Wow I cant believe tomorrow we get to have lunch with *******. I am so excited and super nervous. We are going out for Pizza and then back to where is stays to hang out. Tonight David bought him a colts jersey (his favorite football team) and a NY Yankees baseball cap (his fave baseball team). We had so much fun shopping for just the right gift I really hope he likes it. From what we have heard he is into any kinda of sport. We will not be taking to kids to lunch just yet. We want to let ***** get to know us before throwing two toddlers at him. I will say that i am excited to see how Solomon will do with him. He prays for ***** at every meal although I don't think he understands exactly who ******* is yet.
Please pray that all goes well and ****** doesn't think we are too crazy....
Friday, July 31, 2009
Thursday, July 30, 2009
July 30, 2009
Well it has been a few days and things are progressing. On Tuesday we were able to read **** file and learn all about him. We were prepared to hear some bad things, however he seems to be a really good kid. If we could have hand picked a child on paper it would have been him. I think he is going to fit perfectly into the family. The only worry I have is that he is a picky eater, but we know he likes pizza so I think we can deal with that. After reading his file we were able to have a conference with his case workers, supervisors, and therapist. WE are SO excited to finally have our first outing with him. We will be meeting him on Saturday for lunch (pizza) and then going back to where is living now and checking things out and hopefully shooting some "hoops". Am I getting the lingo right?
So after our meeting we are hoping we will get to start more regular visits with ******* without a case worker present. We have a weekend at a hotel and water park planned for next weekend, so we are hoping he can join us on Saturday for some fun.
Please continue to pray for God grace and devine intervention with the process. I know I am nervous and I cant imagine what he must feeling.....
So after our meeting we are hoping we will get to start more regular visits with ******* without a case worker present. We have a weekend at a hotel and water park planned for next weekend, so we are hoping he can join us on Saturday for some fun.
Please continue to pray for God grace and devine intervention with the process. I know I am nervous and I cant imagine what he must feeling.....
Monday, July 27, 2009
July 27, 2009
Wow what a weekend. We had friends come up to Orlando from Cape Coral to visit. They have 2 little girls, 4 & 3 that the boys loved playing with. We packed a lot into the weekend. Monkey Joe's, Sweet Tomatoes, Ikea, and lots of food and playing. I love when you get together with old friends and things just pick up right where they left off. God has defiantly blessed our family with great friends.
This week will also be filled with lots of fun stuff. We have our Disclosure meeting on Tuesday, on Wednesday we are having dinner with another couple who have recently adopted a teenage boy, and we hope to have our first meeting with ****** the end of the week or this weekend.
Please continue to pray for our family that we will follow God's leading not our own!!
This week will also be filled with lots of fun stuff. We have our Disclosure meeting on Tuesday, on Wednesday we are having dinner with another couple who have recently adopted a teenage boy, and we hope to have our first meeting with ****** the end of the week or this weekend.
Please continue to pray for our family that we will follow God's leading not our own!!
Friday, July 24, 2009
July 24, 2009
Today has been great. We spent the morning getting things settled back in after our trip to Punta Gorda. We had a great time visiting with friends. After cleaning up Solomon helped me make some home made pizza's. 
He did a great job, I think he ate more cheese than he put on the pizza's. Then Josiah helped mommy clean up.
The pizza's were super tasty and we had a blast.
Soon after lunch Josiah again fell asleep while playing. He plays way way to hard. 
We are looking foward to some friends coming into town today for the weekend. We are blessed to have great friends that come visit ofter.
We are looking foward to some friends coming into town today for the weekend. We are blessed to have great friends that come visit ofter.Thank God for all your friends and family!
Wednesday, July 22, 2009
OK, so I understand children have curiosity, however not once, not twice but three times today Josiah has gotten into the toilet bowl. This happened last month and I thought we were done. Today while I was at the gym Josiah climbed in once again. Then this afternoon I was talking to our case worker and he did it again. So I showered him changed him and with in 3 min. he was in there again. We have tried child proof locks (not Josiah proof), he can open the doors and can get though gates. I think we will dead bolt it tonight.
I hope this makes some of you laugh at a young mommy.
Also we got a for sure date of Tuesday morning for our disclosure meeting. Please continue to pray for our family during this time.
Tuesday, July 21, 2009
Hello all,
Well I have some great news. We finally got our APPROVED home study!!! WE are so excited. I believe our disclosure meeting is the beginning of next week and we can meet with ***** and his case worker the end of the week.
God has been so good. I know I complain about things taking to long, but most people I talk to say it has taken them at least a year to get where God has gotten us in 4 months. WOW
So I will keep you all up to date on how things are progressing.
