Busy weeks

This week really started over the weekend. Got to go to a play with my nieces , sister in law and my daughter in law. Then went to Ikea and a movie with my son and daughter in law. Monday David had surgery on his eye, we are still dealing with the side effects of the anesthesia and pain medication. Today we have a doctor appt for Emily and a visit for Mac from his old CASA worker. Wednesday they are coming to give us another quote for a the pool we are thinking of putting in, if someone will quote under 30 grand-seriously it's a small splash pool. Thursday there's probably a doctor appt and Friday is crazy as crazy can be. The final iep for davids preschool meetings, a doctor appt to follow up on his surgery, three IFSP meetings for the babies for there for there DDD stuff and of course physical,speech, and occasional therapy for all the kids.

Big Mac turns 2

Still no word from lawyer... but I expect to get a call soon about petition being ready. Of course I think this move screwed up some things and the Case Worker is lost.

Sharing technology

I love technology. My daughter sent me a text video of her using the Doppler I bought her and you can hear the baby's heartbeat. It's amazing the things smart phones have allowed us to share from over 1100 miles away.  It's definitely not the same as being there and I do plan on making a few trip there before the baby comes and especially after it comes.  Grandparenting from afar was not how I thought this would be though. So it's bittersweet all in all.

Thanksgiving was a bust

i had to work on Wed night and Thurs night, so we decided to have dinner on Friday. My son, his wife, my mom and nephew. Hubby and the babies. But t even while cooking staying awake was hard. Even harder was staying awake after dinner. I just couldn't.

Thanksgiving used to be dinner and games... But with my daughter not here this year and still mourning my Dad, it was just a pretty crappy day.

I don't have to work Christmas so here's hoping we have a better day, but the scene will still be the same.

Where is...

insert one of four names now because you could be asking that question about any of the kids now. If Mac is not hooked up to his feeding and safely tucked into a chair, swing or jumper, he's rolling around his floor and under things. Semira is climbing on something, destroying a path of something in her way and generally toddeling around the house. David is crawling everywhere now. If a light pops on he follows to wherever it may lead. Into the bathroom, his siblings rooms, the laundry room, a closet, out the doggy door... You get the picture. Emily has been mobile for so long we are used to that. She continues to get into everything, but she's playing with purpose now too so that's awesome.

Life with 4 "toddlers" is busy busy busy

Adult children

Need a little attention here. My daughter is a nervous wreck over the baby coming. Mostly because there are so many things that can go wrong and she's so excited about getting to be a Mommy. She's almost 11 weeks now. She just got a new job, out of the classroom and into administration so hopefully that helps some. She still has bouts of nausea and vomiting, along with motion sickness and chasing three year old around all day is too much for her. With the new job will come insurance but in the meantime we found a place that will provide free prenatal care for her until 30 weeks. I also bought her a Doppler so hopefully all is well and we will get to hear the baby heartbeat soon snd maybe take some of the worry away.

My son has finally moved into his house. He starts school in January but he wants to also apply to the Police Department. His wife is pissed. They fight. Not a new issue. But they live closer now do I get dragged in. She's dramatic and has high clinical intervention levels of anxiety.  He's  an asshole plain and simple and needs to mature more.  He wants an exciting career and she wants a baby desperately. I think they need to grow up a lot first, despite being married for three years.   I'm very happy he's home. I love them both, I'm not happy that their fighting contains a lot of divorce talk and storming off. But I don't like getting texts about him "putting his hand on her" while at work... Only to find out by both that it was more his hand were on my arms as we yelled at each other face to face until he stormed off. Right or wrong, you don't throwing that around, domestic violence is serious. I honestly think they are just not right for each other somedays.

I'm an adult kid too. I'm stressed beyond belief because my mothers blood pressures are dangerously high. Stroke high. Just like my Dad the year before he passed. I have this de ja vu thing because I remember vividly the "screwy blood pressures" he'd talk about. She's also depressed because it's finally sunk in he's not coming back and we'll we all know holidays suck too and add to it. Work sux, the babies are busy and there is just so much to do.

So I worry, get little sleep and bitch and moan. You should see my blood pressure.

