~A bit excited~

In mid October we inquired about a sibling group of 2. They are in another state. At that time I was worried we would not be considered because of our location but was told families in other states would be considered. Sometimes there are reasons why a child or children would need to stay in their current state.

I have been waiting to hear more on the sibling group. No emails came and their status had not changed on the site I found their information on. So last night I emailed the notifying party to see if there was more information we could get.

I already got an email back! Just getting a response back is huge. These social workers are so busy that they often times can't return all emails. I was super surprised to hear back so quickly.

This is what I was told:

Yes I have your home study and your family is on the list as a possible resource but right now the judge has ordered that we also prepare the girls for reunification with the father and still  pursue possible adoption resources just in case reunification does not take place. So I have been doing both and I am keeping you guys on the list of resources.

I know this doesn't mean I need to go out shopping for these children and it might not become more than we're a possibility. However, it does give us a little hope and we are excited our home study wasn't just tossed in the trash!

~Alayna Lee Agnes~

My sweet baby girl, Alayna Lee Agnes has turned 3 years old.

Makes me happy and sad all the same time.

She came into this world at just 8 pounds one ounce. Still a small little one about 28 pounds!

 

 

She loves to be silly and has the cutest laugh.

 

She loves her puppy Daisy and posing for pictures.

She loves Minnie Mouse, Strawberry Shortcake, purple, pink,

Let it go movie as she calls it (Frozen).

 

 

She favorite foods are gogurt, cheese, pizza,

and chocolate milk.

She loves candy, chocolate and other sweets too.

She is not a very good eater.

 

Of course she looks a lot like her big sister Maddison!

 

Alayna is 100% a daddy's girl but

no matter what she says she will always be my baby!

~Snowy day tidbits~

Not a lot to post except today we are getting our first real snow fall/ snow storm for the winter. I am sure it won't be the last. We went out to play at 9:15am! The kids would have really liked to gone out sooner but I made them eat breakfast first. How mean, right?!?!

Not much new on the adoption/ foster care issue. We did inquire 25 days ago about a young girl. I hadn't heard anything last week so I emailed the person in charge of the inquiry. He got back to me on Friday letting me know that because of the state where the girl is located they can not share information with me directly. They have to speak to our Social Worker first and she can then get in contact with Danny and I. Of course this stuff all takes time and Social Workers are always busy. I sent him the information for my worker and hope that I hear something, anything, soon. I know we need to trust in God's timing. This just takes so long. I read an article in our paper yesterday about a family near by who adopted 2 children a couple years ago and are now in the mists of adopting 2 more! So I know this does happen.

Mason our sweet boy who is full of energy is giving us a workout. He sure knows how to get the house wound up. He doing well in preschool. He gets on the bus with no problem. He gets off the bus giggling and will often times either lift up his shirt or yell "Underwear". I met with his team of teachers last week and he has met all the goals he had on his IEP. He was retested and no longer qualifies for an IEP! (they test children every 3 years and he had been tested when he was 2)

The big girls are doing well in school. Abby took a week to be lazy but picked back up and made up for it with 2 perfect spelling tests the last couple of week. She has learned how beneficial studying can be. I have learned to stay on her toes more. Maddison seems to have picked up on the spelling thing! She sure does not get that from her mom or dad. Jade had a report card last week and it was all A's and B's! She is getting ready to make pajama pants in sewing class.

Then there is our little Alayna. She has been busy with her friends as she calls them (daycare kids). She loves going for rides in her van. If you ask her what she wants for supper its always Pizza Ranch!

~Cherishing the moments~

Bedtime, or bednight as Mason would call it, has been tricky since he was about two years old. About the time he started sleeping in a bed rather than a crib. He would wake up about 3-5 times a night. Some nights were worse than others. He would often times kick and cry. Other times he would just toss and turn like he was uncomfortable. Thankfully as he has gotten older those 3-5 times have gotten to 0-1 times a night.

The thing is getting him to sleep is where we now struggle. We can pretty much bet money on the deal that once we say bedtime its another 30-40 minutes before he arrives to his bed. There are always those extra drinks, extra snacks, potty breaks, teeth brushing... all those things we already asked him to take care of. Sometimes he already did all that but insists on doing it all over again.

