Our Foster Blog

He is very into picking his outfits now.  We LOVE the shorts and boots look in our house. ;)

He is also obsessed with his jacket!  He only can wear it with the hood on.

Testing out his new camping chair

 Taylie is now 4 months old!!!  She's just about the sweetest thing there ever was.  We are madly in love with her!!  She now weighs 9 pounds and 11 ounces.  The doctors are happy with her weigh gain...its lucky this girl likes to eat!
 Jontrell loves to hold his sister and is very sweet with her.  She loves to watch him and laugh at him.  When Jontrell laughs, Taylie usually does too.  Its such a cute thing!!  Siblings are so much fun!!

She smiles with her whole body!

Not much cuter than this!!

Since getting Taylie, Jontrell seems so big to us!

Such a cutie!!!

We know our family will change shape, but while they are with us, WE are all a family.  They are OUR kids.

or should I say 4??  We're a family of 4!  And we're so in love with our new addition!  She smiles all the time and is really only fussy when she needs something.  She loves to cuddle and is just about the sweetest thing there is!

Jontrell is enjoying having his baby in our home.  He wasn't too sure the first night and asked everyone who came over to see her if they'd take the baby bye bye.  He is very gentle and soft with her.  He gets jealous, but we're making sure he's getting a lot of attention!

Jontrell is telling Taylie to smile for the camera

Every now and then Jontrell will call me Momma.  This weekend he (in his 2 year old way) asked if Howard was Dadda.  It was so sweet.  But a little sad...this kid is so wanting a "mom and dad"  Howard and I would LOVE to be that for him, but when he first came to us, he cried for his mom and dad all the time.  And we only want to make these kids feel comfortable in our home, not force them to call us mom and dad!  With Sean it was easy because he was so young he just started calling us that.  Jontrell is older and kind of 'gets' what's happening.  (kind of)  Its such a hard thing...us wanting him to be ours forever, him wanting consistency and permanency.  We're just hoping things will continue the direction they are going and we both might get what we want. :)

Its crazy to think how much Jontrell has grown since he's been with us.  Its amazing what a little stimulation will do.  He talks all the time now.  He can count 1-5 and knows his colors, but if you ask him what color something is, he'll always say Orange.

We're going to Disneyland this week.  He's very excited, but I don't' think he knows why.  We can't wait to see Disneyland through his eyes!

Jontrell is hilarious!  He just keeps us cracking up.  Everything is an adventure and FUN for him. 
He has learned that he LOVES singing.  He's always singing.  His favorite song is Twinkle Twinkle Little Star and Jesus wants me for a Sunbeam.  We realized he's singing "Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star, Howard Katie"  Yesterday at church he started singing during the congregational hymns, it was hilarious.  Because he doesn't sing the words...just tries to mimic the sounds and  he's loud.
We also tried on costumes to see if we had a costume that for him for Halloween. He tried on this Pooh costume, which was way too small, but he wouldn't take it off.  He LOVED it.  We hope he'll be with us at Halloween, because he's going to make it so much fun!

We were told last week that we're going to have Jontrell for a while.  We couldn't be happier.  He's an adorable, sweet, loving kid!  He's a typical 2 year old, so he's talking nonstop and is always asking questions.  He loves trucks...especially BIG TRUCKS.  He loves our extended family and is always asking about them. His best friend is Portia (our dog).  They are just so cute together...and its nice for him to have a playmate.
We're having issues with how he acts at Day Care, which is frustrating because he doesn't act out like that at home. Hopefully we can start seeing some improvement in that department.
We were also asked if we would take his baby sister.  We said yes...which we are excited (and nervous) for!  It will probably be another month before that happens.  (it has to be submitted and approved through the court)

My handsome boys ready for church.

They loved watching the man play the organ.

Miss Sarita has the best smile!

We went to Organ Stop Pizza with our friends the Nally's.  Its so interesting to me, we've taken each of our kids there and they all have loved it!  The music just makes it fun for all ages!

Its amazing how much fun a new towel can make bath time.

Jontrell is still with us.  We haven't heard anything new about his length of stay with us.  We're really enjoying him. 

He keeps us on our toes though!  He's not very good about entertaining himself, so that means he's always with us, asking a million questions! :) 

After you say anything to him, he always says "huh?"  so I find myself repeating myself...all the time!  haha I'm starting to catch myself!

Jontrell is very athletic.  He is very coordinated for a 2 year old

Playing catch with Howard

J and Portia are inseparable!  They both just love each other!

I'm not sure what he liked better...the donut or the hat!

