"and so it begins..."

I can't remember which movie that's from but that's kind of how I felt last night. I was excited, but it was a nervous, are-we-really-doing-this-again, will-it-be-better-or-worse-than-last-time, what-if-our-schedules-don't-work-out kind of nervous.

Our application was approved a couple weeks ago but things were different this time. Last time, Miss S and Lil C were pulled out of school and daycare and taken straight to our house. This time, there are more kids than foster homes available so they go from their home/school/daycare to the CPS group home where they wait for a foster home. The crazy thing is that there is no updated database to know if a child matches the profile of a foster home. So we'd been waiting to find out if there was a child we could take out of the group home.

We decided to email our former CPS case worker and see if she had any kids waiting to be fostered. Within 24 hours she called me and told me about D-Man (yes, that's what we're calling him). Two short hours after talking to her, Denielle and I were both on our way home from work to meet this little boy.

He's from Chandler, is 1 1/2 years old, and has been through hell. He lives in a house that has been condemned, has no running water, no electricity, concrete floors, and there was a rumor of pet waste on the ground. HOW DO PEOPLE LIVE LIKE THIS?! There was also supposedly evidence of meth in the home.

So little D-Man came to our house, met Samson, and was crying on and off again. I think he's just freaked out and nervous. The CPS case worker told us that he had been pulled out of his home, taken to another foster home mistakenly, and then taken to our home. I guess the first foster home wanted a kid who was 6 months old; not 1 year and 6 months old.

We gave him some graham crackers and milk, read him a couple books, and then put him down to sleep at 8:47. We didn't hear a whimper out of him till 6:30 this morning. THANK YOU JESUS!

Right now we're trying to bond with him, create structure and consistency with him, and let him know that he's going to be taken care of. He does whine quite a bit but it's as if he sees the big picture that he's not with his mom and dad so that makes him nervous and cry. Then he sees the small picture and realizes he's having a good time and is comfortable and safe and he decides to relax a little.

So the goals now are to build the relationship with him and have him in daycare as little as possible. Denielle doesn't have to go back to work until Monday but I will be working Friday and the morning on Saturday. Monday will most likely be a long day at daycare for him. And Friday we are supposed to meet his parents. That should be fun...

I'll write more as time allows. It's funny how throughout the day, Denielle and I both talk about writing things in this blog. Funny moments, interesting observations, teaching moments, etc. Hopefully you'll get as much out of this placement as we do.

Thanks for reading and caring.
Nick