Merry Christmas 2012

Merry Christmas to you!  This year has had a lot of change for us: we became licensed foster parents in June, then in July we welcomed two sisters into our home and Adam started a new job.  Life has been much busier, messier and louder than what we were used to, but so fun.

The girls have been in our home for five months now . . . and it's going great.  We have taken them to the beach, zoo, swimming, birthday parties, corn maze, trick or treating, parks, visits to grandparents, church and everywhere in between.  They have adjusted well to us and living in our home - these kids have grown so much just with a healthy routine and some consistency!  We are even making great headway with potty training.  :)

We're not supposed to post too many details/pictures on the internet about our foster kids.  But I can tell you that A is almost four and a bundle of energy.  She loves to sing, play pretend, swing, and watch Dora the Explorer.  A is very outgoing and doesn't know a stranger.  She has come so far with her behavior, which is encouraging.  There is still plenty of room for improvement, but it helps to remember how far she has come and what she has dealt with in her few short years.  She can be so sweet and loves to give hugs and kisses.

M is 15 months old and about the sweetest and cutest thing ever.  She loves to dance, cuddle, play with her dolls and stuffed animals, FOOD, and climbing.  She started walking at 10 months (right after we got her) and hasn't stopped running since.  She is a great climber and has been caught standing on the dining room table and climbing a wooden ladder unassisted on our swing set.  She has a happy disposition and understands almost anything we say.  It's fun to watch her vocabulary expand, her teeth come in and her personality blossom - so much happens at this age.  What a joy.

They have another court date tomorrow that may give us more of an idea of their future . . . but, whether they are reunited with their mom, go to live with extended family or are adopted into our family - I'm so glad they came into our lives.  We don't know what the future holds, but we're trying to enjoy each day as it comes and looking forward to celebrating Christmas together.


As for Adam and myself, we have had our patience and endurance tested again and again.  But, we have grown and hopefully are better for it.  Adam is enjoying his new job with Elkins Constructors and is doing another project at the Navy base in town.  It's keeping him really busy, but it's an interesting project with fun people.  I am still at WW Gay Mechanical and it's going well.  We've had to put a lot of our home improvement projects on hold, but still manage to get a few things done.  Our current project is building a fire pit in the backyard using our left over brick.

We are so thankful for our family, friends, and church that have supported us through this crazy transition.  We are blessed and thank God for all the good gifts he has given us.  Merry Christmas to you and a Happy New Year!

Love,
Adam, Stacy, A & M

Adam and A at the beach in July.

 Enjoying our new to us swing set.

Swimming at Majo's house. 

M checks out her 1st birthday gifts. 

A & M look at animals with Papa Joe. 

A & M at the zoo with Adam and Granddaddy in September. 

Feeding cows on a hay ride, followed by a corn maze in October. 

M dressed up as a bumble bee for Halloween. 

A was Ariel for Halloween, we went to a "Trunk or Treat" even at church and had a blast!

Status Report

We have had the girls in our home for just over a month now.  I have been so much busier than I'm used to, but everything is going well.  So far, the experience has been hugely overwhelming, frustrating, fun and laughter filled.  We've dealt with hitting, screaming, potty training (failed) but also have experienced lots of hugs, laughter and fun.  There was no way to prepare for the change, but after a month it's starting to feel "normal".  The sweet moments are starting to outweigh the tension filled ones.

Thank you to everyone who has prayed for us - it's working!  We don't know how long the girls will be in our home - a couple months, one year or forever.  But, we're trying to enjoy each day we have together and impart some lessons into their lives.  That's enough to keep me busy.

My Foster Shower

Adam and his mom threw me the best Foster Shower on July 7th.  We had a huge turn out and it was so great to feel the support of so many friends and family.  Thank you to everyone that came and to all those who sent gifts.  It made us feel so loved and helped prepare our home to take in children in need.

Adam and I pose before everyone arrives.  The cake was delicious!

Adam's Grandmama, Uncle Mark & Aunt Susie traveled all the way from Tampa to be here for us.  We really enjoyed spending the weekend with you guys!

