With Love, Mommy

We are now certified to adopt!!!  Not only has the state of Arizona said that they think we can be trusted with children, but the court system and commissioner in AZ have also given us the go ahead.  We must be really good parents if the state has told us to take on even more kiddos! :)  As of this morning, our name has been added to the Central Registry, which is "the list."  It's a list of available adoptive families that CPS can look up.   At any time, CPS caseworkers can pull our file and consider us as a potential adoptive home.  Our caseworker expects us to hear back very soon!  We still expect that our family could be growing before the holidays this year.  It's also possible that it takes longer, and we are okay with that too.  This is such a lesson in giving up control! Our licensing worker came by for her quarterly visit and inspection this morning.  When children are placed with us, she will have to visit weekly (for the first month), then monthly after

We got our first taste of foster parenting when we took care of a baby for 4 days as a respite placement.  Of course, the rules of confidentiality restrict me from speaking about the details of this child or from sharing pictures.  What I can say is that this baby was happy and sweet.  It was a great experience for us, just a bit of a practice run.  We saw the areas that may be difficult for us.  It was really encouraging to see that the day to day functions were okay.  We were able to take care of the needs of both children even when it was a little rough.  The areas that were a bit more difficult for us were JT's jealousy (mostly over his beloved toys) and the difference in nap schedules.  I can see where it may be difficult to go out of the house with two kiddos who have different nap schedules.  Kevin and I had a chance to really discuss what we may do differently next time and what Little J needs during this transition.  We are still very excited about this, and we still belie