21 Days to Make a Habit

A while back at work, I took a Franklin-Covey time management class. During the class, it was said it takes 21 days to make a habit. It's tried and true. I believe it because I experienced it just after I took the class and we've just experienced it again. (Today is the 21st day with Drew in our lives).

One habit that I've already made since he's arrived is the habit of making bottles. OK, maybe this isn't a habit, but I would rather not call it a chore. Wash, rinse, dry, fill. This cycle seems to be never ending! After 21 days, I believe that I could do this in my sleep!

Speaking of sleep...that's another habit worth noting. I've had to change my sleeping habits- no more sleeping until 10 am on Saturday mornings! But, Stephen's sleeping habits haven't changed at all! Oh well. A girl can still dream, right?! Drew's sleeping pattern is beginning to change too. He's staying awake a lot longer in between bottles and has even slept through the night a couple of times.

And a habit I hope we aren't making a mistake by doing...the habit of rocking him to sleep. There is nothing sweeter than looking down at his little sweet face when he's trying to fall asleep. He fights Mr. Sandman every night, but never wins. It is a long battle some nights. Some say we are spoiling him, but this is one habit that I have become addicted to doing.

Frequently Asked Questions

We've been asked many questions about our foster child and the experience we've had over the past couple of weeks. I thought I'd take a few minutes and try to provide some questions to the most common questions.

Why can you post pictures to the blog or Facebook? It's a confidentiality restriction by DHR. All of the details about the baby and how he has come to live with us is confidential. Of course, we can share some of the generic facts, but nothing that can reveal his identity.

How long will you keep him? This is more difficult to answer. We really don't know. It could be a few more days, it could be a few months, it could be forever. There are a lot of moving pieces to the equation. What I know for sure, however long we have him will be a blessing.

What have been the biggest changes to your life since you've had him? Everything has changed!! Our sleeping schedule is now determined by his sleeping schedule. We've had to adjust the heat at our house- we typically keep the temperature in the winter around 68 degrees, but with the baby, we've had to adjust it upward to 72 degrees. Finding the time to do laundry is a challenge (maybe because I use the baby as an excuse for not doing it at all!).

How is Baxter reacting to the baby? Baxter was a little stand-offish at first. He would simply smell Drew's head or feet and then back off. I guess the newness has worn off! Now, I may have Drew on one knee and Baxter on the other! Drew gets a good sniffing and a kiss from Baxter when we get home everyday.

Is there anything he needs? This is a loaded question! Unlike most children that come into foster care, he came to us with a lot of stuff-- clothes, diapers, blankets, bottles. He came with a car seat and swing too! We've only had to purchase formula and wipes. We've also purchased a play gym for his developmental needs. He's quickly outgrowing his newborn sleepers, but we have plenty of 0-3 months replacements. So for now, I think we're good on supplies.

These are just a few of the questions, but they are the most common. He's an adorable child and we are enjoying every minute of every day with him. We ask that you keep us in your prayers that everything works out according to His plan.

We're Finally Parents!!

Yay! We have finally reached our destination! We have officially become parents-- foster parents, of course!

Last Monday, we got a call from our resource worker and she wanted to know if we'd be interested in fostering a 4 week old infant boy. It took me all of one second to respond a resounding YES! So, it was done. Just a mere 5 hours later, a social worker brought him to our home. Immediately, I was in love! He was the cutest little baby ever! So "Drew" is now living with us.

Due to confidentiality restrictions, I can't tell you much about his story. But, he was born into foster care and due to unforeseen circumstances, he was not able to live with that particular family. His birth parents are young. Also due to those same confidentiality restrictions, I can't post any pictures of him. But take it from me- he's simply gorgeous! He's a tiny little baby-- only 9 pounds at 4 weeks old! He's still wearing newborn clothes. He has the biggest blue eyes that are wide with amazement.

rew" is teaching us all about being parents. He's an awesome little boy- he only cries when he's hungry or wet, or when we give him a bath. He wakes up only once or twice in a night to eat, then returns to his sweet dreams. We've learned more in the past 7 days that we ever imagined!

