Out and about

With foster baby with us, I was afraid that Samuel wouldn't be able to get out and about as much this summer. Thankfully, it has worked out so far. We just avoid the heat and try to do things outside when she is on visits to her family. She's had at least three visits a week, which I know is good for her and her parents, but it has kept us busy. Sometimes I just take her, sometimes her worker picks her up and sometimes I take her and stay to supervise the visit. Sometimes the visits are scheduled last minute so it makes having plans a bit interesting, but we're figuring it out.

Sam spent last Saturday on Smithville lake with my parents and their family. He was pretty proud that he drove the boat!


Sunday night we went to the zoo. It had special hours for "members" (yep, we're card carrying members of the zoo) and we were loving the cooler evening. It normally closes at 4:30 or 5... another reason why I'm not a fan of the KC Zoo. Highlights of the night for Samuel included riding the train, dancing with Bella and riding a camel with her and Vanessa.


I can't decide if Samuel and Bella's moves or Jimmy's make me laugh more...

My son, the photog

Samuel loves the camera. For Christmas he got one of the "kid" ones, but it didn't take long for him to realize that it isn't near as much fun as using mine. I see great improvement as he now actually gets people's faces in his pictures as opposed to things like just their knees or the carpet. Here's a few of my favorites...

Dueling cameras with post-surgery Amy...


Father's Day dinner with my parents and Aunt Blair and Uncle Billy


And his beloved firehouse. He took approximately 20 pictures of the firehouse. This was the best one... :).


We had a good Father's Day weekend around here... waffles for Jimmy in the morning, church, Waldo's pizza for lunch (Jimmy's favorite second to Imo's) and Cardinal's tickets. He still hasn't been to the new stadium in St. Louis so we're finally going this fall!

This weekend we have some house projects in preparation for a 4th of July weekend of fun. Our sweet college friends the Duggin's and the Artz's are coming in town so we're hosting a get together for our Truman buds... can't wait!

SAVE THE DATE!

As you know, Guatemala continues to have a special place in our heart! We returned there last fall (and plan to again this year) to partner with Kairos Christian School. I've talked about the school before... but just in case... it's a school for impoverished children and is run by an incredible Guatemalan family that we have come to know and love. They do an amazing job running the school and we want to help them raise funds. This fall, we are having a fundraiser for the school! We're having a dinner and auction. Mayra Garcia will be visiting from Guatemala to share about the school's progress and needs.

I'm sharing this NOW for two reasons! First of all, we'd love people to mark the calendars now and join us for the fundraiser on Friday, November 19, 2010. Second of all, we're recruiting people to help us with donations for auction items. If you've never participated in a silent auction, here are some items that I've seen donated before:
1) Homemade cards/stationary sets
2) Handmade jewelry
3) Theme baskets (i.e. "game night" with board games, snacks, "night on the town" with gift certificates to dinner/movies, "scrapbooking" with supplies, "spa day", "baby", etc.)
4) Tickets to Royals, Chiefs, etc. games
5) Services (i.e. pedicure, haircut, cake making, catering, lessons, photography)
6) "Big ticket" items (i.e. week at a condo, time share, etc)--> These would be part of a "live" auction.
7) Artwork / home decor
8) Mary Kay/Avon/etc. items
8) Christmas decorations - Since this auction will be just before the holidays, we are also looking for people to decorate and donate some Christmas decorations (trees of any size, wreaths, ornaments, etc.).

If anyone out there would be interested in donating an item/service for the auction, please let me know and when the time gets closer, I'll be in touch with more details. Our committee is starting early to gather donation commitments.

I'm so excited about this opportunity to bless some amazing children and families in Guatemala!

PS I went to court on Wednesday for Baby Girl. Family Court has to be a better place for people watching than the airport. Just sitting in the waiting area is an experience. Sounds like she will be with us another month or so. People keep asking me "Aren't you attached?" Duh. BUT, the more I interact with her parents, the easier it is getting to be ok with her going home. This is NOT always the case- I know lots of foster kiddos get sent home and there are still so many concerns with their home/parents. We are going to miss her like crazy, but I am going to enjoy sleeping through the night again!

ANTS

I resolved that this summer I was going to attempt some "preschool-ish" activities with Samuel. My goal is not greatness, just some simple activities that we can do each morning. This was week one, and we're doing well so far. We just spend 20ish minutes each morning- hoping to do it longer eventually. I got a ABC based curriculum/activity from THIS blog. You can download things off of her site for free or pay $10 and get all of it at once, which is what I did so I didn't have to download each document. So this week was "A" week and we talked about "ants". I've wanted to check out Powell Gardens for awhile now and when I heard they have the "big bugs" (including ants), we decided to go this week. It was hot, but very pretty and we made the trek to the top of the hill to see the big ants. There isn't much to do there for kids besides looking at the big bugs, waterfalls and flowers, but we took a little picnic and Samuel was content chasing bugs. If it weren't so hot and if Baby Girl had not been with us, we could have stayed longer.

