24 Weeks

How far along: 24 weeks.

Due Date: June 9th, 2014

Gender: Girl! 

Name: Still undecided. I've crossed out a few names on the list, and only added one more. Progress. I told Andrew last night that this baby seriously might not have a name until after she is born.  

Weight gain: Not quite sure, but I've been eating like crazy, so I'm assuming it's starting to shoot up! 

Maternity clothes: Yep! 

Stretch Marks: Just the ones left over from Rubes. 

Belly button in or out: In

Food cravings: Salty/Spicy things. 

Sleep: I've figured out how to sleep comfortably (for now!). As long as I keep a pillow between my legs all night, I'm sleeping great. I've actually stopped waking up to pee as much which has helped. 

This week: We had a busy weekend full of family, and fun. Since then, it's been pretty normal. Nothing too much to report. 

Miss anything: I'm feeling pretty content right now. 

Movement: baby girl is still a busy bee. Her favorite times to move are when everything is still and quiet, usually when I'm trying to fall asleep. I don't mind at all, it's fun to get some special time with her. 

Queasy or sick: I've had heartburn once, which is pretty good considering I kept a huge container of tums in my purse when I was pregnant with Ruby. 

Looking forward to: Still looking forward to Hawaii. I can't believe we go next week! When we come back to Texas after Hawaii one of my best friends is getting married. Ruby is the flower girl, and oh my word, she is going to be so adorable. I can't wait to see her walk down that isle. 

This is the best I've got for a recent belly shot: toes still visible on my dirty kitchen floor. 

Ruby -- Month 17

Oh my goodness! This age is SO. MUCH. FUN. I seriously love spending time with Ruby. Its sad for me to put her to bed at night because I genuinely love hanging out with her. She is sweet, determined, and really, really funny! She's learning and soaking everything up so quickly, and watching her grow is the best thing ever.

Ruby's vocabulary has taken off this month! She is saying SO many words. It is so fun hearing her learn to talk, and come up with her cute little Ruby renditions for words. It would be impossible to list all the words she is saying, because she really is talking so much, but I would like to highlight some of my favorites.
-Bath "Baaaht"
-Snack "Naak"
-Yes "YESH!" (my favorite)
-Bye (said in a very country, southern accent) "Biii"
-Ball "bah"
-Cereal "see-roll"
-More "moh" (usually in a little whiney voice).
-Elmo "la-la-la"
-Book "buh"
-Bible "bib-el"
-Flower "oww-ah"
-Shoes "shoosh"
-Socks "ock"
-Baby "be-be"
-Counting to 3: "uhhh - ooooh - eeee!!!"
-Car "vrrroom vrrroom"
-Trees "tees"
-Patting her babies back. She says "pat, pat, pat"
-Names: Mama, Dada, Banjo "an-jooooo" (usually preceded by "NO! NO!"), DD, Dano, Rachel "Ray-Ray", Anna "nana", Beckett "Bet-bit", Nolan "Noh-Noh", Margret "Mah-geh"
-Animal noises: Added frog "ribbit ribbit", rabbit "hop-hop" and bird "twee-twee" to her animal sounds repertoire this month.

Ruby's appetite has increased some this month. She is not quite as picky as before, and usually will try what you put in front of her. Breakfast is her favorite meal and the meal that she eats the most at. She loves eggs, bananas, granola bars, yogurt, cereal, muffins, and toast. I made banana bread last week and she was constantly pointing to the kitchen signing more and saying "bed" (bread). She's still kind of finicky about meat, but LOVES chick-fil-a chicken. I haven't been successful in getting her to eat much beef, but we really don't eat beef often, so that could be why. I've still been making her smoothies, which she loves and sucks down so fast. I've slowly added more and more green veggies to them, and she hasn't even noticed. She's maintained her weight this month at 23 lbs, and is wearing mostly 12-18 month clothing. She has the funniest, cutest little toddler frame you ever did see with skinny, short legs and arms and a round, kissable potbelly. She looks so funny in a onesie with pants with her big belly and little legs. I love it.

Ruby's dreaded bottom, back left molar FINALLY made it's entrance after a good month and a half of cutting through. I don't see any new teeth right now, so she's currently got 12 total. It feels great to have a little relief from teething.