We don't know how long he'll be with us. Time will tell. But, we know we are being the best parents for him at this moment in his life. And no matter what the future holds, we know we'll have shaped his life in a positive manner with our love.

Waiting Game

The home visit on the 9th went very well. All of the exceptions that we had noted during the first visit were cleared. The interview portion was boring, but I think we aced all of the questions she had for us. So, now, we are just playing the waiting game.

Our worker told us she would type up her report during the few days following the visit. She called on Thursday for a couple of tidbits of information that she forgot to ask. I believe she probably gave the report to her supervisor for final approval on Friday or Monday. Now, we are just waiting on the certificate OR a phone call-- whichever comes first. A lot of the times, new foster parents will receive a phone call for a possible placement prior to receiving their certificate.

In the meantime, we've been decorating for Christmas. I had scheduled a week of vacation for this week, but due to the workload and upcoming deadline at work, it had to be postponed. Usually during this week, I put up our Christmas trees. So, we decided to start early. I have already completed three of our trees and will have one more completed by Wednesday. That only leaves our few smaller trees and the remainder of the decorations. Stephen is responsible for the outdoor decorations and has already started on them too! I'll post pictures soon.

Hopefully, we'll be getting the long awaited call soon. When we do, I'll be sure to post something-- I am sure it will be an adventure! Happy Thanksgiving to all!

Long time...No blog

It's been quite a while since I last posted. To catch everyone up quickly, we went to Gulf Shores on vacation, completed our foster parenting classes, got together for a couple of holiday gatherings, etc. You know...we've just been living our lives.

So, now I am posting to the blog...again. Like I said before, we completed our foster parenting classes. It was an interesting 9 weeks. We learned everything there is to know about kids-- just kidding!! I feel more confused now than ever before! We also had our first home visit with our resource worker. She cited a couple of items that we needed to do in our home and we've done those things. We've also had our physicals, completed our homework, became certified in CPR and first aid, and we've taken a water safety course. Our final step is having another home visit from our resource worker. It is scheduled for Monday.

Today, I feel like we are "nesting." I know this is usually for pregnant women, but I feel like that's what we're going through. We had to get both bedrooms ready for children. One is set up with a twin bed (we have boy and girl bedding that can be changed out quickly, depending on what we may get) and the other is set up as a nursery (we chose gender neutral bedding). I must say that I don't feel totally prepared, but I think we can handle anything that comes our way.

We don't know the timing of the whole thing yet. We should know more on Monday. But, I think we are getting close. I'll post more when I have more information. Please keep us in your prayers that everything goes well during our visit.

Foster Parenting 101

Our first class was Thursday night. It was interesting- to say the least. We have two instructors, KR- who is a social worker, and FJ- who has been a foster parent for many years. The two of them take turns going through the information. KR tells the way things are suppose to happen and FJ tells you a real world case scenario from experience. The class started with an "introduce yourself" exercise. I just hate those- I think people say the weirdest things. But we muddled through it. Due to some of the responses, I think the classes will be full of laughs and a lot of great people watching [well, for me at least :-)].

The biggest part of the class was the twelve statements of "Strengths and Needs" that we'll have to learn. For instance- the first is Know Your Family. This seems silly to just see it on paper, I mean, it's just me and Stephen-- I think we know our family already. We've been a family for almost 15 years! But we have to identify a strength and a need related to knowing our family. So, it may seem like a silly statement, but it makes you think, right? How well do YOU know YOUR family? Could you identify a strength and a need? It's more difficult than I thought.

The other portion of the class was identifying characteristics of a child's behavior that relate to the type of abuse or neglect they experienced. For instance, if a child was abandoned, they may exhibit clingy-type behavior when they come into your home. Some of it seems like common sense, but I feel like it was good information to know.

And we have HOMEWORK! But, it's not too difficult. We both have to answer questions regarding our strengths and needs. The other portion is getting the first part of the paperwork completed. We have to turn in an application and a financial statement this Thursday.

