Starting to walk....

.....but still crawling most of the time! Here is a short video:

Mmmm...yummy goodness!!!

A few days ago I busted out the good ole canned jellied cranberry sauce.  No special reason, other than it just sounded good.  Yummmm.  So fess up, are my husband, Ladybug and I the only ones who like this stuff??  Admit it, you know you like it......  :) 

More non-compliance

This morning I loaded up the car, with kids that is, and headed for the "visitation destination".  Snuggle Bug's mom was there, which I expected.  But Peanut's 'mom' was a no-show!  This is the first time she's missed both visits for the week (Tuesday she called in sick / cancelled).  Her actions, or lack of, are speaking volumes here.  If she doesn't REALLY want her child, then we REALLY wish she would start being honest with herself, and the case manager, and do the right thing for Peanut.  ( LOL!!   I must be crazy to think it would be that simple....)

The "Bug" sisters.....

Well I'm so happy to say that Ladybug and Snuggle Bug had a really good night tonight.  They seemed to be relaxed around each other, and they were actually laughing together at something.  It's slowly becoming less crazy around here.  Of course, no matter what, there will always be hectic days, but I feel that the "Bugs" are making baby steps each day toward accepting each other and figuring each other out :)  It's encouraging to see them interacting nicely. 

It's hard to believe the day is done; time goes by so stinkin' fast!

little Peanut is growing

Here is a somewhat recent mug shot.....:)

sunglasses and hats

Ladybug and I were being silly at Target today......

Snuggle Bug photos

more photos, of course!

Today was a pretty crazy day for us all, but a good day.  We went to Peanut's dispositional hearing this morning and got to sit down and talk with his case manager for about 30 minutes, which was VERY informative.  His mom was supposed to be there at 9:00 and showed up at 10:00..... 

It's wonderful that foster parents have the right to be at these hearings.  I know all foster parents do not go, but we want to be involved in any way possible, so we will continue to go to all of them for both Peanut and Snuggle Bug.  We got to court at 9:20 AM and I got home at 11:05, having to then leave again at 11:30 to take Peanut for a 12:00 visitation.  My husband's cousin and my mom helped out tremendously by watching the kids, in shifts; one in the morning and one in the afternoon.  If they had not been available I would have had to miss the hearing, so we're very thankful for their help! 

It was nice walking into the court room and being recognized by the Magistrate and greeted with a smile.  She's familiar with Ladybug's case so she remembers us.  She knows we now have her sis, to which she said "Yes!!" with a big smile.  I'm sure we'll be in that same court room in another week or so for the dispositional hearing for Snuggle Bug's case, so she'll be seeing a lot of us!  We've always gone before this same Magistrate each time we've been to court in the past 18 months, and she's really good.  She has a tough job, but she does it very well. 

So, I have to say that the transition from two to three kids has gone a little bit smoother than I anticipated. (partly because we've had so many meals brought to us by family members - we haven't had to think about making dinner for several days now.)  There have been some rough spots, but we've already made progress with Snuggle Bug and some of her fears are subsiding a bit.  She's starting to get more comfortable here.  There is much more ahead, but we've been so happy with the small milestones we've reached with her so far!

Ladybug, on the other hand, is proceeding with caution in this very new situation.  She has shown us by her actions that she's not so very thrilled about this new little girl being here, at least some of the time.  It's like half of her has accepted Snuggle Bug, and the other half is still holding out.  She's really good and sweet to her much of the time, and then she'll do things like grab her toy away from her and push her, or just push her, which makes Snuggle Bug cry and cry.  Nothing too crazy, but it's something we'll be working on with her.  All in good time........ 

.....and all in all, they are sweet and amazingly loveable children; so very loveable!     

YES!

I got a call from Ladybug's case manager this morning.  Ladybug's bio mom signed off her parental rights voluntarilly!  So there will be no trial Friday.  We will be able to move forward with the adoption!  However, this afternoon is the detention / CHINS hearing for Snuggle Bug (Ladybug's little sis).  We're hoping the judge will look at the evidence and decide she is indeed a Child In Need of Services.  And, on another note, Peanut's mom was a "no show" for yesterday's visit.  Thursday is the dispositional hearing for his case..... lots going on this week with ALL of their cases. 