Raising special kids

Raising a blind child is hard. Besides all the other complicating factors related to vision and education, the mobility right now is the one that breaks my heart. David has started to crawl, pull to stand and cruise the furniture. What breaks my heart is when he bumps his head into stuff when crawling. He cries and rubs it and just breaks my heart. I wish I could just put a bubble around him but I know I can't. But this mamma finds it so hard to not treat him more fragile than our little girl who can see.

Psst...

Our family is expanding. Confirmed via ultrasound today... I'm going to be a Grandmother finally! My daughter, who married in July, is expecting her first child and is due in June.

Such happy happy news.

Expanding

Our family may or may not be expanding next year.... Stay tuned.

It just irks the crap outta me -National Adoption Month Story

It's National adoption month!! A certain page, who also makes hamburgers, shares stories of awesome people. But today, today I am a little off center about one.  Why is there a go fund me page for every time something like life happens for people?  I get it unexpected expenses like a loss etc. community comes together.  But it really irks me that its news that a family who private adopts infants domestically, and sibs out of foster care within 24 hours is magically a charity case that needs crowd funding?  We have 4 special needs children, three are 2 years old now! We adopted two on the same day and it was dramatic and their stories are sad but are their stories... We didn't set up a page. Heck those people even probably got a baby shower to celebrate at least the two newborns coming into their family.  We ran around trying to get extra baby everything and cribs when we were placed with unexpected infants x three. Oh they had fertility issues, well I had cancer we found during infertility treatments! Ok am I bitchy yup. How you grew your family and the circumstances are a story of life and how you were blessed with amazing littles girls to raise... do not equate with a need to crowd fund your family.  It's not like they appeared on your doorstep 4 at once and the state walked away and said good luck you are on your own out of the blue one day.

Macs Birth Mom

Called me today to ask if I've talked to the CASA worker about getting a pic of the other baby for her because today is his birthday. I told her on the 1st to call the Case Worker to get a visit so she could see him. They severed her rights but they have to give her a goodbye visit if she asks, plus she may be able to get the same set up we have where we send her pics of him. I do not know who has the baby. I don't know anything about them. I already feel bad that we couldn't keep the boys together, but seriously these dark circles under my eyes are already deep with what we have and my job.  She really should have had her own Law Guardian.

Subsidy drama

Adopting special needs kids out of foster care this time around has been a big cluster f to say the least. Why? Because we moved into a county that is apparently controlled by dumbasses in another county two hours away, who either have a different set of guidelines or are just plain stupid. Either way it's caused a snag because we let our license lasp and they want to only give the regular rate not the DDD/medfrag rate. It's about $10 a day difference. Does it matter really? No, but they are being ignorant of the facts and that does matter. SSI might be a better route for him because he's entitled to just as much as his siblings.

Forward

Spoke with the lawyer yesterday with regard to Macs case. The papers will be in the mail to us shortly. The subsidy should be done as well. We qualify for expedited court date so it could be before the end of the year or right after the first of the year, depending on the availability of the courts. National adoption day would be nice seeing as though it's our final adoption, but probably not the best idea with our group. We shall see.

So much going on...but nothing really

The kids are progressing in leaps and bounds. Semira can walk everywhere and gets a kick out of showing you. David can crawl and will take steps now on purpose while holding two hands. Mac rolls everywhere and reaches and kicks at toys. He's getting so much better at tummy/back/side/tummy time lol. Emily isn't being challenged at school or really anywhere else right now, but we are working on giving her more "walking freedom" and getting more use out of her iPad Communication device.

The new house has a million and one projects to get through. Many are started but nothing is actually done. Not even the front court yard patio we hired out. I'm freaking pissed about that one. It still hasn't been painted even though he keeps saying "Saturday" every freaking week. He will not be getting out $10,000 backyard/front planting project come tax time.

I don't get to the pc often so posting from my phone on this is very limited or else I'd share pictures.

Preschool Meeting

We have a meeting on Thursday for David. He turns 3 in January so he is transitioning from Early Intervention to school based early preschool. It's only meeting #1 of 3 as we move toward his birthday. It's a meet and greet. Next comes testing then finally the IEP gets done. I'm going to go to the meeting, but I'm not sure if at the end of this I'm ready for him to start in January. We have done some recent testing with his vision and developmental teacher and he's testing at 1.5 - 2 years on most things. He doesn't walk yet and doesn't talk yet and is still very much a baby, early toddler. I think if he started preschool this coming January it'd be more like daycare, he doesn't need daycare. But I am giving it the benefit of the doubt but I don't have high expectations.

