Fostering

We fostered 5 little ones as well as the 3 little ones that we came to adopt.  Baby E we had for only 3 weeks.  He was the first little one we had to say good-bye to.  It ripped my heart out and I could barely talk when the transporter from CPS came to get him.  He went to a friend of mom's to give mom some more time to work her case plan and find a place to live.  The transporter left with him and I sobbed my heart out.

Baby D came after that and a few months into his placement his sister Little J came to live with us too.  They were actually a sibling group of 4.  They had an older brother that was placed with another agency, but he was with another foster family that lived on our street down the road.  He walked down to visit sometimes and even spent Christmas with us.  They also had an older sister that went to live with her Dad near Houston.  We had a sibling visit here once and Little J loved having her here and they enjoyed being here together.  Baby D and Little J stayed with us for just over a year.  That good-bye was hard on all of us.  Little J was so torn.  She didn't want to leave us, but they were excited to go back home.  Christopher and Baby D were best buds too, so I didn't know how that was going to go either.  We were sad to tell them good-bye, but happy that they got to go back home with mom and dad.  We wished them well!

Little A and Baby L came after that.  Baby L was a failure-to-thrive baby.  He was very laid back and I never had any problems getting him to take foods, even though birthmom and early intervention said they could never get him to eat.  He ate every 2 hours when I first got him and he was a great eater.  He was also very happy and laid back and he was just adorable.  We got him growing again and he was quickly taken off the failure-to-thrive status.   Little A and Cristyn didn't always get along either.  I determined that I wouldn't take anymore placements that were too close to Cristyn's age again.  Thankfully, they did get along sometimes and it was nice to see them have fun together.  I just think that sometimes the placements get jealous that Cristyn has a close family and all the things that they wish they had at home and they start taking things out on Cristyn.  It did take a toll on Cristyn though, and it's hard to see your own biological child get hurt from others that you're just trying to help.  About 6 weeks into the placement, Little A wound up being placed with a friend of the family and Baby L went with Dad.  That was another hard good-bye as he had come so far, yet I was happy for Dad.  Little A was happy to go with the friend of the family and we wished her well.

I think each time we had to say a good-bye those little ones took a piece of our hearts with them.  We still wonder about them and wonder how they are doing and they come up in conversations and we pray for them often.  Probably always will...