Today Shelby's (former) and apparently current best friend came over. This is the friend who made some poor choices in the past so Steve and I are not comfortable leaving the girls alone together so when they were in the office, I was in here too. When they were outside, I was outside - never staring at them or purposely trying to listen in but just there.
After she left, I visited my Grandma. We found the library books due tomorrow, played two games of scrabble, cleaned up her dog's pee and puke, ate lunch in the dining hall and came back to the sounds of her poodle barking. Some days I want to strangle that dog...
We left for our church's block party they were having to celebrate their anniversary and Shelby got to chat more with her "crush" - the former worship director and took pictures with him. She was ecstatic. Our friends came and we all had such a great time.
This week (at least on paper) looks pretty low key - I can't wait to see what God has in store and I am eager to hear from the main placement worker since there are a few babies who might need homes soon. Double Digits here we come!!!
Sunday, September 30, 2012
Saturday, September 29, 2012
Track System is Done!!!
The overhead track/lift system is (basically) done!!! Shelby has used it multiple times today and even Shane took it for a test "spin" and it's working out amazing!!! I am so very grateful for the lift, for the man who installed it, for agencies who are able and willing to fund things like this lift system. So, so grateful.
Speaking of grateful, Shelby and I went to an event at a local church for foster care/adoption and really enjoyed listening to the presenters. After a nice lunch, Shelby and I went to check out the booths. One of the first ones we went to happened to be the county agency I am a part of. A woman asked if she could help and I explained I am already a foster parent through them. She asked me my name. I told her. She immediately knew about Sammy, explained why we were the ones to receive a call to take Sammy vs. other families and knew our reputation with having other medically fragile placements. It was weird but very cool. Not used to people I've never dealt with knowing all about me.
More grateful things: Going to my grandma's after the event - the moment we entered my Grandma's apartment Shelby notified me about the smell...and K.C. (the poodle) peed x2...but on the kitchen floor - WAAAAY better than the carpets.
Even more gratefulness - Our church is celebrating a big anniversary and all the previous worship directors are here this weekend singing which was AWESOME and Shelby has a huge crush on the last worship director who recently released a CD (which we have - of course!). He was so great - coming over to Shelby before going on stage, signing his CD, later while going back up on the stage during the Pastor's prayer, Shelby was watching him and he waved to her and later, he hung out for a few minutes and talked to her - so very, very cool.
Speaking of grateful, Shelby and I went to an event at a local church for foster care/adoption and really enjoyed listening to the presenters. After a nice lunch, Shelby and I went to check out the booths. One of the first ones we went to happened to be the county agency I am a part of. A woman asked if she could help and I explained I am already a foster parent through them. She asked me my name. I told her. She immediately knew about Sammy, explained why we were the ones to receive a call to take Sammy vs. other families and knew our reputation with having other medically fragile placements. It was weird but very cool. Not used to people I've never dealt with knowing all about me.
More grateful things: Going to my grandma's after the event - the moment we entered my Grandma's apartment Shelby notified me about the smell...and K.C. (the poodle) peed x2...but on the kitchen floor - WAAAAY better than the carpets.
Even more gratefulness - Our church is celebrating a big anniversary and all the previous worship directors are here this weekend singing which was AWESOME and Shelby has a huge crush on the last worship director who recently released a CD (which we have - of course!). He was so great - coming over to Shelby before going on stage, signing his CD, later while going back up on the stage during the Pastor's prayer, Shelby was watching him and he waved to her and later, he hung out for a few minutes and talked to her - so very, very cool.
Friday, September 28, 2012
Rough Day
Grandma fell:
Yesterday (Thursday), I did some errands (grocery store, picked up my new glasses, etc) then went to visit my Grandma. While there I unloaded the stuff I brought so my back was turned to where my Grandma was. Next thing I knew, I heard a noise - she had fallen! Her darn dog pooped by the front door, she had reached down to pick it up, got dizzy and fell, landing on her knees but immediately rolled to her side. I had her put her head between her knees and breathe for a while. Eventually when she was ready to move, she opted to crawl to the coffee table/sofa area and push herself up vs. have me help her. Her knees were sore from landing on them then crawling on them but thankfully, didn't turn bloody - her skin is so thin, it's easy for her to bleed. We talked on the sofa for a while then played scrabble and ate lunch. She was acting fine and insisted getting old is the pits.