In the mean time I have a cute story. Last Friday after lunch I let Solomon and his Friend watch a movie before nap time. I put Josiah in the exersaucer and went to check my email. So about 5 min. later it was way to quiet so I look over at Josiah and this is what I find.
Crazy huh, 5 min of playing can really wipe you out. LOL
Well I have some great news. We finally got our APPROVED home study!!! WE are so excited. I believe our disclosure meeting is the beginning of next week and we can meet with ***** and his case worker the end of the week.
God has been so good. I know I complain about things taking to long, but most people I talk to say it has taken them at least a year to get where God has gotten us in 4 months. WOW
So I will keep you all up to date on how things are progressing.
In the mean time I have a cute story. Last Friday after lunch I let Solomon and his Friend watch a movie before nap time. I put Josiah in the exersaucer and went to check my email. So about 5 min. later it was way to quiet so I look over at Josiah and this is what I find.
Crazy huh, 5 min of playing can really wipe you out. LOL
Sunday, July 19, 2009
July 19, 2009
For those of you who don't know David and I for the last 4 months have been taking steps in the process to adopt a teenage boy. A friend asked me to give an ideal of what the process has been like thus far. So I will try and remember everything, but I am sure I will leave a few things out.
Let me start by saying that I have always wanted to adopt since I was little, so when doctors told David and Myself that we may never have children we started discussing the topic. Well as most of you know David and I did have two kids. (God knows and doctors don't!) Anyways so after Josiah was born adopting was laying heavy on my heart. So for the next several months David and I talked generally about adopting. It was not until March of this year that we felt the time was right to explore the process and see what all it would in tel. On March 16th we took the informational class which consisted of a few hours giving a small synopsis of how the process works. After that we decided to go ahead and take the MAPP class. (Model Approach to Partnership and Parenting). This class was eye opening. On March 26 we took the first class, or orientation. Followed by a month of MAPP training two nights a week. And thank you to the Aust family for watching and caring for the two little ones while we learning and gaining information on foster care and adoption. The MAPP classes are for both Foster and Adoption, and I believe depending on who does the class it will learn towards more foster or more adoption. Our trainer was a case worker for Foster Care. She was a great teacher, however she tried on many occasions to get us as well as others to foster rather than adopt. Knowing they need good families to help them foster these children, I do NOT understand why they would try and change a family from wanting to take a child FOR LIFE and ask them to be a temporary care giver. Anyways, the MAPP class's purpose is to:
-Prepare you for the role of fostering and adopting
-Decide if the time is right for you to foster/adopt
-Work with agency to assure safety, well-being, and permanence for children
-Decide if you are willing and able to partner with other adults important to the child
Over all the class was great. We learned alot about ourselves but most importantly that there are too many children in foster care and that God was calling us to help.
During the class we learned that Devereux was backed up with Home Studies for almost a year. So we decided that we would contact Kids Hope United which was able to start on our Home Study right away. Our last class was on May 11th and David and I had our finger prints done on May 14th thus starting the home study process.
Since then we have had 3 home visits by a wonderful case worker! And since we were having trouble getting fingerprints back Kids Hope made special arrangement for us to attend the Adoption Event on June 27th. At the event we met about 5-6 teenage boys that all touched our hearts, however there was one young man that we think we clicked with very well.
Since the event we have just recently gotten all fingerprints back and our Home Study is at the State for approval. We should have is back early this week.
Our next step will be our "disclosure meeting". This is where we will get to read all information on ***** that Kids Hope has. They do this so that families will know exactly what they are getting in to. As well as we may be meeting with doctors, therapist and case workers. This part of the process is extremely important to me. Because David and I have two small children we have to ensure that their safety is number one. So please be praying that is all goes well this week. After the disclosure I believe that we can start getting together with *****. From what I have been told ***** wants to take things very very slow. Which is OK with us. We understand he has been though so much and we want this process to go at his speed!
So I hope this explains some of the process of adopting out of Foster Care. If anyone reading this is interested in getting more information about Foster Care or Adopting I have given a link to the Metro Orlando Heart Gallery where you can get any information you may need.