Here I am about to open all the presents - everyone was so generous.  

The kids helped me open some presents.

A snapshot of part of the party - great turn out.

Ready for potty training.

My niece Laura Jo.

Adorable bedding that matches the kid's room perfectly.

Expecting Sisters

We learned this week that two sisters are going to come stay with us for our first long-term placement.  They are being transferred from another foster mom, so we got advanced notice and can make some preparations. I'm so thankful for that!  They should arrive on Thursday, July 12th.  I'm not supposed to share names or pictures over the internet, but I'll share what I can.  I can tell you that they are 3 years old and under one.  We're looking forward to meeting them soon and welcoming them into our home.

Adam and his mom are throwing me a "Foster Baby Shower" this weekend.  I'm really excited to have some of our family and friends come together to help prepare us for parenthood.  I'll post some pictures of the shower next week.

Nieces are the best!

My newest niece is Claire and she was born April 25, 2012.  We met her for the first time on May 26th.  She was already a month old, but as cute as can be.

Isn't her outfit adorable?!

Here we are in our matching orange.  Her daddy's a gator and her mommy's a seminole.  I'm trying to turn her to the gator side early! :)

Adam holding his littlest niece.

Over Father's Day weekend, we went to Orlando to visit family (it was also my Dad's birthday - Happy late Birthday, Dad!).  We got to visit with my other nieces, Laura and Emily.

Here I am with Emily, who is 10 months old.

My three nieces posing together.  So cute!  

Thank you to Sarah & Philip for making me an Aunt. :)

Our First Placement

We were approved for our Foster Care License on Tuesday, June 19th!  Our first placement was for respite care.  Respite care is when a licensed foster parent watches the foster children of another foster parent for an extended period of time.  In our case, we watched a four year old girl and two year old boy over the weekend, so the foster parents could go out of town.

It went great, but was definitely a lot of work.  I'm beginning to really understand the term "strong willed child".  It was a learning process, but in the end the kids had fun and were clean & fed when they went home Sunday afternoon.  We even took them to church and they did well in their Sunday School classes.  We're still waiting for a call to receive our first long term placement.  It could be today or a month from now.  Let the adventure begin!

Zoo on Mother's Day

I know this is way late, but the pictures are so cute!  The Jacksonville Zoo has a deal that mothers get in free on Mother's Day. Sarah has brought my nieces up a couple times to visit and go to the zoo with us. We thought this was another great opportunity, so the Westover's came up on Mother's Day weekend. It was a first for Jeff to see our zoo.  We had a fun time on Saturday - feeding the turtles at the park and playing on the swings.

Emily's having a fun time. 

 Laura flying on the swing.

 Somehow, Adam and I volunteered to watch our friend's four children for the night as well. Their plans fell through at the last minute and we were happy to watch their kids. So, my nieces got some extra playmates that evening. They all had a great time.

 Here they are having a sleepover in the office while Sarah reads a bedtime story. 

 On Mother's Day we headed to the zoo after church. We saw lots of animals and finally got to ride the train! Unfortunately, Emily was starting to get sick and wasn't feeling too good. But, Laura had a good time, thanks for coming up to visit!

The Westover's and elephants.

Adam and the giraffes.

Laura  hanging around.

Emily taking a nap.

Laura was excited to FINALLY ride the train!

Emily riding the bear - this one's for you, Majo.

Laura taming the Leopard.

Fireplace Mantle

I told Adam I wanted two big house projects completed this year. One of them was the fireplace Mantle. We were in a hurry to move in and a mantle certainly isn't necessary. So, we've done without for the last 20 months. But, that has all changed.

Before.

 We've been checking out mantles for the last several months, trying to determine our style. Thankfully, we have very similar taste and were able to decide easily. Adam drew a detailed plan, complete with sections and dimensions. He bought the trim and set to work drawing the layout on the wall. It turned out beautiful!