Shelby's seizure:
Shelby arrived home late on the bus and shortly after zooming into the house informed me she had a seizure at school. She had cramps earlier in the week (she has yet to start her cycle) and according to Shelby, she had a seizure but according to her instructional assistant, it wasn't a true seizure but still it's something her doctor and I need to figure out what's going on and how to resolve it.
Shane's vision:
Shane got home and told me he needs to see the eye doctor because he's having a tough time seeing things at school. Other Shane stuff - the day before, he gave the man who is installing the overhead track system's dog a bowl of our dog's food. On Thursday, the man begged Shane never to do it again because it caused his dog to have horrific gas. Haha. Oops! Then, Shane couldn't find his shoes. Again. Then Shane wanted to go bike riding with friends. Problem? He has a flat tire. He opted to ride the friend's bike. After riding for a bit, he came home and asked if he could go to the store that's 1 mile away. I said no. Later, he asked to do homework at this new friend's house. The parents weren't home so I said no. Again. Poor guy - it just wasn't his day.
Dogs:
Our poodle peed in the house again.
Grandma's poodle pooped in her house.
Seeing a poodle pattern, unfortunately.
Later in the day, our lab mix choked on his food, spit out some of it then Shane thought the dog was having a seizure when it was really just the old dog trying to get up.
Papa:
Steve came home and was talking to Papa/his dad on his cell. Apparently his dad needed Steve's help. Awesome, totally not a problem...I just wish it wasn't needed right then - I had our afternoon/evening all planned, it was going to be fun and poof - my plans went out the window. I was already feeling the effects of the past week of packing, moving, cleaning, sleepless nights with a newborn, the track system, the stress of today, etc and Steve leaving left me feeling bummed.
Eating:
I have GOT to get myself together. I bought a Christian book re: eating appropriately but it tuns out I bought the devotional vs. the actual book the author wrote first. So, today (Friday) before I visit my Grandma, I'm going to go to the local bookstore (vs. ordering online) and pick it up. I have been bingeing like crazy and when I'm being honest and looking at myself in the bathroom with realistic eyes, I have gotten beyond out of control. Does that stop me from wanting to eat? Unfortunately no. Darn it. So, with last night's change in plans, Shelby and I had a date night - where? Out to dinner at a place that has great desserts. Naturally.
Yesterday (Thursday), I did some errands (grocery store, picked up my new glasses, etc) then went to visit my Grandma. While there I unloaded the stuff I brought so my back was turned to where my Grandma was. Next thing I knew, I heard a noise - she had fallen! Her darn dog pooped by the front door, she had reached down to pick it up, got dizzy and fell, landing on her knees but immediately rolled to her side. I had her put her head between her knees and breathe for a while. Eventually when she was ready to move, she opted to crawl to the coffee table/sofa area and push herself up vs. have me help her. Her knees were sore from landing on them then crawling on them but thankfully, didn't turn bloody - her skin is so thin, it's easy for her to bleed. We talked on the sofa for a while then played scrabble and ate lunch. She was acting fine and insisted getting old is the pits.
Shelby's seizure:
Shelby arrived home late on the bus and shortly after zooming into the house informed me she had a seizure at school. She had cramps earlier in the week (she has yet to start her cycle) and according to Shelby, she had a seizure but according to her instructional assistant, it wasn't a true seizure but still it's something her doctor and I need to figure out what's going on and how to resolve it.
