Archives for 2012

Baby Time

Filed Under: Children1 Comment

We are so excited that we were asked to do respite care for foster parent friends of ours. We will be watching their six month old baby girl for one week while they are on vacation. This morning they dropped off their foster daughter for us to watch.

Baby swing

We love that having her here will be a completely different experience from when A lived here. She’ll give us a chance to use some of the baby items we were given and some of the girly items we have. Letting A go has been extremely hard on us. We just had no idea we would feel so strongly for him. Honestly, it was a little hard to think about someone else sleeping in “his” room… but then again, there’s no reason to let a perfectly good room stay empty when there is someone who needs it. Such mixed feelings of excitement and sadness, we love A so, SO much!

Baby girl has been great so far! She is full of smiles and lots of fun. It sure is amazing how much stuff is required to take care of such a tiny person. Also, I’m a little bit surprised about how busy today was. For those of you who are parents I’m sure you’ll just laugh at this but, it seemed like it would take a lot less energy to care for her since she can’t run around like A did. Between keeping her on schedule with her feedings and keeping her entertained and happy… I’m still pretty tired out!

I think we did very well for our first ever day with a baby-baby. I guess the real question is how our first night will go…

Little Reminders

Filed Under: Children2 Comments

It’s been nearly three weeks since A moved back home. Although everyday continues to get easier, we still keep finding little reminders left over from his living with us. Jesse and I were just talking last night about how the first week after he left it felt like we were giving his parents our kid, rather than us giving them back their own kid. Every time we get to visit him it sinks in a little bit more that he is back where he belongs. We continue to be thankful for the ongoing relationships as we learn to take on an entirely new role in his life.

My favorite evidence left behind by A is his chalk drawings all along the way to the trash can in the garage. I remember the day he did those drawing because I kept asking him to keep the chalk in the driveway instead of the garage, because I kept thinking he might turn around and start drawing on the car instead. He would return to the driveway, but then find the need to run in to add one more line really quickly. Now I’m kinda glad he didn’t listen. Even though the driveway pictures have long since been washed away, the extra drawings inside remain. I smile every time I take out the trash and see his drawings and remember how he always wanted to help hold at least one piece of trash, like a milk jug or a cereal box, to throw away.

Garage floor

Jesse’s favorite evidence is the pile of treasures he and A had been collecting on their many walks. We’ve got acorns, leaves, sticks, and random “special” trash items that remain in the garage, where he left them. We’ve been told that A and his dad now go on morning walks and have since accumulated a similar pile at their house. As much as things have changed for A, I think it’s so awesome that his parents have worked to find little things about his schedule or his activities that they can keep the same for him.

Today I finally washed his many fingerprints off the living room sliding glass doors. I still have yet to re-polish the kitchen appliances which are covered in even more fingerprints. One thing at a time.

Pray for Tricia

Filed Under: Cystic FibrosisLeave a Comment

Today I am so excited to hear that Tricia has officially been listed for a second double lung transplant. I have never actually met Tricia. I know her only through facebook and blogging, yet I am continually inspired by both her and her husband.

Even though I’ve followed her husband’s blog, Confessions of a CF Husband, for some time now, I only recently read their whole story. After surviving a lung transplant and cancer, they have the continued challenges of raising their adorable daughter who was born as a micro-preemie. On top of that, they also choose to be foster parents to some incredibly lucky kids. Now, after having been diagnosed with chronic rejection… they wait for her third pair of lungs to come.

What strikes me most about them is how strong their faith is and how positive their attitudes are despite all that they have been through. It kinda makes you (and me) want to just get over yourself when you feel like complaining about your day. In her husband’s post today, after listing all the obstacles they are facing with the upcoming transplant, he says:

We continue to trust God completely… He is the only One Who knows exactly what will happen with Tricia… God is in control and will continue to do what is best for Tricia.

I can’t imagine being under the kind of stress they must be under right now. I’m more of a one-challenge-at-a-time kind of person. My facebook stream has been filled with CF friends sharing her photos and updates, so many people are cheering for her to pull through this difficult time. Pray for Tricia, that her new lungs come soon and that she will be healthy enough for a successful surgery when they do come!