Which brings me to my next subject: SLEEP. Ruby has been sleeping a million and ten times better than she was. I think her messed up sleep schedule was thanks to a mixture of her teeth bothering her, and our holiday schedule messing her up. She has been sleeping great though, with only a night here and there of fighting sleep. She never WANTS to go to bed. When we tell her it's bedtime she almost always cries and says "nooo!" and makes up reasons to not go to bed (asking for milk, mama, baby, etc), but once she gets in there and snuggles with her animals she usually is asleep in 5 minutes. We pushed her bedtime back to 8:30, and she usually wakes up around 7:30 or so, sometimes sleeping a little later on the weekends. She's taking two hour naps at school, and usually a little over two hour naps at home. One huge change this month was she is now sleeping on a nap mat at school instead of a crib. I can't imagine how they get a classroom full of 1 year olds to sleep on mats at naptime...but they do it!

Health wise, we almost had a sickness free month. Unfortunately, our girl got her first stomach bug. Thankfully it only lasted 24 hours, and didn't really seem to affect her mood at all. She had a terrible diaper rash afterward though and it left her traumatized to take a bath (I think the bath water really hurt her poor booty). Since then she has really disliked sitting down in the bathtub. She still asks for baths and gets excited about them, but once we get in there she freaks out if you try and make her sit down.

Ruby has recently become highly obsessed with babies. She loves to mama and take care of her baby dolls, but loves real live babies even more. She likes to carry around the two birth announcements (Becketts & Ashers) that we have on our fridge, kissing them, and hugging them. When we see Beckett in person, it's like he's Justin Timberlake, she screams "BET-BIT!!!" and wants to hold, hug, kiss, and "pat, pat, pat" him. When he is laying on the ground she bends down with her hands on her knees and looks over him so sweetly. Seeing her interact with these babies makes me so excited to see her as a big sister. I know it's not going to be all sunshine and roses and she might have some pretty heavy feelings of jealousy, but I really think she is going to be the sweetest big sister ever. She loves to hug and kiss my belly, but I think is a little confused about the whole concept of a human being in there. Someone at church asked her "where's your baby sister?" the other day and she lifted up her shirt and patted her belly. Ha!

Favorite things:
-Babies
-Mama & Dada
-Banjo
-All animals
-Books
-Dancing (she starts grooving the second she hears any music, but really loves to dance to Katy Perry's song "roar")
-Sesame Street
-Lucky charms (I know, terrible mother...)
-Smoothies (does this make up for the last one?!)

Not-so-favorite things:
-Shoes & Socks. She usually likes putting them on, but they are usually off within 10 minutes. Especially if we get in the car. That's the first thing to go.
-Car rides. Depending on her mood, she can sometimes tolerate going in the car, but if she's the slightest bit cranky or tired- forget about it!
-Highchair. The highchair got the boot this month. She simply refused to sit in it, much less eat in it. Thankfully we bought the handy graco that can turn into a seat that attaches to a regular dining room table, and that compromise seemed to do the trick.
-Grocery shopping and not being allowed to walk around, tear everything off of the shelves and destroy things (I'm mean, right?!).

Beautiful girl, 

You are so challenging, but with every challenge that we come across with you comes 10 times the smiles, delight, and joy. There's no way these posts could accurately describe your feisty, tenacious, and incredibly sweet personality. You bring so much light and love into our lives. These 17 months with you have been the best. I pray every day that you keep your determined, yet kind and loving spirit forever and ever. Never change, baby.

All the love in the world, 

Mama

22 weeks

Well, maybe an every week update was setting the bar a little too high. I'm pretty proud of myself for making this happen only 2 weeks later. 

How far along: 22 weeks.

Due Date: June 9th, 2014

Gender: Girl! 

Name: Still no idea. I think we have it narrowed down to 3-4 names, but that could change too. 

Weight gain: I think probably about 9-10lbs. 

Maternity clothes: Yep! I bought some super comfy long sleeved tshirts from Old Navy to wear with my scrub pants at work, and I've been loving how comfortable I am during the day. 

Stretch Marks: Just the ones left over from Rubes. 

Belly button in or out: In

Food cravings: Mostly salty stuff...namely potato chips. I don't care what flavor. Also, I want all the ice cream  all the time. 

