June 29th Laila visit

It worked out that we were able to have Laila come and stay at our house for several hours yesterday which we were SOOO excited about! 

She came and was very excited to see Emma & Jackson.  She laughed at everything they did and smiled and had fun.

As the day went on she got more and more tired and lethargic.  Her foster mom had warned me that she wasn’t having a very good day; not feeling well, getting sick a lot and kind of cranky.  Although it wasn’t the “funnest” visit, it was very good for us to be able to see what a bad day looks like for her and that with her medical issues, she just has bad days sometimes.  She said if it lasts a few days then she will check in with the doctor.  These are all things that I’m just going to have to feel out and learn. 

By the end of the night she wasn’t giving us smiles but she’s so beautiful, isn’t she?

One of the things that is just, for lack of a better word, weird to me is the mommy and daddy factor.  Laila has already had two sets of mommies and daddies in her life (birth & foster).  Since we were not thinking that adoption would happen this quickly, we hadn’t had our minds wrapped around someone besides Emma & Jackson calling us mommy & daddy.  In our lives we have “fake” aunts & uncles, grandmas & grandpas, but never does a child call you mommy or daddy unless that is in fact you.  Just to think of the fact that someday she will call us that is just a huge fact to get my mind around.  I have to tell you though, it is amazing how much I love her.  I could kiss her face all day long and tell her how much I adore and love her.  I’m thanking God so much for bringing us step by step through this and hoping as His plan unfolds we’ll see it and remember to praise Him for it all and for the wonderful way His hand has been in our precious new daughter’s life for so long even before we knew her.  Will you praise Him with us for that?  He is amazing!

First camping of 2010!

Over the weekend we got to camping for our first time this year.  We had a free weekend and so did our friends Rick & Anna so off we went!

We let Rick decide this time and he picked Salamonie Reservoir.  It was neat to be able to to go to a new place and check it out! 

We love camping with Rick & Anna because they feed us VERY well!  I think of camping as vacation so therefore we cook everything over the fire with cooking utensils that do not have to be washed.  Not Rick & Anna!  Every day the camp stove is out, the griddle is ready for making pancakes and sausage and they even brought along their charcoal grill this time!  They were very sweet and brought HUGE steak to have a special dinner in honor of us finding out we will be adopting Laila :) 

Emma had lots of fun getting to help them cook too!

The only downfall of the weekend was that it had rained so much recently that the beach was flooded.  There were signs at the check in booth that it was closed but they had left the gate open and others were down there swimming so we decided to go down and let the kids cool off a bit.  They had lots of fun jumping and splashing in the water.

 

The problem with going down to the water that time was that then they decided to close the gate and so we couldn’t go again.  We taught a bad lesson to the kids because when we said we couldn’t go anymore they said “well you let us break the rules earlier today, why can’t we just go under the gate now?”  OOPS!  Bad behaviors taught!!!  Darn!  I really, really wanted to break the rules and go because not being able to get cool in 90ish degree weather was very tempting but I don’t even want to put the thought in their head that it’s OK to break the rules!  Then Anna thought of the great idea on Sunday afternoon to hook up the garden hose at the site and spray the kids with water.  They thought that was pretty fun!

Rick’s daughter Jodi and her children came along too, which was so fun to be able to hang out with her and the kids loved having each other to play with!  Jackson & Cameron rolled down the hill on Cam’s little motorcycle like a hundred times!

Best part is just being able to sit around relaxing at the campfire (even if it is a billion degrees!)  Emma was reading to Addison.

  Our good old pop-up is still serving us well!

We have our big church camping trip planned in August this year and since Jack set it up, we’re going to be going to our favorite place…. the Dunes!!  We’re excited because there are several families camping with us and several who are just going to come for the day on Saturday since we’ll be so close.  Can’t wait!!!

June 28

Today I got to go and hold my sweet new baby girl! It was SOOO exciting! I’ve decided that I just can’t wait until July 15th and since she’s only 45 minutes away, I needed to go and see her!

Today was a great day! My mom came with me to visit her which was very special. We drove down and when we got there she had fallen asleep and was taking a cat nap before her occupational therapist came to work with her. I got to meet her nurse Amy who tends to be the one who is with her the most. It was good to hear that she would most likely be able to switch to coming to care for her in our home on days I need to be gone. It was very informative to watch her therapist go through her exercises and see the areas she has been growing stronger in and learning about the ways I can work with her to strengthen the weaker areas. Because she had all of this going on while I was there, I didn’t get much snuggle or play time with her but it was good just to be there and be learning some of the things that I really need to know.