Yesterday was Jontrell's first visit with mom.  I knew he'd would have a rough night because he misses her anyway and after seeing her I knew it had to be worse.  A two year old can't wrap their brain around why they are living with us instead of their mom. No matter how bad it was before.

I was right...last night was BAD.  The poor kid cried all night long.  It was really sad.  We tried the change the subject, but nothing seemed to work.  He was just a sad little boy.  It really made me frustrated at his mom.  I wish she could see him like this and would change her life around!  Its so unfair what she's doing to this little boy who loves her dearly!  

He woke up happy today and asked for his mom, but there weren't any tears.  I hope today is a better day for him. 

We found out Friday that Jontrell will more than likely go to a family friend's house.  We're not sure how long until the family friend will be approved, but we'll keep him as long as we can. :) 

Today is his first visit with Mom.  He still cries for mom, mostly at bedtime and when he's in timeout.  He's our first kid to miss mom.  (Which is sad those other kids who didn't cry for mom)  We are fearing tonight will be bad with him being able to see mom, but not stay with her.  He's not going to understand that at all.

Jontrell loves Howard.  He'll choose cuddling on Howard's lap over mine anytime.  It warms my heart to see them together!

His day care teacher did his hair today...I didn't even recognize him!

Jontrell is really a sweet kid.  He mostly wants to be a "good boy" (He LOVES it when you call him a good boy!)  He gets sad for his mom and GG (we're assuming that's grandma?), but we're able to comfort him. 

His main issues are with bedtime and going to day care. 

At bedtime, I put him to bed sound asleep and as soon as his head hits the pillow its a HUGE crying fit.  I rest with him for a little bit and it doesn't seem to help.  And worst off, I think he was used to binkis and would cry for them.  It had been a few nights in when I realized what he was asking for...I figured we'd made it this long without a binki we weren't going to add them in now!  BUT last night night going to bed wasn't too bad.  He still cried, but it wasn't for long and it wasn't as loud! 

I don't think Jontrell has had much interaction with other kids.  He isn't excited to go to daycare...its usually a sad sight to leave him in the mornings.  But this morning he went to his teacher and said "bye-bye" to me.  No tears! :)

Its great seeing him making such progress in just a week!  We hope he can stay with us for a while...we haven't heard anything from CPS one way or the other about how long he'd be with us.  Its frustrating not to know anything, but I guess that's life.  We're just taking it one day at a time.

The calls started about 9:30 Thursday morning.  First for a 2 year old.  We hadn't heard anything from CPS...so a couple hours later we got a call for THREE kids ages 4, 2 and 1.  I told them we were only certified for two...but CPS was desperate.  We never got a call back from them...then the next day the crazy calls started about 10am.  We got a few heart wrenching calls we had to turn down.  After all the calls that day, the outcome was, we were getting two little girls.  About 7pm CPS called me and said the girls were cancelled, but asked if they could bring over a 2 year old boy.  We said yes. I think that is the worst part of being 'on call'.  Your stomach is in knots wondering what/who you are going to get...everything is in the air and anything is possible!

Jontrell came to our house very sad.  I'm sure he'd been through alot.  But everything changed once we brought in Portia for him.  They instantly became best friends.  It was so cute.  We can't believe how good Portia is with these kids!!  She just loves them to pieces!

The first night with all of our kids so far has been VERY ROUGH.  Jontrell was no different.  He was up every hour.  And it took about another hour to get him to calm down and back to sleep.  The second night putting him to bed was easy...but he woke up about an hour later, again screaming.  We figured out the problem....the crib.  We put him to bed in a big bed and he slept 12 hours straight.  (can't complain there!)  I guess if you've never slept in a crib, it would be scary!

Jontrell misses his mom, mostly at night, but is such a loveable sweet kid and you can change the subject with him easily!  We have no idea how long we'll keep this cutie...but we'll enjoy him while he's with us.

He loves to smile for the camera with his eyes closed!

He instantly fell in love with Uncle Frank.  It was really cute!

He's quite the soccer player

The kids are leaving today.  When they were dropped off with us, we were told they would be with us for a while because there wasn't any family members or friends.  So in our minds we planned for the long haul.  I guess you can't believe everything you hear...because there is an aunt who they are going to go live with.  We're not too upset about the kids leaving.  We didn't become too attached to them in this short amount of time.  But this inconsistency is hard. I am a planner!!! 

We're just praying our next placement can be a long term placement or better yet, permanent.

And if this inconsistency is hard for us...I can't imagine how its going to be for these kids. 