Sleep: Sleep has been rough the past week. I'm not sure why, but I've been super uncomfortable during the night and wake up every few hours to adjust the pillows, change positions, put a pillow between my legs, etc. I don't remember being uncomfortable at night so soon with Ruby. 

This week: This week has been pretty laid back so far. Ruby had a minor case of pink eye so we've been laying low. 

Miss anything: Sleeping well. 

Movement: SO much movement! This girl is ACTIVE. I felt her first hiccups this week which just makes me smile so big. Last night she was kicking so hard my belly was bouncing visibly from the outside. 

Queasy or sick: Nope! Feeling good as long as I eat solid meals and have snacks available when I start to get hungry. If I wait too long to eat I get shaky and nauseated. 

Looking forward to: Still looking forward to Hawaii (duh!), but I am starting to feel really anxious and sad about leaving Ruby for a week. It's going to be really hard for me to do, I'm hoping and praying she does great and doesn't miss us as much as we are going to miss her. Any advice from mamas who have left their little ones for a while is welcomed (the longest we have been apart is one night!). 

And to compare,  because it's fun, here I am 22 weeks preggo with Rubes. 

Hola, Baby Dos

Like I mentioned in my last Ruby post, we're having another baby! This pregnancy has been a totally different experience than my pregnancy with Ruby. I was SO sick for the first 12 weeks. Threw up almost every morning. With Ruby I threw up twice the entire pregnancy. All in all though, it's been flying by. I can't believe we are halfway done. 

In an attempt to document this pregnancy at least a few times before it's over, I have a goal of doing this every week! 

How far along: 20 weeks. 

Due Date: June 9th, 2014

Gender: Girl! 

Name: No idea. 

Weight gain: At my ultrasound on Wednesday I had gained 7 pounds. 

Maternity clothes: Well, I wear scrubs every day to work, so not really. But on the weekends, I've started sticking to mostly maternity clothes. I can still wear my regular jeans with the belly band, but it is much more comfortable to wear maternity jeans instead!

Stretch Marks: Just the ones left over from Rubes. 

Belly button in or out: In

Food cravings: Pickles. I bought some lays dill pickle flavored chips this week and oh my goodness, SO GOOD. I'm slightly embarrassed to post this now. 

Sleep: Sleeping well! I usually get up once a night to pee, but am able to fall right back asleep. Ruby has been sleeping like a champ this week too, so that helps. 

This week: This week felt very long and exhausting. Our foster boys have been pushing boundaries majorly and have been pushing all of my buttons. We'll work through it, but it's exhausting! I don't have work on Monday so a long weekend might be all I need to cure my worn out self. 

Miss anything: Sleeping on my stomach. 

Movement: I've been feeling this active lil girl moving since about 15 weeks, much earlier than I felt Ruby! It's been so fun to feel her so much. Her kicks are getting super strong, and Andrew has even been able to feel her a couple times this week. She's a mover and shaker. 

Queasy or sick: Nope! Feeling good. 

Looking forward to: Not having to go to work tomorrow for one. More long term? Andrew and I booked a trip to Hawaii for a "babymoon". Basically, we've been saving our miles up for a while and had enough for a trip. We figured now is as good a time as any...so we're going to Hawaii. Pretty sweet. Can't wait for a week in paradise with my love. 

Ruby -- 15 & 16 Months

Hello from the land of pregnancy, two toddlers and an almost 5 year old (oh yes, I'm pregnant! With another girl! This poor baby probably already has 2nd child syndrome from the lack of blogging I've done about this pregnancy compared to Ruby's. I'll try and get better.)  I don't know why I haven't sat down to blog in 2 months (sarcasm)! We are going full steam ahead over here. We had a great two week break for the holidays. We spent about a week in Texas and came home for the remainder. I got SO much done the second week, and enjoyed a little one on one time with my sweet girl who is changing from a baby into a toddler right before my eyes.
(These are the pictures I took to announce that Ruby is going to have a little SISTER. I took them right around her 16 month birthday, so we're going to count them as her monthly pics for these two months!)

My girl is still a little ray of sunshine. She continues to amaze us with how much she is learning and absorbing every day.