Alternatively I'm going to also look at the School at Foundation for the Blind and see how that is before making my final decision.

The open adoption

Technically three of our four are open adoptions. Semira being the only closed adoption. We haven't heard from David's birth mother. We do hear from her sister a little bit but it's not often anymore. Emily's birth mother is on my Facebook so she asks for pictures and has asked to see her, but it's pretty hard to cart Emily out to a public place for a meeting. 1 we don't live anywhere near her. 2 it's too hot to drag the kids out. 3. Emily does not like to be in her wheelchair and she can't roll around on the floor at the mall, a park, or a kids pizza place. But, her birth mom is very sick and needs a heart transplant. She's only 22. I feel for her because I know she would have loved to have been able to keep her, but she didn't have any support. But life is busy in our world too.
Macs birth mother is young and clueless but she means well. I let her go to doctor appointments if she makes it to them so that she can see him. She texts me all the time bugging me for pictures.

Leaving again

My oldest daughter moved to Deleware in February, then moved back here in May. Tomorrow she's moving to Montanna. I hate the idea of course. The months she was away over the winter sucked enough. The babies are also very attached to her. But this time it's a bit different. This time she's moving there because her HUSBAND was offered a job he supposedly could not resist and changed his plans to move back here.

Not a happy mother in law does this decision make.

But tomorrow I'm driving on up with her and then flying over to Seattle to visit my oldest son and his wife. Bittersweet. Yay for the girls road trip we've always talked about doing... BOO for the reason we are doing it. Yay for getting to see my son and his wife! Still BOO for the reason I'm taking the trip.

Also did I mention it'll be the first time I've been away from David since we've gotten him? This is gonna suck for everyone as he is not a fan of not being with Mommy at all and Daddy doesn't sing as well as I do. Hopefully my back up doesn't flake. So between the three extra people coming to help hubby, he'll manage the weekend without me.

So behind on posting

So many things going on but not being able to post from my phone kinda throws a dent in the good posts.
Emily started first grade today at her new school. No longer getting a 1:1 nurse. Supposedly there is an RN in the class all the time because it's a high needs medical class plus there are two paras with the teacher as well. I'm thinking it may be too low functioning for her. On paper she looks very low functioning medically until you get to know her. Ive laid out a bunch of rules though for the classroom which most importantly is do not let her roll around on the floor at all! They have all kinds of chairs and such to try and she does not need ANY floor time while in school. She needs to learn that there are rules and expectations and that she can't just be free to be a feral child like she wants to. She can be so much more if we push her.

Semira is walking. Not all the time and still very wobbly but she's taking steps and it's awesome.

David said mine twice now. Once when his sister was in his chair and once when she had his favorite tub toy. It was adorable. He reached for it and everything. He was not happy at all about the chair.

Mac is in the throes of a bunch of Doctor appts so maybe we will have some answers soon about what's going on with him. He's a 4 month old in a 19 month old body. We've gotten some ideas and if we could ever get an OT ( occupational therapist) out here we'd be able to get some more advanced therapy for him.

This Early Intervention shit is a joke here!

Updates

Mac is free and all things are moving forward with his adoption.

Semira is starting more and more to stand on her own. Walking is probably not far off. I'm going to look into "school" for her for the fall to go two days a week for half a day. She needs to see more typical kids so she'll try and copy them. She still refuses to talk, but her signs are increasing. She's even started putting them together. Today she pointed to my phone and signed please music more. She looked up at her favorite junk food junky, her dad, and signed cracker and pointed to the box. She's seeking out her milk box now and drinks on her own. She will not hold it yet, she just reaches up on top ties and drinks.

Court tomorrow for Mac

I'm not going to be able to go because of sleep/ work issues. But if all parties did their jobs this time, the last tie, the biological father, will be severed and Mac moves officially to adoptions and it'll be the official end to this chapter.

We have everything we need to move forward just the official word.

In the news

Nothing like bringing the fear of being a multiracial family into the foreground of reality. I worry my future grandson (all hypothetical) will be innocently walking down the road someday and be harassed by the cops. I worry that being darker on the outside will be all people will see and then... Well I'm afraid is all.

