Last Home Visit before Official Licensing

In our state, visits, or inspections, are required from the Fire Marshall and the county DSS social worker for licensing. We passed with flying colors on the fire inspection. The first visit with the social worker went pretty well, but we still had some work to do- mainly the garage, which was filled to the brim with unopened moving boxes, old furniture, military gear, wedding decorations and accessories leftovers, clothing and other items to be donated. There was a small path from the kitchen door out to the driveway, but by no means could we fit a car, or even a bike, in there. Two yard sales and two trash days later, we still have a large pile, but it is mostly items we could donate. We are filled with nervous excitement as we prepare for the visit from our licensing social worker in just a few short hours.

T - 6 hours, 5 minutes and counting....  7:45 am can not get here soon enough!

One Visit/Inspection Down, Three to Go

Today, we are in need of some fast and furious prayer. We had our first offical interview, an office visit, with our social worker (SW). Tomorrow morning we have our first of two home visits/inspections with our SW, and Saturday morning our home inspection with the Fire Marshall. Please pray that I/we can put the house back together in that amount of time, since I have ripped it apart, yet again, with this nesting phase I've been going through over the last couple months. Are there any other foster parents that go through this? I think I've washed all our linens, kids' clothes, toys, and carpets twice. I can't seem to stop cleaning and rearranging anything and everything in sight, and out of sight for that matter.

Final Push towards Home Study/Inspection

Last week my Madre (Mom) came to town and helped with several projects while Dear Husband was away on Annual Training with the Marine Corps. We were able to almost finish the quilt for the kids' room, set up the crib and bassinet, get all the sheets washed and on the toddler bed, and began refinishing the kitchen table. We also bought large plastic totes and sorted clothes by size, gender, and season to determine what we have and what we still need. As organized as I am, I was shocked to see how many holes we still have to fill in the next few weeks.

I was surprised to find that we still need:
- Clothes
      Girls' 9mo-18mo all, 24 mo summer, 4T- children's 4/5 all, 6/6x/7 winter
      Boys' 9mo all, 2T-4T summer, 5T-children's 6/7 all
- Books for all ages
- Toys for all ages (we already have toddler golf sets, balls of all shapes/sizes/kinds, small tricycles, and art supplies)

This week we ordered:

- Collapsable highchair for the younger children (that will not be able to support themselves in our wooden restaurant-style highchair) and a booster seat (for children between the wooden highchair and being able to reach the table from a regular chair)

- Changing Pad Covers

- Carseat Booster (We already have 2 infant carriers and 3-stage transitional seat, but we needed an extra in case we have two children that require boosters)

- Second set of crib comforter, sheets, etc.

We have a large array of bedding options to accomodate children of all ages:
- 1 Infant crib/large bassinet (good until they start wiggling, ~ 0-3 or 4 months)
- 1 Crib (the one from GDad's house, used by myself and all my siblings)
- 1 Toddler Bed
- 3 Twin Beds (2 with bunking potential)

      So, even though we have 2 possible rooms and 6 available beds, the law requires that we not have more than 5 children in our home at a time. Since Red is kid #1, that means we can be licensed for up to 4 additional little ones, but our capacity is capped at 3 because that is how many seatbelts I have in the back of my SUV. I learned to drive on a minivan, and as a teenager swore I would never drive one again, but now I find myself longing for one. Haha, what a difference 5 years makes! Likewise, the state requires we be 10 years older than any child in our home, so that means we will be licensed for children ages 0-13 years old, with a preference for children 0-6 for the first couple years. We want to learn the ropes on the little ones before we expand our age range to include preteens and teens, and Red has expressed an interest in having younger children around the house, old enough to play with but not old enough to be in competition with her in school or sports.

     DH is pulling an all nighter out at the county's Relay for Life. I'm here at home preparing a final to do list. Later today, I have 2 youths from church coming over to help us paint and complete some projects. It's all hands on deck as we make our final push towards licensing. Words can't express how excited to are.

This week we...

     This week, I haven't officially checked anything off the list. I finished sewing some fitted toddler sheets into flat sheets for the toddler bed, leaving the bottom third fitted so the kids can't kick the sheets off the bed in the middle of the night. This cost $12 for each set (2 fitted crib sheets) to purchase, and by turning one sheet in each set to a flat sheet I made bargain toddler sheets. So, now I can have match the room perfectly instead of having character bedding that each kid may not like, and saved over $40 from having to purchase designer solid toddler sheets. Thank you, Target, for coupons and a great weekly ad.

     I've been compiling the paperwork for our family profile, and filing out more background checks for all the counties and states I've lived in the last five years. Foster training classes are over and the real work is just now starting. The kids room still  has a huge pile in the middle to be organized. I still have to find a place to move all the office stuff. I'm hoping to get everything organized and in place in the next few weeks so that I can post a master list of all the paperwork and to do list items needed to make it through foster parent training and approval... but I'll wait until we get our final approval before posting all that for you.

     There is a box with bunk beds sitting out in the garage. I'm considering returning them. DH talked me into getting them, but I'm not sure I'm convinced on the color. I'm thinking I want to continue the white furniture though all the bedrooms. DH did make a good point though- if we have boys join our family, that are anything like DH, they may not like the "clean, girly" white. Haha! This is true, I suppose. I'll wait until DH gets back from his temporary military deployment to decide. It can sit in the project filled garage until then, while I work on the house, classes, foster paperwork and work. I'm so excited to get this underway and make some progress.

                         

               Next to the closet in the kids'                     Some accessories for the
               room, activity table and                              rejuvenated glider.
               stuffed animals.

                             
                                 The fabric Madre got us to make quilts for the kids.
                                 I'm about halfway done with one, and I can't wait
                                 for finals to be over so I can get back to work on this
                                 precious project.


As always, thank you for standing with us in prayer as we continue this journey. We are so very thankful for all the notes and emails of support and encouragement! .... and hand-me-down clothing, we are so very thankful for all the children's items that we have received. It has been such a blessing to us and fellow foster parents in our area. We can't possibly thank you enough.