I’m guessing by now you’re all wondering what her name is because I’ve vaguely referred to her as “L” in my respite post and since then haven’t mentioned her name. At first it was privacy because she wasn’t for sure going to be ours and then it was because we’re still trying to decide. And we’re still deciding at this point but we’re thinking of changing it. Her given name right now is Lania (pronounced Laina). We will probably be changing her name to Laila. Not too different but when we already have two Alainas in the family, Lania gets kind of confusing, especially after watching Jack’s cousin’s Alaina for over a year. So we’re thinking we’ll have a little Laila Ann Hamstra so that’s what I’m gonna try referring to her as.

One other bit of fun, exciting news was that we heard today that there was a court hearing this morning and the judge officially made the order for her to be moved here on July 15th!! Woohoo! I love that’s official in that way now because you just never know until the judge says it’s so. So the process goes now that she will come to us as a foster to adopt placement and “technically” we should have to foster her for six months before being able to file for the official adoption. However, the caseworkers are working to get us SNAP approved (which is a foster/adoption thing) in which a panel will look at our case and approve us to file sooner. We’re definitely not going to rush as we go through this process of learning how to care for her and we’re going to take advantage of the support of the caseworkers right now as we’re learning but we’re hoping that maybe this whole Story of Laila will come full circle and while she didn’t end up getting to be our Christmas present last year, maybe her adoption being final will be done by that time this year :)

Here’s some fun pictures of our sweet girl

Another exciting thing about today was that her foster mom gave me a bedding set from one of her other daughters for me to use in Laila’s crib! Have i mentioned how completely amazing she is and how I’m so thankful for her?!?! So, of course I made Jack move Laila’s crib into her room today and I got it all set up :) It matches perfectly!! THEN, I got a call that she’s actually going to be coming here tomorrow for the day so I’ll get to show it to her! Too much excitement today!!

The Story of Us

As we began and now are in the full swing of this adoption, I thought I’d take a step back and explain just how all of this came about for those of you that don’t know.

A year ago May we felt led to foster.  The training and paperwork went so quickly that we were licensed by the middle of July.  We got a few calls in the fall for placements and said yes but then they either didn't get removed or they gave them to another foster family.  Also in the fall White's (our agency) had sent out a letter about the state changing things and that we might want to pick a specialty and we prayed and decided that medically fragile children were tugging at our hearts.  We had no medical training so we thought the first thing to do would be to go to the White's medically fragile training which was only being offered in the beginning of December.  Well, the lady who was teaching it got very ill and they canceled all of them.  Then at our foster Christmas party one of the specialists told us about a special little girl and that she may need a home and we told her to submit our home study. She also told us another family where the mom was a nurse was submitting theirs too and we were not shocked when they did not pick us nor were we upset because it was only logical and their home was definitely the best place for her.  Also at that time, my friend Amanda from MI got engaged and planned an April wedding.  I ended up spending every other weekend from January through April in MI helping her plan her wedding and kept thinking "how would I have ever done this if they had placed this little girl with us at Christmas?"  We had prayed and prayed that God would bring us a child at the right time but that if we didn't have one by May that we would wait until we got back from Mexico to accept a placement because we didn't want to take a child then leave them right away.  Well, no joke, Katie (another specialist) called to ask us to do respite for this little one over Memorial weekend the week I was leaving to go up for the actual wedding.  We prayed every morning that God would show us his will and how we would fit in to this little one’s life whether we would just always respite for families that had medically fragile children since it seems the state is pretty picky on who can do that, or whether He would give us our own child to love.  Well, then when the foster mom dropped her off to us we found out that she is due with a new baby the end of July and also has three other little ones at home.  We had our little cutie all weekend and absolutely fell in love with her.  We knew that her current foster home loves her so much but that it might be a lot for them to keep her with the new baby coming so we decided to offer to them that we felt God leading us to adopt her.  After careful consideration on their part, they decided this would be best for them as well.  I couldn't believe that the timing would work out that amazingly that God would provide her right after we got done with the other work He had for us to do.  So to make this LONG story short, I feel like He placed her with her current foster parents in such an amazing way with such a great purpose and now He is doing the same for us.

(I did cut and paste this from an email I wrote to her current foster mom because I just had to share the AMAZING way God placed her in our lives)

It's a girl!!!

Emma and Jackson would like to announce their new sister!!!  Our little one will be coming to live with us hopefully on July 15th.  I plan to blog our journey through this process so please come back often to check out our happenings, to celebrate with us, and most of all to pray specifically for the things going on.