Not perfect

I'm not perfect. Adoption isn't easy. Bonding is hard, maybe sometimes impossible. It's not like you read on every blog or see on YouTube or tv.

I have found it nearly impossible to bond to Emily. Ok I said it. Unfortunately it's very true. Her ODD and RAD may have something to do with it. Maybe it was bad timing. Maybe because she's nonverbal, or because she was older? Though I doubt it's the older thing because I did bond right away with Miss I. So really I'm not sure why.

But there it is, in all its ugly glory. The only reason we went forward with her adoption is because hubby did bond. So yeah, he's better than I am at this blending thing. Or maybe during that bonding time I was grieving too much over the losses of Jackie and Miss I then focused on David when he came.

Whatever it is, it is.

Hair pulling

Have I mentioned this before? David is obsessed with it. His wicked giggle, his focused lunge toward the poor unsuspecting victim, ok not always unsuspecting because Semira actually strategically places her head in his reach, but it's his FAVORITE thing! He even reaches up purposefully when hubby is feeding him and pulls his leg hair. Hubby screams and he laughs and lunges again and again. It's a game to him. He kinda understands the word and meaning of no, but not really.

Semira is the main target, Emily next, and poor Spud has gotten it once or twice. Emily can crawl or roll out of the way, but hasn't figured that out yet. Semira crawls right over to him and puts her hand down. I kid you not. Usually it seems if it's when he's getting attention. The little addict he is pounces and grabs and twists with his pull. She screams, he gets "yelled" at and she gets picked up and cuddled.

At 2 do you think she's actually manipulating this or what? Keep in mind, she's actually only developmentally 1.

How do people with multiples do this?

Two two year olds and a surgery.

Semira is officially two and the twins are twins again. We didn't do a big thing because the house is still in shambles from the remodel and the move. Maybe if we have our new pool in by her next birthday she'll get a real party. She was jipped out of her first birthday because it was the day after my father had passed away and her second has been just as emotionally charged. At least she won't remember these anyway. But she ate cake this year and that's a huge milestone.

Spud had to have his tonsils and adnoids taken out, hopefully this helps with the sleep apnea. Poor baby is miserable and doesn't realize that crying makes it more painful and cries because it hurts. I've written down a strict pain medication regime for his nurse and hubby to follow while I work the rest of the week and to at all costs avoid crying fits. In the next few months he will have to have another surgery this one on his man parts, we are all not looking forward to that, but his junk is missing in action. He seriously looks like a girl with no opening and an enlarged "man in the boat"

Ok but enough about that. LoL

So I don't forget... He also finally at 18 months cut teeth!! Two bottoms came in this week.

I'm in love with a stripper

Seriously David is a nudist I think. Course most two year olds probably are. I came downstairs this evening from sleeping and right at the bottom sitting in front of our slider on the laminate floor was a butt naked little boy sitting straight up playing with his spinning toy giggling like a fiend.
Hubby is sitting on the couch totally oblivious to the fact that there is a very naked baby, a not potty trained baby, sitting right behind him. At least 1 he wasn't on the carpet and 2 he didn't actually pee or poop. But Emily was right there beside him and apparently he didn't like the fact that she had a diaper either because once I'd dressed him and set him back down to play. He kept reaching over to her and grabbing her diaper and trying to yank it off.

Hubbys excuse... Well he was quiet so I left him.

Post in Pictures

The new house project:
Old kitchen new kitchen. Still a work in progress aswe have the change out the lighting and finish the crown and wainscoting

The babies growing like crazy
David practicing his new skills in his crib.

Semira thinking she's all grown up now because she can climb onto the couch on her own

Spud got his first pair of glasses

I'd post a picture of Emily but she does not take good pictures and all we manage to get are a bunch of her with a squished face and closed eyes or pushing the camera away. Needless to say she's here and causing trouble. The new house gives her freedom and she chooses to get into things, like her brother's things, the dog bowl, and anything else in her way.

Fast approaching

The one year anniversary of my Dads death. I don't want to think about it. I don't want to talk about it. I especially don't want to relive it in memory. I'm trying to be there for my Mom who is of course still going through the phases of grieving in rapid succession and cycling through it over and over. I want to remember the good and forget the bad. I can't change it. it gives me peace to know he's no longer suffering through daily agonizing pain and I know that he's been looking down on me and giving me what I want like He's always done my whole life.

