Staffing Update

I talked to our worker and they are staffing the case on Tuesday.  They have also narrowed down the list of families to six, and we are one of them!  We would appreciate continued prayers and thoughts for us and these boys.  I will update you as soon as I find out on Tuesday whether we were chosen or not.  Fingers crossed!!!

Swine Flu Perspective

Everyone is talking about swine flu right now it seems.  It's the first thing that you hear about on the news and even in regular conversation lately.  Panic seems to be setting in, even though I personally don't think it's warranted as of yet.  I'll tell you why.  While there has been one death from swine flu in the US so far (a Mexican citizen that came to Houston for treatment), the CDC has reported that 13,000 people in the US have died since the beginning of the year from the regular flu.  That is 3,250 people per month, approximately 758 people per week, or over 100 people per day just from the regular old flu that we live with every single year.  What would be happening if every single hospitalization and death from the regular flu was on the news?  Just trying to put it in perspective for you.

Here's the story on CNN if you want to read it.

http://www.cnn.com/2009/HEALTH/04/28/regular.flu/index.html

No Staffing Today

The case wasn't staffed today.  The next chance is Thursday.  Fingers crossed!!!!!

Going Insane

I'm waiting to hear the decision that the committee came to on the placement of the little boys, or if they even had the staffing this morning or not.  I'm fine with whatever decision they made (whether we were chosen or not), but I would like to know what the decision is.  I'm going nuts!

Staffing Tomorrow!

I just found out that the staffing for these two boys that we are interested in is going to be staffed tomorrow!  We would appreciate any prayers/good thoughts for us, the committee making the decision, and these little boys!

Need Prayers!!!!

I was just contacted about the possibility of getting a placement next week of a little baby boy with some special needs due to prematurity.  I am really excited about the possibility of him being placed with us, but right now it is just a possibility.  I told our RFC, the shelter worker that sent out the e-mail, and the RFC supervisor (who will be making the decision I think) that we are very interested in him, now it is just waiting time to see if we are chosen.  If you guys could pray for us to get this placement we would really appreciate it.  Thank you!!!

Bryan's "New" New Job

Interestingly enough, Bryan started a "new" new job this week.  Truthfully it is actually his old job with a promotion!  Last week his old boss called him and practically begged him to come back to work with them.  We negotiated on a few terms, and now Bryan is back to work with Aculis!  They just un-canceled our insurance and everything and we are all good.  It was sort of weird the way it happened, but I know everything happens for a reason.  We are in an even better situation than we were with Bryan's old-new job (confusing, I know).   I'm just so grateful for all of our blessings!!!

Musings on Life in General

I just have to say that I am feeling totally content with my life right now.  I mean, sure, there are things that I still want to happen, like getting a long term placement and maybe adopting, but for the most part I am really content and happy.  Bryan has a great job that he likes and that allows me to stay home with our kids.  We have a beautiful house to live in and cars to get around in.  I have 3 healthy and happy kids.  Life just seems really good right now.  I am still hoping that a placement comes sooner rather than later, and truthfully I am feeling that it will happen that way.  That is probably contributing to my feeling of well-being, but I'll take it however it comes.  And then tomorrow I will probably be back to being totally impatient for a placement.  So, I'll enjoy the contentment while it lasts.

Congratulations to Sarah!!!!

My SIL Sarah had her baby girl!!  Welcome to Khloe.  You're a big brother now Kolton!

T Is Gone

The kinship placement came through today, so we said goodbye to T today.  I'm glad we got to help such a special little girl in her time of need.  I talked to our RFC and he said that it will be easier for us to get placements now that we have had one under our belt, so that will be cool!

More About T

We are starting to get used to each other, and T is starting to get used to us.  It is really different dealing with a 2 year old after having almost 5 year olds as my youngest kids.  T can say a bunch of words - Thank you (Gan-koo), Mine (MINE!!!!), Mom (not mama, mom), No (of course), etc. I have to watch her while she is eating because she likes to put food up her nose.  Tonight I had the extreme pleasure of digging chicken out of it.  She goes down for a nap without a whimper, at least she did today.  She just said "Ni-Ni" and I didn't hear from her again for an hour.  I'm hoping tonight goes a little better now that she is more used to the house, but I'm not counting on it.  I'm sure it will be a while before everything gets to "normal" or at least a new version of it.  The kids have been great, all things considered.  I have a feeling that she will be going to kinship soon, but I won't get a better feel on the situation until I talk to her case worker, which I hope to do soon.  Thanks for all the well wishes!

