I grilled chicken on the porch one night and had many meals sitting relaxing on the porch. I relaxed in the hot tub on the porch at night with the sound of the frogs croaking and the sun going down.  I could get used to this!!

 

I have not gotten any placement calls since Evie left.  I was "kind of" on a break.  Ironically, I got two different placement calls while I was out of town.  I didn't get the messages until hours and hours later because I had very spotty cell phone service; and I wouldn't have been able to say yes anyway.  Now waiting for the next one...

 

 

 

 

Moore Cove Falls 

 

 

 

Looking Glass Falls

 

 

 

Having dinner on the porch

 

 

 

360 degree views from the top of Craggy Pinnacle

 

 

Lunch on top of the mountain

My Plan

I had a few trips planned in the month or so after Evie left, and just generally wanted some down-time before I got another placement.  Originally I had planned to tell DSS that I would be taking a break until the middle of August.  But then I didn't want them to pass me over if they needed someone for an infant that was likely to go to adoption.  So I decided not to tell them anything, and just see what happened when I got the next call.  (I really don't think I would be able to say no to that infant).  I actually haven't gotten a single call since Evie left.  If I do in the next few weeks, I would almost certainly say no to a 2-5 year old; but would probably say yes to a baby.  I do know that things will always happen the way they are meant to, so I'm just hanging out and waiting to see what happens. 

What I Would Have Done Differently

Now that my house is empty and I have some time to reflect, here is a list of things I would have done differently with Evie and/or Tank.  Some of these are minor details, and some are huge things; and all will probably affect what I do with the next child that is here. 
 
1. Not called Evie's mom every night.  It was good for her to talk to her mom, but I think the negatives outweighed the positives.  And I think had I known she was going to be here for more than a month or two, I probably wouldn't have started it anyway.  I didn't like that our phone calls meant that Evie's family knew exactly what was happening every day - it gave them ammunition to tell lies on me or to scrutinize every little thing that was happening.  It really stirred up Evie's emotions when she would talk to her mom, and at the beginning she would cry at least once a week when she talked to her.  Plus, it was really inconvenient.

2. Called Tank's mom sometimes.  She sent her number, and I never called her because he couldn't talk to her anyway.  But I should have communicated with her at least to let her know her baby was okay.

3. In light of the first two things above, created a confidential phone number.  I did end up getting a number through G**gle Voice when Tank left, but Evie's family already had my number.  One of the first things the investigator said when Evie walked through my door was that I needed to call her mom to get instructions for her meds.  I didn't even think about it, and I just called from my cell phone.  There could have been some safety issues with the family having my actual phone number - which could have been connected with my name, which then could have been connected with my address.  Thankfully, it all worked out and I didn't have any concerns about my safety with Evie's family, but I will definitely be more cautious next time and will give out a number that can't be traced to my name.

3. Taken the kids to their own doctor.  I spent a lot of time trying to track down both Evie's and Tank's immunization records.  I relied on the caseworkers to do the legwork for me.  I didn't really think about it until after the fact, but I could have just made the kids at least one appointment with the doctor they had been seeing to get any needed medical information and records.  In both cases, I did know the doctors' names long before I actually got the records; and they wouldn't have been more than a 30-minute drive. (Plus, in my state, I can get reimbursed by Medi-caid for mileage taking the kids to doctors' appointments, so it would have been fine to travel one time.)  I would have made that first appointment, and then gotten their records transferred to my preferred pediatrician that is closer to my house. 

4. Made a laminated list of medications.  I often wrote out a list of Evie's medications and dosages for sitters or when she would stay overnight with someone.  It would have been much easier if I had made a list.

5. Personalized Evie's room.  I did get her a "girly" comforter shortly after she came, but I would have put her drawings up on the walls, or let her pick out some decorative elements so the room would feel more like "hers."  Again, I think this never happened because I didn't think she would be here that long.

6. Immediately asked for a picture of Evie's mom and her and framed it for her room.  I did eventually do this, but it would have been good to have this reminder of her mom from the get-go.

7. Not made assumptions about the case. Now I'm not so naive and hopefully won't make the same mistakes in this area, but I shouldn't have assumed that Evie would only be here a month or so.  This really affected my bonding with Evie.  And it also prevented me from letting her fully participate in her life here (see #8 below).  I know a lot of things now that I didn't know then, and generally I know now to have no expectations, except to expect anything. 

8. Signed Evie up for things.  Because I didn't think Evie would be here for long, I didn't sign her up for dance class or swim lessons or really anything else.  I even paid for field trips several weeks at a time last summer at the daycare (instead of paying for them all at the beginning of the summer) because I was thinking she wouldn't be here the whole summer.  I have to realize that there is going to be a chance that I will lose money if the child leaves before the class/sport/etc is over, but that is a risk I need to take so that the child can do everything I would try to do with him if he were my own.