I wish I had my camera

A rare moment when my phone was on the charger. Was feeding the twins aka D and S their dinner tonight. Cheeseburger, sweet potatoes and jello ( both not a fan of jello) But they were having a blast. Semira learned to growl and David laughed and laughed each time she did it. Every time he'd laugh she'd screech and laugh and growl again. It went on and on throughout the meal. She copies everything he does, which at this point is good and bad. Technically she should be farther along in developing communication than he is, but she even copies his sounds for things and stopped using the words she's learned for them. Now at least she can sign more, all done, and yes.

Stair climbing and crib standing

Too much now. Too much development all of a sudden for these two. Not to be out done, David has joined Semira in the pulling to stand in his crib. Semira must be gated as whenever she sees them free she climbs the stairs. She does not know how to come down yet.

The kitchen is coming along. The walls are painted now and the first steps of the wainscoting have been placed. The before and afters are pretty unbelievable at this point.

Developing overload

Yesterday David, not to be out done but his sister, decided it was time for a new trick of his own. He can now sit up from a laying down position and scoot on his butt across the room. He can get himself back down to laying down slowly but prefers the fast, my world is a bubble, method. We have to work on that one more. He's started reaching up and out for things, I see pulling to stand coming soon.

Can I just say I so very proud of these babies.

Reno in full swing

There isn't one single room inside and out that is not in need of an update. So far this is what's been done. I've been concentrating on the kitchen so far. Painted the cabinets and resurfaced the Countertops. The new floors are going in and should be finished tomorrow. There is still so much to do though but every day I'm starting to like it even more, even though it's starting to show its quirks.

Speaking of renovations... Semira is progressing at max speed all of a sudden. She'll turn two on June 3rd but being a micro premie she's been behind. But right now she's on a roll just kicking into high gear for being a mobile 1 year old. She's mastered pulling to stand and climbing the stairs. She's also getting into everything, putting everything into her mouth, and playing with toys with purpose. She's a handful and finally giving my hubby a taste of the real meaning of needing to baby proof everything. We've tethered down every dresser and shelf that sits on the floor. There are gates going up and door locks on cabinets. She's the first he's really had to really watch. I'm so very excited and proud of her.

Foster over

After 3 years, 12 placements, nearly 4 adoptions ( just waiting on Macs date) and three houses, we are officially no longer a licensed foster home. No more licensing worker, no more O#L#R governing decisions made on how we can parent, store items, put our kids to bed, or any of the other silly rules. We still have 1 caseworker visit a month and the CASA advocate for Mac who still wants to play grandma for him. But those are ok.

So short but productive that's for sure.

Starting to settle in

Most of our things are moved over to the new house. Somehow a ton of stuff we know we had are missing. There are many many boxes to unpack still. My days off consisted of trying to get Emily and Spuds rooms back together and their supplies organized because the new nurse started Monday. So far so great!

I've also been redoing the kitchen in the process as well. I can't afford the official upgrades yet but I've resurfaced the counters and painted the cabinets. The flooring guys are coming tomorrow to measure and quote us. I've ordered the backsplash and some of the wainscoting. I've also finally picked out the paint colors and Saturday I'm painting the kitchen. The kitchen was my must do first project because it's the room you walk right into and the ugliest. The yard I think is next as that barren wasteland needs some color.

Pictures to follow.

It's moving day

And it's going to be a beast.,As usual we are only half packed but in our defense we have 4 med fragile babies. David and Semira and Emily all had major meltdowns at bed last night. David woke numerous times and Semira slept in my bed. Both woke early this morning and continued where they left off.

We are waiting on the mover and my awesome brother and sister in law to come and help wrangle the babies so we can get over to the new house.

I've started my kitchen redo, but with working all week and the new house being an hour from here, it was just impossible to finish before we move in. It'll easier once we are in to finish it.

Busy packing and parenting

We are going to move in a bit of an unconventional way so as to settle faster into our usual routine. The chaos of packing and trying to keep things out is just too much for me. Since the new house is an hour away from the old house, and we don't have extra hands to help with the kids right now, nothing can get done at the new house until we actually live there. So the movers are coming on Sunday and from tomorrow until then... It's throw everything into a box mode.