First Night

Well, we made it through the night.  T sleeps in a crib in Ashley's room, and unfortunately Ashley has a pretty bad cold, so every time she would cough/sneeze/move T would wake up.  Plus, T decided wake-up time was 6 am, so we have one tired 2 year old.  Which makes for an interesting house full of kids.  Hopefully she will take a nap this afternoon.

T is Here!!!

We will call her T because of confidentiality issues with foster placements, but she is here and she is beautiful!!  She is getting along with all of the kids really well and she is fairly easy going.  I had forgotten how "babyish" 2 year olds are!  She loves to talk and laugh and chase Ashley with the doll stroller.  We don't know how long we will have her in our family, but we will love her for as long as she is here.

Placement!!

We're getting a placement!  She's a little 2 year old girl and we pick her up this afternoon.  I'll keep you posted!

Such a Loving Child

I came downstairs and saw that Ashley and Cierra were out in the backyard on the trampoline and the door to the deck was open.  Nobody was on the deck so I started to close the door, but Gavin yelled from the kitchen that he was going to go out there.  I turned to look at him, and he was filling up a large glass with water.  I asked him what he was doing and he said, "I'm going to make them go AHHHHHHHHH!"  I'm guessing you also have just gotten the mental image that I did at the time of Ashley and Cierra screaming after being drenched from above by a hysterically laughing Gavin.  I informed Gavin that was not a good idea, and he said, "AwwwwWWWW!"  Good try though, Gavin.

Now That It's Official...

I can tell you all about Bryan's NEW JOB!!  We found out the beginning of March that there was a good chance that the company he was with wouldn't have any more work for him to do after he finished the projects he was working on, so he started submitting for jobs.  Only 4 weeks after he started looking he landed a great job with a company called Solution Stream.  We are so blessed with the timing.  We got the offer letter on the day that was pretty much Bryan's last day with his old company, because there was nothing left for him to do, and he started with Solution Stream this week!  As things fell together, we won't be out even one day's pay or health insurance benefits at all!  Heavenly Father sure is taking care of us.  Bryan's new job is closer to home (less time to commute each day), a stable company, great benefits, and he'll be doing JAVA programming (which is what he loves).  We have been so blessed.  Congratulations Bryan!!!!

Grumpy Kid

Wow.  Gavin is a grumpy guy today.  He is so tired.  He usually goes to sleep by 7 every night, but the last two nights he has stayed up until 8-8:30, and boy are WE feeling it.  I really hope he goes to sleep on time tonight, so we can get our happy little guy back!

House last night.....SPOILER ALERT

DO NOT READ IF YOU DON'T WANT TO KNOW ABOUT THE TWIST FROM LAST NIGHT"S EPISODE OF HOUSE!!!!!!!!!

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I can't believe Kutner is dead!!!!!!  And Suicide???  Noooooooooooooo!  He was a favorite of mine.  He didn't really let House get to him, and he was funny, and I'm going to miss him.  I know that Kal Penn got a job with the Obama Administration, but Nooooooooooooooo!!!!!

Thyroiditis

That's what I have.  Something (a virus or antibodies that I am making) is attacking my thyroid and damaging it, causing it to swell and be overactive.  They did another blood test today to check for antibodies, which is what usually causes this.  The viral kind is rare, apparently.  I now take antithyroid drugs three times a day to reduce the amount of hormone released by my freaky thyroid.  I have to go in monthly for blood tests to check the amount of thyroid hormone being released to see if it is too high or too low and adjust my meds accordingly.  There is a chance that this will resolve on its own in 12-18 months (uggghhhh), but if they can't get my thyroid to behave and get the inflammation to go down (so I can swallow, talk, etc without feeling it) then we start talking about nuking it.  Hmmmmmm.....We'll see about that.

Don't....Wake....Up.....

I had a very nice dream this morning.  You know the kind that is so real that you don't know it's a dream until a few minutes after you wake up, and then you want to go back to sleep immediately to try to get back into the dream?  That is what I had this morning.  I dreamt that my life was pretty much the way it is now, except that I was 39 weeks pregnant with a boy.  The pregnancy was totally complication free and we were just waiting for him to be born.  It was wonderful, and I was sort of depressed when I realized it was just a dream.  Oh well.  Hopefully we will get a placement soon so that my subconscious (and fully conscious mind) will stop sending me baby messages.