I apologize for not posting for over two weeks but you know I have at least three reasons...Liam, Seamus, and Tamara!
Plus, I had a FOURTH reason for four days-- a baby who I repeatedly called "Daniel" despite the fact that was actually not his name (which is why I'm even using it here!)
We provided emergency respite for a three-month-old baby boy over the fourth of July weekend. He was born premature and drug-addicted and possibly has Fetal Alcohol Syndrome as well, but was surprisingly mellow considering all of that and the fact that he was pulled from the only home he had ever known (his foster parents had brought him home from the hospital). It was strange to hold a baby whose first reaction was to stiffen, who took a minute to conform to my body, and would only accept Reiki on his feet for three days. Still, he preferred me to Mike, if only because Mara shrieked if Mike held him, so I wore him most of the time in an Indigo blue Moby Wrap which I got out just for him. In fact, I wore him the morning after he was placed with us in an Independence Day parade with the Denver Metro Mothers for Liberty! The Group Organizer, my new friend Jess, draped me in a flag banner (think Miss America only red, white and blue)-- and some guy from her neighborhood took several photos of us, so hopefully we will eventually get a copy of them. The parade was a blast. The baby was calm but wakeful during the entire parade, smiling at the children's voices and my patriotic wishes of "Happy 4th!" to the people who came to watch the parade. He even stayed awake during the ice cream social afterwards, cooing and smiling at the kids as we sat on a blanket in the shade with the wee ones while the older girls hurled large globs of green algae out of the creek. After resting at home for the entire day, we went to Southlands for the fireworks display that night. Although I had to hold either a bottle in his mouth or massage his head as I was driving there with Mike tending to a fussy Mara who was up past her bedtime in the second row, and two extremely excited boys imitating fireworks in the third row, we found a nice quiet spot in the parking lot of Wal-Mart of all places and enjoyed the large display accompanied by patriotic music. The baby slept peacefully through the fireworks on my chest in the Moby Wrap while Mike wore a clapping and ooh-ing Mara forward-facing in a Jeep carrier. I was very surprised that the baby wasn't bothered by the fireworks, but I did cover his ears during the loud ending. While we waited for the traffic to die down so we could get out of the parking lot and get home, Mike went to the Devil's Store and bought the baby a camouflage onesie that said "MAJOR CUTIE". I found it sad that it fit him as it was newborn size. He turned four months old before he left us for his next foster home. We stuffed his once pitifully light duffle bag full with some clothes we found in our doll clothes, three new Sassy MAM bottles, soft toys and books, a Lamaze mirror and a wrist rattle, along with a sling type carrier that another foster mother had given me for Mara. I will try to attach pix of him in it and Liam holding him, but eblogger has not successfully attached pix that I tried to add to a previously saved post yet today, so I am not sure if I will be able to do so.
The day after the baby left our home was Mike's birthday, and we left Mara with another foster mother for the first time while we went out to eat with the boys at Old Chicago. Unfortunately, Mike and I both became very ill that night and I had really severe digestive problems for the next five days-- up until yesterday. I finally began taking probiotics yesterday and I think that made all the difference as I am actually veering from the BRAT diet this morning and had coffee and soymilk without incident. I take much better care of the kids-- I would have started them on probiotics at the first sign of a loose stool-- but I am still learning to treat myself as good as I do my children. It is hard as a mother to remember to take care of yourself, but the saying "If Mama ain't happy, ain't nobody happy" is definitely true in our house. Anyway, the good thing is that I lost seven pounds (which I needed to lose but would not have wanted to lose it that way if I could choose).
So as you can see we have been busy, and there is more to tell about drama with Mara's mama that I will blog about when I feel like I can be "fair and balanced", LOL. Suffice to say, we are now using the back entrance to the building for Mara's weekly family visits in an effort to avoid contact with Linda for the time being.
Stay Tuned, Dear Readers! And keep sending your love, reiki, and prayers-- we need it now more than ever as I begin planning a first birthday party (with a castle bounce house of course) for "our little girl" (Princess) and still don't know if we will have the honor of seeing her through ALL of her formative years.
With Love, The Queen