Ruby decided toward the end of month 14 that walking is a good form of transportation, and hasn't looked back since then. She's FAST and gets into EVERYTHING. She's mischievous, and smart enough to know how to be sneaky. She definitely keeps us on our toes.

Communication with Ruby is something that constantly takes me by surprise. She's really not much of a talker. Wait, let me rephrase that; she LOVES to talk, but has yet to really form too many understandable words. However, she can totally communicate with us effectively. I would say that she understands at least 95% of what we say to her/ask her to do, and she loves following commands like "please go throw your trash away" or "take this to dada". She can choose when given a choice, and is generally a pretty obedient little kid (except to when it comes to playing in the dog's food and water...that's one no no that she can't quite get over). Her language definitely expanded during month 16. She started really trying to talk a lot more and when asked to say a certain word, she usually will give it a try. If words don't get across whatever she is wanting to communicate she can definitely communicate with her sign language and pointing.

Words:
-Mama
-Dada
-banana "nana"
-Juice "juuss"
-Milk "mulk"
-Night Night "nigh-nigh"
-More "mo"
-Shoes "shus"
-Elmo "eh-mo" (she also sings "lalalalalalala" whenever she wants to watch sesame street")
-This & That "dis" & "dah" (with pointing)
-No (usually "nononononononononono!")
-Yes "yah" (usually said in a really pathetic, sad, whiney voice) or "yeth!"
-Dog "daaah" or "woof woof!"
-Loves trying to say people's names. Right now she's enjoying pointing to all the Christmas cards on the fridge and naming who she knows. The names are not understandable but you can definitely tell she is trying because she always get the amount of syllables correct (Beckett is "deh-dii").
-She also tries to sing the ABCs all the time (SO CUTE)

Ruby is still pretty finicky when it comes to eating. Some days she will eat a ton, and the next she will pick at things she usually loves and barely eat anything. Enter: smoothies. I decided to try making her smoothies this month and it has been a major success. She now knows that when we get home in the evening, it's smoothie time! I sneak in veggies, and she gets her fruit, dairy, and protein! It makes me happy to see her enjoying something AND getting some nutrients into her.
A huge change in month 15 was that Ruby is no longer nursing. It wasn't really planned to wean her, it just kind of happened, and it's been smooth sailing ever since. She was away from me overnight for the first time a few days before Thanksgiving, and after that she just wasn't super interested. One night while we were in Texas she was demanding to nurse basically all night long, and I told her no, that it was time to go to sleep. She threw a huge fit, but eventually cuddled up next to me and went to sleep. She never asked for it after that. I think it was a combination of being SO busy and outside of our normal routine in Texas, and just being ready to stop. I'm sure she sensed how uncomfortable it was becoming for me (being 12 weeks pregnant at the time she weaned), and it just worked out. I was convinced that she was going to be impossible to wean because of how much she LOVED nursing. I really did not want to be nursing two babies at a time, so I'm really glad it all worked itself out. There have been a few times where she has been a little upset and wanted to nurse, but I've been able to comfort her other ways. I've missed it some too, but I also have enjoyed not having to share with her (especially knowing that I'll have another little one to nourish in a few months).
She gained a pound this month, so I don't think her body is missing mama's milk too much.
Weight: 23.4 lbs
Height: 31 inches
50th percentile for both height and weight.

Sleep. Oh, sleep! I miss the days where my girl would sleep through the night without a peep, and look forward to their return. Rubes has been Miss Unpredictable when it comes to sleep the past couple of months. The rollercoaster all began over Thanksgiving when we were in Texas. She slept in the same room as us, and decided that if she was going to be in the same room as us, why not be in the same bed too? Some nights she will sleep 10-11 hours without waking, and others she will wake up screaming and will not stop until she is in bed with us. Once she gets her way, she falls asleep within seconds. Yes, I realize she is totally playing us, and it's ok. I'm tired, and I need to sleep, so I let her have her way. She's also cutting her molars which can't be fun, and I'm hoping that's a big contributing factor to this sleep mania. Either way, my main goal is to have her not constantly in the bed with us by the time we bring home a newborn in June.

