Approved. Are The Kids Coming Today?

“Mommy, are the kids coming today?”

This was the question of the day. The first time he (my 3.5 yr old) asked, we were by the swings at the park by our house. Kids all around. I honestly was thinking the same thing.

“I’m not sure buddy. They will call Mommy’s phone when they need us. Maybe today. Maybe tomorrow. Maybe next week. We need to pray for the kids and ask God to bring them to us when the time is right.”

“But I want it to be today, Mommy.”

It’s a strange thing really. I wish my phone NEVER had to ring because of a child in need of a home. Not today, not tomorrow, not next week. I wish all kids could be with THEIR parents, thriving in their OWN safe environment. But this world is broken. And safe homes are needed for babies, kids, & teens. Today.

It is hard to be “excited” because of the heartbreak behind the ringing phone. But I will say, I am eager to meet our first placement.  Eager to start bonding, loving, learning, and growing…to put into action all I have “preached”…and to find God amidst all the brokenness.

Every time my phone has rang in the past 24 hours my heart has raced. Will THIS be the call that changes my comfortable life forever?

My mind is full of wondering.

Wondering if it will be a girl or a boy…or one of each? A newborn? A three year old? Some age in-between? Twins?

Wondering if they will arrive to my doorstep with a caseworker or if I will have to pick them up from a hospital or someplace else?

Wondering if the call will come soon or in a couple of weeks? At night or during the day? When my husband is home or when he is away?

Wondering if they (we) will settle into a routine, what that routine will look like, and if I will ever sleep again (ha)?

But honestly…for a Type A planner, a normally quite anxious individual, and a person who severely lacks patience during times of unknown…I’m surprisingly calm. At peace.

While I do wonder, I KNOW that God’s got this. It will be the child He has chosen for us, for as long as He has decided they need us, and it will happen according to His schedule and His plans.

Until then, we live life, and we keep our phones close by. Ready for our first big Y-E-S.

The rooms are ready if you want to take a look below : ) We are fortunate in that we have a boy and a girl & have always had a gender neutral nursery…makes the unknown easier to prepare for!

Nautical Boys Room ↑

Pink & Aqua Icecream Girls Room ↓

“Dream Big” Elephant Nursery↓

Final Prep: 

• Bunks can all easily be “un-bunked”. My 3.5 year old insists on the top bunk though and has always fared well up there.
• We also have an additional hand-me-down crib disassembled in the basement storage (as well as a spare crib mattress).
• I washed a few gender neutral, girl, and boy sleepers/onsies, for each possible age range (NB, 0-3, 3-6, 6-9, etc) under age 1 yr in Dreft. I folded them and organized them by size/gender in the drawers, that way I am not rooting through bins at inconvenient times and will feel (hopefully) more settled that first week. I also washed blankets, lovies, and sheets and placed those in the bottom nursery drawers.
• I have extra baby shampoos/soaps/lotions, toothbrushes, diapers of various sizes, wipes, pacifiers, and diaper creams on hand.
• Toddler clothes are organized into bins, labeled by size, and in easy reach.
• We have extra carseats in the garage awaiting install (because we don’t know which we will need yet).
• I purchased a Lice Kit (just in case!). Rid Lice Treatment Complete Kit (links to Amazon to order)
• I have a Potette which is the greatest thing ever invented for moms toilet training toddlers “on the go”. Potette Potty (links to Amazon to order)
• We have 3 noise machines, one for each room. These things have saved us.  Our kids are great sleepers and I swear by noise machines. This particular one (that we now own 3 of) has been (over) used by us for 3.5 years every nap & night…still going strong. Homedics White Noise Sound Machine (links to Amazon)
• I went to Once Upon A Child (consignment) and got some new (used) toys to beef up our toy selection (wiped them off or soaked them in the sink if they were able to be submerged). The “new” toys will hopefully help distract during the transition when we will likely stay home more (for my bio kids and the kids who are placed with us).
• I also have Pinterested (is that a verb?!) and saved lots of fun toddler activities that we can hopefully do to create memories and fun.

For all you seasoned Foster Parents out there– Do you have any recommendations on other last minute things to do/purchase before our first placement? Comment below if so!

Please continue to pray for His will in all of this. That God will equip us and carry us. And for the babies,children, and families we will meet during some of the hardest moments of their lives-that God provides hope, peace, and healing.

John 14:27- “Peace I leave with you, My peace I give to you; not as the world gives do I give to you. Let not your heart be troubled, neither let it be afraid.”

 , Angela

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