They say it makes the heart grow fonder.
My absence has been for good reason though, so let me try to quickly share.
As some of you know, about 2 1/2 years ago, we became foster parents. We had two sisters, ages 4 & 6 for about a month before they went on to live with another family. There were many emotions wrapped up in a small package and after the experience we put foster parenting on hold and eventually turned in our license. We had set a goal to move to our own little homestead for a life of more self-sufficiency and discussed the possibility of getting back into foster care once we were on the farm.
Fast forward 2 years and we aren’t on that farm nor do we know when that might happen. We’ve put many things on hold while we have been waiting to make that dream our reality, including foster care so for many personal reasons, we decided to reinstate our foster care license. Our reinstatement was quick and we got our license in the mail about 1 1/2 weeks ago with the expectation that we wouldn’t get a call until after our late summer/early fall trip. Imagine my surprise when our licensing worker called late Thursday afternoon about two brothers, ages 7 months and 3 years, who were sitting in the Department of Children and Family Services office and in need of a home. So many things went thru my mind in a matter of seconds, including the fact that hubby was out-of-town on business and wouldn’t return until Saturday night. Then I said, “We’ll take them” and our life has been full of craziness ever since. Not that our life wasn’t crazy before, but taking in two little guys who have been thru so much in such a short period of time adds an element of craziness that is difficult to explain.
As expected, we have had some challenging moments – A 3-yr-old with big feelings that have come out in some tough behaviors and a baby, who I now know is almost 9 months old, and who doesn’t feel comfortable enough to fall asleep (he only slept about 6 hours during the first 24 hours here and hasn’t improved a lot since then). But we’ve also had some very enjoyable moments like watching Naomi and the 3-yr-old (who I’ll call TT) laugh and play together. Or seeing the baby (who I’ll call TK) finally smile and belly laugh. Although some of the most enjoyable moments have been watching Lili care for TK. It’s the first time she’s spent this much time with a baby and she has been so gentle and nurturing. She got the first smile from TK and he lights up when she walks in the room.
I know we have many more tough moments ahead of us, but I also know that we’ll have many more enjoyable moments ahead as well. We just have to ride the waves and do the best we can.
Longer periods of absence here seem inevitable right now. Please know it’s not that I have forgotten about my little blog and it’s not that we’re put our homesteading dreams aside. While we’re waiting and hoping for our homestead goal to fall in place, we’ve accepted a very important role as caregiver for two cute little boys who need our love, nurturing and family right now.
I hope you’ll check in from time-to-time and I’ll do my best to update any chance I get.
worldofweeks 
Wow! Exciting times at your house. Don’t you have a trip coming up? How does that work with the boys? What a very neat experience…and how very fortunate those boys are to have you in their life, no matter for how long.
Before the boys arrived, hubby had some stuff come up at work that was putting a crimp in our trip plans. When traveling though, we just get permission to take them with us. Permission is typically granted, so they would just go with us.
WOW!! What a change! When you get time…lol… Kate and Lili may be distant cousins!
Wow, you have been busy. We were never brave enough to do foster care, so I say “good on ya”!
You are truely, “in the trenches”. We are too. But not in exactly the same way. I’m glad there are people who will step up to the plate. It is so needed.
We are slowly, and I do mean slowly, getting this house fixed up toward selling. It is now partly painted outside, partly bathroom redone in, as well as the old deck off and the new deck half on. The stairs arrived yesterday while we were gone, so we can now go down from the deck to the yard. Mostly it looks a mess because nothing is finished. The dog chews Sheetrock, and I mean Sheetrock that is still on the walls, so it is a battle to keep what doesn’t need repair from getting added to the repair list. She also chews the subfloor, if she can get at it. Who knew a dog could do that?
April. (Still in AK)
There is good and bad in foster care. Ultimately, we want what is best for these two little boys and hope we can make a difference in their lives, no matter how long they happen to be here.