Once he finally lays down we spend about 2-3 minutes talking about the day. Then he has to have a story. Stories have to include transformers and there has to be fighting. I really wish I would have started writing these things down. Its not easy to come up with them at the last minute.

Tonight the story include Farmer Matt who called the transformers to take care of the farm animals because he had to go see Big Ted! While caring for the animals the bad transformers came and tried to steal the tractor. The transformers yelled at them and told them to leave. They started fighting. The chickens got out and fought the bad transformers and they ran away. Of course I told it more detail but who has fighting chickens anyways?

I have learned that the story has to be told for him to go to bed. Taking the story away because getting into bed takes too long only makes for a nightmare of a situation.

After the story is over I often times quietly pray to God that he helps Mason have more good days than bad. Other times I fall asleep!

I know there will be a day when Mason looks at me and tells me he is too old to have his mom lay with him.

Until then I am going to cherish these moments, even when there are struggles!

~We Wait~

Our home study was complete and emailed to California just in time to be reviewed for a sibling group. It was one boy and one girl. They are 3 and 4 years old. Sadly we have heard we were not a match at this time. A lot of it could be that we are not located in California and a family that inquired is located there and suitable for the children. I got myself to excited about these children and even had myself looking up prices for plane tickets to California. I know that trusting in God's plan is best and this just wasn't in his plans for us.

Things move slow, too slow for my likely. There are so many children out there that need homes. There are so many things to consider when placing these children. There are several sibling groups and single children that are to be placed with no other children because of their special needs. There are also some children who should be the youngest in the home based on their past or current needs. There are also children who need to stay in a certain state because they have family they can't live with but that they need to stay in contact with. There are many older children but we agreed that we do not want children older than our children are right now. We have learned that its tough on children if you change their birth order when adding a child to your home. Danny and I have agreed that Jade is always to be our oldest and Alayna should stay our youngest. We will consider a child younger than Alayna if we feel strongly that they would be a good fit for our family.

I am tying to stay hopeful that the right child is out there for us. We wait. I check the website daily to see if anything pops up. I check my email way too many times in a day. Sometimes I wonder if my phone even works because it never rings. One of these days though I know I will get that phone call or email.

Until then we wait.

~Wynn life book~

I have been working on a life book. I haven't ordered it yet but I think I am finished with it. Please tell me what you think! Click HERE to take a peak! If you are not familiar with what a life book is I can explain it. Its a simple book to show others a little bit about your life. This is ideal for children who might come into our home. We can share this with them before they come to stay with us. If I add anything to the book it would be a page with some photos of extended family like my siblings and our parents.

~Responses~

Sometimes when emailing people you don't get the full effect of their response as you might if you were talking to them in person. You can't see their facial expressions or hear their tone of voice. Maybe not a big deal if you are just talking about a new recipe or what you did over the weekend.

In my case I am stumped and wish I would have spoken in person with my social worker. I emailed her telling her that Danny and I inquired about a sibling group of two children. Honestly I don't know much about them. Its tricky how this works. They give you a quick narrative and small photo. They probably sugar coat it a bit and only tell you the really good stuff. That is why you inquire about them and wait for more information. Just because you inquire doesn't mean the child or children will soon become yours. Some things also vary by state. Certain states can share upfront some medical things and other states have privacy issues until you get approved to be shown the child's case.

Anyways, I told the Social Worker about our inquiry. She emailed me back and said, How exciting. I will hopefully get your home study typed up this week. Maybe I can set aside some time to get it done.

We can't do anything but sit here until our home study is typed up. Without it we can't share any of our information with other social workers. Its frustrating. Its kind of like playing a game when you are 3 years old and it seems like it takes forever to get around the circle for your turn again. I am not a huge fan of waiting for things I want.

Fast forward a few hours.... my phone rings. I answer. There is a lady on the other line from an adoption exchange program calling to tell me that yes indeed the children I inquired about are still available to be adopted, yes they can be adopted by a white couple in Minnesota. I responded by thanking her for the call. I asked what the next step was. Did you guess home study. If so you are right! I tell the lady our social worker is working on it and hopefully we can get it to her in time to be reviewed.

