~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!