Our Life has been a Roller Coaster (long post)

It's been quite a while since I have posted anything to the blog. To be honest, there hasn't been a lot to blog about... some of the highlights since the last post...Stephen lost his job, we had a 30th birthday party at our house, a trip to the Rattlesnake Rodeo (for Dianna, not Stephen), then we hosted our families for Easter dinner, Stephen got a new job, we had to replace the HVAC unit for the house, and we made a big decision. Whew! It 's been quite a ride over the past few months. We've had so many ups and downs, it's been like a roller coaster!

Let's start with Stephen. After 7 years in the newspaper business, things came to a sudden end in March. First, in September, he gave his contract up as an independent contractor. All home delivery distributors were being eliminated and he thought the timing was right. But shortly thereafter, a single-copy distributor hired him. No big changes-- except that he was no longer the boss and he actually got one day off every week! I was ecstatic to say the least. Then, one Friday in March, she called and said sales were down and she had to cut someone on her team-- you know the adage- last one hired, first one fired. But he continued with his part-time job and looked for something else. Well, to both of our surprises, he interviewed with a local restaurant and was hired as a management trainee! The restaurant is called Taziki's Greek Fare and he is training at the UAB location. It is a great opportunity and we are both happy! The last few months have given a renewed sense in our relationship-- it's the most time we've spent together in years!

We hosted a couple of events in late March and early April. First was the big 30th birthday celebration for our friend, Amanda. It was an 80's themed basement party, complete with 80's music, hair styles, and fashion! Madonna was in attendance, as was John and Ponch from CHiPs. The night was filled with fun! It will be difficult to top this party!

Then the next weekend, Dianna and Amanda went to Opp for the 49th annual Rattlesnake Rodeo. It was a blast-- we tried some fried rattlesnake, saw a couple of rattlesnake races, watched a greased pole climb and buck dancing competition, and did a lot of people watching. Anyone who knows anything about Stephen, there should be no question why he didn't attend-- he absolutely LOATHES snakes.

The next weekend was Easter. A family tradition is that each of the ladies in my family has one holiday that she is responsible for each year. My holiday is Easter. We had my family as well as most of Stephen's family in attendance. As usual, it was exhausting, but a success.

Next, a run of bad luck. I had an allergic reaction to an antibiotic, Baxter was injured, then our HVAC went out in our house. Of these, the HVAC was the most devastating! The repair man said he could put a "band-aid" on our old system, but he did not recommend it due to the age of our unit. So, 8 hours and a few thousand dollars later, we got a new HVAC unit. Our house is much more comfortable now than it has been in the 3 years that we've lived here.

So, after all of this, we've made a big decision. We are no longer pursuing an international adoption or an agency adoption. As many of you know, the international adoption was called off months ago after we hit roadblock after roadblock. The agency adoption has not gotten off of the ground since November-- partly our fault, partly due to our circumstances mentioned above. BUT, we have made the decision to become foster parents. We've attended the initial orientation and we have a series of 10 classes to complete before we can move forward. The classes start this Thursday. We feel like this will be the path that will get us to our forever family. So, Amelia Quest may be over...now it is simply Baby Quest!

Where's Obama?

Picking up where I left off after the last post...

My sister and I have this "tradition" that we started several years ago. When one of our nieces or nephew (only 1 of those) graduates from high school, we take them on a trip. We decide where we go based on the personality of the person. Thus far, we've taken Jordan to Chicago, Alexa to Philadelphia, Amanda to New York, and this time, we took Adam to Washington DC. According to him, we couldn't have picked a better place! We left on Wednesday, March 18 (of course, we were delayed in Birmingham and did not make our scheduled flight in Atlanta). But, we finally made it-- just a couple of hours later than we had planned. It was the first time that he flew on a commercial airplane and the first time he rode the subway! Both were a big hit!

The first day in DC, we went to the Capitol, then to the Pentagon, then the Arlington National Cemetary, and finally ended up walking the monuments at night. Needless to say, I about passed out from exhaustion when we got back to the hotel.

The next day, Friday, we went to the Bureau fo Engraving and Printing, the White House, the Postal Museum, Union Station, and the Library of Congress. From all of the times I've visited DC, I had never toured the Library...but I must say, it may be my absolute favorite place there! We had a late tour and had to leave when they closed, but if I go back, I will definitely visit again and recommend it to everyone that goes.