We're leaving for a camping trip tomorrow but Monday starts lots of fun.  I get to go have a visit with her, meet her nurse and one of her therapists and have a lot of things to get in place before we leave next Friday for Mexico for eight days!  It's gonna be a whirlwind but we're SOOOO excited!  Also, please praise God with us for her absolutely amazing current foster parents.  What a blessing they are!

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Happy 60th Dad!!!

 Dad Hamstra turned 60 back in April and all the kids got together and planned out a whole day of fun for him for June 5th.  Why June 5th you say??  Well, of course because if you know dad, you know the fun day had to include a trip to see the White Sox!  

We all met a Jill's , then went out for dinner at Schoop's (another favorite of dad's) then we headed on up to Chicago for a night out with the Sox.  It was fun to be together as a family and goof around and have fun.  While the Sox didn't win that night, we all had fun spending time together and I think that's what matters.  Even dad didn't seem to mind too much that they lost :)

The night ended with some beautiful fireworks.  I love my Hamstra family and am so thankful to God for bringing them into my life :) 

Dad, many more happy years ahead for you!!!

SUMMER OF FUN!!!!!

So, I declared this the summer of fun!  I decided that I was going to put everything else aside and focus on getting lots of quality time with the kids because I realized how much I miss them when they are at school.  The summers seem to fly by and I wonder where the time went. 

To start the summer of fun off right, we went to the water park with our friends Kat, Sami & Skylar.  Emma had earned a free ticket through a reading program at school (I love that she's earning me free stuff!  Start 'em young!!) so we decided to go on the last day of public school since Emma go out a few days early and we thought maybe it wouldn't be too crowded.  We were right!!  It was a little chilly first thing in the morning but of course the kids didn't mind and pretty quickly the sun came right out and by the end of the day we were all sun burned! 

We were excited to have our friends with us for the day and it worked out super well.  Emma is tall (big surprise huh?!?) so she is able to ride on the big slides but Jackson & Sami aren't quite there yet, nor would Jackson even think about going on a big slide!  So, Kat and I took turns doing fun things with the bigger kids while one of us stayed with Sky or the other two little ones.  It turned out to be a SUPER FUN day and a great way to start out our "summer of fun!"

Other activities in the summer of fun so far have been, swim lessons every day, followed by swimming at Grandma's or a friends house, bowling, watching daddy fly an airplane, SEVERAL trips to McDonald's, fun home school activities, sprinklers, bike rides, trampoline wars, a trip to Toys R Us, summer reading program at the library, buying garage sale toys, not sure what else but there's not tons of pictures because I'm trying to participate in the fun instead of watching from behind the camera :)

Jackson Graduates Preschool......well, sort of......

 Jackson came to the end of his first year of preschool.  As you read from the post earlier about him turning five, he is very smart and ahead in a lot of areas as far as academics go.  We did however, decided to give him another year of preschool this coming year so he'll be entering kindergarten when he turns six.  We had a lot of opinions from people both ways on this but our ultimate decision came down to prayer and talking with the preschool & kindergarten teachers and the principal at DMC.

So here we end the Jackson's year at DeMotte Cooperative Preschool.  I still hold fast that this program is amazing in so many ways.  I absolutely love the fact that both of my kids got to be in this program and work with a whole range of different kids made in God's image.  I love that fact that even though their friends in class might not be exactly the same as them, be able to learn the same, some communicate in different ways, and some might have wheelchairs or other special devices to help them get around, they are all kids and all have that same spirit God put in them.  My proudest day was when the teacher told me that Jackson ended up going to speech therapy with one of his little buddies because his friend was scared and Jackson popped right up and said "I'll go with him so he won't be scared!"  My little guy does seem to have different eyes for kids with special needs and I'm so thankful for that.

 Relay Race at Field Day

 All the friends enjoying their Field Day snack

They put on a cute little program and Jackson was a scary bear!!!

So Jackson, I just wanted to say how extremely proud I am of you and all the wonderful things you learned this year.  You have really been growing up so much before my eyes this past year and I love to watch how big your heart is for others.  I look forward to seeing how you grow this year in Mrs. Friend's class and I can't wait to start hearing all your memory verses and what you're learning about God right along with your academic studies!  I love you buddy!!

Some days of respite

I had in one of my posts a few weeks back that we were going to be doing some respite foster care for a family with a two year old girl.  Well, the week before she was supposed to come they called us with another respite placement for the whole week leading up until she came.  Phew!..... I get exhausted just thinking about it again!