Hopefully once we move we will be able to get some more help. Lots of things going on right now in that department.

Got the house

Signed all the paperwork today. Funding is tomorrow and they will record the deed later that day and we get the keys Thursday because I have to work Wednesday night and am not driving the hour down there to get them.

Final Closing Disclosure Received

We can sign as soon as Tuesday so we will see what they can schedule tomorrow. Speaking of tomorrow we do the final walk through in the morning, along with three of our four kiddos. Should be an interesting experience. I really hope the signing ends up in Tuesday because it's the only day we have access to a babysitter.

209

The number of pages in the pdf files that encompasses our 2013,2014,2015 tax returns through turbotax that our underwriter just asked for. Good thing I could email it. But seriously...sheesh. I was told there is one other thing that they were requesting but our processor wasn't exactly sure what they meant so he said he'd call back later and let us know... But it looked good to close next week.

I sure hope I have or can get quick whatever it is that they want.

No news yet

Got an email from the Realtor that we still hadn't come out of underwriting yet. I know our process takes a bit longer because they had to do a manual underwriting and a more meticulous process... But if everything comes out clear to close she said we probably will not be doing it Friday.

Fingers still crossed

Even Though

We hadn't made up our minds yet about the girls...there was to be a match meeting. Our licensing worker told them that she would attend the meeting...she did not show up. They chose the other family. Im conflicted in the fact that It really pissed me off that she didn't show after saying she was, though Im not surprised because she does that to us all the time. On the other hand, maybe someone higher up in the universe knows better and made the decision that was just too hard for us to make.

Eating

Semira, our oral aversion projectile vomiter, is eating all meals by mouth!!! We are still on stage two texture baby foods along with other things like yogurt and mashed potatoes, things like that. It's such an exciting process to start weaning from the feeding tube. We still have to give her liquids through the tube but only normal "drinks". The best thing is we will be able to tell the gi doc to bite it! lol I think that starting the blended diet that I did with helped to get her ready for eating real food. I am one proud mama and patting myself on the back, one great feeding therapist.

48-72

Hours till we come out in the other side of under writing. Will we be cleared or will they want even more conditions or paperwork?

Pictures

Because my Iproducts are not really compatible with this format I haven't been able to post pictures of whats been going on.

So I've updated the last few important posts with some pictures. Such as in the Holiday and Adopted posts


But for gratuitous pictures for comparison: The adoption pic, the mid way pic, and the first week together pic

Sinking house feeling...

Got an email from loan processor saying they are probably going to disallow the Foster/adoption money unless.... Insert a long list of documents, requirements, etc....

I have what I have and I don't have anything more. So once I give them as much "proof" as I can and "prove" that going forward at minimum we have what we have and I've given them it ALL... It's either... Close or have a lot of money in my bank acct and very little debt and a high paying job.

We don't have to move from here. I just wanted to spend less money on a house that wasn't mine. It's not like we are stuck.

So still hoping it works out. But at this point, since I haven't ever considered packing shit... I honestly don't care.

The Holiday- **Updated**

The babies were sick and we were grumpy from lack of sleep. My mother and nephew came over, it sure isn't the same without my dad. Not that it was really different, it was just you could tell he was missing. My two oldest are living in other states right now which also makes me sad.

Spuds birth mother texted asking for a visit. I said yes, she called the change the time. Sorry you can't come that late. She asked for Easter. I said yes. She called in the morning said she was on her way. About 20 minutes later she texted and said change of plans she was coming later. I told her that we had plans in the evening so she'd need to come before then. No call no show. Today she texts and asks when the next doctor appointment was at the hospital.?June I tell her, but there is an 8am on Wednesday not to far away. No answer... She's consistently inconsistent so it's not like I expected much.

Emilys birth mother stalks my Facebook page so she'll steal pictures and post them on her wall pretending to all that don't know that she has custody. She asks to see her once in awhile but the problem is she wants me to take her out to a kiddy pizza place or something to meet or the mall. Places that are close to her neighborhood. 1. I don't want to drive there and 2. Wasn't the deal. Besides that Emily doesn't even like those places.

Davids birth mothers sisters are in the picture. His aunt that lives here actually came to the adoption. I send her pictures on holidays or when he does something I think is adorable. We don't hear from the birth mother though. There is an older sibling that we may meet one of these days but we shall see. I'm not opposed to meeting up with his birth mother it's just that she's disappeared again.

