Ramblings
August went by in a newborn blur and now I feel like I'm getting my bearings again a little. We started homeschool this month! It has gone so well so far. Here is what I wrote about it on instagram:
We started Esther’s kindergarten homeschool year a few weeks ago. It has been going so well, so much better than I expected. When people think of homeschool I think they think of how their kids are when they are home for the summer and think “I could not deal with that everyday all year!” I was honestly thinking the same thing right after we got baby boy and the kids were all acting crazy. But since we’ve started I’ve been surprised how much the kids all thrive with the routine and structure we’ve built into our days. Since giving them 2ish hours of my undivided attention each day, the girls have been fighting so much less and playing nicely both together and on their own. If I didn’t have two babies, I might actually have time to get some things done. 😅 Esther will start at our homeschool charter next week, going one full day per week. She is so excited and I know she will love it. It is a little outside of my comfort zone, sending her away to school, but I can see how it was a divinely inspired choice so I can have not quite so much on my plate with us having a foster placement right now. Speaking of which, the choice to homeschool feels relatively mild and mainstream compared to our decision to foster. When people hear that we homeschool they are like “oh okay” (skeptical look). When people hear we foster they are like “ WHAT!?!? I COULD NEEEEEVVVVVEEEERRRR DO THAT” which I never know how to respond to. 🤪🤷♀️
Here are some of the other things we've been up to the past 5 weeks.
After a couple weeks of having baby boy, I was very sleep deprived and struggling so Leland took a few days off of work. It was such a nice break. If I had birthed a baby Leland would have taken at least a week off and we would have had a lot of help. One of the hardest things about foster care is not having any warning or prep time, or as much support sometimes. We just picked up baby boy and kept chugging on at normal pace and it was difficult. Anyways, it was nice to have a long weekend to rest and recover a bit. We went to ikea:
Hit up the splash pad:
We went to a family reunion:
Adele made this adorable picture while I was working on school with Esther. I love the way she draws people.
Baby boy has had visits 2x a week this month. It is rough but I'm getting used to it. Me and the kids went to this fun park one time.
Esther had a back to school night for her charter school. They had an animal show and here is Adele just casually petting a python!
We've been spending a lot of time in the backyard now that it has finally cooled down a little.
Living life with these crazy kids: ( I will save all of Israel's crazy antics for another post) And yeah these windows are a small glimpse into how dirty my whole house is.
Getting ready for Halloween:
As for an update on baby boy, right now it looks like we will probably have him until the end of his case, whether that ends in adoption by us or reunification, we won't know for a long time still. We don't know though, things can always change. Like tomorrow a family member could come out of the woodwork and he would be gone like that. Having visits is always really hard on me, not just because of the driving but because I see the parents often, and I realize that this is their baby, not mine, and despite their choices and bad situation, they do love their child. I think foster care is easier when you have the mentality that you are saving them from horrible, awful parents. When you meet the parents and see that they are real people, usually people who are trying to overcome their problems and get their baby back, then it is harder. I love baby boy so much, I get sad all the time thinking about if he leaves us, but I don't want to be hoping for someone to fail and a family to be broken apart so I can be happy. It is just an emotionally hard place to be in. I find myself having to really dig deep and have faith that Heavenly Father loves him more than I do, he knows what is best for him and whatever is meant to happen will happen.
We started Esther’s kindergarten homeschool year a few weeks ago. It has been going so well, so much better than I expected. When people think of homeschool I think they think of how their kids are when they are home for the summer and think “I could not deal with that everyday all year!” I was honestly thinking the same thing right after we got baby boy and the kids were all acting crazy. But since we’ve started I’ve been surprised how much the kids all thrive with the routine and structure we’ve built into our days. Since giving them 2ish hours of my undivided attention each day, the girls have been fighting so much less and playing nicely both together and on their own. If I didn’t have two babies, I might actually have time to get some things done. 😅 Esther will start at our homeschool charter next week, going one full day per week. She is so excited and I know she will love it. It is a little outside of my comfort zone, sending her away to school, but I can see how it was a divinely inspired choice so I can have not quite so much on my plate with us having a foster placement right now. Speaking of which, the choice to homeschool feels relatively mild and mainstream compared to our decision to foster. When people hear that we homeschool they are like “oh okay” (skeptical look). When people hear we foster they are like “ WHAT!?!? I COULD NEEEEEVVVVVEEEERRRR DO THAT” which I never know how to respond to. 🤪🤷♀️
Here are some of the other things we've been up to the past 5 weeks.
After a couple weeks of having baby boy, I was very sleep deprived and struggling so Leland took a few days off of work. It was such a nice break. If I had birthed a baby Leland would have taken at least a week off and we would have had a lot of help. One of the hardest things about foster care is not having any warning or prep time, or as much support sometimes. We just picked up baby boy and kept chugging on at normal pace and it was difficult. Anyways, it was nice to have a long weekend to rest and recover a bit. We went to ikea:
Hit up the splash pad:
We went to Forest School a few times and one time it was disaster, one time was a semi-disaster and the other time was great. :)
We went to an amazing "not back to school party" with a homeschool group. The kids got to try rock climbing and had a blast.
We went to a family reunion:
I went on a date with this little boyfriend to the grocery store. Look at those adorable crossed legs.
More fun at Forest School:
Adele made this adorable picture while I was working on school with Esther. I love the way she draws people.
Baby boy has had visits 2x a week this month. It is rough but I'm getting used to it. Me and the kids went to this fun park one time.
We've been spending a lot of time in the backyard now that it has finally cooled down a little.
Living life with these crazy kids: ( I will save all of Israel's crazy antics for another post) And yeah these windows are a small glimpse into how dirty my whole house is.
Getting ready for Halloween:
As for an update on baby boy, right now it looks like we will probably have him until the end of his case, whether that ends in adoption by us or reunification, we won't know for a long time still. We don't know though, things can always change. Like tomorrow a family member could come out of the woodwork and he would be gone like that. Having visits is always really hard on me, not just because of the driving but because I see the parents often, and I realize that this is their baby, not mine, and despite their choices and bad situation, they do love their child. I think foster care is easier when you have the mentality that you are saving them from horrible, awful parents. When you meet the parents and see that they are real people, usually people who are trying to overcome their problems and get their baby back, then it is harder. I love baby boy so much, I get sad all the time thinking about if he leaves us, but I don't want to be hoping for someone to fail and a family to be broken apart so I can be happy. It is just an emotionally hard place to be in. I find myself having to really dig deep and have faith that Heavenly Father loves him more than I do, he knows what is best for him and whatever is meant to happen will happen.
Comments
Post a Comment