All Is Well

Life has taken on a whole new meaning of the word "busy" for me since the arrival of baby"A".  I have been stretched to my limit many days (and nights)  and can feel the prayers and support of all who have been praying for us.  Thank you so much.  God is so good! 

Life is busy but good and a lot is happening. 

TPR court took place on the toddlers case and Termination of Parental Rights was granted.  They are now "wards of the state" and their case has been sent to the side of DFCS that deals with adoptions.  I met their new adoption worker on Monday.  We are in the process of adoption now, with these two, by the grace of God.  We shall see how it goes and what happens.

TPR court has also happened in baby "K"'s case.  She is now also a ward of the state and her case will be transferred to the adoption side of DFCS on July 1st.  So we will start the process of adoption on her as well next month.  We have not done an adoption with the state in many years, so I have no idea how long the process is or what to expect with all the new rules and regulations.

We have had two court hearings on the new baby but have not had the 72 day hearing yet.  That is the big hearing where all evidence is presented by both sides (bio mom and dad vs DFCS) and the judge sets the case plan.  DFCS has a lot of work to do before court, as the biological mom identified many possible dads that they need to do DNA testing on.  It is a new case, even though she is 1/2 sister to the toddlers.  So we wait and see how her story and case will unfold over time.

My days are FULL of child care, feeding and diaper changes non-stop.  It can be very tiring and often I am needed at the same time, for different things by many children.  I am grateful for the older children's love and helpfulness with all the little ones when I need it.  

Our little baby "A" has started sleeping longer hours thru the night! 

At least 6 hours at a time, which has helped me tremendously.  Glory to God.  I can see she is not far from sleeping thru the night.  She just turned 5 weeks old.  :)  So she is regulating day and night routines early.  She is a good baby and I am grateful for that.  She has filled out nicely and grown so much already.

Baby "K"....hmm.  I am not sure at what point to stop calling her baby "K"!!!  She is getting so big! 

She is the sweetest soul and I can always count on her to be even tempered and in good spirits.  She is doing very well in therapy.  She crawls like a champ now and can pull up onto her knees at the couch for a few moments.  Her legs are getting stronger but still weak.  So we daily hold her on her feet and work on building those leg muscles in hopes she will walk by her next birthday.  She plays very quietly and hardly makes a noise.  So she is in speech therapy now as well as feeding therapy.  She loves to eat and is eating textures much better but still needs her liquids thickened or she aspirates.  She has always struggled with nursing.  I am trying to get her to use a fine straw at meals.  With her head tucked down to drink she does not choke at all. 

"T" is a sweet little guy that is a little stubborn but tries to please us.  He is good most of the time now. 

I finally cut his hair!

His biggest challenge is behaviors that are from sensory issues.  He can cry for an hour or more non-stop and hits his head when over stimulated.   We have to watch him and keep things low key for him.   He has outburst about every other day or so.   "T" is very immature for his age (he will be three in four months)  and tested out at a 15 month old level in recent testing.  He still likes cause and effect toys and baby toys.  He and baby "K" interact very well together.  They play in the playroom together nicely.

"B" has the most challenging behaviors.  He can not help the fact that he is so impulsive and can not sit still for even a  moment. 

But much of his bad behavior he can definitely help.  Some of his behavior is from his terrible past but mostly it is just from lack of a discipline that is effective.  He can be very mean and that is hard.  Time out is the only discipline we can use with small children and he could care less to have to sit when he does anything bad.  It is non-stop all day long and I have to keep him separated from the other children or he quickly ends up hurting someone.  He is very, very smart for his age though and so much fun to talk to and teach.  There is so much potential in this little guy.  :)


The  other older children are all doing very well.  They are enjoying their summer off from home schooling.  They are doing some projects around the farm that need doing, swimming and playing outside like kids should do.

 

Carolyn loved this huge bullfrog she found.  She wanted to keep him so badly.

We have a little Pionus Parrot named Kiwi. 

We got him five years or so ago, as a just weaned, hand fed, baby.  He acts a lot like a toddler.  He is messy and noisy.  :)  But we love him.  He chatters, sings and talks all day long.  He gets into a lot of mischief.  Elizabeth's desk is next to his cage and if she is deep in thought in school work, he will sneak down the side of his cage and nip her or pull her hair.  He also will take toys over to that side of the top of his cage and drop them down on her head!  He can be a real stink pot!   Elizabeth asked to use the crayons to color one day last week and she forgot to put them up at lunch time.  I went into the school room a little while later to find at least 30 crayons shredded to bits!  Lesson of the week.  Don't leave crayons within Kiwi's reach. 

I was feeding the baby a bottle, watching my fish tank and saw this little stripped snail cleaning my rock work, with four baby snails cleaning his shell!  So funny.

Antonio at a recent family picnic.

Even though I am very busy we are all having a lot of fun and enjoying our time together without the added work or stress of home schooling.  God is so good.  All is well.

Psalm 34:8  O taste and see that the Lord is good: blessed is the man that trusteth in him.

Blessings,

susan