We Graduated from Foster Training!

After weeks and weeks of classes prepping us to become Foster Parents we finally graduated.  They were pretty informative and very scary.  We do truly feel more prepared to deal with what is in front of us.   I'll be writing more on each class soon. :)

Dear Baby F: Last night was Halloween 2012.

Last night was Halloween and we had a blast at home nesting for your arrival.  Foster Daddy carved a pumpkin that we blasted with a tea light.  Foster Mommy worked on a play quilt for you and laughed every time we scared a kid with our talking witch.   We had about 100 Trick-or-Treaters and chatted about you a few times....we even joked about what you might be wearing as a costume next year!!!

 Neighbor Q came over and nabbed some candy.

The play-mat quilt....

Foster Mommy was on a Halloween show on Hallmark Channel with ELVIA!! 

Foster Mommy was pretty excited. 

Getting the Nursery Together

I'm a pretty crafty girl.  I like making things, decorating and planning.  I've been having a blast getting the nursery together.  We still have to paint, pick a rug and I have about 10 sewing projects for the room. The hardest part about decorating is that we don't know if it will be a little boy or girl who will be entering our lives and we will only have about a 5 hour window when we get the call. We are going with a rainbow theme for the room. Me being me....I want to be over prepared.  I don't want the first few days to be chaos because we have to run around shopping and getting stuff.  It is going to be chaotic enough with a new baby! 

A mobile I am making.......These cute critters will hang over the crib.

Pillow from an old T-shirt! I'll have a full tutorial on this soon! Super easy and a great way to recycle a favorite old tee.

I really wanted a modern crib at a reasonable price so when I spotted this one at Walmart and read many reviews I knew it was the one for us.   This is the Baby Mod Oliva Crib and it is pretty awesome!  Baby will be sleeping safe and sound thanks to Grandma and Grandpa in Oklahoma.

The changer is from the Baby Mod Collection at Walmart.  It is amazingly sturdy!  The little black rocker is mine from when I was little.

I've been collecting clothes to help us with the first few nights.  Since we don't know the age, weight and gender of the baby we need a little of each on hand.

The 4 most asked questions we get after people learn we are adopting.

Well here goes....here is first blog post about this journey we have chosen or perhaps has chosen us.  I thought, I would start with the four most asked questions we have been asked since we decided to adopt.

"What country are you adopting from?"

"Ummm. It is a country called "Los Angeles" - have you heard of it?" It really is melting-pot so we will most likely be matched with a child that does not match our skin tone.  I really hope society isn't as narrow mined as I think it might be.

"What if you get a bad kid?"

"Hmmmmm. Bad like a toddler who has a tantrum in the grocery store? Bad like a teenager who steals something? Bad like a fifth grader who needs extra tutoring in school? Bad like a college student who gets drunk and tries marijuana?" or "Bad like a serial killer? Better yet - what if I gave birth to a BAD kid?"

"Did you try to get pregnant?"

Yes - we had lots of "rolls in the hay" but we didn't try any alternative methods of getting pregnant.  I'm 42 and we just didn't feel like it was right for us with our age and history.  We have lots of friends and family who have had very successful pregnancies with alternative methods and that is awesome.

"When will you be getting Baby?"

As soon as we are certified Foster Parents we will start getting calls for a child to be placed with us. Last week Babies were turned away because there is not enough homes and now they are living in facilities.  It is heartbreaking.  We are planning on taking a last big trip before we flip the green-light. We are calling it our Babymoon.  After a child is placed with us, travel together will be tough as we will have to get court approval.  As soon as the adoption is finalized we can do whatever we want but until then we don't have any rights!  We can't even cut their hair without permission.  I think we will be ready in February 2013.  This will be after our work and fun travel, our home study will be completed, our classes finished and the room will be ready.