We've been saying prayers with the kids.  We first taught them what prayers were and they are so reverent during the prayer and keep their eyes closed.  Its adorable! 

Sunday we were having a cookie for a snack and Karla said we need to say our prayers.  <----yay!  We're doing something right!!

And then yesterday the kids were sitting up to the table and Howard and I hadn't finished putting all the food on the table yet and we saw Karla saying a prayer.  Its so neat to see them understanding prayers. 

We have TWO kids!!

Friday (after we'd just gotten home from Pinetop) we got a call from our Agency asking if we'd be willing to take 2 kids.  We said yes and got these two cute little Hispanic kids.  They are bilingual and there is a slight communication problem.  Howard and I are learning Spanish! :)

Having these kids is way different from having Sean.  I instantly fell in love with Sean.  This is a bit different with older kids and two!  There are some behavior issues that we're dealing with, which is tough.  All of this is just an adjustment to all of us!

Night time is really rough.  Jullien does not want to go to bed, which results in tantrums which makes it harder for him to go to sleep.  Last night was the first night we were able to get him to sleep a bit quicker (and less painful for all of us!)  I hope this continues to be a trend.

Its been fun introducing them to new things...like Toy Story.  They both LOVED Toy Story!!  And Winnie the Pooh.  We have Winnie the Pooh crackers and they didn't know who that was so we watched the only Winnie the Pooh movie we have, a Tigger Movie. They were mesmerized!

Portia has been soooo good with them!

I had to teach her to smile for the camera.

With the smile! :)

And Jullien I had to get him to show him to smile for the camera too.

His is the result. ;)

We were told yesterday that Sean had a court date today and he would be leaving to go live with his Aunt and Uncle on Friday.  I got a text today about noon asking when we'd be home CPS could come by and pick up Sean's stuff. 

So that's it.  No goodbye.  Maybe its easier this way.  Maybe actually saying goodbye would have been harder.  Its still tough not to have the choice.

We've known it would happen, but now that its here, its really tough!  How do you not become attached to these children?  There's no way to not let them into your hearts when you bathe them, feed them, protect them and teach them.  I think we're just going to have to live through this heartache with each of these kids.  I hope we get a forever child soon. :)

I keep thinking about it from Sean's perspective.  He was taken from his family...and then with us for 6 weeks and now with other family.  This poor child has to be so confused.  We just keep praying for his safety and well being.  I have to have faith that he's going where he needs to be and his family will take care of him. 

I think the hardest part of all of it, is knowing we're never going to see him again.  This foster care stuff is hard! 

We have a week long vacation 4th of July week, so we're going to wait to get any placements until after that.

Oh man, its tough to think about this little guy leaving us!  He fits into our life so seamlessly!  He adds joy and laughter into our home. 

Sean and Portia have become the best of friends.  Before Sean came to our home, we had no idea how Portia would treat a kid...we're very lucky she's so good with him!  Last night he started mimicking Portia.  When Portia is playful she growls.  Sean was doing it to her.  He even started panting and 'walking' like her.  Its so funny. Here's a short video of Sean and Portia.  He's giving her kisses and then at the end of the video he starts growling at her.  Sorry...its horrible quality...

I have the best family!  I took Sean this weekend to my Grandma's birthday party.  To celebrate her milestone birthday we did a girls weekend.  All of my family treated Sean like he was ours...not a foster child.  All along, we've said we always wanted these children to feel like they belong and weren't different.  I was a bit nervous how everyone would treat him, especially because we had just learned he would be leaving, but my family was so good to him.  They all loved him and played with him and were SO good to him.  Sean does make it so easy to love him...he's just a sweetheart!

He is now giving kisses on his own.  I LOVE this!  Its just so sweet to have him come up and give you a kiss unexpectedly!

He is also mimicking A LOT.  Its been a lot of fun!  He's jabbering all the time and I think he's right on the   verge of speaking.

We learned that Sean will more than likely be leaving in about a month.  This is hard to hear, but its also good.  We have known all along that he wouldn't be ours forever.  Its good to be able to put a time frame on things.  Its so hard not to think about forever with him in our home.  He's such a lovable fun kid!  We've been so lucky that he was our first placement because he has made it so easy!

His CPS case worker told me about how hard mom is working to get her kids back.  That she's really trying and doing the things she's supposed to do.  This was really good for me to hear.  I keep praying that whatever is best for Sean will happen.  Seems like what's best for Sean is for him to return to his family.  We'll just hope our next placement(s) will be more long term. :)