Lost, But Holding Hands

Football, scarves, hot chocolate, pumpkins, cooler temps, and the best holidays of the year.   Ladies and gentlemen, we have officially ushered in fall!  It is my favorite time of the year and the perfect time for a family update- the dogs are finally quiet, the husband is watching football, and the little roommate is napping. We visited with Little Bear's (LB) caseworker on Wednesday night.  We really, really enjoy her.  Not only does she want the best for LB and understand that he has special circumstances that need a higher level of support, she is a totally approachable and  and incredibly helpful person.  As we journeyed through our licensing coursework, we heard varying opinions on "the division" and "the workers", but we have had all positive interactions with the professionals that we have worked with.   During our visit we were able to brag on the amount of progress that we have seen in LB.  Tomorrow marks three months since we b...

it seems like lately we've had struggle after struggle with little bear. there are so many silver linings, i know, but there are also a lot of dark clouds right now: we had our ENT appointment to address some of the hearing issues and did not get encouraging news. that resulted in a surgeon appointment. most likely our adenoids are coming out. of course we can't get into the surgeon anytime soon, so we will have to wait another month before we even get a consult and who knows how much longer to actually get him the relief he needs. we also need to schedule a sleep study because there is worry about sleep apnea. struggle. school has been a tough transition. just getting LB assigned to a school site was an ordeal in itself. in one day we were told three different school sites and because it took so long to figure it out we did not get to participate in meet the teacher night or anything. sometimes those things happen, so we weren't really mad just disappointed. it would h...

the weather man is calling for scattered showers in lee's summit today. that's pretty much what we're calling for at our house, too. this morning we took the plunge and started little bear in big kid underwear. he came to us on sunday and for as long as anyone can tell, he's relied on pullups 24/7. after six days of that business we are over it. ready or not you're a big kid now, dude. we will see how it goes and pray that this is a positive experience that will prove fruitful rather than being a source of frustration and pain.  in drier news, we also took our first trip to the library today and little bear got his very own library card! we happened to stop in for preschool story time. let's just say the lady who did that really loves her job. it was mesmerizing for him and nauseating for me. from what i've learned about preschool entertainment so far, that means she was right on target.  [he]

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so we've had our new roommate since sunday afternoon and it's now wesdnesday morning. a lot has happened since then. it's kind of amazing how much change can happen to a family so quickly. to say his impact on us has been big would be an understatement. he has changed the core of how we do business in our house. as kelly and i were talking last night and reflecting on the day, we realized that our anticipation and fears haven't really subsided all that much. first we were worried about juggling our lives to get our certification classes done. then it was the fear of getting all of our paperwork turned in--and the stress of missing documents or information lost in translation. as we waited through the spring our fears increased as weeks and weeks went by with no contact from the division. fear and doubt wormed its way further into our heads. of course, it was all for no good reason. we knew in our hearts that our God was faithful. we knew how the story would end. we kn...

Hi, y'all! We've gotten lots of questions about this new journey of foster parenting--particularly on social media sites like Twitter and Facebook. Unfortunately, there is lots we want to share with you all but very little we can actually say. Here's what we can tell you: We accepted a placement on Sunday (7/14) and picked him up from his emergency foster home. Our placement is a 5 year old boy. We cannot use his name on social media (thus our continual reference to "little bear" and "the new roommate".) He will start Kindergarten this fall. He's pretty stinkin' cute, but we can't share photos online. (Even though we'd sure like to) He has some special needs that require more attention than that of a typical peer We know it is difficult, and we know everyone asks out of excitement and joy for our family, but we (all) have to remember that is NOT our child, that he has a bio family that lives in the area, that he is with us on a p...

know what the worst part of this foster gig is so far? the terrible tv shows that come with it. that's my only real complaint so far. don't get me wrong, i like mickey mouse and scooby doo as much as the next guy, but have you seen some of these other kid shows? our new roommate seems to enjoy tv as torture rather than entertainment. his brand of poison includes disney junior and nickjr. both are terrible. he never wants to watch anything cool like lego: the adventures of clutch powers (which does seem pretty cool) or veggie tales. no--he'd prefer to watch team umizoomi. which is, by all reasonable accounts, terrible. on the up side, watching a little bit more television means that we are getting a little more settled, less distracted, and able to relax a little bit more. the newness is fading slightly and routines are setting in a bit. as we move forward, routine will be key. the new roommate has many needs and normalcy and structure will help us all. i haven...

Hi, ya'll!  I can't BE-lieve it has been so long since our last blog post!  So many changes and the biggest came today! Drum roll please.......... We welcomed our first foster kiddo into our home today.  We received a request last week to host this little fella but were unsure because we were committed to directing the youth at our church camp for the week.  After working out the details we were able to go to camp, arrive home yesterday, and pick the little dude up today.  Needless to say it was a crazy week.  While we can't share an abundance of information about our new roommate or post pictures online, we don't want to leave our family and friends in the dark.  We look forward to journaling the trials and triumphs as we journey through this process.  We feel incredibly blessed and only seek to share what we have and believe with those around us! We had several moments today where Ty and I just had to look at each other and laugh.  ...