Long term commitment

So, Little Guy's placement with his grandma fell through because she had a history with DHS of prior abuse. His caseworker came over and asked us if we would consider taking him long term. How can you say no to that cute little face?? We've become so attached to him in such a short time. We love him. And he seems pretty happy here with us. Who knows how long we'll get to keep him, but we plan to make the most of our time with him.

Birthday Girl

Three Monkeys

Pin the Tail on the Monkey

Monkey Cake

Birthday Morning

Birthdays, Birthdays, Birthdays!

Here are some pictures of Little Guy's festivities.

HAPPY 2nd BIRTHDAY SWEET BOY !!!!!

Hello Little Guy; Goodbye Junior

I got a call on Thursday saying they needed me to take a different little boy so they found a home to take Junior. Poor Junior has been moved around a lot. I feel bad for him. I was trying to prepare him for what was going to happen and I told him he was going to live with a "new mommy." He told me no, he wanted to stay. But in the end, I think he was ok with the change. He waved to me and said "Bye Mom." His new foster Mom seemed like a really nice lady and she had several other y0ung children so Junior will be happy there.

Little Guy was at a children's hospital. He was being treated for a skull fracture. He has bruises and cuts covering almost his entire body. If you click on the picture you can see all the discoloration on his face, head and arms. It makes me physically ill to think about it too much, so I try not to. I drove to pick him up on Friday. I was able to speak with the doctor, the nurses, and the social workers. The plan is for us to keep him until his grandmother can get certified to take custody.

He is really a happy boy. It's amazing how happy he is considering what he's been through. He smiles and laughs a lot and enjoys playing and exploring. He's very busy and keeps us on our toes. He's turning 2 years old soon.

Meet Malvin

This our new foster boy. He goes by "Junior" We got a call yesterday from DHS about an emergency placement. This little guy was taken from his parents because of their drug abuse and neglect. He was placed in a foster home for about a month and then the foster parents were found to be abusing prescription drugs so he was taken from them also. They were also smoking and basically plopping him in front of the T.V. all day long. I was reading him a book last night, and he was saying, "Watch T.V. Watch Nemo. Watch Movie."

Poor little guy doesn't know what's going on. He is so sweet through it all. The kids are having a great time with him. He calls Reed "Dad". Kind of cute, but really sad.
At bedtime last night he started crying, "Mommy, Dad" "Back home" "Go byebye" "Mommy Dad" "Back home" It just tears your heart out because you know he's so confused and scared. By the way, Junior is 3 1/2 years old and he weighs 50 lbs! His pediatrician has put him on a diet and we are the lucky ones who get to start him on it. He's always "hungry" and asks for things like chips and junk food. He's not too interested in the fruit we offer him. My kids love fruit, though, so maybe he'll see their example and copy them. He loves them already and wants to be with them all the time. He cried this morning when Reed left for school. And he's been following Montana around all morning. At one point, she was crying about something and he went up to her and said, "It's OK" and put his arms around her and gave her a big hug. She couldn't help but smile.

Shower Interuptus

Today's urgent, absolutely-can't-wait-until-Mom's-out-of-the-shower question:

Child: BAM BAM BAM...Mom? What are those people called who eat other people? Are they called Man-nequins?

Me: No, honey, they're called cannibals

Child: Oh yeah.

Sand Blaster

We took a family dune buggy ride at Sandland Adventures. It was really sandblasty. It was their newest buggy and the shocks were really bad, which made it scoop sand and throw it in our faces on every turn. The kids LOVED it! This picture was taken before the half hour of sand eating.