We are moving along

Things are progressing nicely. Everything went through with my home study so I will begin the Adopt PRIDE classes this Saturday. That means that the next 5 Saturdays are going to be spent doing that. I am excited to get the ball rolling but my sleep on the week-ends is precious so I am not looking forward to waking up early again =(. It is for a good cause though.

They went to court today to discuss the case of his siblings and present me to the court and deal with my visitation. I haven't heard anything yet on how that went. I am looking forward to finding out.

I am going to post some pictures of the things I have so far for his room....I am super excited, can you tell???

oops

apparently I should also proof read a little better, or at all really........sorry about that!

Home study #1 and more

So today was the first of two home studies. Basically they interviewed me and told me a few things I need to do before J can live in my house. No biggie. So all went well basically! The next step is for me to start my classes and that will either being May 2 or May 9.

I also go the good news that I can take him to CA with me this summer. That means I will be able to introduce him to all of my family and take him to see so many wonderful things in possibly his future home state! I am sooooooooo excited about that!

I broke down today, bought a few things.........i bought a bed spread, a sheet set, and a basketball, football, and soccer piggy bank that they hard at target for $2.50!

I am looking forward to getting those classes started!

I can't help myself

I had to buy something.....I was at the store looking at paint colors and I saw a few things for J's room that i had to buy, so I did!

I went to the hobby store to check out the scrap book materials. As i was txting my mom and telling her how much i wish i was near her where i could use all of her tools (i think she owns everyone invented) for scrap booking, she suggested to me that i make one online like through walmart.....and so i must investigate! While i was at the store however, i did find something to buy (of course). I bought him two picture albums one that looks like a basketball and the other a soccer ball.

J asked me today if i could be his foster mom...........i asked him if he had heard someone say something or if that is just what he wanted and he told me it is just what he wants. He is not suppose to know yet so i hope no one mentions it to him. I want him to know though.....at least it seems he will like the idea!

OK OK I'm updating

I have been told by a dear friend that i need to feed her addiction to blogging and update. I haven't written anything because not much has happened. SO, forgive me if this a bore, but I suppose it is nonetheless information!

J's foster mom mentioned to me today that the treatment home where he gets his therapy wants me to take parenting classes to learn about behavior. My question to them is....I have a masters in counseling, is it really worth my time? If it is I will totally do it, but come on.....I am not so sure about that.

My first project is going to be to start a scrap book introducing J to my family and his new home. I am excited that I can at least work on something! I did break down yesterday and buy something for his room. I found a soccer ball shelf at TJ MAXX and some sport pillows there too. I have been checking out bedding and am doing a sports them because it is age appropriate and generic enough to last him until he is a teenager- side note, he will be 18 b4 i turn 40! WOW

The home study is Thursday so I am sure I will have more to report then if not before!

Thanks to everyone for all of the encouragement!

Home Study

I found out today that DHS will do my home study next Thursday. This is a big step in the whole process.

Yesterday I went to check out kid furniture for his room....so exciting! I want to start decorating but I know I have to wait....at least a little bit longer.

Today before he left during dismissal he came over to me, gave me a hug and said "Ms. Reed, I wish I could stay with you, but I can't." (remember, he doesn't know I am going to adopt him yet). I gave him a hug back and told him I would talk to his foster mom and see if we could work out something as a good behavior reward. His whole face lit up and he gave me a big grin!

Things seem to be moving forward.....

I just wish other things in my life were this easy!

OK, so maybe this IS the way God wants it....

As you may or may not know, I have had some anxiety regarding my newest life adventure. However after today I am feeling much better about everything and am actually getting excited! I was at the grief center where i volunteer tonight and I got the sign from God that I was looking for...the sign to show me that this is the right thing. You see, I had been talking to a couple I volunteer with at the center about THEM adopting J because they are starting to get involved with the call. I was really pushing it, letting them know all about him, talking it up, the works! SO, when the idea of me adopting him evolved I was a little nervous that they would be upset. Well, when I arrived tonight I was talking with them and told them what was going on and they got all excited. Janet told me that she felt in her heart that I was the one who needed to adopt him and she was praying about it. That just made my day.......is this all really happening? Oh, I also bought some books to read about helping kids who have been rejected. If anyone has ideas about good kids/picture books that I can read to him when he comes to live with me that are about adoption (not baby though), faith, unconditional love, etc. let me know!!

Moving Forward

The adoption specialist called me today and told me that I should be getting a call this week to set up my home visit. Once that happens I can enroll in the foster parent classes. The classes are starting at the beginning of May and they are trying to get everything else squared away so that I can attend the May classes. If that is the case then I should be able to take over custody as his foster mom early this summer. =)

J had a good day at school today. He worked hard to be able to go on the field trip today.....he signed a contract for good behavior. He really enjoyed the ball game and was one good behavior throughout!