Well, these were three cute little ones that had just come into care about three weeks before.  They came at about 10:30 on a Friday morning and by 11:30 I was getting angry phone calls.  Long story short, our White's family specialist didn't communicate very well with the county social worker and the lady from the county and the children's biological mother and grandmother were pretty much furious and taking it out on me.  Since we've never had a permanent placement of our own, I had never dealt with birth families or county social workers, but I guess there's a first time for everything.  Would've kind of been nice not to have to be thrown straight into the deep end but I handled it pretty well I think.  Both the family and the social worker were upset that they weren't told sooner (as was I because they called less than 24 hours before dropping them off but had known for three weeks that they needed someone) and they somehow misunderstood and thought the children and been permanently moved to us.  It was a mess.  I finally got everyone straightened out and all was good..... at least for the first few days.......

We got to experience this time what life is like and how these kids go through the "honeymoon" period.  About midway through church Sunday morning "M" decided to flip her switch and see just how far she could go.  Thinking that she could get away with anything because there was a big crowd, she went full force.  Well, little did she know that Miss Angie could care less how many people are around and rules are rules no matter where you are.  Then came the glass breaking screaming fits from little "m."  Never heard so much screaming in my life and there was nothing I could do for him.  When my kids were little and went through the fit phase they learned pretty quickly not to because I would simply put them in their room and say they could scream all they want in there but I wasn't going to have it out for me to listen to.  Well, he would scream all the louder (didn't even think it was possible)  and climb out of the crib and start tearing things up.  I tried holding him, distracting him, taking him out of the room, but nothing worked.  God bless his current foster mom for putting up with that!  "N" was the oldest and he was a pretty easy going kid for the most part.

This was definitely the hardest time we've had so far but we made it through and learned some things for sure.  We have definitely decided that to take on three is too much for us.  We're technically not supposed to have more than two considering our square footage but I know sometimes they make exceptions.  I just don't think I'm a mom who's cut out to have more than 4 kids at a time.  We each have two hands so that seems logical :)  The other thing was that these ones were very young and it was a lot to have so many kids under 5 at the same time.  When we kept the other three in January for two weeks they were a little older so getting in and out of the car was easier when you could just tell everyone to get their shoes on or to get dressed.  This was definitely tougher.

So we made it through the week and Thursday came and these three left and 45 minutes later "L", the two year old little cutie came to stay for the weekend.  This was by far the best respite placement we have had yet.  One of the first things that made it so nice was because it was set up ahead of time and the current foster mom actually kept in contact with me and even emailed over some instruction the day before she came.  She has medical issues so it was necessary to have things written out but even so, I haven't had that kind of communication from any of the other foster parents.  The other thing that was nice was that her foster mom called and checked in and enjoyed me sending pictures via cell phone.  It was just very nice to see how much they cared.  Some of our other respite placements didn't even call one time and sometimes it was for two weeks!  I know they need respite help to be able to get a break but I would still have a hard time not calling for that amount of time!  I call my mom to check on the kids when she only keeps them for the weekend!  To each their own I guess.

We took this sweetie with us to Jackson's preschool graduation the night she came and then out for McDonalds

Friday night we had a campfire and had a few friends over.  They all just kind of stared at Jack and I with these smiles on their faces.  They all said afterward that they couldn't believe how we just worked together as a team to take care of her.  That was definitely one thing that I was so thankful for.  It was like a dance that neither of us knew that we knew the steps to but yet when the music played we just picked up and did it. (OK, there's my poetic moment for this blog! ha!)  I wondered how much responsibility he would take with her and how much he would leave as "mommy duties" but honestly he was just so excited about her that he jumped right in.

"L" pretty much spoiled us in every way over that weekend.  She slept through the nights without getting sick which normally doesn't happen, we decided to take her to the lake on Saturday to stay overnight and the whole 45 min drive there and back she didn't get sick, she just looked at the kids and laughed and smiled as they sang her the ABC's.  My dad tends to hold back a bit when we have foster kids for respite because he knows he'll probably never see them again but after about half a day this little one just tugged at his heart and there he was making a whistle out of his hands trying to get her to smile at all his kooky bird call noises.

I think we have found our calling.  Our office asked us last fall to pick a specialty and we prayed and chose medically fragile children.  We went to every training we could get our hands on because neither of us have a medical background (except helping out with grandparents) so we weren't sure what God had in mind and we're not sure what the future holds but again, we've found our calling.  Not many people are willing to take on this challenge but we're thankful that God has given us different eyes and different hearts for this.  It is truly a blessing.  We didn't want to see her go.