Shane's vision:
Shane got home and told me he needs to see the eye doctor because he's having a tough time seeing things at school. Other Shane stuff - the day before, he gave the man who is installing the overhead track system's dog a bowl of our dog's food. On Thursday, the man begged Shane never to do it again because it caused his dog to have horrific gas. Haha. Oops! Then, Shane couldn't find his shoes. Again. Then Shane wanted to go bike riding with friends. Problem? He has a flat tire. He opted to ride the friend's bike. After riding for a bit, he came home and asked if he could go to the store that's 1 mile away. I said no. Later, he asked to do homework at this new friend's house. The parents weren't home so I said no. Again. Poor guy - it just wasn't his day.
Dogs:
Our poodle peed in the house again.
Grandma's poodle pooped in her house.
Seeing a poodle pattern, unfortunately.
Later in the day, our lab mix choked on his food, spit out some of it then Shane thought the dog was having a seizure when it was really just the old dog trying to get up.
Papa:
Steve came home and was talking to Papa/his dad on his cell. Apparently his dad needed Steve's help. Awesome, totally not a problem...I just wish it wasn't needed right then - I had our afternoon/evening all planned, it was going to be fun and poof - my plans went out the window. I was already feeling the effects of the past week of packing, moving, cleaning, sleepless nights with a newborn, the track system, the stress of today, etc and Steve leaving left me feeling bummed.
Eating:
I have GOT to get myself together. I bought a Christian book re: eating appropriately but it tuns out I bought the devotional vs. the actual book the author wrote first. So, today (Friday) before I visit my Grandma, I'm going to go to the local bookstore (vs. ordering online) and pick it up. I have been bingeing like crazy and when I'm being honest and looking at myself in the bathroom with realistic eyes, I have gotten beyond out of control. Does that stop me from wanting to eat? Unfortunately no. Darn it. So, with last night's change in plans, Shelby and I had a date night - where? Out to dinner at a place that has great desserts. Naturally.
Wednesday, September 26, 2012
Have Time To Breathe Yet?
- We did our typical morning routine
- As soon as the kids left for school, I was driving to my Grandma's by 7:15 a.m.
- I arrived and immediately started cleaning and vacuuming her empty house
- The donation pick up guys arrived and took everything out of her garage
- I swept the garage and continued cleaning and loading up the remaining items into the van
- Nanny's landlady came to do a walk through and said, "Wow, the dog really did a number in here, didn't he?" - yeah, the poodle used the carpet even more than I thought - ewww!!!
- I left and got gas
- I went to Safeway to pick up things Nanny needed
- I arrived at Nanny's new facility and spent 2 hours with her - in the courtyard, in her room playing scrabble, eating lunch and showing her the way to the beauty salon for her appt
- I left to go home for 5 minutes to unload the van, get more water, start another load of laundry and I was off ... again. It was during this time I received a text from Steve, "Have you had time to breathe yet?"
- I picked up Shelby from school
- We went to her therapist appointment who wants me to start using, "Stop, rewind and try saying that again." ... By the time we came home after the appt, my "rewind" button was darn near broken!!
- Steve (who arrived home moments after I did) and I surveyed the work the man did who is installing the overhead track system and Steve decided we would move Shelby's hospital bed and dresser around...now. So we did that.
- I left with Shane to go shopping at Wal-Mart. As he was passing me items to put on the conveyor belt, he told me, "These are 1 day old (mimi M&M's), these are 1 week old (regular M&M's) and these are 1 month old (pretzel M&M's) - so cute!! ;)
- We came home, unloaded, put everything away and I made dinner
- Shelby was almost done w/her dinner before declaring she had to go potty. It was shower night anyways so I showered her, just a little sooner than expected
- I did a load of dishes and laundry
- I attempted to help Shane with his history studying on my computer that was having problems
- I turned off the darn computer and went to the family room to chill and look up blogs on my phone
- I turned back on my computer to type out my day to remember it down the road. I must say, I am worn out!!
Monday, September 24, 2012
He has a forever family!!
