After Christmas Craziness

On the 20th, our foster kids left.  They moved to be with grandparents, so I guess it was for the best for them.  We had given our 30 day notice to the county earlier in the week due to some extreme behaviors from the older 2, and the lack of support and therapy from the county.  So, on court day, the judge granted custody to the grandparents, and after an initial few weeks of being monitored by the county, they will be done with CYS.  The parents think they did good by ok'ing custody to grandma, but in the long haul of it, they will find it will be so much harder to get them back from her as it would have been from the system.  But anyway, we're moving on. 

Saturday I got hit by a bad case of the stomach flu.  Or food poisoning.  Not sure which, but I vomited too many times to keep track from Saturday night till Sunday, then slept all day Sunday and all Sunday night into Monday.  I finally ate real food on Christmas day, and still feel a little bit weak and dizzy at times.  Mental games are making me question what was the cause of it all because it was strictly the vomit side of things, and no real fever.  And my cycles are so screwed up lately and I know I totally skipped November and December so far.  But I'm fairly certain that nothing is possible.  Just those 10+ years of trying that plays mind games when I have issues like this.

Christmas was nice.  Really quiet compared to how the past month had been for us, but it was nice.  We made it way more low key and not so over spent this year, mostly because I had no time to shop till the very last week.  He didn't notice the lesser amount of gifts, and was very excited over what he did get.  He still very much believes in Santa so it was cool to still see the magic side of things on Christmas eve and his rush to get sleep.  And then the suspense of hearing him waking up and peaking at 3am.  Then sighing loudly till we finally gave in at around 4:15-4:30ish because we had told him he had to sleep till 5.  We did give in early, and then ended up sending his whiney but back to bed at 6:30 because he was so emotional and over tired still.  After a little nap, we were back up at 8:30 and enjoyed the rest of the day. 
The dogs got lots of chewy bones and toys they can't kill so easily and have been having a blast ever since. 

And our tree.  It has to come down asap.  On Friday I had my babysitting kids come back, and the little one likes to beat the tree and watch stuff fall.  A few little tiny branches came lose, and the dogs got them before I really noticed.  Then they developed a taste for pine.  And ever since, they will sneak a branch when I'm not looking or in the room, and chew for a while.  The tree now looks pathetic so it will be coming down today. 

A few pics, then I'm off to pack up Christmas. Sad to see it go so fast, but it's over now, and time to move on. 

 

We've been busy

We finally got placed with kids.  November 19th, we got a sibling group of 3.  Now 7 year old boy (birthday was last week), 5 year old girl, and a as of today, little over 3 week old boy.  So life has been so crazy busy.  Things are not going so great.  The parents of the children knew they were coming into care, and told the older 2 that foster care and county agency is very bad and mean, and that we will hurt them and not ever let them go back, but if they fight us and do not listen, that they will get to go back sooner because no one wants to deal with bad behavior.  So, guess what they have done?  Fight.  Refuse to trust.  Threatened to run away.  Total craziness.  After 10 days, we had a court hearing to determine length of their stay, requirements to get them back, etc.  At that point, we made the judge aware of the struggles and why, and the parents were told they had to tell the kids that they were wrong, and see if that helped with the listening.  It did with the girl, but the boy has some serious behavior issues.  We're at our witts end here and are actually waiting on info on if they can even remain as a group.  He has displayed so many extreme behaviors that he needs specialized care and some big time therapy.  The ultimate goal is that their grandma is going to get approval and take them all into her care once all the legal stuff is in order.  At this point, with the issues we've experienced, they are not going to move too quickly.  Maybe the older 2 first, therapy and check in's and then baby can go.  We don't know anything yet.  I've learned that the system is even more screwed up than I thought earlier. 
The baby is doing awesome.  He is very tiny, and was a result of not proper care during pregnancy and then complications at the end.  I forget the term they used, but basically he was better out in the world than in, and even though he was born at 39 weeks, he was only 4lbs 6ozs.  At his 2 week check up, he is up to 5lb 2ozs.  Itty bitty though.  He's only 17 inches long.  We just now are using newborn diapers and clothes, and they still swallow him.  He's been a pretty awesome little guy.  Sleeps great, has one crying spell in the evenings when it's the craziest around here and as long as he's held and snuggling, he's happy as can be.  I even got a few tiny smiles yesterday while talking to him.  He's definitely becoming more alert and having longer awake times.  It's going to be really hard to see him go, but at the same time, maybe not as hard as if it was just him.  I know that he needs to be with the rest of his family, and the issues we've had with the older ones may make them leaving not so difficult.
It's all part of the learning experience.  I now know that we need to stick to our plan of no boys close in age to K.  We need to re-evaluate if we want emergency placements, or if we need to meet and visit several times first.  We know we can handle the emotional needs of the 5 yr old, and definitely can handle the baby, so it's at least given us some helpful info.  And whether they realize it now or not, I know they will look back when they are older and remember their stay here as a good experience in a very hard time of their childhoods. 

And the baby  has definitely made me reconsider being totally past this stage. All it took was one in the home 24/7 and not babysitting to realize it isn't as bad as the last 2 I've babysat. 

So that's the quick update.  Off for baby snuggle time before getting the boys from school.  Living it up while he's here.  :)