1 Week Down and 3 Months Old

The Bugmeister is 3 months old today, and is one seriously cute kid.  Definitely the easiest baby I've had yet!  He's a total flirt (very popular with the ladies), all smiles all the time, doesn't spit up, only poops at daycare, and only cries (and a quiet cry at that) when he's hungry or needs a diaper change.  He's been with me for exactly one week, and we have gotten into a great routine that should work out really well when Monkey comes back.  He's down for the night around 7:00pm and wakes up between 1-2:00am for a bottle and again between 5-6:00.  He goes back to sleep just long enough for me to get ready for work, and have a little down time before getting him up and ready for the day.  Monkey usually gets here at 8:30pm and wakes up around 7:30am, so the timing should work out well.  We'll have a trial run tomorrow night/Sunday morning when I get Monkey for our family Christmas. 

At 3 months old, Bug:

• Smiles and coos constantly
• Has reflux, but is easily managed with rice in his nighttime bottles
• Taking 6oz of formula every 3 hours during the day!
• 5oz with 1 tsp rice during night feedings
• Loves talking to his "friends" (Monkey's old favorite Mr. Giraffe, and Bug's best "friend" Teddy Bear)
• Has all of the women who meet him swooning when he smiles and talks to them
• Only weighs about 10 pounds the best I can tell (check up on the 27th, so we'll know for sure then)
• In 0-3 month clothes
• Loves to cuddle
• Loves tummy time (crazy kid)
• Gets the hiccups when he cries

Bug has his first visit today with his grandma (and possibly his mom).  Grandma has had him since he was born, so she has been his primary caregiver and I know she's missing him.  My initial impressions are that Bug's case won't last very long, but of course, this is foster care.  I could be totally wrong.  I'll get a better idea this evening after Bug's investigating caseworker brings him back home.

Christmas pjs are a MUST!

As cute as Bug is, I'm missing Monkey something FIERCE.  I've never been apart from him this long, and while I have Bug to keep me busy, I REALLY need my little Monkey Man.  I'm SOOO looking forward to tomorrow night when I have ALL of my kids together for Christmas! My three boys (Booger Bear, Monkey, and my newest little Bug), my girls (Heaven and Kama), my Banana, and my awesome son-in-law Kelly... My family might be unconventional, but I think it's pretty fantastic.  Never in a million years would I have thought that foster care would bring me my family in the way that it has, but I wouldn't change a thing!

Getting into the Groove

It's been a whirlwind of a weekend, complete with Day One of me melting down and calling my Mommy because I had 45 minutes warning before Bug got here, and my house and my normally structured and organized life was in shambles.  I'd had an hour of sleep the night before because Monkey was all freaked out and INSISTED that I hold him ALL. NIGHT. LONG.  I was seriously questioning my sanity and wondering what I had agreed to by taking another itty bitty one.

The placement conversation went a little something like this:

Nice Lady - "Well, you didn't get the girls (a sibling group that she called me about earlier in the day).  They decided to go with someone in their own county."

Me - "Yeah, I kind of expected that.  That's okay."

Nice Lady - "But you did get a 2-month-old baby boy!"

Me - "Huh?"

Nice Lady - "Yeah...  (New Agency Director) didn't want me to tell you that he had submitted you because he didn't want to get your hopes up."

Me - "I got a baby boy?  Like...  They chose me?"

Nice Lady - "Yep.  They chose you!  He'll be there in 45 minutes!"

Yep...  I panicked.  :-)

Fortunately, thanks to my mom, Christy, Kelly, Heaven, and Kama, things are already getting to a new "normal," and (right now anyway) I'm no longer a total basket case.  :-)

Don't you LOVE baby feet?!?

We figured out that Bug has a sensitive tummy, changed to the "sensitive" formula, hit the good ol' gas drops, and he's been golden ever since!  Slept in his new room all night other than the four times he wanted to be fed (I swear, I have no idea how this kid can be so small the way he eats!).  And he's currently sound asleep in his room again.