Semira has no contact with any family anywhere and will never have contact with them.

Just another day in paradise

Getting back to life as usual is still a work in progress. The adoption is wonderfully completed and really it hasn't sunk in yet because 1.) people are still all up in our business. 2.) everyone is sick and we've been busy dealing with boogers and puke. 3.) I've been working a lot right now to help out and cover some shifts, to bank as much money as possible towards item #4. 4.) which is we are still in escrow and document gathering as we move toward that ever elusive closing date fingers crossed. 5.) We are closing our Foster license next month so we have that drama to deal with. 6.) We are still moving forward in the unknown world of if we are going to or not going to move forward with meeting the girls. 7.) we are still working towards Spuds final court date and we recently found out biomom was in jail again for a few weeks. 8.) then of course there are the constant medical day to day things like getting doctors appointments booked and going to them. 9.) our nursing hours can't seem to be covered at all by the agency for what we need and our favorite nurse is leaving in two weeks to have her baby. Our evening nurse is off a lot and they can't cover her when she needs to go to doctor appointments or take a day off. 10) we need to change agencies but I need to talk to the district nurse about it first.

I'm sure there are a million more things... But I need to get back to charting

Today is finally adoption day! **Updated**

David Liam Edward and Semira Faith


Have finally been given permanency and are forever ours!

The story behind the picture... David was cutely dressed and smiley. Right before we went into the court room a large group filed our and it got very loud. He was in a strange place, and in warm clothes. His sensory issues went haywire about 5 minutes into the proceeding and by the the time we got to the picture despite taking his pants off he was in full fit. As we walked out of the court room he was in just his diaper. His skin was hot and red. He seemed to have a fever. I changed him into a onsie and went into the car. He kept signing out and all done. So I took him to the car while they waiting for the copies of the final adoption decree. He then signed yes and was happy and calm as could be. He just wanted to go home.

In other news

7 days till Adoption Day!!!

Hoping this won't be another bump

Checked my credit scores and they dropped 38 points because my student loan Accts shows closed paid. I didn't see the new consolidation loan pop up, but I'm assuming it'll ding me too. Seriously this credit score shit is the most confusing and stupid system ever created. Makes no sense.

Bump

So first bump in the road post offer accepted. Get a call from the lender who all of a sudden says we can't use the adoption subsidy as "income" with VA. So since that's currently hubby's only job we can't meet VA loan requirements and our prequal is now void.

Good news was He's working the FHA part instead and all he stated was that we needed the 3.5% down and the three month reserve in the bank to requalify and we are still moving toward the same closing date. I also need one full pay check at my new rate, which I won't have till the 23rd of this month.

We have both the 3.5%... Heck we even have the 5% plus the three month reserves. As I sit here on my second double shift of the week, I just keep thinking of the big picture. I'm doing my part.

The A Mansion may be moving

We put in an offer on a house and it was accepted. Earnest deposit sent and the file should be at underwriting. Now let the fun begin. So not looking forward to this nerve wracking process. Anticipated closing is April 15.

Fingers, toes, eyes, legs, arms, whatever I have is crossed for a smooth or at least semi-smooth process.

Spud update

Today was court for Spud and his BMs rights were terminated. Next step is the April 15th court date for the absentee BF. After which the case will move over to adoption. We have his packet and have started the medical paperwork aspect.

Trying hard to decide what to do.

To close our foster license or not. To move forward with the next steps with the girls or not. Honestly deep down I think that our plate to full to the brim and despite having help, me returning to work full time will just be too much for hubby if we added more children, even ones who can do most of the care themselves. It's a lot of work for someone who still can't figure out that "playing" with the baby does not include him sitting on the couch next to you fussing while you are on your phone reading Facebook. Despite popular belief, he is NOT a person who can multi task. Mr D requires a lot of attention, since his vocabulary requires you to actually see him to understand it. SPD (sensory processing disorder) children and those with visual impairment require more help with transitions.

To top it off D is mobile, S is mobile, and now Spud is becoming mobile as he has finally started to roll. Emily is bearing weight in her legs and gets around pretty dang good now in her gait trainer. Miss S is walking without holding hands if we use her harness and once she gets over her fear she will be running all over soon.

