Ariel

I keep meaning to post the link to the agency we are getting certified through, Ariel Clinical Services. It just so happens that they are the first one in the Foster Care section of the phone book, and it turns out they are a small agency with a nice family feel.

http://www.arielcpa.org/

Getting down to the CORE of foster parenting

Mike and I have had something come up every.single.time. we were supposed to attend a CORE training class for the foster-adopt program. Illness, injury, and other plans have gotten in the way for two months now. I'm supposed to go to CORE training tomorrow and I have done something to my neck- I think I slept on it wrong- so I am debating whether or not to go again tomorrow. I could send Mike but then I would have to suffer through another day of "Mommy can't play, bend over or get up and down quickly" which doesn't seem fair to the kids.

And I am going first because Mike is chicken, bok bok bok. He says it's because if he goes first I will just grill him for details of the training and it will be like going through it twice, but I think it is because he needs me to go first because I am a classic firstborn and he is a classic middle.

I want to share our home with a daughter, so I want to move forward in this process, and thus I will probably suck it up and go tomorrow even if my neck is still hurting like it is today. I can always slap on a pain patch and take acetaminophen, ibuprofen *and* naproxen sodium...

I wonder what CORE stands for?

It's Only The Beginning

of what I want to feel forever...

We finally turned in our bulging file folder of paperwork. We picked up the forms on Halloween (I told the Social Worker we don't normally all dress in black, just me) so let's see...it took us about two months just to get our paperwork filled out. We may be subconsciously stalling for time, for better days when Smooshie isn't two and a half. At any rate, we've lept over the first hurdle in style and now we wait.

It's like waiting to hear that the blood test is positive only we aren't having a baby, but a child.

Sometimes I can't sleep because I am thinking about how strange it will be to have a child living with us without her parents and who is already potty-trained, sleeping through the night, dressing herself and probably capable of making not only her own PB&J sandwich but a couple for our boys, too.

It's weird.

Exciting.

Suspenseful.

Nerve-wracking.

And I have heartburn.

Presto Change-o!

I called Leah with LFS Friday, and set up a home visit for this Friday evening, but after thinking it over this weekend I have changed my mind once again and decided I would rather go with Ariel Clinical Services.

I think they are a smaller agency, with a lot less overhead, and they just have a vibe that we like. The agency reminds me a lot of the small non-profit I worked for right out of college, Community Living, Inc.

Besides we already have all of our Ariel forms filled out- we just need to get our fingerprint cards done and find a doctor who can see the whole family in one visit. I am hoping we can get an appointment with a doctor at a family practice right down the street. I have agreed to arrange the doctor's appointment and Mike will make an appointment for getting our fingerprints.

Also, if I didn't already mention this: LFS is "absorbing another agency" which sounds cannibalistic but apparently happens a lot with CPA's and seems to cause chaos.

We asked our oldest son how would he like having an older sister, and he said, "I would like her if she combs her hair, listens, brushes her teeth and plays with me."

We'll see what we can do!

On the couch

I'm not calling LFS today because I have finally succumbed to this cold and am on the couch. The boys are playing really well together and it's time like this when I question why we want to add a third child to our family. Why is it so important for me to have a daughter? And is it a sexist need?