This blog is becoming mostly a photo blog, at least lately.  It's much quicker to post photos than it is to actually write something!  My time is obviously divided up a little differently these days.  LOL!!  We now live in a house of chaos - just kidding :)  It's not really been too bad, considering the circumstances.  I think we tend to underestimate ourselves, but we're very capable of managing these three little rascals.  It was just more intense because we went from one to three kids in a little over one month.  And so this journey continues..

3 Under The Age Of 3...

...at least for now.  Here are some pictures of the gang.  Snuggle Bug is sleeping soundly in her crib right now!

3:00 AM Call from CPS

It's 3:06 AM and I know I'm nuts for blogging right now, but I guess I'm just a little crazy at the moment.  I was up with Peanut and the phone rang.  I thought maybe it was a wrong number, but it was a woman from CPS asking if we would take Ladybug's little sister.  She said they were detaining her and they knew we already had her sister.  I'm a little concerned because something must have happened for them to have gotten a call at 3 in the morning.  We'll find out more details when she brings her over in a short while.

3 Cheers For Crayola!!

My brother and sister in law got Ladybug some finger paints for Christmas.  For whatever reason, we just got around to using them for the first time today.  She had a lot of fun creating her masterpieces!  What's really cool is there was absolutely NO MESS!  Not one drip, drop or spec of color to clean off of her clothes, or the table or floor, OR her face  :)  I had never seen this product before and I was very pleasantly surprised. ( If you want to check it out, just click on the word 'product' above. )  All of the other art supplies we have are the regular messy kind, and that's fun too, but this stuff is pretty neat.  The colors appear on the paper a couple seconds after the clear gel is artistically smeared about, via little kid fingers.  Ladybug agreed that it was MAGIC and repeated this several times as she dazzled us with her paintings - "look, it's magic!!"

Yes, I thought to myself, it's magic alright......clear gel paint.....wow....it's really magic.

 

Sounds good to me

Hubby talked to the attorney later toady.  What the situation amounts to is Ladybug's bio mom may be voluntarily signing off her rights.  So next Friday may consist of us all showing up in court for her to sign off.  He will contact us when he knows for sure.

To be, or not to be...

I heard from one of the DCS attorneys today.  He said there may not be a trial now, and that he will be in touch as soon as he knows more.  This came as a complete surprise to me.  So now what??

An Update.....

and I must say, a pretty redundant update!  You're not surprised I'm sure, at this point, to read that Peanut was supposed to have a two hour visit with "mom" today and it was cancelled.  I arrived at the visitation five minutes early, after having fed and changed diaper and outfit on the baby;  after having fed, dressed and fixed hair for a sassy 2.5 year old; and after gathering said baby and sassy 2.5 year old and hoisting them into the car with fully stocked diaper bag in tow, ONLY to find out that just then, five minutes before the visit was to begin, "mom" calls visitation venue to report she's waiting for her ride to pick her up and not even sure they'll show up.  I'm told by the social worker that I can wait for her to arrive, around 20 minutes or so....or I can go.  I did not wait around.  The visit was cancelled.  The social worker appologized for me having to drive all the way there.  I smiled and shrugged my shoulders saying it was ok.  It certainly wasn't her fault that the mom called at the last minute.   Well, next visitation is scheduled for Thursday - we'll see how it goes. 

(Here are a few photos from Christmas Eve that my brother took, and one that my mom took.  Better late than never... :)

Time flies

Wow. The last 28 days have been life changing, magical and emotional; humbling, exhausting and relaxing; stressful, sleepless and snuggly; most of all though, these past days have been just plain wonderful. One month ago today Peanut was born, at 10:02 AM. We were blessed 48 hours later when we picked him up from the hospital.