"L" - you definitely have a special place in our hearts.

(pictures without faces and names left out to protect privacy)

Mother Daughter Banquet 2010

 Three years ago I started this blog because I felt like I needed to document the fact that we were so blessed that I had both moms and all my grandmas still in my life and I was able to share at our church's Mother Daughter Banquet with all of them.  Well three years later the blessings are still flowing!

What an amazing thing that my daughter has been able to truly know her great-grandmothers!  Each and everyone one of these ladies has and will continue to have an impact on my daughter's life forever.  There is such a dynamic between all of them and they are all so loving and have so many different qualities to bring to the table. Many things have happen to these ladies over the past couple of years; losing husband, major health issues, losing grandchildren.  Yet, all the while they have kept their faith and been such a great example to all of us.  (also, if you don't know me well enough, in-law isn't in my vocabulary so when I speak of all the moms and grandmas, I'm speaking of the ones I have by marriage too)

This year was a little more tricky because Grandma Hamstra had a stroke and has trouble communicating and walking.  I spent the week feeling pretty sad about this being the first one without her and then I decided I just wasn't going to do that.  I went and picked her up from the nursing home and she came right along with us.  She wasn't able to talk and share in some of the games but I think she still had a very good time and I never want to get to the point where we don't include her unless it is completely impossible.  Love her too much and just can't not have her there! (not sure if that's grammatically correct but that's how it came out ;)

Me & my Mom

Jill and I wore the same shirt in different colors and Emma & Jaylyn matched :)

My mom & my Grandmas

Jack's mom, sister & Grandmas

Emma and I in our wacky fashion show.

Thank you to each and every one of these ladies for the love, laughs, hugs, support and especially....... baked goods :)

Jackson's Golden Birthday

My baby boy turned 5 on May 5 this year. Being our 05/05/05 baby, we had to throw him a special party for this momentous occasion. (and since we only do birthday parties for milestone birthdays)

I was looking all over at different ideas for a cheap party where we could have a lot of people. All of the ideas like a bowling alley or child fun center we priced per person and that can get very expensive when you want to include everyone. My friend Chanda told me about a party she threw for her son one year and it turn out to be perfect. And so began the planning of the carnival birthday :)

Everyone was so impressed with this party but honestly it really didn't take much time or money. We made all of the games ourselves with things we had around the house and ordered most of the prizes off of the Oriental Trading company website. Anyway, enjoy the pictures from this super fun birthday party!

 I now my current youngest is five years old!  I can not believe it!  He has grown up right before my very eyes yet with him being the youngest, I think I still consider him a lot younger than I did Emma when she turned five.  He is a complete delight and I am so glad God blessed me with him and has shown me a different kind of love that a son has for his mommy.  He has such a tender heart while having a very mischievous knack for knowing just how to get to his sister :)  Here's a current list of thing that make Jackson who he is.

• He is a boy's boy through and through.  The word toilet, poop, pee or butt will immediately send him into a laughing fit.
• He is definitely daddy's boy with a wonderful mind to take thing apart and fix them.  I'm so thankful for this. 
• He didn't like school very much this year but is looking forward to going in August to his new preschool.  I sold him on the idea when I mentioned that they have cowboy dinner at the end of the year :) 
• When the kids turn five the blankie goes away and while he was very attached to it, he was very prepared and handled it like a champ.
• He is very smart!  I actually don't know exactly how high he can count because I lose interest when we get well over 300.  Guessing he could probably count to 999.
• He is beginning to read.  He can read several of the books in the beginning section of our early readers.
• He is getting braver int he water this summer and we are very proud of him for putting his face in the water this year.
• He has learned to ride on two wheels and is very excited about his bike that his friend Kohler let him have.
• Again, he has a huge heart and loves babies and other smaller children and is always willing to help with them.  He also sometimes bursts into tears if I get firm in voice with him and cries "you're mad at me!"
• He's amazing on a computer.  Still amazes me how quickly kids pick those thing up!
• He loves to find worms in the yard and carry them around in his hand.
• Does the little boy thing of changing his mind all the time whether he wants to be a fireman, police officer or, of course, work on airplanes when he grows up.
• Has been very tender hearted when we've had different foster children visit us.  He doesn't like screaming or fit throwing.  He's very uneasy about it.
• Loves to get mail and checks every day to see if there is anything for him.

I just want to say that I love being a mommy.  Some days are harder than others but I really learned this year with Emma being in school full days that our time is so short and I am trying to make the most of every minute I have with my children because you just never know.  I love you Jackson, lil' buddy  with everything that I am.