Phew - what a day!!! Did the usual few wake-ups to feed "Sammy", the alarm went off and the day flew by lightning fast - starting with getting the kids up and going and out the door by 7:05 a.m. onto the bus then I left 10 minutes later for my Grandma's w/sweet little Sammy. I packed, organized, and did everything I could to make sure we were ready for the movers. They arrived, we all had our assignments and a couple hours later, Grandma and I were driving to her new place where the movers did a wonderful job of unloading and assembling. Steve was a huge help (beyond taking the day off, he went to Grandma's to help w/perishables, went to the cable company, went to Petco to buy Grandma's dog a new tag, home for putting away the perishables, hung out with his dad for a bit then met us back at Grandma's new place w/groceries she needed plus delicious sandwiches. He then left to meet the movers at my house so I could stay and unpack every single box at my Grandma's new place). Phew - it was a 9 hour day of moving madness. In the midst, I talked to Baby's social worker...and again later when she FOUND HIM A FAMILY!!! I also talked to the placement social worker who placed him with us when she called inquiring about the possibility of us taking another baby w/special needs. Had we not had Sammy, I would've said yes. (ok, full disclosure - after finding out about Sammy moving tomorrow, I did e-mail her to see if the baby in question has a new home). Our new respite worker met the kids at home as they were getting off the bus (not knowing that a. Steve was going to take today off or b. that Steve would actually be home - with the movers) - but anyways, it was super helpful having her here. I took more cute pics - I tried to be especially creative - since my photographer friend was going to take pics tomorrow but had to cancel the session. From the very beginning Sammy has pooped...a lot...like over 10-15 times a day so in true Sammy style, we stopped our photo session after he pooped on all the props. ;)
Shelby did well w/news that Sammy will be moving tomorrow. She got to hold him for a long time again today and that did her heart good.
Shane played a mini concert on his electric bass - so glad to see he's still liking the instrument he chose to play for band. He acquired a new desk due to Nanny's move and I can tell I passes a little of my OCD onto him - he organized it so well, an organizational magazine would've been proud to print a picture of it!
Steve was super active today and I am very appreciative of his help.
Sammy was a trooper today - at Nanny's, at her new place, here at home...such a sweet boy...he turned 1 week today and was quite the conversation starter w/the older people at Nanny's new facility!!
Speaking of Nanny, after all the blood, sweat and tears over the past month of making this move a reality and doing my best to find her the best place for her and her dog and being a good steward of her money, shortly before I left after a 9 hour day, she was looking in the classifieds for a a house to rent. Ugh!
Shelby did well w/news that Sammy will be moving tomorrow. She got to hold him for a long time again today and that did her heart good.
Shane played a mini concert on his electric bass - so glad to see he's still liking the instrument he chose to play for band. He acquired a new desk due to Nanny's move and I can tell I passes a little of my OCD onto him - he organized it so well, an organizational magazine would've been proud to print a picture of it!
Steve was super active today and I am very appreciative of his help.
Sammy was a trooper today - at Nanny's, at her new place, here at home...such a sweet boy...he turned 1 week today and was quite the conversation starter w/the older people at Nanny's new facility!!
Speaking of Nanny, after all the blood, sweat and tears over the past month of making this move a reality and doing my best to find her the best place for her and her dog and being a good steward of her money, shortly before I left after a 9 hour day, she was looking in the classifieds for a a house to rent. Ugh!
Thursday, September 20, 2012
Long Time No Post
The internet has been crazy temperamental so I haven't posted in forever...AT&T came out, "fixed" it, later that night it wasn't working again...maybe only for a while once a day...then never...so Comcast came out and so far, so good.
Grandma is moving on Monday. I have been packing her house up little by little for what seems like years. I have the TV people and the doggie door installer people coming on Saturday and have plans to get her closets set up w/the organizers, do the liners in the cabinets, etc. The movers come to her house on Monday, load up, drop some stuff at my house then the rest at her new place. She's had multiple doctor appts (her reg doctor, pulmonologist, neurologist) and a nursing assessment at the new facility plus the official move in appointment.
Shane's been struggling in school but as of right now. I just checked online - since it's WORKING - go figure - and he's getting 2 A+ (PE & Band), 3 B's (Math, science and english) and 1 C+ in history. He had to go to the ER a couple weeks ago after falling in PE and hitting the back of his head and passing out. We've started a new bible study and I pray it really starts to help him since he is struggling at being a kind brother.
