Fostering

To be done or not to be done???  We have been trying to sort this out.  I would love to help in some capacity, but the county hasn't gotten their plan together.  About a year and a half ago, they asked for temporary foster parents to be there on a short term basis while they figured out where best to place them.  We said, "YES!" and then nothing happened.  We kept checking in but the county had to put resources in another area and this went to the backburner.  Then, in September, they announced that if you didn't take a placement by the end of the year, your license would expire.  Life was busy, we had travels planned and they kept calling for newborns and sibling sets, which were not appealing.  There were a couple that I called back for and said we would take, but it was only temporary due to our travels and they decided to place somewhere else.  I do get that they don't want to move children all over the place, but it was getting down to the wire for us.  There were several other families in Livermore in the same boat and they didn't take placements for very good reasons, so it was frustrating to all of us.  Well, all the calls had stopped for a couple of weeks, so we left it in God's hands.  I put in a prayer request to my bible study and that afternoon, I got a call for a newborn.  I knew we had to jump or be done, so we went for it, knowing we were heading to Washington in a couple weeks and this would be short-term.  One of the families here had been stockpiling stuff for a few months with plans to take a newborn, but she ended up with a 2 year old, so she gave me everything, bottles, formula, diapers!  Another woman who fosters babies had two of a lot of stuff, so she also hooked us up with the car seat/stroller, clothes and a moving bassinet.  The next day, I made the trek to Highland Hospital in Oakland to pick up a 3 day old baby!  I  had to go through the ER to get to the nursery and that was quite an experience....kind of like a scene from a t.v. show. 
The nights were long and he was pretty fussy, but he slept a lot during the day and I was able to be productive.  But, I was so tired!  Finally, the weekend came and Ryan started helping at night and what a difference that made :o). 
I was doing the leg work to find the next place for the baby to go and there were a lot of options, but the best seemed to be a single mom in Livermore who happens to attend our church and wanted to adopt again and also was in need of a placement by the end of the year, so I called her to see if she would be interested and she came over to meet him.  She was on board to take him during our vacation and long-term.  The social worker came the following week and was not very appreciative that I had solved her problem.  Also told me I should have never taken the placement if I didn't want to adopt.  Her judgement went on and on and she was very, very rude, but God had a plan I do believe this was it!  The new foster mom needed that extra time that we had him to get things in order.  The social worker made the process very stressful for us, but in the end, the plan worked and he seems to be on the fast track to be adopted (we both adopted around the same time the first time, but her process was finished in 5 months and ours was over 5 1/2 years, so we were at the most opposite ends of the spectrum and we got a good laugh about that, but it is looking like it might happen this way again for her which is unheard of!!!  But, good for her!). 
The new foster mom had a trip planned in January and asked if we would take him for the long weekend (she has a 3 1/2 year old and traveling with a newborn just wasn't in the cards).  We have had him a few times since and it has been great to be able to support her and give her a breather (I have no idea how she does it night after night!).  And, it is awesome for us to be able to see him grow and the kids LOVE him.  He is smiling now and much more alert and even Reggie is a fan.  I usually have to ask him to take the baby for a few minutes, but he is willing and learning how it all works.  Not sure what is next but we are trusting God and hoping it becomes clear when the time is right. 
Here's a picture, although it isn't very good because we can't show his face due to privacy.  Funny story though, I thought he was a white baby until I changed him at the hospital and noticed his balls were black.  I was confused and asked the nurse if they knew his nationality and she said he was african american.  I guess they start out light and get darker (he is very dark now).

The cat was not a fan and our house was in disarray!