At Capacity

On Saturday we accepted placement of a 18 month old little girl, Kid A. She's completely adorable and sweet. Understandably, she was very clingy when she first got here; I could not put her down at all for three days. We've had her for a week now and she's just starting to get comfortable venturing on her own around the house. 

She loves Tommy and Ben, and they love playing with her. We've found out that this is the perfect age for both of them; Tommy normally loves the babies, and Ben really enjoyed the three year old we had. Kid A falls right in the middle, and both boys enjoy interacting with her. The other day they spent thirty minutes blowing bubbles just so she could pop them.

When we had Kid A for five days we were called for a two day old baby girl, Baby J. It was a tough decision. We had just turned own a baby the day before. We remembered that the time when we had Kid C and Baby C two month ago was really rough, even though it was only for a few days.

After several long discussions, we said yes to Baby J. So here we are, two days later with two bio kids and two foster kids: four kids six and under. We were told for both children that their stay would be very temporary, less than a week, which was the primary reason we said "yes" to the newborn. Turns out that both cases are going to be longer term than we thought. Big surprise, huh?

I'm not going to pretend that everything is sunshine and rainbows: this is hard. Caring for the two new foster kids 18 months apart is the easy part. The hard part is managing the system for two separate children: Double doctor appointments, social workers, parents, and four-time-a-week visitations. 

Something might have to change, but for now, what is keeping me sane is trusting that God will work it all out. And knowing that he will give me the strength to do everything.