Changes

 
It's kind of funny how much I dislike change, yet my life seems to have quite a bit of it.  My last job was largely about implementing change.  And we're foster parents, which is a continuous cycle of change.  And while I can adapt fairly easily, I really don't like to.  I like stability and predictability.  None of which I've had in the past month.

Our newest big change came about a month ago when I quit my job.  I was only working part time, but when we got baby J it became really hard to be able to get to all of her appointments.  It helped when Troy was off for the summer, but when we got baby S it was very obvious that we couldn't continue both being working parents.  When Troy got a new job in a closer district that paid more, we knew it was time for me to quit.  When I was younger I always thought that I'd be a working mom.  In fact, until we got Keragan, I still thought I'd be a working mom.  But when we brought her home and started trying to figure out childcare arrangements, everything changed.  Since then, we've been juggling work schedules and part time babysitters to try to keep Keragan home with us as much as possible.  I'm glad we did it, but it was exhausting.  I know there will be some rough days, but I'm looking forward to focusing all of my attention on the kids.

Immediately after my last day, we went to a family reunion, then took a quick trip to Maine for our anniversary, then went to my sister-in-laws baby shower.  We came home early from that and immediately launched into a week of three doctor appointments, two SARs (Semi-Annual Reviews for the foster kids), two visitations, 60 lbs of tomatoes to can and a preschool orientation for Keragan.  Oh, and Troy went back to school, so I did a lot of these by myself.  We have one appointment tomorrow and one on Thursday, and then I'm looking forward to a long weekend of not leaving the house!  At least not with three kids...

People warned me that going from 1 to 2 kids was a lot harder than going from 0 to 1, however I really didn't have much of a problem when baby J came.  However, going from 2 to 3 has been a completely different story.  Maybe it was because of the timeline, or the close ages of the two youngest, but it's exhausting!  And almost impossible to go anywhere!  I've tried carrying both infant carriers, carrying one carrier and one baby, and using the double stroller.  All while Keragan trails behind.  And none of them have worked for me yet!  But I'll find a way!  :)

So things on the fostering side became a lot clearer and a lot murkier.  We hear some stuff from the parents, and some stuff from the caseworker, but for the most part we're in the dark.  So the Semi Annual Reviews (SARs) are a chance to review the whole case with all parties.  Baby J's SAR wasn't much of a surprise.  Mom is taking her classes and working on her case plan, so if everything continues as is, baby J will likely go home next spring.

Baby S is a different story.  It seems like at every turn something new pops up... relatives are popping up everywhere, mom and dad's stories never match up and for whatever reason they just really don't understand what they're supposed to be doing.  We were told that dad was taking his drug tests and was  on track to get her back in a month or so... however during the SAR we found out that he had tested positive on both drug tests.  He seemed surprised, thinking that he only had to be clean of heroin, not marijuana.  So I have no idea what's going on with baby S.

But we're loving our time with the girls!  They are growing so much, and feel like part of the family.  Baby S is really close to crawling and scoots all over the place.  J is sitting up and always wants to watch Keragan and S.  They're both eating foods now, which makes feeding time interesting.  We're starting to get into a routine, and my goal is that all three girls nap at the same time in the afternoon so that I can get some things done around the house.

Next week Keragan goes back to preschool and our schedule will yet again change.  But I know how much she loves going, so it'll be a good change.  And then we'll wait patiently for our next change!