He keeps us on our toes and keeps us up at night. He makes the funniest, cutest faces and is a squirmy little rascal, making diaper changing slightly more challenging at times :) He has also become quite the little piggie, and if you don't have that bottle ready the moment he wants it, watch out! He cries so hard and makes the saddest pouty lipped face ever!! Uh huh, he's a good eater alright.

Another fun thing is that he seems to be tolerating baths these days. In the beginning he screamed through the whole ordeal, but the last three baths have been great for him - no crying until the very end when he's had enough of being tolerant. If I can get him dried off, powdered and diapered before he pees or poops then I'm doing good!

These last 28 days have been life changing for Ladybug too. Although she accepted him right away and acts just like a little mommy to him, I wish I could read her mind to find out exactly what she's been thinking. There's no doubt she's had some adjusting to do, as any child does when there's a new baby, but she's handled it all so well. She's done nothing that shows jealousy toward him, which is so wonderful! My mom told me that none of us were jealous when she came home with a new baby, and there are five of us! I actually remember the day my younger sister came home from the hospital. It's like we were all in awe of the new baby. From then on I always wanted to be around her and help with things. That's pretty much how Ladybug has been. She's doing great.

Here is a short video, taken this morning.....and some recent photos.

It's all about the babies

This morning at 11:00 one of the workers involved in Peanut's case came to our home to see him.  It was uneventful, but really nice talking with her.  A few minutes before she rang our doorbell I got a phone call informing me that "mom" cancelled today's visit with Peanut.  YAY for me because I don't have to drag him and Ladybug out in the snowy weather we're having.  More importantly though, "mom" isn't starting off too well with all this.  She's attended 50% of the scheduled visits to date.  But, so be it.  That's just two more hours I get to spend bonding with him, and kissing those sweet little chubby cheeks!!  YAY!!  Yay for me!

On another note, today is also Ladybug's sister's birthday - she's one year old  :)    When we fostered her she was only two months old, and we only had her for sixteen days.  We haven't seen her since July or August, but we've been told she's doing fine.  Bio mom still doesn't have her life together though.  Our case manager told us DCS is involved on an in-home basis on little sis's behalf.  At this point there's not enough evidence to support taking her out of the home since her uncle and grandmother also live there, meaning she's being taken care of when "mom" isn't around.  If the situation gets worse, then they'll detain her again and we'll get a phone call about fostering her again.  Time will tell all. 

Happy Birthday little sis!! (Snuggle Bug)

photos taken when she was around two months old.

                                                    

Ladybug's case manager is coming over next week to discuss the upcoming TPR trial.  Today they're having a meeting about her case and the trial, etc....  so she'll have all the information for us when we meet with her.  Maybe it's wrong, but I'm going to think positively and assume DCS will win the case.  What I'm gearing myself up for is the fact that "mom" will most likely appeal the decision, which is totally within her rights to do.  The downside to an appeal would be the case dragging on for who knows how much longer.  Well, we'll find out soon enough.  Before ya know it we'll be walking out of that courtroom, and God willing, with smiles on our faces.  For now though we can't help but be nervous.   

One last thought....It's been snowing all day, more is on the way, so they say.......by the way, have a good day :)   

Not my own words...

...for I seem to have nothing even remotely interesting to say today  :)  Therefore, I'll share a thought provoking quote out of a book I received as a Christmas gift from my niece:

"Being taken for granted can be a compliment.  It means that you've become a comfortable, trusted person in another person's life."  Joyce Brothers

Hmmm......yes, that's a great way to look at it.   

By the way, Happy New Year to all!

Peanut is growing

This Friday Peanut will be one month old.  It's amazing how quickly babies change and grow.  Newborn size diapers are a thing of the past.  His little face is starting to fill out, as you can see from the picture below where Grandma (my mom-in-law) is holding him on New Year's Day.  I didn't realize it when I took the picture, but Grandma's eyes were half open and it made her look like she was on drugs or something.  LOL!!!   :)    So I cropped the picture and zoomed in on Peanut.  He's such a sweetie pie.