The Waiting Child

The Waiting Child by Debbie Bodie

I saw you meet your child today
You kissed your baby joyfully
And as you walked away with her
I played pretend you'd chosen me.
I'm happy for the baby, yet
Inside I'm aching miserably
I want to plead as you go by,
"Does no-one want a child of three?"
I saw you meet your child today
In love with her before you met
And as I watched you take her out
I knew it wasn't my turn yet.
I recognize you from last year!... See More
I knew I'd seen your face before!
But you came for a second babe.
Does no-one want a child of four?
I saw you meet your child today
But this time there was something new
A nurse came in and took MY hand
And then she gave my hand to you.
Can this be true?
I'm almost six!
And there are infants here, you see?
But then you kissed me and I knew
The child you picked this time was me.
Copyright 1997

He's Sending Miracles Down Our Way

Thursday, March 11, 2010 we got another surprise of our lives. Once again we defied the odds and received another infant placement. Our future with Minnie Mouse is uncertain, but we are standing in faith and praying that this is going to be forever.

Thursday I decided to stay home with the kids because we had our case worker coming out that morning. I usually drive John to work just in case something happens so I would be able to get places if need be. John and I had been joking that week that the day I finally decided to stay home and rest that we would get "the call" because that is exactly how things happened with Jewel-Anne. The case worker finally arrived and she did her thing. She always stays to talk a bit. Walking into my house is like walking into the circus. You won't get out quickly because you just HAVE to hold the baby and the boys HAVE to give hugs and talk your ear off. Before she left I told her that she needed to work on getting us a placement on day 40 post adoption because it was exactly 40 days after the boys adoption that we got the call for Jewel-Anne. She laughed and left.

The kids and I went about our day. This was an overtime night for John. We had just finished dinner and the boys were watching Mulan (the current disney fav in this house) when I received a phone call from a cell number I didn't recognize. I answered the phone with that "Who are you and why are you calling me" hello. The lady answered and said "Hello, this is A. I was wondering if you were up for another baby." It was our case worker. The Dept had very little information on the baby. A told me she was a year old, gave me her name and said that the on call case worker would call. I asked her to give me a couple minutes to ask John. I knew it would be ok, but I didn't want to just be like "Surprise honey we have another baby!" when he came home from work. He didn't answer so I called her back and told her we would take Minnie Mouse. John finally called me back and then rushed home. I told him to cancel his OT but he came home an hour early anyway. Both John and Minnie Mouse arrived about 30 seconds apart.

John took the kids into the boys room while we filled out paper work. MM sat on a blanket in the floor and I made the comment that she was moving around good for a year old. The case worker told me she was only 8 months. She asked me if that would be a problem. Um, like I'm going to turn down this blessing?? Of course it wasn't a problem. Once the case worker left John let the boys out. They spent a couple minutes with her and then I made them go into the hallway where they could see her. We put Jewel-Anne in the floor. They stared at each other for a couple minutes. Jewel-Anne seen the paci laying next to MM so she crawls over, spits her paci out and pops MM's paci in her mouth and sits up to stare at her again. About 3 minutes later Jewel-Anne crawled on top of her and that was the end of the peacefulness in my house! LOL MM was crying and then Jewel-Anne started crying. Sam didn't go to sleep at all that night. By 5:00 he had woke Landon and by 5:30 Landon was crawling into the crib with MM. It was a long day.

Today was my first day with all 4 by myself and it was a little crazy. We're still trying to get into a routine. I have decided we're having spring break this week while we get adjusted. The boys are completely in love. They take turns showering the girls with attention. Jewel-Anne absolutely loves her. I was sure we would have a problem because she has been the baby all of her life and she doesn't like sharing Mama with anyone, but she's doing great.

Today's challenge was giving the girls a bath. Sam had therapy this morning so they didn't get one before John left. The girls screamed for 45 minutes while I bathed and dressed them. I gave Jewel-Anne her bath first and MM screamed. MM doesn't like her bath but the boys put toys in her bath so she calmed down until I washed her hair. The screaming continued.

I was finally able to get them settled so I could rock Jewel-Anne to sleep. I got her to sleep and laid her on the blanket next to me and rocked MM to sleep. She fell asleep and I called my sister to brag about my accomplishment (something I would normally do with mom but that's not possible now). I hadn't much more than gotten off the phone until Jewel-Anne set straight up. Once she noticed MM was asleep she started trying to tickle MM's feet to wake her up! LOL

We got Jewel-Anne's first case worker back. I really like him. He spent a few minutes here. He tried to hold each of the girls and both of them screamed when took them from me. He told me I already had MM spoiled. She didn't cry when she first got her. She wouldn't cry when she was hungry, dirty, or sleepy. She still doesn't cry like she should, but Jewel-Anne is teaching her how to properly pitch a fit! (Anyone have a spare set of ear plugs?)

So now we wait. We already love this child. We are praying and standing in faith that we get to keep her. We only ask that if you feel led, please stand in faith with us and pray that she gets to stay forever. We truly do want God's will for her and if it's not us then God will heal our hearts, but we are expecting miracles!

Lisa

Life

It has been a long time since I posted a blog. I used to write a lot before Mom passed away, but I can't seem to get back into the swing of things. I have so much I want to say, but have a hard time putting those thoughts into words. When I can, life is so busy that I have trouble finding time to sit and write when the mood hits. I would really like to start blogging more.

Everyone is doing well. John is still in school. If he does well in these classes this will be his last semester for his associates degree. He will be eligible for a promotion then (if it's still available). He will be starting ETSU in August to get his bachelor's degree in Computer Programming. I am very proud of him. He has worked very hard for this. He goes to work full time and until last semester was going to school full time also.

Sam is doing great in school. We are still working on reading but he's excelling in all other areas. I'm not sure if I posted on here or not, but he completed his kindergarten work right after Christmas so he's now a first grader! I have had a lot of people ask me if we will continue homeschooling. The answer is yes! Life is often crazy, but I wouldn't have it any other way. I can't imagine all of the things I would miss if I sent him to public school.

Landon is doing wonderful. We have some behavioral issues in both children, but I'm hoping that spring will help these pass. Landon has really started to bond with his sister and that makes me so happy. It only took 6 months. When we started to talk about the adoption Landon said "Mom, you said that we weren't going to get to keep her! It's time to send her back because you lied!" (When we got the call for Jewel-Anne we told the boys that we didn't know if we were going to get to keep her.)

Jewel-Anne is becoming so animated now. She babbles all the time. Birth mom signed her rights away earlier this month. Tonight at midnight her time to change her mind will expire. Next week we will have our last perm plan meeting and meet with the adoption specialist. We are in the hurry up and wait stage. Hopefully next week we will have an adoption date.