Shelby's back to being friends w/the person who tried to hurt her over the summer, she's been bullied by two people in the emotionally disturbed class at school, she went to an appointment with me today and was crazy rude x5 so she isn't allowed to go to her school's first dance and she's devastated. She has a huge doctor's appt tomorrow.
Steve's hips continue to have problems, the light rail he takes to work has been having problems, he can't go hunting on the first hunting weekend because of my crazy weekend plans - waiting for people and organizing my Grandma's apt one day and finishing up packing the next day)...so more "problems!" ;) On our anniversary a week ago, I set up a "scavenger hunt" that had to do with 14 momentous events over the past 14 years of our marriage - I had a game board, clues, it was awesome!!
Yesterday after posting on Facebook about everything I had going on that day, I received a call from a placement worker...can you take a baby? I told her about being in the midst of moving my Grandma on Monday + on Tuesday, we have Shelby's long awaited overhead track/lift system start to be installed. She called 10 other homes (meanwhile I was praying - God, you know I'll say yes but I'd rather the baby have a home where he can stay home vs. be super busy) but the worker called back and we brought home a two day old baby yesterday!!!! So the saying about if you want to hear God laugh, tell him your plans?? Yeah, He was laughing!!!
We are calling the baby Sammy and he is so sweet!!! Eats great, sleeps well, is a pooping machine (12 times in 24 hours), is a supersoaker but so very, very precious. We won't have him long due to the fact he is a "safe surrender" - honestly, I don't know why we have him at all - I don't understand why he didn't go straight into an adoptive home.
Ok, back to updating everyone about my new e-mail...
Grandma is moving on Monday. I have been packing her house up little by little for what seems like years. I have the TV people and the doggie door installer people coming on Saturday and have plans to get her closets set up w/the organizers, do the liners in the cabinets, etc. The movers come to her house on Monday, load up, drop some stuff at my house then the rest at her new place. She's had multiple doctor appts (her reg doctor, pulmonologist, neurologist) and a nursing assessment at the new facility plus the official move in appointment.
Shane's been struggling in school but as of right now. I just checked online - since it's WORKING - go figure - and he's getting 2 A+ (PE & Band), 3 B's (Math, science and english) and 1 C+ in history. He had to go to the ER a couple weeks ago after falling in PE and hitting the back of his head and passing out. We've started a new bible study and I pray it really starts to help him since he is struggling at being a kind brother.
Shelby's back to being friends w/the person who tried to hurt her over the summer, she's been bullied by two people in the emotionally disturbed class at school, she went to an appointment with me today and was crazy rude x5 so she isn't allowed to go to her school's first dance and she's devastated. She has a huge doctor's appt tomorrow.
Steve's hips continue to have problems, the light rail he takes to work has been having problems, he can't go hunting on the first hunting weekend because of my crazy weekend plans - waiting for people and organizing my Grandma's apt one day and finishing up packing the next day)...so more "problems!" ;) On our anniversary a week ago, I set up a "scavenger hunt" that had to do with 14 momentous events over the past 14 years of our marriage - I had a game board, clues, it was awesome!!
Yesterday after posting on Facebook about everything I had going on that day, I received a call from a placement worker...can you take a baby? I told her about being in the midst of moving my Grandma on Monday + on Tuesday, we have Shelby's long awaited overhead track/lift system start to be installed. She called 10 other homes (meanwhile I was praying - God, you know I'll say yes but I'd rather the baby have a home where he can stay home vs. be super busy) but the worker called back and we brought home a two day old baby yesterday!!!! So the saying about if you want to hear God laugh, tell him your plans?? Yeah, He was laughing!!!
We are calling the baby Sammy and he is so sweet!!! Eats great, sleeps well, is a pooping machine (12 times in 24 hours), is a supersoaker but so very, very precious. We won't have him long due to the fact he is a "safe surrender" - honestly, I don't know why we have him at all - I don't understand why he didn't go straight into an adoptive home.
Ok, back to updating everyone about my new e-mail...
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