A Place to Write

The further we get into our foster care journey the more I realize how alone we are. I don't know of any other couple like us out there. We're a young couple, both working full time and we have two little girls of our own at home. And yet-- we're going to foster. And we're going to foster an older child. One that's probably had trouble before. I've done my research. I've found blogs and Facebook groups and more blogs with people who've fostered for years and are sharing their experiences, bringing together a community of people who foster. Still, I haven't found anyone exactly like us. I have found couples who've adopted older kids. But it's usually a kid they knew, through a youth program or mentoring or a neighbor who ended up in need and they took them in, naturally. There's nothing natural about what we are taking on. We're opening our home up to a complete stranger. One that doesn't reasonably fit into the mold of our fam

Our foster care journey has... not yet begun. We started this process in July. Early July. It's now almost Thanksgiving. So that kind of sucks. I'm ok not having a placement yet, but not being licensed is freaking me out. Can't I just have that paper, please? So I can check that off my to-do list? I've checked off everything else. We're just waiting on the state to come out and look things over and check off our boxes. That's all. But it's taking too long. Brendon and I went the other day to get our TB test done (our agency requires it) and as we were leaving we were talking about how weird it is that we've been done with training for so long and nothing has happened. And the excitement is gone. We're still excited, we're still on board, but we're not anxious anymore, you know? The system has lost our engagement. I'm sure we'll get it back in January when we actually do become licensed and when we get to meet some kids and whe

Kaybree: Yesterday I went to the farm with Amy and Tess and we saw baby goats! Me: Cool! Kaybree: Yeah, they were so cute. For Christmas, will you get me two baby goats? Me: Haha, no. Kaybree: Amy said you would! We love Vertuccio farms. We always get a season pass. You're not allowed to go with Amy anymore. We traded in all of your Halloween candy for some cash and went to Target and bought Shopkins. It was awesome! Apparently all the Shopkins have names so we sat around looking at all the Shopkins and looking up their names. This particular group fit a sports theme and came with a locker to keep them in. The locker has a face but it's not an actual Shopkins so it does not have a name. I told you this and you said "Why didn't Jesus give him a name?!" I laughed for a long time. Added Nov. 16: I felt bad originally posting this because I didn't have any quotes from Eisley. It's not that you're not funny too, you just usually make

Amy has given Eisley a new nickname. Lazily. It's mean and I should probably be offended--but it's true. Little girl, you sure are stubborn. There's no arguing with Eisley. If something is not going your way, you shut down. Put on that awesome pouty face (I need to get a picture, you have a solid pouty face), fold your arms and give a "Uhn." to any question asked of you. You also give a very sure of yourself "No." when anyone says it's time to clean up anything that you are not ready to clean up. While the other kids get to work you can often be found vegging out in the same room as them, not touching any toys. It's your thing. Maybe it's a phase? Last night was Halloween. As soon as costumes hit the stores I decided this year I would give up my fantasies of awesome family costumes and allow you girls to pick out your own costumes this year. So we went to Kid to Kid and I showed you both racks and racks of costumes and said "Choose w