Ruby is hilarious. She is constantly watching and absorbing everything around her, and it's a little scary how much she picks up on. The other day she dumped out a whole box of q-tips while I was trying to use the bathroom (any other mamas miss peeing without having to clean up a huge mess of toddler destruction afterwards???), and put one up to her ear and started twisting it. It cracked me up that she has picked up on that. She loves to dance, and actually has some pretty good rhythm most of the time. She LOVES reading. She can sit still for an hour if you're reading to her. When we finish a book she will run, get another one, and come plop right back down where she was for some more. Right now her favorite is a book that her Great Auntie C found at a coffee shop somewhere in Texas called "Goodnight Baby Ruby". She has the entire thing memorized and has made up her own little motions and sounds for each page. Adorable. She still loves all animals and knows mostly all common animals and their sounds. We're working on expanding into the zoo/wild animals.

I wish I could think of all the cute and funny things she has done over the past two months, but I can't, so you're just going to have to believe me or come see her for yourself! ;) Even though she is dreadfully cute, and impossibly funny she is also a complete DRAMA queen. She started slapping around her 15 month birthday whenever she didn't get her way. After several (hundred) corrections we finally taught her "gentle" and usually if I catch her mid-swing and remind her "be gentle" then she will start caressing whoever she is about to slap and say "awww". This doesn't work so well when the aggression is aimed toward her foster-brothers though. If they snatch a toy, or do something she's not fond of she usually responds with a yell and slapping. We correct her every time, but I'm not sure what it's going to take to get her out of the habit. Her teachers at daycare haven't said a word about it, so I'm assuming it's just something she does at home.The girl knows what she wants and makes it very clear that it's her way, or screaming. So, we deal with the screaming. Ha!

All of that last paragraph aside, Ruby really is a doll. We are so lucky to have her.

Ruby, 

I can't tell you enough how special and important you are to us. We are so blessed to have you in our lives, and get the chance to watch you learn and grow every day. My favorite things about you right now are how much you love your mama and always want to be close, your funny, quirky personality, and your extreme determination to get what you want (even if it makes me want to pull my hair out some days!). I am so proud of the little person you are becoming. We cannot wait to see you become a big sister. You already love to hug my belly and say "awww" to the baby. You are going to be so sweet to her, and I know you two will grow to be the best of friends someday. We love you so much sweet girl.

Foster Care Q&A

We get questions all the time about foster care. Recently a friend of mine wrote a post about her and her husband's journey in foster care, and while I realize that I have shared bits and pieces here and there about certain placements, I haven't really talked much about it here. It is definitely a major part of our daily lives, and could use it's own post. I'm going to try and go through some of the most frequent questions we are asked about foster care, and hopefully continue the conversation in the future.

Why did you choose to do foster care?

Several reasons. Number one, is to show the love of Jesus to children who need it more than anything else. God commands us to love the least of these, the most vulnerable. We get the opportunity to do this on a daily basis just by meeting their daily needs that most likely have not been met fully before; love, water, food, a warm bed to sleep in, constant support and a sense of stability. We started praying about it when we were newly married. We have some friends who are foster parents, and seeing them love the kids in their care was (still is) inspirational. That lit the initial fire under us, and the flame just grew and grew as we realized the depth of the need in our city (country, really!). We're doing it because it needs doing, and we are capable of doing. Andrew likes to say "we had room at our table...". There's not much that's special about it, we aren't saints or special people because we chose foster care, we aren't expert parents by any means, and we make plenty of mistakes on a daily basis. We do it because we can do it, and loving these kids brings us much more joy that we could have ever imagined.

What are the ages/gender/race of the children you take care of?
We have had kiddos ranging in age from 2 days old-8 years old, with the majority of our placements being 3 year old. You can specify in your case plan with your home development worker specifics of what kids your family is willing to take. We did specify an age range of Newborn-5 years old because of several different factors including our age, and the age of our biological child, and have accepted a placement outside of that age range only once. Just because you specify, doesn't mean that they wont call you when they need a home for a kid! We have received SEVERAL calls about teenagers, and while it's heartbreaking every single time to say no, you have to do what's best for your family. We didn't specify gender or race with DCFS, but that is something you can do if you choose to. We have mostly had all little boys (with the exception of two girls). I'm not sure why God keeps bringing these precious 3 year old little guys into our lives, but I'm definitely not complaining. We've decided that 3 year old boy placement suits our family just right. 

