148 - 160... Grateful

148. brownies baked by friends

149. a loving church feeding us every other night (something they do for mommas w/ new babies)

150. the fact that i didn't turn it down (didn't think we needed it --- whew - thank GOD! appointments out the wazoo)

151. my hubby getting up at 530 w/ bubba and letting me sleep until 8 on saturday

152. WIC - every lil' bit helps w/ 2 kiddies!

153. buckets of water for lil' boys to play with

154. boxes for play

155. matching shirts for mother's day

156. tunnel = safe place for bubba

157. cool breeze in the front yard
158. the quiet reflection during sunday morning sermon
159. friends who will humor my son's lunch request
160. the joy of another sister in christ beginning her journey down foster-adoption!

Honeymoon Over?

we were told in MAPP there would be a honeymoon period, i honestly didn't believe... i figured our kids would be too young... a 2 yr old wouldn't be on good behavior first...

i think i was wrong...

****HONEYMOON PERIOD**** - time period that foster (or adoptive) children are on super good behavior b/c they are afraid that you will not want them - typically followed by more than usual negative behavior as they see if you will "dump" them - to test how real are your affections

much like a dog who pees on your shoes... yesterday bubba was walking around with his sippy cup of milk... he leaned over my shoes and spit the milk out directly on them.

gross


he continued to spit milk out  (needless to say - no more walking around w/ sippy cups)

when we lay him down at night, one of us lies next to him in the twin and rubs his back until he falls asleep - otherwise he screams and cries (it's really heartbreaking)... he looked at me gave me a huge hug... pulled his head back - and bit me on the cheek.

he also has a habit of getting in a boxing stance (cute) and he has a pretty good right jab (not so cute - and actually painful)

throwing toys - old - throwing them at us (and bee) new...

it especially manifests right after he's been sweet...

it's as if in his little mind he regrets being nice to us - like it's a betrayal...

i wonder...

i wonder if i have way over analyzed... it's possible... but it's amazing how his behavior has changed in a week.

1 WEEK

**belated posting... don't know why i didn't get around to posting it yesterday... we arent' busy or anything :)

how to measure 1 week...

7 days

3 days taken off of work by me

2 days taken off by chef hubby

7 nights crying before falling asleep

3 major fits by bee at home

so many fits thrown by bee at school, they may not take him to field trip they have been so at a loss


100s of toys, cups, forks, spoons, etc. thrown by bubba

4 times the toys have bonked bee on the head

100s of hugs and kisses bubba has recieved from us

2 kisses i recieved on our "week-aversary" from bubba (caught me by complete surprise)

too many times to count that i've been bit, hit, punched, spit on by bubba

1 birthday party to celebrate a bubba's birthday with church friends and family

2 exhausted foster parents

2 tired boys confused by change

1 life changed...

WORTH IT

a man of GOD

what do i mean by saying my #1 job is to make Bee a man of GOD???


i love Christina’s model of parenting – and the concept of grace…

one way we model grace in our home is how we speak of Bubba’s parents.

it would be easy to demonize someone who makes poor choices, the type that lead to them not having custody of their child.

instead, we pray for his parents.

we pray that they are able to do what needs to be done to have Bubba back. that is hard…

when Bubba cries at night, Bee is confused and asks why, I remind him that Bubba is missing his momma and daddy and ask how he would feel.

we are working slowly with Bubba about the rules in our house, but we have told Bee to give him extra space, and to be generous. that right now, Bubba is learning our rules.

one thing that has come up especially is a book “things that go”. it was Bee’s when he was small, not a particular favorite – but as most toys and books, once was his alone. we have given it to Bubba and it is especially hard on Bee… we have tried to explain to Bee that the book helps Bubba when he is sad. it’s his “special toy” (i.e. transition item).

i wasn’t sure he understood…

and then, he drew this…

we won’t send it, but truly warms my heart to know he’s listening.

transitional item

of all the things bubba came with, this is the one thing we didn't wash

he sleeps w/ this every night...

it stinks... but it smells like his home

he tries to get me to kiss it, shoving it in my face...

it makes me nauseus

but... hey... the kid's growing on me <3

139 - 147 ...following our first placement

139. dinner with good friends

140. an unexpected call for placement (while w/ friends!)

141. a friend who feels as i do about pictures and moments!

142. sweet friend who drove me home (thank goodness i hadn't driven!)

143. hubby who gets so excited he forgets to ask for child's name

144. loving church who loves on our boys

145. sweet lil' county boy who has come to stay w/ us city-slickers for a while

146. the joy of a little boy playing with bugs (something Bee would never do!)

147. hands of my first-born w/ the evidence of boyhood

first days

i have tons of pictures, but of course... that gorgeous face must be guarded.

we are just finishing our 3rd evening with bubba...  and each night... we get him to sleep this way...

he LOVES playing outside... and kicks off his shoes each time... he is truly our bubba

an adoption friend, brought us dinner with this sweet treat for the boys

we were lucky in that he has come with clothing... but as always with foster care, things are a bit odd...\

the clothes very much smelled of smoke (as did the basket) and the majority of it was too big or too small

i had to wash all the clothes 3 times using extra detergent, baking soda, and eventually green clean... they came in this laundry basket which we had to scrub out as well.

this is what doesn't fit

this is what fits (luckily we have some clothes from Bee... and friends have given us some handme downs as well so we don't have to rely on this alone!)

we have had a great time playing, getting to know one another, and bonding... overall a great time!

lots of outside time, playing with cars, running around!