House hunting is stalled do to lender qualifying issues as the things they told hubby to do to "fix" his credit actually tanked his score. So now that mine is well over 100 points higher than when I started so now we would have had everything we needed, we are scrambling again. Bad news is we found the perfect house. Because we had been told we only needed my score higher by 18 points (they never thought it would climb 100) I actually looked at a house, and it was perfect and affordable. Go figures right?

Document gatherings

Sux that is all

Adoption Date

March 21st

Tentative plansish

I received a tentative job offer yesterday. Shift supervisor, big career deal with my ultimate career goals in mind. Yeah I still technically have a career goal, sometimes I wonder though because parenting has taken top position again.

Anyway, like I mentioned we'd been approached about the girls. We currently have 4 other kids and we are moving. Financing is in limbo until my credit card reports correctly, but anyway we are only about a month or so from technically finalizing a purchase if the houses I want are available at the time we can offer. I'll find out next week.

My point... Is this a good idea? The job is Monday through Friday 2-10. Prime family time. Nanny is a must. Good thing, I wouldn't have to pay out of pocket because the kids actually have alternate funding for This expense. From 4-8p would be ideal. We'd have a nurse for Emilyso she'd be covered but hubby would have another set of hands.

Emily and Semira (yes I finally outted her) would benefit from the girls as well as I think the girls would benefit from Emily and Semira.

But 6 kids and a full time job? Can you, can I, can we do it?

I'm so babbling because I don't even have a realist concept of this. But I do know that our hearts, our cars, and our homes are more than willing to open. But selfishly I all of a sudden think no.

You know how you should never say never...

Probably won't be a popular decision with some family members, but we did decide to discuss taking two sisters as adoptive placements. It's just an initial meet and greet situation and it doesn't really change much yet, but we were asked again. We'd been approached about them before but we were full. We are about to have two empty beds so we were contacted and hubby and I agreed to consider it. I know we said we were done, but why do these two little girls keep coming to us?

Two week wait?

According to people... After the petition to adopt has been filed it takes about two weeks to get the finalization date.

The petition was filed to the court on February 2nd

Petition to Adopt...House Hunting

Is in our hands. Getting it notarized and mailed out tomorrow. Adoption worker thinks that it'll be two weeks until we get the date after its presented to the court. Probably looking at a March or Early April date at this rate.

We will have had D two years at that point if that's the case.

We are meeting with the home lender on Tuesday to start our file so we can get our pre-qual letter. We have started looking at houses to see what's out there.

I am going to my bank and paying off the few open items on my credit report and according to the lender that is all that we need to qualify at a lower interest rate. They will do a rapid rescore and we will have nearly everything we need to move forward.

We are looking for a single story 5 bedroom greater than 2000 sq ft, or two story greater than 2200sq ft with at minimum two bedrooms and a 3/4 bath on the first level...with space for a playroom... all for under or near 200k... sounds impossible but we actually have found a few.

We need to start thinking about clearing out junk and packing I guess. Lots to do.

In other news

The lawyer is working on the final petition to adopt but has not completed it yet. I'm hoping that we get the call to come sign it early next week for S and D.

In court the other day BM for Spud agreed to relinquish rights and the court date for that is Feb 29th. She had 10 days to change her mind. At that point the court date for BD will have happened.

We will increase in family size by three babies in 2016.

Despite being full, we've also been called about two vented little ones that we had to turn away. It does make me wonder... Do we keep one foster bed open? Can we still help? We shall see.

Debt free before buying

I'm sitting in a place where this is possible. Finally hubby and I are on the same page financially.

Do we move into smaller rental for a year and attack the bills with the extra... Or do we just pay what we have in collection and keep paying the revolving lines i.e. Car payment and student loan, on time, perhaps with extra on principle every paycheck and when we hit the magic number buy?

I need an adviser who knows what they are doing.

Moving could be in the future

As we complete our additions and enter a phase where we think foster cares chapter in our lives is probably closing. We are contemplating moving to our forever home. Yup that means buying. We shall see where this road takes us as we proceed in the first few steps. Apparently there are only a few small things left for me to pay off. Hubby has a few and besides my student loan and my car payment, all of those things can be paid with taxes and we may still have left over for a down payment if we don't go VA loan.