Adam started by screwing 2x4s to the wall and then painted and mounted plywood over that.  This sets the whole mantle off the wall a couple inches.  Then, we ripped down some 1x4s to create the outer panels.

We installed the outer panels to create a grid and then began installing some picture frame molding inside each box.

Here's a close up of the picture frame molding inside the right box. 

We painted everything white; the raw wood was primed with oil based paint.  The mantle top wraps around the wall.  Here, Adam is screwing the top shelf into the ledger boards.

Here is the completed trim.  We have crown molding directly below the mantle shelf and then a row of picture frame molding below that.  These both wrap the sides.  We also put half-round on the edge of the shelf to hide the edge.  This picture was taken after we caulked everything, but before the final paint.  You can still see some wood putty.

Here is the finished product!  Like our mantle decorations?

And here's a sneak preview to our next project . . . we just need the wall-mount to arrive and the new TV will go above the fire place.  Adam has already been working to create a wire chase inside the walls.  But, that's another post.

Quilts

I first learned to sew quilts the summer of 2001. I visited my aunt and cousin in Texas and was looking for something to do. So, they set me up with some scrap material and taught me the basics. It was an instant fit. I ended up making a small quilt during my visit and my mom bought me a sewing machine when we got home. I've made several quilts since and have branched out to try all sorts of patterns. It's a really fun hobby and something I find relaxing (most of the time).

I wanted to make something special for my first niece. So, for Christmas 2010, I found my sister's old doll bed in my parent's attic. I fixed it up and made a pillow and tiny quilt for it. I had so much fun, that I made Laura a matching quilted blanket.

 The pattern reminds me of a magic carpet. She sleeps with it every night, which is so special to me.

 When niece #2 was born in August 2011, I had to make her her very own blanket too. I went with colors from her nursery and this was created in my newly organized "middle bedroom" craft room.

 I think this pattern is called waterfall. It's super easy and fun to make.

Holding Emily the day she was born.

 When Philip and Amanda were expecting their first baby (brother and sister in law), I knew I had to make her a quilt too. This was niece #3 and Amanda even let me use some of the fabric she had picked out for the nursery.

 Here's the finished product, I think it turned out great. 

 And this one is two-sided.

 I hope to make even more quilts in my new Office/Craft Room.

Foster Care Update

We passed our final inspection Monday night with flying colors.  We filled out the little remaining paperwork and the lady putting together our profile has been working ahead of schedule.  Instead of it taking four weeks . . . it may be only two!  That means we could have our licence the week after next!

Another exciting thing is we learned of a potential placement of two siblings that need to change foster homes (the foster parents are retiring).  So, we're looking into that more to see if it's a good fit for us.  This is all becoming more real.

I need to post some updated pictures from the kid's room.  I painted some cute animals to hang on the walls and we have a crib set up.  We even have more books on our shelf. :)  Another huge THANK YOU to everyone that has so generously given us/let us borrow their baby gear!!

Camping

Adam and I went camping in O'Leno State Park in April. This was the first time camping just the two of us and we had a great time. The weather was perfect - cool at night and warm during the day. We only camped one night, it was pretty last minute.

Our set up.

 I prepared some foil pack meals to be easily cooked over the coals. Adam may make fun of me, but half the fun of camping is the food. Heck, half the fun in most things is the food. Anyway, for dinner I combined chopped chicken, potatoes, onions, mushrooms, carrots with olive oil and lemon juice. Then you double wrap it in the foil for the fire. It turned out great. I made so much that we ended up with four packs and made two for lunch the next day.   And of course we had smores for dessert.

 We also had breakfast in foil packs - sausage paddy on the bottom, then put shredded potatoes to form a "nest", then crack an egg in the "nest". It was a great breakfast - we each had two.

 We went hiking along the Sante Fe river drop. This is where the Sante Fe river goes underground. It pops up further south and stays above the ground. It was beautiful hiking and a fun bridge. The water level was low, but it was high enough for the gators to be around.

The sun looked so pretty coming through the leaves.

Gator bait!

 We had a great time and would love to get a group together next time.