Hello All!
(fyi: in this post, I will refer to the kids as E and A instead of writing out their names. I was uncomfortable with how easily our blog came up when I googled the kids' names.)
We met our kids! We were able to meet them the first time on Thursday and we saw them again yesterday as well! Things went REALLY well! E was really excited to see us Thursday. He saw Josh carrying a big spiderman gift bag and asked right away if it was his! Throughout the meeting, E went back and forth playing with us and his new toy. I also made a book for the kiddos with pictures of us, Piper and Nika, the house, their rooms, etc... and that was a hit! E kept showing the DHS workers there our pictures and he'd say, "That's Josh and that's Heidi!" Then, he'd come up to me and point at my picture and say, "That's you!" It was pretty cool! It seemed like he hadn't seen anything like that before and he was really excited about it.
When we arrived, A was sitting on the floor waiting to see us. She was really receptive to us which was great and a little unexpected! We were told that she has stranger anxiety but we didn't witness any of that while we were there! She crawled around the whole room from person to person and played with her toy that we brought for her. We were only there 5 minutes before she was reaching her hands out to Josh because she wanted him to help her walk from one spot to the other. I got tons of smiles from A while I was playing with her on the floor! It was great!
When it was time for us to leave this first meeting with the kids, E didn't want us to leave, but listened well when we said we had to. I picked A up in the living room and we all started walking to the door at the front of the house. Right away, E asked, "Are you taking A?" It was so sweet! He's very protective of his little sister! We assured him that he would always be with A and he was happy with that. When I got to the door with A, her foster-father asked her to come to him and she turned away.... she didn't want to leave my arms! :) He tried 3 times and finally I just handed her over... and she whined a little. That was nice to see because we were told that she'd have a hard time.
While I was trying to get A to go to her foster-father, Josh was saying goodbye to E. He asked E if he could have a high-five goodbye but E stretched out his arms and gave Josh a huge hug... then he leaned back away from Josh's shoulder and gave him a kiss! It was awesome! Then, E tapped me on the back and I knelt down to give him a high-five and he did the same thing! We were completely thrilled with that!
Then, yesterday was the second visit. E was waiting at the door when we arrived and was really excited for us to come in and play! A's foster-sister handed her to me and she came just fine and was content. We took the kids to the living room to play and stayed there for the next hour and a half! It was so much fun playing with the kids. This time there were no DHS people present so it was nice to cut back on the adults watching us! :) We had another wonderful visit with our kids! We will see them again on Monday when we get to take them out of the house with their caseworker and play. We're really excited about that!
Specific prayer requests:
-Pray that it will go well when we take the kids out of the home.
-Pray for our patience with the timing.
-Pray for everyone to stay healthy so we can continue this transition process without that obstacle.
-Please pray for the foster-father. At yesterday's meeting, it was clear that he is really struggling with this and we felt that he was intentionally trying to make A upset and want him. (it didn't work... she was great!) He kept coming in the room and saying, "Hi A! I'm going out here now... bye bye. You can't come with me." She never got upset, which is great, but it was a little unnerving for us to have deal with him doing that. Please pray that God will calm his heart.
So, we get to take the kids out with their caseworker on Monday, then we will take them out with just us on Wednesday, and then the kids will be spending Thanksgiving with us! We're really excited about that!
We'll keep you updated as the visits go on. Thanks for your prayers and support!
Heidi and Josh
4 comments:
So glad all the meetings are going well! I will continue to pray for you and the kiddos!!! So excited for you guys!!! Love, Lisa
So glad that your initial meetings with the kids have gone so well. I'm sure each visit will just provide for increasingly closer bond. The more time they have with you, the more they will recognize the unconditional love you are offering them.
I'm sure foster dad is going through a sort of grieving and loss process as well. It's always hard to part with someone who loves you and needs you, even if you've only had them for a short time. We will pray that he can make the separation and deal with the grief without delaying or damaging the bonds that you guys are trying to create.
As foster parents now, we have to be constantly aware of how we are handling the eventual separation that we know is coming. It's good for us to hear that, and be reminded not to interfere with our boys' family bonds, but rather be supportive.
So excited for you guys. Take lots of memories from these first days. Write things down: dates, times, reactions, feelings, foster parents' names, etc.
Sounds like everything is going AWESOME! We are so excited for both of you. We will definitely be praying for your specific requests. Love you! :)
I have been checking the blog three times at day (even while at work) to see how the first meeting went. It sounds great. I will be praying for the kids, you, and the foster family too.
Aunt Debby
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