Today Might Just Be the Day...

What happens in the daily life of the family.. the drama of foster care, the adventures of parenting, & pictures to share with everyone!

Back to Basics

By: comment

Thank you for the concern yesterday. I didn’t mean to worry anyone. It was just a rough day. And sometimes all of this junk that I go through is a little on the unreal side, even to me.

Our little ones left today. It was uneventful. As a last act, J played baseball with several glass ornaments. And E was in rare form, out and out just ignoring me today or doing the opposite of what I asked. But, that’s o.k. They’re going through the hard part of all of this. And they’re kids. I’m an adult. I can handle the change.

I think that it’s noticably calmer in our home now. And not just because there are fewer people. Because there’s no uncertainty. We are a family. There’s no question as to how long. There’s no talk of moving or changing. We will move and change, but we will do these as a family, not as individuals. I love those kids. They are me. We are one.

Let’s do the math…

By: comment

Laundry.

There are 6 people in the family. Each of us wears 1 pair of pants, one shirt, two socks, and undies (the little ones are in diapers, but I wear bras and sometimes there’s more than one shirt involved so I figure it balances out). Then, at night, we each wear two pieces of pajamas. That’s roughly 7 items of clothing per person, per day. Add to that about 12 towels a week, 14 hand towels or dish rags a week, and 7 sets of sheets a week.

Here we go

(7 x 7) + 12 + 14 + (7 x 4)= 103

How come it feels like so much more?

Here, it equals a load a day, more if I’m ambitious. Less and I end up falling behind.

Maybe my dish math will make me feel more justified? For breakfast, 7 of us eat at home, averaging 2 dishes. Then at lunch there are 3 of us, again averaging 2 dishes, then at dinner we average 3 dishes and we all eat here (8). We have to add in approximately 2 cups per person per day–sippy cups should equal more, but my brain is fuzzy enough already. Then we have the pots and pans and cooking dishes–I’ll estimate 12 a day?

So…

(7 x 2) + 6 + (8 x 3) + 16 + 12 = 72

And that, ladies and gentlemen, is why I run my dishwasher and average of twice a day.

Well, my math lesson has shortened the silece of nap time by a few minutes. I’m off to snuggle the Bean. She is too keyed up to sleep so I should enjoy the time I get one on one with her.

And the beat goes on

By: comment

Another day nearly done. Another seven breakfasts, eight lunches, and six dinners served (Brian and I will fend for ourselves later).

Our J (the littlest guy) is finally getting used to Brian. It’s amazing watching trust slowly build. It’s sad and scary to see his fear. Is it because Brian is so tall? Does Brian look like someone who hurt him? Is he just afraid of men? I feel for Brian. He clearly loves this little guy already. Well, maybe it’s not so clear sometimes… But, Brian is such a good dad. He just wants to be a dad to this little guy, too.

We’re surviving!

By: comment

We’ve made it a week. And a day.

Go us!

How do we do this? How do other families with six children do this?

How long will it take us to adjust? Will there be a new normal? What will that normal look like?

As I said, we are surviving. We could all use a little more sleep, a few more hugs, and a couple less messes. But, we will continue to survive. And we will get better at it.

Thank you for all of your thoughts and prayers. And thank you to Renee, who was brave enough to go to Wal-Mart with us. Thank you to my loving husband who makes this possible. I am pretty sure that he wouldn’t have picked this path alone. And thank you to Jessie for being there for the kids and for me.

What a crazy, strange journey we’re on.

Must.Blog.

By: comment

If I don’t post, I’m sure I won’t remember a thing.

We’ve added two new children to our crew. We are now at max capacity!

We now have a second daughter. She’s just a couple months younger than the Bean. But, she’s a little delayed in a few areas. So, Bean feels that she is the “big” sister and we’re encouraging that so she won’t get lost in the shuffle.

The new little girl has a head of curly brown hair and an infectious smile.

She brought along her younger brother. He is a year and a half and more than a handful! He’s all over the place. And he’s totally silent, so if you didn’t see him leave, it’s really hard to find him again.

We’ve already had a couple bumps in the road… The timing wasn’t great as Brian is away for the weekend. And today our sitter discovered some little creepy, crawlies in the hair. So, we’ve done a lice treatment already. And today at the pediatrician our new girl was diagnosed with a staph infection.

We’ve also already had some nice surprises, too. Our sitter and one of our neighbors have brought over clothes for the little guy. And, thankfully, she can wear Bean’s clothes and I even had some shoes that were too small on Bean that fit the little girl perfectly!

I will try to post more soon.

 

For now I *must* sleep.

By: comment

The phone has started to ring again.
Ready or not, here comes the next little one.
Hopefully, it will be after our next trip is done. I don’t think that we need to add any extra stress right now.
The Bean got sick this morning. So far, it looks like a fluke thing. But, she hasn’t eaten anything this morning either. I figure if she’s not hungry, I’m not going to push it. One of the things that’s amazing about her is that she knows in advance when she’s not feeling well. Every time she gets a bug, she’ll stop eating a day or so before.

https://www.momtomany.net/70/

World’s Worst Blogger

By: comment

And the title goes to… Me!

I went on vacation without a camera! And, even though I had my computer, and tons of ideas, I didn’t blog once.

But, I am back now and life is back to “normal” so let the blogging commence!

The only thing that I can think about is the call that we got today. We were called about a little guy who’d suffered physical abuse. He has a fractured skull.

He’s not here with us. So, I’m sure that he found a safe home.

It’s just hard to get him off my mind. I can’t imagine what must happen in a family to have such a horrible thing happen to a baby. I don’t want to think about how he must feel.

Please send a thought or prayer or whatever you believe in out to this little guy. Hopefully he will be able to heal physically and emotionally from what he’s already been through so early on in his life.