9.  Offered Evie a different name to call me.  I hadn't really thought about this fully before she arrived, and so when she asked my name that first night, I told her "Miss Allison," which is what my kids at work call me.  That always felt too formal.  Everyone I had read things from online said that the kids (especially the older ones) would end up calling you whatever they felt comfortable with, but I think I should have offered her a much less formal name from the beginning.  I want some sort of nickname that would be something no one else would call me, but I haven't come up with one that I love yet.  So if anyone has any suggestions, let me know! 

10. Hugged Evie more.  I think at the beginning I held back because I didn't want to overwhelm her, but I'm sure she would have been fine with more hugging and physical contact; and I think this would have helped with the bonding as well. 

11. Maybe been a little less pushy with food at the beginning.  I'm not 100% on this one, because I think part of the reason that Evie ended up eating vegetables and pretty much anything (she didn't always like it, but she ate it) was because I made her eat things from the beginning.  But I think it would have been ok to serve pizza and chicken nuggets and spaghetti during the first week while she adjusted to everything else in her life being completely different and upside down, and worried about the vegetables after a week or so. 

12.  Had less rules at the beginning.  Going along with #11 above, I should have just allowed her to adjust to a new house and new smells and new people and not being with her mom, before I really started having firm rules about her table manners and putting her toys away.

13. Stayed out of work more than a day.  Evie arrived on a Tuesday in May.  I took off Wednesday.  I really felt like I needed to go back to work on Thursday, because I had already missed two Thursdays in the 4-6 weeks prior (and my patients come on the same day every week, and their appointments are cancelled if I'm not there, so I didn't want the same patients to miss appointments three different times in the span of 6 weeks).  But I think that shouldn't have mattered, and I should have stayed home at least one more day to help us both get settled.  (Being out of work with the placement of a foster child falls under FMLA, so one of the phone calls I made the first day should have been to get my FMLA set up so that I could stay out however many days I felt like I needed). 

Hopefully this list will help some first-time foster parent make better decisions in the beginning than I did; and I know that I will do some things differently next time based on this list. 

Three Days

I found out today that they will be picking Tank up on Friday morning to go live with his relative.

 

Even though I knew what I was getting into when I became a foster parent; and even though I knew this particular goodbye was probably coming any day now, I spent most of the evening in tears. 

 

I plan to spend the next three days soaking in every minute of sweetness from that baby that I can.

Roller Coaster of a Week

It's been a roller coaster of a week, ending in this:

Meet Tank. (Blog name chosen for reasons that may or may not be obvious from this picture... but the child is four months old and weighs 20 pounds!)  Remember the four-month old that I said no to last weekend?  That's him. 

After I got the call last Saturday night, something told me that I should double-check with Evie's daycare to see if they had any unexpected openings for some reason.  And that if they did, I should call the placement worker back to make sure that they had found a permanent place for Tank.  Then Sunday afternoon, I was thinking about the fact that TT had said she would take another baby, and I wanted to check in and see if anyone had checked with her about fostering him.  I texted her and asked if she had gotten a call, and she said, "He's in my backseat as we speak."  I told her about my feeling that I should check with the daycare and then the new feeling that I should check with her. 

Tuesday evening, I got a text from TT asking if I ended up checking with my daycare about openings (I had, for future potential placements, and they said no space).  I asked if she had gotten him into her daycare, and she said that the situation looked like it might turn long-term (I think they had made it sound like it would just be a week or two), and the babies (Tank and Twin) both deserved more attention than she physically could give them as one person.  I said I would love to take him, and would check with the daycare to see WHEN the next spot would be opening up, and maybe she could hang in there until then.  The next morning, I also remembered that there is a daycare LITERALLY next door to Evie's that also takes ABC vouchers, and told her I would check with them to see if they had a spot.  I checked, they did, and by noon on Wednesday the plan was for me to pick him up on Thursday evening.  I went to my storage unit at lunchtime and got all the baby stuff.  Then by 2:00, when I talked to the caseworkers (mine and the child's caseworker who finally got assigned that day), the plan had changed.  Court was Friday (today) and the plan was for Tank to go with his biological dad, pending a negative drug test.  I said, "Wait a minute, I don't think TT would have been initiating a move if she knew this."  And I didn't want him to have to move Thursday night if he was just leaving Friday.  TT agreed it was best for her to keep him one more night.  So the plan changed to: he will either go home with Bio Dad on Friday, or he will come with me on Friday. 

