Where We Are

This weekend hubby and I had to have a long hard discussion about this process and our feelings toward it. Hubby has been working on a certain certification for work that is requiring him to go out of town frequently (new to us) and study in his free time. This and us working toward our license has caused a lot of pressure on him and, therefore, a lot of stress in our house. I really felt God working on my heart to respect my husband and work to ease the stress level in our home. Unfortunately, the answer to this was to postpone any further work on our license for (hopefully) a short time. I let our agency worker know yesterday. I also let her know that we would be interested in doing respite care! So although it made my heart so sad to know we are now longer away from bringing another child into our home, I am very much at peace with our decision. Through this whole process I have known that God's timing is supreme, His love for us pushes us to fulfill HIS will and not our own. I choose to follow Him, no matter where the road leads, no matter what my flesh tells me. I hope that soon I can update you all with either a respite care story or to say that we are back on the road again!

Just one of THOSE days

On  positive note we have our fire inspection scheduled. On a negative note, before Monday (the date of the inspection) I need to schedule and an inspection on my heater and hot water heater, from a a/c guy AND a plumber. Are ya kidding me????? So I call the first a/c company  $90 for them to come out and inspect then  I call the first plumbing company $80 for them to come out and inspect. UGH! So not only do I need to find a way to schedule these to things (we all know how these kinds of appts. turn out, all. day. waiting.) before Monday, I also need to come up with close to $200 for these things.
I want to do this so badly but jeezy cow is it really turning up the stress factor. Anybody I have a box of tissues I can borrow?

Getting closer

We're getting closer to our license! We finished our training classes tonight!!! All we have left is:
-CPR/First Aid
-Health Inspection (scheduled)
-Fire Inspection (waiting to hear back from Fire Marshall)
-Pet Immunizations (scheduled)
-TB Test
-Home Study Wrap-Up

I hope we will be licensed by mid-late March. Craziness! When we started we thought it would take us until June or July. Now to hope for a placement right away! Just hope there are no delays!

Good Deals

On Sundays I like to make a trip to our local Goodwill for .99c days. Today I decided to peruse the baby section in search of clothes to have on hand for placements that come with *nothing* which I understand to be the norm. We are only taking in girls 0-3 so that really helps on getting prepared.  I was excited to find out that baby clothes (I am assuming 4 and under) are buy 3 get them for .66c each!! I am very picky about buying used, they must be in tip-top shape. Here are my finds: 

 4T

 18 Months

6-9 Months

A little less

Ok, I have happy news! I called the Fire Marshall today and the fire inspection is F.R.E.E. So glad! Plus I found out the health inspection is only $30. That made my day! Our agency worker wasn't familiar with our particular county I guess. I had prayed about all the money last night and just told God I was trusting in Him to point the way. I feel like this was definitely His answer!

It Adds Up

Today was our training that we had to reschedule last Friday. It went really well and we made a lot of progress for our classes. I just love our agency lady. Our training feels more like conversation than a teacher/student situation. Here is my concern: we need to get our fire inspection, health inspection, CPR certification and our cats need vaccines. The problem with this is that fire inspection is ~$50 plus I need to buy several smoke alarms and a fire extinguisher, health inspection is ~$50 as well. CPR is ~$40/person and our cats vaccines are going to run us around $70. Now we can definitely provide for our family and tend to have a little extra money after bills, groceries and gas but $250 is a lot to dole out in a paycheck.  I want to be done as soon as possible but I also don't want to cause financial stress on our family. Aside from these things we also need to get a convertible crib and a carseat. Hubby wants to divide the cost up over the next three paychecks but I am so eager. I don't know how to approach this. I don't want to tell our agency lady (what the heck is the proper acronym for this??) that  we have to slow down because of money.  I don't know why but I feel like mentioning money is so taboo. Hmmm... I guess we wait and see. I  am not really into cliches but I was telling hubby tonight that I feel like, "Let go and let God" is oh so appropriate in this situation!

Anyway, our fingerprints and background check are in, as well as our references. Aside from the things mentioned here, all we need is our homestudy and TB test. I am thinking we could be licensed by end of March or beginning of April! 