How do you do it? I could never do that, I would never be able to let them go!

Ah, the most frequently asked question. At first this question kind of rubbed me the wrong way, as if people were saying we are heartless, insensitive people for being able to take a child into our home and then say goodbye without ever shedding a single tear. Then I realized that people really meant this, that they really think they could never do it. It seems silly to me, because from this side, it's just normal. We love these kids with all that we have, for however long we have them, with the end goal in our mind being that they are reunited with their family. That is almost always the first goal in foster care, reunification. You have to realize that not every child that ends up in foster care comes from an irredeemable situation. A lot of times, these families are struggling and making really difficult sacrifices to get their families back together despite impossible odds. Sure, a lot of times it's not that way, and that's where it does get really sticky emotionally. I'm not going to lie, I've had the thought several times that these babies would be MUCH better off with us, but you know what? I don't get to decide that. So, we love. We love as hard as we can, and it hurts to say goodbye. I always tell myself after saying goodbye to each placement that if I am not heartbroken, then I am not doing it right. It's a pain that I dread, but in the end, it's so worth it knowing that we've loved them well and shown them what most likely was the first taste of Jesus in their lives. 

Do you want to adopt? 

Yes, we would love to adopt eventually, when the time is right. Again, with foster care, the main goal most of the time is going to be reunification. Sometimes, that doesn't work out, and the children become adoptable. We really hope to continue doing foster care for a while before adopting, but we know that our plans aren't always (or ever) how it's supposed to be. We are duel certified to foster and adopt, so if the time ever came, we would be ready, but we're not searching for it. Some people do strictly adopt through the foster care system, and it's a wonderful (cost free!) way to add a child who needs a home into your family permanently. On that same page, some foster parents strictly foster with the intention of never adopting, and some foster families that want to adopt do not adopt the first child that becomes adoptable in their care. It's a personal journey, and one that needs a lot of prayer and guidance from God. 

Do you make money doing this? 

Ha. No. We get a reimbursement check from the state monthly that covers a portion of the child's expenses. If you are caring for a foster child the right way, you almost always do not have any of this monthly payment left over. We don't follow a strict budget with our foster children, just like with Ruby, if they need something or want something (within reason), we buy it. It's hard to know exactly how much we spend vs. how much we "get paid" for, just because we're just living life over here. I don't separate their groceries from ours, or pay for their clothes on a separate check. They are ours, and it's our responsibility to provide. 

Have you thought about how this might be affecting Ruby?

Yes, of course. It is something I personally have spent many many quiet moments thinking about. It's one of those things that I know will get harder as she gets older and understands more. Right now, she's just so happy to have extra playmates in the house when we have another child in our home, and then so happy to have one on one attention when we don't, that I don't think it has really affected her. We have pictures of our past foster children on our fridge and she loves pointing to them and having me say their names. She gets excited when we see Baby P (one of our past foster placements that went to stay with another foster family in our church when I had to return to work and he was too young for daycare) at church, and loves to give him hugs. She's a lover, and she's happy to give the love and get it back from her foster brothers or sisters. I do see her picking up on a few of our current kiddos negative habits. I'm sure they aren't all to blame though, our girl just has a strong will and an attitude of her own that happens to come out in screams that mimic her foster brothers' at times. Figuring out how to parent her is going to be a journey on it's own, and we're going to have to figure out how to parent her along side foster kids as time goes on. As she gets older I hope foster care will be a great opportunity to teach her how to love deeply, and show her brothers and sisters what a Christ-like family looks like. 

What about their birth families? 

We can't really give you the full story most of the time. Mostly, because not even we know the full story, but also because it's not really anyone's business. We learn something every day about our kid's pasts that we didn't know the day before. Ultimately, I think the most important thing to remember in regards to foster children's birth families is that they are people too. Most of the time these people really do love their kids, but are in situations that are not conducive to raising children in, or have made really big mistakes that result in their children being taken away. This has been a hard concept for me to grasp, I think mostly because of where I came from, a child of an addict. I had people telling me my whole life that he didn't chose to be this way, and that it's not his fault. I gained the attitude as a teenager of "YES, he actually DID choose to be this way because he's an adult and adults make their own choices!" and have kind of stuck with that belief throughout my adulthood. It's hard to balance out the fact that these adults have made bad choices that have negatively affected their children, and the fact that they are human parents that are capable of loving and caring for their children with the correct support in place. We've learned that the best place to be is a place of wanting to understand where everyone comes from, and have one common goal: to do what's best for the kids.