The result - he is not going with Bio Dad (I don't know what happened there), and he is now here with me.  They said there are two other relatives that are wanting him, so it may only be another two or three weeks.  However, I have read enough of other foster parents' blogs to know that when things like that are said, they should be taken with a grain of salt!  So I'm just loving on him for whatever time he happens to be here!  It was kind of eerie, because from shortly after I got the call, something weird just told me that he was going to end up with me anyway. 

We made the transfer (and caseworker visit) before I picked up Evie from school to make things less chaotic.  After the caseworker left, Tank properly broke me in with a poopy diaper that exploded out of the top, getting poop all over the changing pad cover, his clothes, his back, and me!  So bathtime came early today. 



Four-Month Old

I got a call over the weekend for a four-month old. 

When Evie started her new daycare last month, I specifically asked them if they had any openings in their infant or one-year-old rooms (I am licensed for two, but can only take a child old enough for a bed, and a child young enough for a crib).  They said they wouldn't have any openings until November. 

So I said no to the baby.  If our daycare had space, I totally would have taken him. 

Turns out, TT said yes to him.  In addition to Twin (three months old).  Pray for her.  Poor thing's not going to get any sleep! 

Am I Crazy?

Several weeks ago, the licensing/placement workers called and asked if I was ready to take a second child.  (I am licensed for two, but told them I definitely only wanted one, at least at first while I was still getting my feet wet.)  I asked for what age.  It was for a three year old, so that wasn't even an option since I am only equipped for one child sleeping in a bed and one in a crib.

But since then, I have been thinking that the addition of a second child may actually HELP my sanity.  That maybe then Evie would have another being in the house to occupy her (I really think she thinks my only job is to be her playmate, since it is just me and her here); and she would also see that I have to pay attention to another little one and maybe she would learn to occupy herself more. 

Then the other day, I saw a friend's post on Facebook: "I'm on day #2 with my boys gone to spend the summer with my ex-husband..my daughter is here with me however, I FORGOT how much attention children require when they're the only ONE!"  Exactly.

As it is, I am planning to switch Evie to a different daycare when school starts next month (one reason is because of some of the things I don't like at her current daycare, especially the amount of TV-watching that goes on there; but also because I found a place that will not charge me the difference between the ABC voucher and their actual cost - I am still paying $55 a week for daycare because the voucher only covers $90 a week).  So I would not take another child until that switch has been made since I wouldn't want to either have to move the other child after a month, or have kids in two different daycares for a month.  Plus, Evie's mom told her on the phone last night that she thinks she will be able to find a new place to live in the month of July, so it's always a possibility she won't still be with me by that point. 

But, once she's in her new daycare, it's quite possible that I might take a second child.  Am I crazy?

Evie

I got three different calls from DSS yesterday.  The first time, I answered the phone and they just wanted to know if I was attending the foster care banquet.  Make my heart race for nothing! 

The second call was needing a placement for a sibling group of a 1 year old and a 7 year old.  I told them even though my license is for 2 children, I am really only wanting to take one for the first placement (and my license is actually only for 0-5 years old anyway so I really wanted to stay in that age range). 

The third call came about 7:30 last night and was for a sibling group of a 4 year old and a 3 year old.  I told them I was not equipped to have two different children in beds (I can accommodate a crib infant and a child in a bed), but would take one if they needed me to.  And at 9:00, I opened the door and there was 4-year-old Evie (blog name - not her real name) with a rat's nest of hair, no shoes* (only socks), and clothes the completely wrong size (18 month shirt and size 10 pants).  After a bath and some painful combing out of the hair, she settled down to sleep pretty easily; but then woke up throughout the night every 1-3 hours crying and/or wanting me to come in the room with her. 

* I have a pretty significant stockpile of clothes that have been donated and/or purchased for really cheap, in all sizes/genders/seasons.  However, I haven't purchased any shoes, with the thought that if they are the age to NEED shoes, they should show up wearing a pair and that would get us through.  Funny how the first placement I get shows up with no shoes!  Thankfully, I have had some different people donate some shoes; and my cousin had given me one pair that fit perfectly (and at the time I thought those were probably too big for the age children I would be getting).  Thanks, Becky!  You saved me from dragging a barefoot child into the store to buy shoes!

Today, we have gone to my storage unit to get the box of clothes in her size, visited the daycare, and went by my work to get some ethnic hair care advice.  She has been pretty easy so far (she even humored me and ate three carrots at lunchtime without a fit!)  Right now she is resting (I think asleep actually!) and then we're off to the store for some hair care products and clothing accessories. 

I don't anticipate that she will be with me for an extremely long time, but from all I have read about the foster care world, it's really hard to make any predictions whatsoever since things change in the blink of an eye!

Today's the Day...

... that I told the county I am available for them to call me with a placement.

 

Now on to the waiting for the phone call...