I email my social worker telling her the lady called me and as soon as I get the proper mailing address or fax information I would get it to her. She emails me back and says, I am concerned they would allow the children to be adopted out of state and worry they are not telling us something we should know. I feel because of their age they should be easy to place in their home state. Out of state placements can be tough.

Really? What happen to How exciting!

~A simple photo~

I took some photos of the kids.

Not as easy as it sounds.

My camera seems to be going down hill too.

I did get a few I like.

 

I keep going back to this photo.
Seems like there should be one more kid

standing in the back behind Alayna.

Just a weird empty spot.

 

The three big girls look happy.

Mason looks like a tough boy who doesn't want his picture taken.

Alayna looks like she is ready to get the heck out of the park.

And here it is. The Fab 5 at their finest!

This is truly what life is like in the Wynn house!

I love them all and wouldn't trade any of them.

~Mason's outfit~

Someone on our local garage sale site has this little outfit for sale. It reminded me of Mason and I just knew I had a photo. He had such a hard time leaving on the bus yesterday. He was crying and telling me he didn't want to go. I tried so hard not to cry. Then today it was the best day ever. He walked up to the steps of the bus and turned around and waved at me. Its so hard to make him go when he is having a bad day. I know though its good for both of us. His teachers are so wonderful. They let him bring his stuffed puppy to school so he has a comfort item. He calls the puppy Nacho. The bus aide who buckles the kids always greets both Mason and Nacho!

 

He is only about 3 weeks old in these two photos!

To think now he is 5.

Yikes, the time goes by way too fast.

~Registered and Dance~

I registered on Friday afternoon on a site for adopting children. There was a child I wanted to inquire about. So as quickly as I could I went through all the steps and got registered. I had to write a huge paper on who the Wynn's are. It was basically a shorter version of the home study that our Social Worker did. I had to include things like were Danny and I grew up, any siblings we have, favorite things to do alone and with the family, who our children are, what we do for a living. I could not include details of the children's actual birthdays (just how old) or the specifics of us being middle or upper class. So I did that and I also contacted our Social Worker to give her a heads up. Well already today just being a couple days later our information has been accepted. However the child I wanted to inquire about has had a change in status and his information is no longer available. Hopefully that means he has been matched with a family.


Maddison returned to dance class tonight. Alayna started her very first class. Jade also went back tonight (she's kind of too cool for a photo). We will see which of the three get to go back next week... Alayna cried most of the time if Danny or I weren't standing right next to her but she said she wants to go back. The teacher and I agreed we'd try it next week and see how it goes. Maddison was so crabby when we got home it was unbelievable. When I went to pick Jade up she snapped at me when I asked if she was almost done (gotta love the attitude of a 12 year old). So we will see. I don't think they realize how lucky they are that I make this work for them. 3 girls in dance is not really the cheapest thing. I feel though no matter how many kids we have they deserve to be in at least one thing so I make this work.

Maddison and Alayna

with the new bird Blueberry!

~Just nothing~

There really isn't anything to report. I suppose in a way that's good.

What is that saying? No news is good news.

~First Day of School Photos~

~Happy 5th Birthday~

5 years ago this sweet little boy came into the world.

He couldn't have made me more happy to be his momma!

 

2 years old!

Mason loves all puppies, transformers, trains, dinosaurs, and cars.

He is not a fan of the heat or long car rides.

Mason is our special little boy and we love him

 to the moon and back again!

 

Mason will go to a new preschool starting next week.

He will go 4 days a week in the afternoon.

~Crib~

We have a crib! It finally arrived.

 

Now we wait to see how long before we need it.

~Training~

The last two days have been very interesting. Danny and I completed 16 hours of training for Foster Care and Adoption. We met other couples who are starting their foster care journey and some who already have placements and have adopted. We learned many new things. I can't say how much I appreciated Danny's good spirits about sitting in a small conference room for 16 hours.

 

I think the biggest thing I learned is that we should never judge the person next to us. Everyone has their own story. We really have no idea what a child or person has been threw until they tell us.

 

Another thing I learned, that stuck out to me in this training was that no matter how badly we want to help every single child out there we just can't. We have to know that we can't fix them all. We need to just hope for the best and remember helping even one child is better than not helping any.

 

 

~One Month~

One month ago today I had an ultrasound. The results were not good. I spent most of the evening with tears.