How hard is it to say goodbye?
So hard. I cannot put into words how difficult it is to see a piece of your family, your heart, leave forever. There's almost always mixed emotions. Feelings of sadness and grief for yourself and your family, and feelings of excitement and anticipation for the birth family. I remember going to court for our foster son T. It was the court date that would determine whether or not he would remain in foster care. Andrew and I's stomachs were in knots the whole time sitting in the waiting room across from what we speculated was T's birth family (whom we had never met before). When the judge said her ruling (for T to return into his mother's care under the supervision of his grandmother and the court) I could feel the heat of tears behind my eyes, but then I looked up and saw his family hugging, smiling, and celebrating that they were getting their baby back. We got up, introduced ourselves, and told them how special of a little boy T is, that we love him so much and are so thankful for the opportunity to have known him. His grandma and mom hugged me tight and thanked us for all that we had done for their boy. In that moment, despite my fears for his future and my hurting heart, I was also so happy. Happy that he had so many people in his life that cared enough to be there and that were visibly excited about the fact that he was returning into their lives. Don't get me wrong, the second I got into the car I bawled like a baby. I dried it up when we got home to explain to our boy that he was going back with his family and then lost it again when he said innocently "I gotta say bye to you?". Its heart wrenching and painful no matter how happy you are for them. Thankfully, with T's situation, we have been able to remain in contact with his grandma and it has been so neat to have that continued relationship. That is definitely something I never expected of foster care, to build real, meaningful relationships with the birth families.

What can we do for you?
You can always pray for us. Pray that we would love and support these kids in every way they need it. Pray for our kids. That they would learn about Jesus and how much he loves them.
The best support system we have is in our church. Our church has several foster families that support each other, but not only do the fellow foster families offer support, our whole congregation does. We have had friends randomly bring us dinner, we have an amazing college student and her boyfriend that babysit our crazy crew and will rarely accept any payment. Anytime we have needed something (for example: and extra twin bed for a sibling group), we have gotten it the day of the request. We get hand-me-down clothes with every new placement, and all of our foster kiddos have been stylish! Our kids' Sunday School teachers pour into them, they love going to "class" and have made so many friends. Church has been a huge way of helping us build connections for our kids. They love feeling like they belong, and our church is remarkable at welcoming them with open arms. It's amazing to feel supported and loved on this journey, and it's completely necessary.We could not do it without support. 

I'm interested in learning more about becoming a foster parent! What should I do?
Awesome! Please reach out to us and feel free to ask any questions that you may have. We really do love answering your questions. You should also get in touch with someone at Crossroads NOLA, the non-profit we are apart of that is working so hard to make a difference in the lives of children in foster care in the greater New Orleans region. They can help get you connected to the right people to get you started on becoming a foster parent. 

Ruby -- 14 Months

This kid is pure delight. I mean, seriously, she is the best.
I know I'm her mom and I'm supposed to think that, but its true.

I'm loving this age. Ruby is a little person. She's "talking" up a storm and has quite the personality. Her teachers at daycare have declared her their little helper, as she knows everyone's name in the class, whose bottle/pacifier/lovey is whose, and will help distribute them when asked. I had a pretty serious talk with the daycare director about reducing our monthly fee on account of my daughter being put to work every day. ;) Every time I pick her up from daycare she is either perched on something she's not supposed to be on top of, or under something she's not supposed to be under. She's a mess, and everyone loves her for it.

Ruby can totally walk now. Does she? Heck no. She still prefers to be carried, or crawling. She recently has really started loving walking as long as she has one of my fingers to hold onto. I really don't mind that she is taking it slow on the walking front, besides the fact that she's heavy, and demanding about what direction she wishes to be going in. I think once more kids in her class start walking, she'll want to keep up and do it more often.

