Day two...

Whew - taking all four kiddos out to Once Upon A Child and lunch really takes it out of you!
We had to get bathing suits for Ethan and J. We're hoping to go to Justin and Nana's pool Saturday.
J. + D. are getting very comfortable here already, even after just 1 day.
J. needs a lot of redirection, and reminders - and D. is so submissive I don't foresee many issues with her.

Their Adoptive Parents are going to be so blessed with these two - but oh so very busy.
D. has gotten over her fear of the dogs, and actually gave Bailey a kiss today! But, J. is still very scared.
I was really excited about them taking a 2 hour nap after shopping and lunch, and J. went down really well - but D. wasn't having it. She ended up cuddling on the couch with me for an hour - and I could just love on her forever.
I'll be sad to see them both go.
Karl is off to D-groups tonight, and I'm home alone with all four and bedtime. This should be interesting.

Day one...

Whew day one is done, and we're all heading to bed.
We had a lot of visitors today. These little ones are probably weary that everyday will be as busy as today.
Luckily it wont.
We had my mom, dad, sister, brother, Kasey, Si, and Amelia all over.
Add that to me, karl, ethan, evie, J, and D and you get 13 people!
Whew.
J is a doll, he is a little Daddy to every one. and D is so quiet and sweet.
They're both terrified of dogs and cats - so that should make things a little interesting.
But, we're hanging in there.
I'm currently waiting out the next 10 or so minutes to see if they actually stay in bed :)
Things went really well.
Smoother than expected.
But, I think this is the first time I've been ready to go to sleep at 9 in a long time.

Respite

I am starting to get anxious for tomorrow. I feel like I could clean and clean and clean, and add a million things to my 'to-do' list to try and be more prepared.
It's so similar to having your first baby.
You don't know what to expect, you don't know what they're going to be like, you don't know just how you're going to "do it"...
I am going to go nurse Evelyn, take a few benadryl, and take a shower.
Hopefully I will get a good nights sleep.

Tomorrow afternoon I am going to meet D, age 2, and J, age 3.
They were brought in to care about a year and a half ago, and have been with their current foster mom the whole time.
She is going to be on vacation for her daughters wedding for two weeks, hence why the kids will be with us for two weeks.

They are going to be meeting their adoptive parents as soon as their foster mother returns home.
I anticipate that they are just as nervous and anxious as we are about meeting them.
All we know that J is very protective about D and has been known to curse when stressed out.

I am so happy that the Lord has provided a "trial run" for us in the form of respite care for our first placement.
But, part of me is sad that they're only going to be here for two weeks.
None the less, we are going to try and make the best out of the next two weeks for everybody.
We have a pizza, popcorn, movie night and swimming night planned for this week.
Next week I think we're going to go roller skating.

I am anxious to see how Ethan and Evelyn react to sharing their mommy, and how Karl and I are going to react to being foster parents to 4 under 3! Even more so, I'm curious to know how these children are going to react, and how these next two weeks are going to unfold.

I'm anxious!
But I must be off to bed!

Birthdays and other things...

Ethan's 2nd birthday:
Ethan wasn't too sure about the cake - he doesn't get it often, and was a bit weary.

He did warm up to it though, and decided to try the candle.

He quickly learned that the candle didn't taste that well...

but that the cake was much better.

He got a few books and a fisher price car toy from Karl's parents, a potty book, and a walking dragon from my parents, and a veggie tales movie from us.
Ethan was terrified of the dragon, but Evelyn loved it.

Earlier this week, I wanted to make cookies with Ethan - but if you have spent much time with Ethan, you'd know he hates dirty hands.
So, I mostly made them while he watched, and we talked about what I was doing, and when we would eat them. Never mind that the frosting was from an old halloween kit!

Evelyn sat watching and babbling from her chair

She was in such a good mood.

Here is ethan trying to pick up just the black frosting... my crazy boy

I snapped this picture the other day because Evelyn totally conked out in the middle of eating a cracker.
I guess she was more tired than either of us thought.

My little momma - I could eat her up!

I ressurected an old shirt of Karl's, he wore in high school, and then I wore it, and now I made it Ethan size.
I wanted to take a picture of it - and this is what I got... I thought it it as too funny.
My little drama king.


