It seems like a lifetime ago we were shedding tears over the Baby Girl that left our care to go live with her aunt and uncle.  In such a short time, she had stolen our hearts and we had to have a family meeting to decide if we wanted to continue doing foster care.

Since that time, two more foster kiddos left our care and we added four more.

One of the kiddos we added was another Baby Girl who happened to be born the day our first Baby Girl left us.

Another tiny little girl weighing about 6 lbs, with beautiful light brown skin and dark curly hair entered our lives.

Each week she would head off with a transporter to go visit her parents and siblings.  I would leave a couple of hours later to pick her up, having a little time to chat with her parents, sometimes getting to see her siblings before taking her back home.

The months went on and we wondered if it would be our last month with her.  After all, bio family first is the goal in the Texas foster care system and her case worker would come to visit some months telling us they were considering a family member who could take her.  The next month she would tell us it didn’t work out for one reason or another and then they would move on to another and another and another.  

But today we are celebrating this beautiful baby girl who is becoming more beautiful as she gets older.

She is no longer that tiny baby that entered our home and our hearts almost one year ago.

Today she turns 1!

She is standing and cruising the furniture.

She is beginning to talk.

She loves her daddy, mommy,  and sisters, but is a mommy’s girl most of all.

She is not a crawler, but gets around quickly by scooting on her bottom all over the house.

She likes playing with her toys and getting into things she shouldn’t, like the dog’s water bowl.

She loves being on the go and is happiest when she is with us.

She has one of the worst cases of stranger danger I’ve ever seen in a baby, crying when anyone she doesn’t know or doesn’t see often even talks to her.  Heaven forbid they should touch her.  Fortunately, she is getting a little better as she gets older.

In December, the judge terminated her parent’s rights.  CPS changed the goal to non-relative adoption and if all continues as planned, in the next 4-5 months, she will legally become part of the World of Weeks and I can then share photos of her beautiful little face.

Until then, Happy Birthday A.N.!  Our beautiful little girl!!!!

I made it back to the Seattle area.

Lili, Naomi, Baby Girl and I flew to Seattle, via Missoula, for a girl’s weekend.  Hubby held down the fort with our other three and it was a much-needed and wonderful trip.

I can’t believe it took me so long to get back to the Pacific NW.  I suppose it was due to  the fact that we were taking trips elsewhere, doing foster care, making a move to Texas, doing foster care again, and living life.  I’m just glad I managed to get back up there for a visit and my girls LOVED it!!  At different times, they both said they wanted to live there.  Considering the fact that hubby works for a company based in that area, I suppose it’s possible that could happen one day.

Here are a few pictures from our quick trip.

We didn’t have time to much, but the girls both loved the Market.  We went on Day 1 and Day 2.  I’m quite sure we would have gone again if we had more time.

Their favorite part of the market may have been the crepes, although Naomi wouldn’t leave the fish area until she got to see them throw a fish.  She was not disappointed.

Before we knew it, we were on our way back to Dallas, but not before the girls suggested we come back and bring daddy with us.

Good-bye Seattle, until next time!!!

Another year has come and gone.

2018 has been a memorable year in the World of Weeks.

We said good-bye to our foster baby who had been with us 1 day shy of 4 months.

We welcomed our foster baby at 5 day of age, straight from the hospital.  She was born the day foster baby #1 left.

We said good-bye to two of our foster kiddos.  The sisters arrived shortly before Christmas, were with us about 3 months before moving on to be reunited with their older sister.

We welcomed back our first two foster kiddos.  They had left our care 7 months earlier and a few weeks prior to arriving back in our home, had gone back to live with their parents.  It was such a bitter-sweet call to receive, but we happily said yes.  9 1/2 months later, they are still with us.

We filled our last bed, welcoming foster kiddo #4.  She arrived the week before Christmas and has been slow to adjust.  It’s never “easy” though and we’ll work to help her as much as we can while she’s here.

Sadly, we witnessed the termination of parental rights on our foster baby and happily were told we can adopt her in six months.

We had friends and family come for a visit.

We took a trip back to Illinois to visit friends and family, then headed to Florida for a few days on the beach.

We spent time with family and friends.

We made new friends.

We welcomed new nieces/cousins to the family.

Sadly, we said good-bye to some friends and family this year as well.

In a few hours, 2019 will arrive.  We anticipate many good things in the upcoming year and hope the New Year brings wonderful things your way too!

Happy New Year!!!!

In an effort to get back on track writing blog posts, I’m going to try NaNoWriMo for the month.

It’s not that there aren’t things to write about, it’s more about a struggle with how much to share and there is certainly a novel floating around somewhere in my brain.

So here’s hoping I have a successful month of blog writing.