Tonight I had date night with my husband. We had time to chat of course about the kids and worry if we'd go home to a messy house.

After I got home Alayna was upset she didn't get to go with us. So her and I went for a walk. She is so much fun. She counted 1, 2, 3, 5....I reminded her she forgot 4. Then she pointed out some bikes and purple flowers... She sure kept me moving.

~Mason's Room~

Mason's room is one of my favorites in the house.

Maybe because I can keep it clean the longest.

 

 

We recently made him a simple closet since he did not have one.

(those are all the daycare mats for naptime on the floor.

I wish I had another place to keep them).

When Mason needed a new bed we decided to get a trundle bed.

This will work great if we have a Foster Care boy here or he ever has a friend over.

We just finished off the room this weekend by adding the blue shelf on the wall

and the small dresser. The dresser is nothing fancy but should work for foster care.

Right now I have the daycare blankets rolled up in the bottom drawer.

The shelf I got for just a few dollars off a local garage sale site.

It was perfect since it was already blue.

I painted the letter M he has on top.

Mason's room is really considered the den.

We've been talking about adding French doors to the room.

 

 

We bought this crib but are waiting for it to arrive.

This will allow us to take infants for foster care!

Hoping it will fit somehow in Mason's room.

~Not much to say~

We finally got a report about the child I inquired about. Since confidentiality is an issue here I can't really say much about what I read. I can say I feel bad for the child that he has been in a few different homes and is separated from his siblings. At this time our worker does not feel this is a child we should pursue to adopt because we already have five children and she would worry about their safety. I trust her judgment 100%.

~Almost got stressed~

Yesterday I made a call to register Danny and I both for an adoption training. This is mandatory for both us if we plan to ever adopt. Its a 2 day training, Friday and Saturday. This particular one is coming up soon and located two and a half hours from home. I called. Lady put my name down and said another gal would call me with the details and answer any questions I had about the training. We booked a hotel room. We made plans for the kids to spend time with my sister-in-law, mom and sister.

Today after I had finally sat down for the first time my phone rang. It was gal calling me back to answer questions. WRONG. She was calling to tell me we would be put on the list for the next class. They would be setting the date soon. I explained to the gal we wanted the training this month and that we made arrangements to attend. The lady yesterday said she would put our name down. The gal said the class is full. I then explained we already booked our hotel room! Thankfully she was nice about it. She said the lady yesterday shouldn't have made it sound like we'd be able to attend for sure but she wouldn't have really had any idea the class was full. Then she also said she understood why I assumed we were signed up. So she said class will be full but we can attend!! I felt very relieved.

I'm looking forward to 16 hours of training crammed into 2 days! I mean really, who wouldn't be excited.

~Foster Care~

Yesterday was an exciting day for me. I have always wanted to do foster care. I am really lucky to have a husband who is on board with this as well. I first attended the orientation meeting back in March. We then sat around thinking weather or not we should go ahead and proceed. After a month we decided to go ahead. We filled out the right papers, had a meeting with the foster care licensor, got finger printed, added beds to our home. Last night we met with the licensor again and completed the process for getting licensed.

Now that does not mean we will be placed right away with a child. Of course we pray God's timing is right when we are placed with a child and that he has their best interest and ours in mind. Its kind of an exciting thing but at the same time its a tough and sad thing. Many of these children come from homes where they are abused or neglected. We would never want that for any child. We are planning to take only one child at a time but did have the licensor license us for two just in case their is ever a sibling group that needs a home. We could then consider it. We can care for children newborn-7 years old. Foster care parents are allowed to set the age of children they prefer to work with.

I also wanted to note that on July 30, I sent an email to inquire about a child on the MN ADOPT website looking for a home. Our worker (licensor) said for some reason its taking awhile for them to get back to us. They have to email info to the worker because of confidentiality reasons. All we know so far is this child is available to be adopted by a MN family, he likes pizza, he wears glasses and is 6 years old. Hopefully we will have more information on him soon. Its so hard to wait and be patient. Our worker did show us a map yesterday displaying how many different people and families a worker has to deal with. It made sense why it takes so long.

That is it for now.

Goodbye July

I have to say although I do not want to wish the summer away I am happy to say good bye to July. For us in the Wynn house July has been a month we would rather not remember.