We've gotten her completely off bottles now. The transition was so much easier than I expected it to be. She sailed through it like a champ and never looked back. She's drinking sippy cups of whole milk at school, and nursing 1-2 times in the evenings. Now nursing, that's another story. She's an addict, and I don't see her giving up any time soon. I'm not pushing it yet, but I'm planning on trying to wean her completely by 18 months (we'll see...). Rubes is still SUUUUPER picky when it comes to table food, and turns her nose up at things that she once adored. I can't understand this girl and her palate. The one thing that has changed is I am able to ask her what she wants to eat, hold up some options, and she can pick. This has helped SO much in decreasing the amount of food we waste because I can just give her what she wants (within reason...because she would eat 10 bananas a day if I let her). She's really enjoying those fancy squeeze pouches of apple sauce, or other pureed foods, which is odd because she started despising purees around 9 months old. Oh well, we go with the flow around here, and she's definitely not malnourished!

Like I said, this girl has quite the personality, and with lots of personality comes lots of EMOTIONS. Oh the drama! She can go from smiling, clapping, and having a grand ole time to head on the floor screaming like her leg was just cut off in seconds. She has started putting her hands over her mouth when she laughs/cries/thinks something is funny/is surprised and it is just the cutest most dramatic thing ever. Lets just say, Ruby knows what she wants, and she makes her needs and wants very clear...

We finally had a month of NO doctors appointments! She still has a consistently snotty nose every morning, but I think she just has terrible allergies like her mama (sorry, baby!). This has been our healthiest month so far (since last December). I'm hoping this is a trend. 

We still have a great sleeper on our hands! Thank goodness. She goes so hard during the day that her little body needs all the rest it can get. We've had to change our nighttime routine a little bit because Ruby no longer likes to nurse to sleep (kind of sad...). She will nurse and then want to play for a little while. She has kind of stopped showing her normal sleepy signs when she's all wrapped up in playing before bed, so we usually have to cut her off around 8-8:30. Daddy takes her to her crib where she will now lay down by herself, let out a few little cries and fall asleep on her own. She usually sleeps until around 7:30. 

Speaking of playing, Ruby LOVES to play! She is go, go, go when we are outside (hence the lack of pictures on her quilt this month...and the ones I did get are WAY over exposed...). She really loves to play up in the little play house in the back yard. She watches the boys and Banjo run around and screams and laughs at them. It's adorable. I think she kind of feels like queen of the world up there. 

Other cute things Ruby has added to her repertoire this month? Her cheese face. Oh, it's so darn cute. She squints her eyes and gets the biggest grin. It's destined to make you swoon if you should meet it. She has also started to fake closing her eyes during prayer. She will squint her eyes as tight as she can while still keeping a tiny slit to see out of while we pray. She looks around, tilting her head in every direction possible to get the best view out of her tiny eye slits. Hilarious. She has mastered the dance moves to the song "My God is So Big", and she does them with such passion and enthusiasm.  She still gives amazing hugs and kisses, and is very generous with them. She also still loves to blow raspberries on my belly. Andrew and I cannot get over how much she makes us laugh. It's the best.

Ruby's 14 Month Favorite Things:
-Bananas. So. Many. "nanas"
-Bath time
-Playing outside
-Carbs
-Laughing at Banjo
-Kisses and hugs
-Eating dog food
-Dancing, singing, being cute
-Pointing at everything
-Taking her shoes and socks off
-Climbing
-"blowing" her nose. She makes a fart sound with her lips when you hold a tissue up to her nose. So cute.

Ruby's 14 Month Not-So-Favorite Things:
-Wearing shoes or socks
-Being told "no"
-Falling down when trying to walk (instant meltdown every time)
-Sharing...need to work on this.
-Not having everyone's undivided attention
-Meat. My little vegetarian.
-Getting in the car seat.

My Girl, 

Your sweet, spunky, quirky personality melts me. I love how at only 14 months old you are already so full of passionate opinions about how things should be. Some may call it trouble, or hard headed, but I think it's great. You're becoming your own person. A wonderful, silly, creative little person that is so full of life. I am so proud of that. I don't think it's anything your dad and I have done, or haven't done, I think it's all you. I love that. I am so thankful for you, sweet girl. Your hugs, slobbery kisses, and sweet raspy voice can turn a horrible day into a great one. I know God is going to use you in a mighty way, and I'm so happy that we get a front row seat to watch it all unfold. 

You're loved. So very much. 

Mama