Cancelled

Our training was cancelled Friday because hubby unexpectedly had to work late. :( We are going reschedule for early this week. I was upset about it having to be cancelled but I am working on PATIENCE and realizing e-ver-y-thing is in God's hands. His timing is not our timing.

Pyschotropic Medication Training

Done! Check another off the list. :) Two interesting tidbits: 1. Parsley interacts badly with Lithium. I found it interesting that an everyday common food could interact with drugs. It made me curious to know what other med/food interactions are out there. I mean aside from the obvious like caffeine/alcohol. 2. As part of our 'homework' we had to clean out our expired meds or those prescription meds we no longer have a use for. I had an entire plastic grocery bag full! I went from two shelves in my coffee cup medicine cupboard to a half of a shelf. Leaves a lot more room for the things that actually belong there.

Great Article

Visit the is link: http://www.millionsofmiles.com/2011/06/power-of-saying-yes-lessons-from.html and read about how saying "yes" can help your child feel secure.

Fingerprinting...

Can I just say that digital fingerprinting is SO cool?! My dear son (7yo)was along with us for the fingerprinting and he really thought it was neat to see the lines on our fingertips. I caught him studying his own. It was a great learning experience for him. Anyway, our fingerprinting is done. To date, here are the things that we are still lacking:
-CPR/First Aid
-Medication Training
-Restraint Training
-Fire/Health Inspection
-A few more classes
-TB testing (to be done 1 week before licensing)
I think those are the things we are missing. My ideal situation would be to have our license by the end of March but we will see what God has in store. :) Hubs is going away for some training (for work) this week, so everything will be on stand still until next week. I think we will resume foster care training Friday of next week. I am hoping our fingerprints are accepted because there was a lady in the fingerprinting office having to get reprinted...fingers crossed for no delays on that!

Strengthening

Just a quick post to say  that filling out the home study, foster profile etc. can really bring you closer as a couple. I feel like I am seeing a more intimate side of my husband. There's also a little re-kindling of attraction going on when I hear all the sweet things he said about me on the "spouse" part of the forms. Aaah, sweet love.

Timing It Right...

This weekend was fun. Or not. Bit of advice: If you start the foster care process and then your husband starts new training at work, be prepared for a high stress environment. Haha!
My husband and I were at odds this weekend about the speed/idea of our foster care training. Originally, we thought it would take 3-6 months to get licensed and that it would be a slow process. It just so happens that the agency we chose is quick moving, which is awesome in theory unless your husband does not deal well with being overwhelmed! So after a bit of freezing each other out discussion, we decided it would be best to slow waaaay down on the training, etc. I am happy to say, we are back on the same page now and still working toward our license. We get fingerprinted on Monday and then he is off to an out of town trip, more training for his job. Once he gets back we will resume the training process.

First.

Today is the day our newest chapter began. This evening we met with the main lady from our chosen foster care agency. I spent about eight hours cleaning house before she came because I did not know where/what she would be looking at (she saw nothing but our living room). I was so excited in the days leading up to this meeting but a few hours before she was to come my excitement turned to nervousness. My stomach was full of butterflies! I don't really know why, I think it was just the unexpected. Much to my relief, she was a really nice lady. After answering some of our questions, she immediately dove into training. We will be doing private training because of our schedule, just our family and her. It went smoothly. We were able to ask any question when it arose. It felt more like a conversation than "training." We did several hours tonight. She also left us with three training sessions to do online and three training DVDs. We are planning to do these this weekend and she will be back next Tuesday evening to continue our training. I asked her how long she thought it would take before we were licensed. Her answer? "It depends on how fast/slow you want to make this but you could be done in approximately one month." REALLY? We were floored. I had no idea it was going to be that soon. I was thinking 3-6 months. I am uber-excited, hubby on the other hand is uber-nervous. 
Proverbs 16:9 says, "the heart of man plans his way, but the Lord establishes his steps." My heart has led me to this place but God is definitely establishing our steps and our timing.

In the beginning...

I have been reading foster care blogs for over a year now. They have been such an education and encouragement as I waited for the "go ahead" from God to begin the foster care process. His timing is perfect and He chose now!  I want to share our journey with you in hopes that it may encourage, enlighten, and entertain. Because children are often called "fruit of the womb" I chose the name "Fruit of the Heart" because although these children will not be of my womb they are definitely in my heart.