Two More Kids {Foster Adoption}

Kathryn’s words after meeting the kids:

“Our lives will never be quiet if we adopt those two, but — I love them!“

I think that pretty much sums it up.

Last week was the kids’ 1st visit to our house.

That day, the weather was perfect, so we played outside as much as possible. The kids loved the swing-set, and they really loved running around with LacyDog! {I have to take a minute here to say what a wonderful dog we have; she is SO good with the kids!} It’s been a long time since I’ve heard that much giggling going on. As this was the first time Lindsey and Kathryn had met them, Ken and I mostly just watched and gave the girls a chance to get to know “Scout” and “Jem.” Admittedly, I can tell Jem in particular is testing the waters to see what he can get away with, but he doesn’t push it too far. And they did want to get into everything when we played inside, but it’s a totally new environment for them, and every kid who has ever visited (or who we’ve babysat) has done the same thing.

After Foster Mom and Dad came to pick up the kids, we took Lindsey and Kathryn out for frozen yogurt to discuss how they felt after finally meeting the kids: Kathryn was gung-ho; Lindsey, on the other hand, was more hesitant.

A new forever family?

On Friday, the kids’ caseworker met with them. At some point in the conversation, the caseworker asked Scout, “If the judge decides I should find you a new forever family, do you have any ideas who might be a good family for you?” It seems like she’d mention a neighbor or a teacher, but she said, “Ms. Jamie.” Scout doesn’t know that we know the caseworker, so she said, “Ms. [Foster Mom] and Ms. Jamie are friends, so Ms. [Foster Mom] could give you her phone number and you could ask Ms. Jamie.”

And then, my heart melted.

An all-day visit!

On Saturday, Kathryn had gotten herself worked up about everything and was feeling nervous about the upcoming all-day visit on Sunday. Ken left early to pick them up and we were pleasantly surprised Lindsey offered to ride along. When Ken and Lindsey pulled into the foster parents’ driveway, the kids eagerly came running out to the car. They came back to the house to pick us up and we all headed to church.

The sweet gal that checked us in at the preschool desk didn’t know our story, and I’m sure my answers to her questions were weirdly vague — but the kids don’t really know yet that we might soon be their parents, so I was trying to answer questions without saying too much. HARD TO DO!! So I sent the rest of the family off for a few minutes while I clarified things, and then the preschool folks didn’t think I was quite so crazy.

The kids did great. A little hesitant for us to leave them in their class, but not overly so. They met some of our friends, and Brandon and Diane got got meet them before they headed off to lunch with Brandon’s mom. It’s hard to explain to little kids that this grown up man standing there is our son. There are just a whole lot of difficult to explain situations in something like this.

We went back home and had lunch, and then I put them down for naps. Surprisingly, they both actually took naps! I knew they were good nappers, but I figured in a strange place, they might not feel comfortable enough to actually fall asleep. After naps, we played, and they clearly had a good time. Jem’s favorite thing was playing cars with Ken, and Scout later told me her favorite thing was playing marbles with Kathryn. At supper, Jem said the blessing, which went something like, “Thank you, God, for the visit. And thank you for a fun day. And for the cars. And for the ice. Amen.” (Apparently, he like ice cubes in his cup!)

After spending the entire day with the kids, Lindsey and Kathryn both feel good about adding them to our family. That’s not to say we’re not nervous about certain aspects of it, but we know the whole family has to be on board with this decision to really make it work. We’re still waiting on that order from the judge, but the kids are scheduled to spend this coming weekend with us, so this week, we are busy, busy, busy getting bedrooms ready for little people. I’m making Lindsey’s old purple bedroom into a boy room, and Kathryn now has bunk beds in her room.

I’m writing these posts to remember these little details, and to share with anyone who is curious about how a foster-adoption might go. I don’t have all the answers, but I welcome questions. I welcome your prayers, too!

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