I could slap myself for not taking pictures the other night - Collin, Ciara, Justin, Nana, Lance, KP, Karl, and I were all together! We had a little party here at our house, and it was so fun. I wish so much that we all lived in the same town, so we could experience such fun and fellowship all the time.

Karl and I went to IKEA saturday, picked up some things to prepare for foster care. Today we painted the foster room, set up the toddler bed and the crib, and put everything in its place for Tuesday. I will try and take some pictures tomorrow.
I am so excited to start fostering.
I feel like we've been preparing for this moment, well because we have, since last june. That's almost as long as a pregnancy! So, you can imagine the anticipation.
I'm afraid the second the kids walk in the door I'm going to jump on them and love them straight to death... haha.

She's moving!

Evelyn decided today was a nice day to start frog-swimming across the floor!

We got our first call for respite care!
We will be trying our hand at being foster parents Jan 20 - Feb 1
to a sibling set of two, boy and girl, ages 2 and 3.
So excited!!!!!

(Respite care is like being a really long term baby sitter for another foster mom)

My boy is two!

My beautiful boy turns TWO today.
I can not believe it.

A bit about my little man:
Names
We still call him "The boy"
Momma calls him "my little man"
He calls himself "tee-tin"
Talking
He has more words than I could even begin to type.
He is starting to talk in 3-4 word sentences.
He can't say his "F"s, they're replaced by "P"s. It is quite possibly the cutest thing ever when he says things like "pish" and "peet". My favorite is when he laughs and says "I parted"... :)
He loves to sing "songs" which consists of air drumming or guitar accompanied by "singing" every name of ever person he knows. Most repeated are "papa" and "Dan-yo"
Favorites
His favorite toy is quite obviously his new, real drum set, and his "cars".
His favorite person alive right now is Daniel, my 8 year old brother. He will say his name about 20 times on average per day.
Daniel has graciously taught him how to shoot guns, play punch fights, play guitar hero, and cross his arms and go "humph" when he's mad. Hey, someone's gotta do it sooner or later right?
Really though, Daniel has proved to be wonderful with my kids, and it's no wonder why Ethan loves him like a best friend and brother.
His favorite TV show is The Upside Down Show, which he only gets to watch with Daddy when he stays up late on weekends.
His favorite movie (said MOO-bee) is anything Veggie Tales (said "tales").
He is also enjoying his baby muppets movie now too.
His favorite Food:
He was on a total banana kick for about 2 months, his daily routine was to get up, get in mommas bed, drink a sippy of juice, watch Jack's Big Music Show, go down stairs, and have a banana (10 if I'd let him).
Now he will not eat anything that's not primarily composed of CARBS.
He loves toast, muffins, dry bread, waffles, pancakes, cereal, crackers (called cookies), and his sister's puffs.
(This is not his mamma's choice, but none the less it's the way it is)
Random Tid Bits
He has out grown most of his bow-legged-ness, but still walks a little pigeon toed.
He just figured out how to jump and get both feet off of the floor about a month ago - it was a work in progress for a long time!
He continues to grow up looking more and more like his daddy.
Mom can't get enough of his cheesy, all teeth and dimples smile.
He loves to pretend to crochet or knit like his momma, but adores and copies every little thing his daddy does.
He has officially turned in to a little boy, being that he now thinks it's funny (punny) to burp, fart (part), and make awful boy noises.
He asks to go read books when he wants to go to bed, and generally will not get out of bed in the morning, until mom comes in to get him.
He absolutely loves having his Grandpa Joe, Grandma Jen, Auntie C, and Daniel next door. He would live there if we'd let him. He gets a kick out of "being mean" to Grandma Jen - and will not tell her he loves her (unless she gives him junk food).
A lot of people predict he'll be one of those kids on The Tonight Show, drumming at age 4 - Mom and Dad would be proud!
He has an arranged marriage to his mom's best friend's daughter - Amelia.
He loves to play with the trains, spring horse, and piano at his Nana and Papi's house.
He is in 18-24 month clothes, and size 6.5 shoes. He hates wearing socks, but LOVES shoes!
He is still vegetarian but is allowed to eat things that have small amount of cheese in them.
He is a wonderful big brother, cares about his sister immensely, comforts her when she cries, is next to never jealous, and mom and dad think they'll be best of friends.

I never knew I'd love something as much as I love my little man.
Happy TWO today lovie!