http://www.heartgallerymetroorlando.org/
Let me start by saying that I have always wanted to adopt since I was little, so when doctors told David and Myself that we may never have children we started discussing the topic. Well as most of you know David and I did have two kids. (God knows and doctors don't!) Anyways so after Josiah was born adopting was laying heavy on my heart. So for the next several months David and I talked generally about adopting. It was not until March of this year that we felt the time was right to explore the process and see what all it would in tel. On March 16th we took the informational class which consisted of a few hours giving a small synopsis of how the process works. After that we decided to go ahead and take the MAPP class. (Model Approach to Partnership and Parenting). This class was eye opening. On March 26 we took the first class, or orientation. Followed by a month of MAPP training two nights a week. And thank you to the Aust family for watching and caring for the two little ones while we learning and gaining information on foster care and adoption. The MAPP classes are for both Foster and Adoption, and I believe depending on who does the class it will learn towards more foster or more adoption. Our trainer was a case worker for Foster Care. She was a great teacher, however she tried on many occasions to get us as well as others to foster rather than adopt. Knowing they need good families to help them foster these children, I do NOT understand why they would try and change a family from wanting to take a child FOR LIFE and ask them to be a temporary care giver. Anyways, the MAPP class's purpose is to:
-Prepare you for the role of fostering and adopting
-Decide if the time is right for you to foster/adopt
-Work with agency to assure safety, well-being, and permanence for children
-Decide if you are willing and able to partner with other adults important to the child
Over all the class was great. We learned alot about ourselves but most importantly that there are too many children in foster care and that God was calling us to help.
During the class we learned that Devereux was backed up with Home Studies for almost a year. So we decided that we would contact Kids Hope United which was able to start on our Home Study right away. Our last class was on May 11th and David and I had our finger prints done on May 14th thus starting the home study process.
Since then we have had 3 home visits by a wonderful case worker! And since we were having trouble getting fingerprints back Kids Hope made special arrangement for us to attend the Adoption Event on June 27th. At the event we met about 5-6 teenage boys that all touched our hearts, however there was one young man that we think we clicked with very well.
Since the event we have just recently gotten all fingerprints back and our Home Study is at the State for approval. We should have is back early this week.
Our next step will be our "disclosure meeting". This is where we will get to read all information on ***** that Kids Hope has. They do this so that families will know exactly what they are getting in to. As well as we may be meeting with doctors, therapist and case workers. This part of the process is extremely important to me. Because David and I have two small children we have to ensure that their safety is number one. So please be praying that is all goes well this week. After the disclosure I believe that we can start getting together with *****. From what I have been told ***** wants to take things very very slow. Which is OK with us. We understand he has been though so much and we want this process to go at his speed!
So I hope this explains some of the process of adopting out of Foster Care. If anyone reading this is interested in getting more information about Foster Care or Adopting I have given a link to the Metro Orlando Heart Gallery where you can get any information you may need.
http://www.heartgallerymetroorlando.org/
Thursday, July 16, 2009
July 13, 2009
So the day started off good with a nice work out and then the library. We always have so much fun at the library. Solomon loves to play with the computers that he does not know how work, but just moving the mouse around seems to be good enough for him. Today was Josiah's first time crawling around and picking out books. I think he chooses them by taste. And of course we could not forget the movie. Every week my little T.V. junkie gets to pick a movie out. Today it was Robin hood.
Speaking of the little guys are getting up from their nap as I type. So I guess that is all for today.
Speaking of the little guys are getting up from their nap as I type. So I guess that is all for today.
Friday, July 10, 2009
July 10, 2009
Well we finally got out of the house after being inside for 3 days. I hate when one of us is not feeling well. Being inside with 2 rowdy boys for a few days is CRAZY! I hate that we live in a society where you can not open you door and tell the kids go have fun. I remember growing up and never being inside. We found all kinds of games and trouble to get into outside. Now you have to watch them every second. I wish David and I had about 20acres gated off so no crazy people could get in. Then the boys could run around outside, play in the dirt, climb trees, all while I sit in the air condition house. Just kidding. But I do wish we lived where they could run freely with out worry.
However I am grateful for what God has given us. We have a beautiful home, wonderful family, and are blessed beyond measure.
I pray that my children know how blessed we are and that they be forever grateful to God for all He does for us.
However I am grateful for what God has given us. We have a beautiful home, wonderful family, and are blessed beyond measure.
I pray that my children know how blessed we are and that they be forever grateful to God for all He does for us.
Thursday, July 9, 2009
July 9, 2009
So I have been thinking about starting a blog for a month or so and finally took the big step. I needed an outlet to my everyday life. I am the wife to the most wonderful husband I could ever have hoped for. He is my rock and keeps my sane in this insane world. We currently have two children. Solomon who is almost 3 and continues to amaze me everyday. Josiah just turned one and makes me love harded everyday. We are also in the process of adopting a teenage boy. We are super excited that God trust us enough to care for another child. I expected the process to go by alot slower than it has. Our first orientatin was in May and in June we met the young man we would like to adopt. He is 14 years old and loves sports. Because of all the hurts he has been through we are taking things a little slower now. We are hoping to take him to a Yankees game at the end of July. But of course we are still waiting on the approved home study. Everything is done, except my mother-in-laws finger prints. Hopefully not to much longer though.
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