Rainy Saturday

I'm blogging with Baby Girl on my lap. Ah, I love her curly mohawk hairdo... can't seem to get it to flatten out. Wish I could post pictures because it would make you smile! Today has been a great day despite some sleep deprivation. It's 5:30 and I haven't showered yet- yum. Jimmy had a "conversion" for work last night, which means he spends most of the night on the phone/internet/conference call monitoring software upgrades at a hospital. Poor guy didn't sleep much and I did all of the baby feedings. I know that so many moms do all the feedings because they are breast feeding... I'm in awe. I'd be a total zombie if I didn't have Jimmy to help me. I have, however, caught up on more TV than I could have ever wanted to watch. I've found that there is not much on at 3 in the morning unless you want to see an infomercial on how to get rich, get flat abs, quit smoking or lose weight. Thank goodness for the plethora of CSI and Cosby episodes!

We have some good news regarding this fall. Not sure if I mentioned that I got hired to teach "full time" at the local community college? I'm really excited for the opportunity. I'll teach about 2.5 days a week with two full days off and won't go in until 12 the days I do work. I do have to teach two evenings, but it isn't a bad trade off for having so much time with Samuel. I was nervous about child care- it's tricky and even more so when planning for potential foster kids. So I'm delighted to have found a nanny! She's a former student of mine and grew up in Spain (her parents are missionaries there), so she speaks fluent Spanish. I am thrilled to have Samuel get more exposure to the language. Plus she has experience working in bilingual preschools- can't get any better! I praise God for working out these child care details. It makes leaving Samuel easier knowing he will be in great hands.

I'm off to do some more cooking- tomorrow is my Papa Jack's birthday party- he's 86!

Foster baby update

Things are going well with our foster baby. She has gained weight well, so we don't have to wake her to feed anymore... although she still gets up every 2 1/2 to 3 hours anyway. Last night we had a 3 1/2 hour stretch and I was pretty excited. I've decided the sleep deprivation makes me a little socially awkward.

Between the wedding and just being out and about here, I've had lots of inquiries about her. I've had a few women look at me with hostility and say something like "Please tell me she isn't your baby" because I'm wearing my normal clothes and the baby is so young. I guess I should take it as a compliment, but it's a little awkward. Then people say things about how they don't understand how her parents will care for her well or why they will get her back. I've had people recommend us fighting to keep her. It has been emotionally draining. The thing is, our job as foster parents is to care for her and to work towards the goal of reunification with her parents. So I have to be hopeful and pulling for her parents. In this case, I think they genuinely love her and she will be ok. Will her childhood look like Samuel's? Probably not, but I have to withhold judgement that the way I do it is always the best. I do find myself having selfish thoughts like "I know I'm getting more wrinkles from the sleep deprivation and it isn't for MY child that I keep." Isn't that awful? :)

I am holding on to the fact that God called us to do this. I'm not sure of His plans. He knows we desire both to serve the children in our community, but He also knows how my heart aches to grow our family. I go back to Isaiah 58 that talks about how what pleases the Lord is working to "loose the chains of injustice (vs6)" and "spend yourselves in behalf of the hungry and satisfy the needs of the oppressed (vs.10)" In verse 12 it talks about being called "Repairer of Broken Walls, Restorer of Streets with Dwellings." When I read those verses, I am thankful because I do think working with families allows us to be involved at a small level in some of these things. There should have been a verse in there, however, that says "Yes, it will be stinking hard." So I'm stuck between my desire to be a good foster parent and my desire to just move forward with growing our family NOW. I have found that God's timeline and mine are hardly ever the same, so I'm pretty sure for today I'm supposed to sit tight and wait. Oh, I hate that word... wait. :)

We're back!

Our internet has been down the past week or so. I get cranky when technology isn't working, because it requires patience and "troubleshooting" (as Jimmy would tell me), neither of which are my strong points.

The last week or so has been full! Last week Jimmy and Samuel were in the wedding of a couple that is near and dear to our hearts- Jordan and Kailey Wilson! I had both of these "kids" (yes, I realize they are now really adults!) in class at BSHS and then was Kailey's Bible study leader for years. We love them, we love their families and it was a privilege to be involved in their big day.

Samuel was the ringbearer and did his job well, although the wedding coordinator was about to take him down for not being "quiet" enough before going down the aisle. Do you know how hard it is to keep a 2 year old quiet and contained in one spot for 20+ minutes? Especially when the child refused a nap that day and was up until after 10 at the rehearsal the night before? Do you feel my pain!? Between keeping him and our foster baby entertained and quiet through the ceremony, I was so thankful it wasn't a long, Catholic wedding (no offense to those of you who are Catholic!).

Family pic...


Sam in action...


The beautiful bride...


Sam and the groom


Sam and Jimmy looking sharp :)