I am starting to loose my anxiety and get more excited about this whole experience I am embarking on. I want to start buying things and getting his room ready bu I know it is too soon for that! Maybe in a month or so...

A little bit about J

J is a great kid with sooooooooooooooooooooooo much potential! He has not had it easy in his 8 years of life. Having spent most of his life in foster care he has been tossed around from home to home and yet he still smiles at me EVERYDAY!

J was adopted about a year ago, along with his younger brother and sister. After 5 months with that family they returned him to the system. I am not sure of all the details in their decision to do that. However, I am aware that they were unwilling to work with J and didn't really want him to begin with. Ever since J was returned to his foster home DHS has been working hard on keeping his siblings together. Now however, it looks as though that is not going to happen..........this is when they called me.

J is not an easy kid in class either, let me tell you. He has pushed me, hit me, thrown things at me, told me he hates me, cursed at me, and defies me just for the sake of defying. But I love him to death. He is the sweetest and most charming 8 year old I know. I have been working with him for several months and he is doing very well. I have found that he responds well to fair and consistent boundaries.

My head may have doubts about adopting him, but in my heart I feel that all he needs is a loving and stable environment with a family who loves him and is willing to work with him through the ups and downs.

I will keep posting updates on the status and experience of me, a single teacher, who is hoping to make a difference bigger than life for J!

The doors started FLYING open...

Once I had it in my heart to adopt a child from the foster care system opportunity just kept knocking on my door. I started the paperwork process of doing the background checks and all like a year ago. I was interested in a particular child, but at the time he was still in a sibling group of three and they were working really hard to keep them together....understandably! Time moved on and I had heard nothing. Being a christian and having full faith that everything happens for a reason and I am living God's plan for me, I just figured it wasn't meant to be and I went about my life making other plans. Dealing with other personal things in my life I made the decision to move back to CA to be with my friends and family after having lived in AR for the last 5 years. I was putting full effort into these plans as I do everything I set my mind to. Sure enough, just as I was getting ready to move into another chapter of life, God throws me a curve ball. The first one came from my students foster mom. She mentioned to me that she was told about my interest in adopting my student....we will call him "J". I told her that I had been interested but since I hadn't heard anything in MONTHS, I figured it wasn't mean't to be and I was moving. She told me that someone from DHS would be contacting me. I sort of blew it off knowing how the system works. I mean after all, it had been like 9 months since I voiced any interest at all. Then, a few weeks later I get a call from someone at DHS asking if I was still interested in adopting. She told me she had "lost" my paper work and had just recovered it. I told her no, I wasn't and I explained my whole plan to her. Then, two weeks later I get a call at work from a case worker at DHS asking me if I wanted to adopt J. I told her no that my house was on the market and I was getting ready to move back to CA. She asked me if I was certain I was going to move and she told me how much J needs a loving and stable home and she asked me if I would think about it. I told her that I would think about it. Well it didn't take me long to start thinking that maybe God was trying to tell me something if it keeps being put in my face like that. After much prayer and discussion with those close to me I decided that this is something I need to do.

And so, I will be embarking on the most exciting, crazy, terrifying, unsure, yet rewarding experience of my life............I am going to adopt J!!!

For THIS is my destiny, and I WILL have faith!

The beginning...

Being a teacher I come across children all the time whom I wish I could just take home and shower them with love. The school that I work at puts me in the roll of mother and teacher to many of my students. Never did I think that I would actually have the opportunity to make that all powerful impact by providing one of my students with a loving home and supportive environment.

My journey thus far began almost a year ago. Well really it began before that. As far back as I can remember I have wanted children.........granted, I want the whole package...some might call it the American dream. I had always had thoughts of adopting and figured it would be something I would do SOMEDAY. While working on my masters degree in counseling one of my professors, who is very active in the foster care system in her state, made me overly aware of the system and the children who are caught up in it. As I was listening to her stories and seeing her pictures, I became overwhelmed with emotion. I felt as if God was telling me that this was my path. In fact, I felt so moved that I went home and told my boyfriend that I didn't think it was in His plan for me to have children of my own...of course my bf thought I was crazy. However, this feeling never left me. I continued to feel this pull towards adoption. Not any kind of adoption either, but the kind that most people don't do. I wanted to help a child who may appear to be "hopeless" and who was at risk at being trapped in the system. I didn't want to adopt a baby, and I didn't want a child from another country. I wanted a child from the foster care system who is at risk of never being adopted. My heart was leading me in a direction I am still not fully prepared to go.....that is where the faith comes in.