I SOOO wish I could share photos from today.  Heaven, Kama, Kelly, Booger, and Banana came over to meet Bug, and spoiled him absolutely rotten.  Bug and Heaven fell in love at first sight, and I'm fairly certain I will never have to wonder if I can get a babysitter ever again.  :-)  I love that I now have a picture of my first foster son with my current foster son, and that next Saturday I'll have pictures of all three of my little guys together when Monkey comes back to celebrate our crazy mixed up family Christmas.  (Monkey's daddy just took three weeks of vacation, and I'm already missing him like crazy.  But, his daddy being as sweet as he is, realized how much we would miss each other, and is letting me have him both weekends in between now and when he goes back to work after the New Year.  Boy are they going to be shocked when they see Bug!)

We went to my sister's house after the kids left so all of my nieces and nephews could meet Bug.  Ka-Diva didn't leave our side for three hours, and Butterfly was in awe of the live baby.  Buddy was his typical awesome foster cousin self, but Pooper was more excited about the flash on my camera than anything.  Guess that particular 20-month-old isn't so impressed with babies.  :-)

God's timing is pretty perfect, I think...  I got the call that Bug was coming the day after Monkey's daddy went on vacation so we'll have three weeks to get into a good routine before Monkey comes back on our regular schedule.  I'm praying that Monkey isn't too jealous and that I can handle the chaos of getting us all cuddled and in bed at night and presentable and loved on in the mornings by myself.  As of right this second, I think it will be fine.  Although it's quite possible I am delirious from lack of sleep.  It's all good though!  I've got a new little Bug to love!  :-)

Mama Got an Early Christmas Gift

 

Baby Boy (aka. "Bug")

 

2 months old

 

Currently sawing logs in his nice warm bed...

 

(More details to follow!)

 

:-)

Computer-less :(

Just a quick FYI to let you know that I haven't completely forgotten about the blog.  I am currently computer-less at home, and they are cracking down on Internet usage here at work, so I haven't really had a chance to do much here.  There's lots of interesting stuff going on over on FB though (easy to update there on my phone :-).

I'll definitely be writing a lot more as soon as I can get my hands on a laptop!

"Foster Friday" Guest Post: Reflecting God's Love

"Reflecting God's Love" 

By:  Mama Foster

During this Christmas season, I keep feeling like I should pinch myself because this cannot possibly be my life.  I am the happiest I have ever been in my life.  I didn't know that it would take 3 years of heartache and 10 foster kids, some still here - most not, to get here.

There are certain verses in the Bible that ring in my heart every day.  "Do unto others as you would have them do unto you."  "Greater love has no man than this, that he lay down his life for his friend."  "Whatever you do to the least of these you do unto me."  Those verses have kept me going every time I wanted to give up and run away from this little world these kids are stuck in.

As I put up my Christmas tree this year, I saw the faces of my foster kids that have left on the glass ornaments that I made for my tree.  The tears that used to come immediately because I missed them so much have been replaced by a smile just remembering them, remembering how much I love them, but I have a peace I didn't have while going through it.

In the Bible it says, "all things work together for good to those who love HIM, for those who are called according to HIS purpose,"  Ladies (and perhaps Gentlemen), we are the called.  We have put our money where our mouth is and laid our hearts out on the table.  When God saw we needed a Savior, HE sent one.  A beautiful baby born in the most humble way...  He gave us HIS son.  It wasn't easy.  It didn't feel good and then HE had to see HIS son go through the unthinkable.  Being a foster mom is a risk.  It is hard.  It is a need that needs to be filled.  It is watching our kids sometimes go through terrible things and being willing to pick up the pieces over and over.

This Christmas I am "on the other side" for right this minute.  I am getting to enjoy my kids instead of having to worry about visits and court day and possible reunification that seems to be a terrible idea.  But I have no regrets, and if you have followed my story, I have seen miracles.

Christmas in foster care can be hard, but Christmas isn't supposed to be about a certain day.  It is about your life.  It is about living in a way that reflects what God has done for us.  It is about reflecting God's love for us by loving kids that we didn't give birth to, but fell in love with anyway.  Enjoy your kids whether you will have them on Christmas day or not, and know that you are not alone.  You're not doing this in vain because someday you will be on the other side of this too, and it is worth the wait.