Mason had 2 trips to the ER for a bump. He has since seen his regular doctor and a urologist. He had an ultrasound and will go back in August to discuss the plan for fixing the bump. The bump appears at random times around his private area.

Alayna also had a trip to the ER this month as we noticed one morning she had about 7-8 slivers on the bottom of her foot. They were starting to look infected. Thankfully with the help of the doctor and nurse they got the slivers out. She did really well for being so little.

I of course also had a trip to the ER. I had an appt. on the 14th for an ultrasound. We were excited to be expecting a baby only to find out our baby's heartbeat had stopped. I will never forget that moment. I instantly felt heartbroken and just wanted to go home. After talking with the doctor baby looked to have stopped breathing at 7 weeks old. I was figuring I would have been 10-12 weeks at that point. We discussed the plan and I was sent home. The plan did not go so well. I realized in the night I was loosing too much blood. I went to the ER where the wonderful nurses helped me. The OBGYN doctor was called in and I had an operation. I lost a lot of blood though and could not stand up without feeling weak and shaky. I had a blood transfusion to help build up some of my blood. Now I have been having headaches but the doctor said I need to get some iron in me and more sleep. I started some iron pills and hopefully that will help.

Its been a couple weeks and I have excepted what happen but I will never forget. I wanted this baby, I planned for this baby, I had names for this baby, I had dreams for this baby. However, God has a plan for us all and only gives us what we can handle. We don't always agree with it but we need to trust and have faith that he knows what he is doing. I am thankful for my children. If it wasn't for them I might have stayed in bed for 2 weeks but they kept me going. They took very good care of me.

So Good Bye July. I am glad its your last day! I have high hopes that good things are coming in the months ahead.

It kind of reminded me of that song, Hit the Road Jack... hit to road July, don't you come back no more no more no more. Hit the road July!

Welcome!

Another blog! This is the 3rd blog. I took a very long break and at times I really missed having a blog as kind of a journal of what we have been up to. I almost called this one Life in the Wynn House take 3  but figured that title would be a bit too lengthy.

I will start out by telling you about us, The Wynn's!

I am usually known as Mom or Amy. I am always cleaning, doing laundry, cooking, or helping one of the kids. I wouldn't trade that for anything. I currently do daycare and will be celebrating my 9th anniversary the end of August. I can't believe I have been self-employed for that many years.

Danny is into flying remote controlled airplanes and currently has a pretty good collection. He keeps busy mowing the lawn, taking care of the garbage, working, and helping with the kids. He is always helping me with afternoon errands as well. He's been working the same job for 17 years! He loves it everyday :)

The oldest in the Wynn house would be Jade Lynn. She is a very big helper. She loves to dance, ride bike, watch tv, and read. She is 12.5 and will be going into the 7th grade this fall. Jade has started babysitting. She became my daughter when Danny and I got married.

Abbygail Rose is 10.5 and she is in love with anything turtle! Abby will be going into the 5th grade and although she loves going to school she does not like to do the work. She is an outdoor type of girl who loves to look for bugs, frogs and her favorite turtles. Don't let her fool you though. She is no tom boy! She loves dresses and being all dulled up. I almost forgot to mention that Abby also loves art! She could color and draw all day long. Just like Jade, Abby became my daughter when Danny and I got married.

Maddison Marie is our princesses. She is stubborn and a very picky eater. She is 6 years old and will be in 1st grade this fall. She loves to watch tv and she loves to dance. She HATES jeans so clothes shopping for her is always a challenge. She loves make-up and never thinks she has enough.

Mason Danny is currently our only boy. He gets called Bud or Buddy a lot. He is addicted to playing on the computer and loves transformers. It used to be trains and dinosaurs. He will go to preschool again in the fall. He is a momma's boy! I can't complain about that.

Alayna Lee Agnes is our cupcake. She is a dancing 2 years old going on 16! She likes to think she is in charge. She loves Minnie Mouse and Strawberry Shortcake. She is a daddy's girl. She loves getting 4 wheeler rides and being outside. Alayna is starting to take after her big sister Maddison when it comes to eating habits.

Of course we might want to mention our Daisy. She is our fluffy puppy!

 

I hope you will stick around and get to know us better. You don't want to leave now.... you won't know what the Wynn's are up to. It could get pretty good!