#foster mama

[joelismyserotonin]

Guuuuuuys! I’m a foster mama!!!

Found these little babas as I was clearing out my garden. I always keep an eye out while gardening incase I stumble across baba wildlife—good job I do, right? As a mama myself I’m too fucking worried, what if the mama doesnt come baaaack????

[accidental-criminals]

Even though baby girl isn't home yet, I think I've stretched myself thin trying to work, see baby girl, take care of our home, and try to figure out wtf we still need to prepare for her to come home. Throw in allergies and I took the majority of the day off. My best bud is definitely soaking in the love

[poorlybehavedamy]

She went from 1 lb 4 ounces to 2 lb 2 oz in about a week and a half! Her bones are sticking out a lot less. Teared up a bit when I realized this is probably the first time in her life that she's had regular meals. My precious lil Skeletor.

[travelsofadifferentnature]

Foster Parent: God Does Exist

I have not been the biggest fan of religion growing up. So I avoided going to churches and such. I have always believed in God, Jesus, creation, etc but not as some people would like to depict them. So yes, I have attended church but I have never committed to a church or really tried to attend regularly. When I moved to Houston to be a foster parent a plethora of opportunities to attend concerts became available to me. One of those concerts being Beyoncé's. Prior to her show there was a slideshow of places around Houston that meant something to her and one of those slides was St John's Downtown, the church she used to attend. My friend and I decided that we should go just to say we did. Well we did go. I liked my first impression. So I went again. And have continued to go regularly (as I can) since then. It has been over a year and a half and I still feel comfortable. Before I continue this is not why God (currently) exists. Those babies I spoke of in my last post. Those babies that have a soul splitting cry. Those babies that for some reason refuse to be comforted and continue to cry as if they have had a toe chopped off. Those babies that make me not want to take them places. Those are the babies that I take to church with me. The first time I took EVERYTHING, I was prepared for a babypocalypse. But nothing happened not even a peep. God exists y'all, because for those 2 hours every Sunday I can rest assured I will have a quiet calm baby. The thing is, it's been every single baby that has ever cried like a maniac every where else, but not in the sanctuary.

Note: So, I for some reason saved this post to my drafts when I had meant to post it over a month ago. In fact, It was either the Sunday right after or the next one after my last post, that I wrote this one. 

[travelsofadifferentnature]

Change is Afloat

It is always so difficult to begin a post because so much occurs in between each one; there is hardly enough time to attend regularly to this blog. There is not a day that goes by where I do not think, "oh, that would make for a good entry" or "I should really share that experience with everyone." So, since the new year has begun I have gained and lost six kids, gone on vacation, and moved houses. More has probably gone on, but those are the big things. 

Before I left for vacation I got two kids under the age of 4 who only spoke Spanish. They were cute kids and I had my moments where I really enjoyed them. However, maybe because of time constraints, they just were not my ideal kids. I was not excited to have them and was not too particularly attached to them. I did get them when I was so over being in the compound and ready for my vacation.

So I went on vacation. First stop Vegas. Vegas was okay, it did not live up to what I had imagined it would be like. Maybe I need to go back, maybe with different people. From Vegas I went home to Oregon. Oh how I had missed the greenery, the wet, and the cold that was Oregon. Okay, maybe I did not miss the cold or the wet, but I definitely missed Oregon. I had not realized, until I got off the plane (in Vegas) and saw those that I had not seen in over a year, just how much I really did miss everyone. A week, two weeks, was not nearly long enough. I saw many people, but I definitely did not see everyone I intended to.

Then there were the tears that came out of no where every time I had to say "goodbye" to someone again. Ha I even got super emotional saying "bye" to Candace. For anyone that knows me, her, us, and our relationship, it is kind of quite ridiculous for me to get emotional about/with her. It was so hard to come back to the compound. I have decided that my supervisors gamble with letting us vacation home, because it was so hard for me to come back. I could have stayed in Oregon. I had several places to live and could have easily (sort of) found another job. Needless to say, I will be visiting Oregon again because I already miss those that I left behind and am super mad at myself for not making it to seeing everyone. 

So, to Texas I returned. I came back to welcoming compound arms, kids that I had missed, friends/family that I had missed, supervisors (truthfully) that I had missed, and a little bit of crazy that I had missed. While I was gone the two Spanish speaking siblings left and in their place when I returned was a 3 week old. He was (is) absolutely precious. He is such an easy baby with a head full of hair. Not even a day after being back, Monica and I, were summoned to the office to meet with our supervisors. What we thought was going to be another month or two, was occurring (sort of) in the next week. I was to move out of my house in to another and begin preparing for FBCdom totally a word I just made up with Monica. - In case anyone has forgotten or not realized, I have been in 'FBC' for the past six or seven months. Really it was FB3. This means that it has just been myself and two other people taking care of four to five children. Now, it is just going to be Monica and I. - So, that is how I lost the other four children. They are technically still in the neighborhood and I see them occasionally, but they are no longer mine. 

Well, it has only really been a week since I have been back in the compound. It seems like it has been longer with how fast everything happens in the compound. Monica and I have been working on gutting our house and trying to get it in to shape, but we are having to work around people that currently live here and this is proving to be quite challenging. We have tossed a lot of stuff due to it being old and in bad repair. We have also found our house to be lacking a lot of essential items that are needed to care for children. The room I am sleeping in for the time being has become our throw-all, anything we are wanting to keep or getting for the house is going in there. So as I am sure you can imagine, it is a disaster area and driving me completely up the wall. Today (2/14) I had my home study done Monica and I (mostly) agreed that I should be the licensed foster parent and so we are now waiting for that to be approved. Just one of many things that needs to occur by the 28th. I feel like so much has to be accomplished but kinks in the system are stopping us from getting there. 

That is the gist of all that has happened since my last post, which really was only about a month ago. Go me for finding the time to manage this one. 

This compound, neighborhood, is a great one on most days. I truly love it and I have had a fairly easy year. Yes, there has been times of frustration, sadness, and anger, but I am thankful for all of it. I have met so many people that I have come to love (yes, I said the L word) and care about. I am not even remotely sure if I would have had as great a year without them being a part of it. They have become my family and have my back, as I have theirs, when shit gets tough. There is no one else that I could imagine living these experiences with. So when issues arise with those people, I can only hope that our bond, friendship, the family bond that has formed, is stronger than the issues. 

[8etafish]

frida really likes this basket. (my foster babby for a couple weeks)

[crazyrainbowz]

Hey guys I'm trying to get a Foster dog blog started so I can get more info out there about the dogs I foster. All of these dogs are in the Tallahassee Florida area and are adopted through Last Hope Rescue. Help me get the word out there about these cute doggies so that more like them can be saved!

Click here!