On Saturday, we let Adam decide which of the museums we were going to tour. He decided on the Air and Space Museum. We were there for 5 hours. Then we breezed through the Natural History Museum and flew through the American History Museum enough to see the Trade Towers beam.

And no, we did not see Obama. We did, however, see Marine 1 helicopters in route to the White House. We know he was there...but we just didn't see him. All in all, it was a great trip. Adam is a good kid and we are blessed to have him in our lives. I wish him good luck after graduation and into college!

March Madness

March was a little more hectic than February. It seems like we had something to do every weekend.

First, I had to take an inspection trip for work to the Gulf Coast (I know, I know, but somebody HAD to do it!). Stephen was able to get a couple of days off from work, so he went with me. So on a Sunday afternoon, we headed to Gulf Shores. And, of course, our first stop was the Original Oyster House for some shrimp. Is it just me, or does shrimp taste better during the cold season? Anywho, then Monday, I did my inspection and we headed east toward Destin. What a beautiful drive! Although it was a bit longer than we expected.

Destin was the first official vacation spot that we went to after we got married. My how things have changed in the last 14 years! Destin is not the same as it was back then. Stephen has more memories of Destin than I do-- that's where his family vacationed when he was young. We spent the remainder of the day at the marina and at the beach. It was a glorious afternoon and we enjoyed the few moments we had in the sun.

We love the beach!

Our Little Cabin in the Woods

I know it has been a while since I have blogged about anything. But, I thought it was time to get everyone caught up. My last post was in February, so that seems like a great place to start.



For Valentine's weekend, I wanted to do something special for Stephen-- it has been a while since we went anywhere together. I looked on VRBO and found a quaint little cabin on the lake. My main criteria for finding a place was that it had to be within 2.5 hours of home (otherwise, we would have just gone to the beach!). So, the place I found was at Lake Wedowee. It was super cute-- and the man we rented from was really nice. Look at http://www.papabearscabin.com/-- we stayed in Cabin #1. Although it was too cold to get out on the lake, just the view from the porch was enough to make us feel relaxed. I tried a new recipe for baked ziti (it was wonderful--I'll share it with you if you ask).



Here are a few pictures from the cabin in the woods-- literally, in the woods, out in the middle of nowhere.

cute and quaint
View of the lake
View of the lake from the screened porch.



February-- THE END.

It's Already February?!

I can't believe that we are already over 30 days into 2009! It seems like just yesterday that I was blogging about being sick and ringing in the new year with sinusitis! What a difference a month makes! I am finally over my sickness and it was not a moment too soon. Now I think I may be coming down with the winter blues. I am sick of cold weather and rain.

Let me also say that I apologize for not blogging in a while. Like I said, it's already February and we are swamped at work. The last thing I want to do when I get home is sign into another computer. Maybe I should try blogging at work... you know, kill two birds with one stone! We'll see how the next couple of weeks go before I make that my decision!

Just a quick update on the adoption... we've officially stopped the Chinese adoption process. We were getting nowhere and it seemed like we hit a new hurdle every time we turned around. It's weird how things work out. But, we are going in a different direction and I hope to share some news soon. Until then, we ask for your continued prayers and support.

More updates will follow... I promise.

Nothing Cute about Acute Sinusitis

This acute sinusitis is kicking my butt! I still as bad today as I did on New Year's Eve when I went in to see the doctor. Well, my rear end isn't hurting from getting a shot, but the rest of me still feels just as bad. I can breathe out of one nostril at a time-- except when I sleep. I think that is what the worst part is-- trying to sleep. I am breathing out of my mouth and my throat keeps getting worse and worse. The only good thing about this terrible sickness is that I have a good reason for not doing my housework! All I have done this weekend is laundry. And that was totally exhausting!

I've gone through an entire box of tissue. For this, my neck and shoulders are killing me. I have a headache like I've never experienced in my life. I feel like getting in the bed and not coming out for days.

I guess for now, I will prepare myself for more boring television shows. I can't concentrate enough to read. I think Desperate Housewives and Brothers & Sisters are new episodes tonight. It will be the highlight of the weekend!