Enjoying EVERY Minute

Baby boy (Mr. Smiles) is 6 weeks now and we are enjoying every minute with him. This is my first time caring for a newborn and let me tell you, he is a super easy baby.  He sleeps fine, doesn't cry much unless he is cold, like when we bathe him sometimes at night while changing his diaper, or if he is really hungry. I feel so lucky and blessed to be able to be a foster parent (with hopes of adoption) but I will stop there in regards to that.

Two of my cousins from Mexico were visiting last Saturday, so one of my uncles had a little get together.  It was nice being with the family and feeling/seeing the support from each and every one of them. They welcomed Mr. Smiles (baby boy) with open arms. It is the same with my husband’s side of the family, so supportive and welcoming with Mr. Smiles.  I wish I could post pictures with baby boy so you can see the love that they already have for him.  It makes me so happy to see that and of course there would be no reason why they wouldn't be supportive, but you never know until it actually happens?

My wonderful family, not even half are in the picture, this is just some of the cousins

Everything is still a learning process with Mr. Smiles, as I'm sure it is for all new mom's.

 Every time I go to Target I want to buy him something new and then hold back since he is in that stage where he just grows so fast.  I'm constantly looking online to see what I should be doing to help with his development, all sorts of mom stuff I guess.

As I said before and will continue to say, I feel that this is the path my hubby and I were supposed to take.  We are where we need to be at this point in life.  Right now Mr. Smiles is part of the family and we know that DCFS is all about reunification and we know that is a good thing sometimes, but to be honest we went into this hoping to adopt.  Everyday I wake up I pray that he is the one...for now he is and I will give him all the love I can give.

I learned a lot from the first placement with baby girl, I had a huge wall up because I was too afraid to get too attached to her and that was selfish of me.  I didn't give her the love and support that I knew I could give and she needed during the time she was with us, she has helped me see this in a whole different way and I don't regret becoming a foster parent.

So If you are thinking about fostering or adopting through the foster care system and you are not sure if you should do this or not, just know that its not easy and can be very stressful but also very rewarding.

 

My mom made him the cutest fox beanie.  What does the fox say?



Feels Right

I will be keeping this post short and sweet.

You know as frustrating as this all feels/is sometimes it's actually very rewarding being a foster parent, not easy, but when is life ever easy. 

 Hubby and I don't know much on how baby girl is doing, just that the SW visited the first week she was back with bio mom and we were told she was doing ok.  We would like to think that all is good and that she will not go back into the system. 

 It's been almost 2 weeks now since we got a call for our second placement. My husband called me at work to let me know there was a 2 week old baby boy born on my birthday (could it be a sign?) ready to be picked up straight from the hospital.  At first I was a bit hesitant as the baby is so young and I've never cared for a newborn before, so it was a bit scary, what if I break him? After giving it some thought we decided to go for it, there was a baby out there who needed a home/family right now and so here we are with an almost 1 month old baby boy who is probably the best baby ever (that I have met).  He doesn't cry much, just when he is getting a bath other than that I would say we have gotten pretty lucky with an easy baby...so far. 

I do have to say that one of my least favorite things is changing a poopy diaper, I have to admit that I did end up cutting off a onesie off the baby because there was a poop explosion and got all over baby boy's clothes cause he was moving those little legs too much.  There was just no way I was going to take it off by pulling it over his head and get poop all over him...don't judge :) 

So as always the journey continues.

His little outfit to wear through out the month of October :)