So far so good!

Hello All!

We just wanted to write you a quick update... things are super busy around here! E and A are adjusting VERY well! Both are taking great naps too! Yay! Thank you for your prayers!

Both kids are very comfortable in their new home... E loves to talk about staying here forever (he holds out his arms to the point where they're almost touching behind him and says, "I'm staying here forever... like ttthhhiiiiiiisss long!") It's so cute! He also has been doing pretty well meeting all the new people (mainly from church) that have been so excited to see them! He does get overwhelmed in big crowds, but he just hangs on to one of our legs and does just fine! He loves going to church though!

A has been working on her walking... we still haven't conquered more than 10 steps, but she's trying and we see her being a little more independent on her legs each day! She wasn't napping at all at the beginning but eventually we figured out a routine that got her to settle down long enough to fall asleep in her crib so we could leave her in her room for a nap. Yesterday (and today--- hope I didn't just jinx it) she went down with no routine and slept fine for her nap! Nights are still great too! A has also been fighting off a cold since last week... we're really hoping she'll shape that up soon!

Since things are going so well, we've decided that we will be coming home to MN for Christmas! We're really excited, but a little nervous, for this adventure! It's a 16 hour drive and we've only had them here and no where else so we'll see how it goes! We think that being with our families is really important and we could use that extra boost we always feel when we get to spend time with them!

To help ourselves out, Josh and I decided to sell our small SUV (Santa Fe) and buy a mini-van. Yes, I said it, a MINI-VAN! I have officially joined the "mommy club!" I'm proud too, so don't mess with me. :) Anyway, we'll have our mini-van before our journey home so that will make it so much easier with two adults, two kids, AND two dogs! (yes, we're crazy... but excited!).

Thanks so much for your prayers! Also, I wanted to let you all know that I am not sending out a Christmas letter this year, but will be sending out an "announcement" of sorts for the kids sometime after Christmas. Hope you all have a fantastic Christmas! I'll update more soon after!

Heidi (and Josh, E, and A!)

Pics Pics Pics

Post Thanksgiving Update

Hello Friends and Family!

We've had a busy week! We took E and A from their foster home for a "local out-of-the-home" visit on Wednesday. We went to a pottery studio and E painted a car! After that, we went to the park and to Chili's for lunch. When we told E we were going to Chili's for lunch he said, "I don't like chili." It was funny... we had to explain to him that they had more than chili there. Haha!

Then, on Thanksgiving day, we picked the kids up from their foster home and took them to our house for the whole day! It was pretty great! Both sets of grandparents were here too so they got to meet the kiddos! It was a fun day... until nap time! :) A did NOT want to nap and seemed to have a hard time with that adding on the fact that it was a new place.

After the nap finally happened, it was back to being great and we had a lot of fun!

We took the kids back to their foster home Thursday night, but we picked them up this morning for our first weekend with them! They'll be here until tomorrow evening so we're really excited!

After that, we will be doing a "respite" week for them so we'll have them for 6-7 days starting the 2nd. Then they'll go back to their foster home for one or two nights... then after that they should be placed here permanently! Yay!

Specific Prayer Requests:

-NAPS!!!! Please pray that both A and E will nap well. So far that has really been the only struggle during the days here.

-Please also pray that while we have them here for the 7 days that we can all really bond and we can all get used to the new people and new ways.

Thank you everyone!

Heidi

Spent some time with our kiddos!

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

Meeting our Children

Hello!

We got confirmation yesterday that we will be meeting the kids on Thursday, November 19th at 3:00pm! (mountain time) Their caseworker says this meeting will start the transition process and she wants us to see the kids very often the next few weeks after the appointment... and then eventually they'll come to our home to stay.

We'll keep you updated as things progress! Thank you for your prayers! They are much needed and much appreciated!

Heidi and Josh

"Can we just say yes now?" :)

Hello Friends and Family!

WOOOOO HOOOOO!! We had our meeting about E and A today at 1:00 and it went so great! E and A WILL be placed with us! Please forgive me if this post ends up seeming scatter-brained because I'm still in shock!...

The meeting was great! It ended up being the kiddos' 2 caseworkers (one past/one present), their lawyer, their current foster father, our case manager, and us... quite a group! Anyway, we expected the meeting to be them interviewing us most of the time and then telling us that they'd let us know "in the next few weeks." (a phrase we've heard way too many times!) But, your/our prayers were answered and the meeting instead was them telling us as much information about the kids as they could and hadn't already told us... their current foster father was so great! He had so much helpful, personal information on these kids and it was very evident that he loves them dearly and that they have been very well taken care of which was so nice to see. After they told us as much as they could, they asked us if we had questions for them... which we did... and they answered those. Then, they looked at us and basically said that they are really excited about us and they couldn't wait for US to let them know as soon as possible if it's a go! AHHH! This part of the meeting is comical to us now, because we were caught to off guard! We looked back and forth at each other and at our case manager (Heather) trying to figure out if we should jump on the table and shout YES YES YES! or if we were expected to still need more time to decide... Josh jumped in and said, "Okay, we'll let you know asap." Then, we started walking out... and to my relief Josh turned around and said to their caseworker, "Can we just say yes now?" :) She said, "Yay, of course!" Haha!

So, A and E are officially planned to be with us! We are so thrilled! The kiddos' caseworker says she'd like them to be permanently placed with us before Christmas... we're not sure when exactly our first meeting with them will be. Right now, she is contacting the guy who will be our "transition coordinator" and he will be in charge of all those details. We're hoping to hear from her (and him) early next week to discuss "the plan." I'll update the blog again after that time. :)

We also got to see pictures of the little darlings and WOW are they cute!!! We will post their pics after Thanksgiving... sorry! We're so excited for the grandparents (Curt, Laurel, Diane, Dennis) to come to Colorado for Thanksgiving in a few weeks and we're really hoping they'll have a chance to meet our kids! We really want this time to be special and set aside for them alone, so for the rest of you Minnesotans, you'll have to wait to see A and E's faces until after the grandma's and grandpa's see them in person! (Don't worry, after our parents leave here with memory sticks full of pictures, I'm sure the kids will be Minnesotan celebrities in no time... okay maybe just Mora celebrities!)

Thank you so much for all of your prayers! Josh and I DEFINITELY felt them and are so appreciative! God is so amazing... He is so faithful and we are so amazed and honored that he is giving us this opportunity! May HE be glorified.

We love you. :)

Heidi and Josh

(ps... to leave a comment, just click on the comments link below and write an "anonymous" comment but PLEASE sign your name in the message!)

PRAY: E & A

HELLO FRIENDS AND FAMILY!

We have a possible placement in the works! Hang in here with me while I try to make this completely complicated situation make sense to all of you!

We got a call last Friday and were asked to consider a sibling pair. After learning as much as our case manager knew, we decided to go ahead and turn in our homestudy to their caseworker. So, we were being considered along with two other families for these two kiddos.

We found out today that we were chosen out of those three families to continue on in the process of pursuing them! HOWEVER, this is not a for sure thing yet... we have to meet with the kiddos' caseworker and the GAL (the foster kiddos' attorney in court) together with Josh and I and our case manager and the soonest they're able to make that happen is November 6th! UGH! Which means it's possible that other families may jump in to contend in the mean time. So, we have the lovely task of waiting 3 weeks to find out if they're going to move forward with us for sure on these kids. Ahhh!

Okay so now the fun part!... The kiddos are E (will be 4 in Feb) and A (23 months)... They are both caucasian. We haven't seen pictures yet and probably won't until we know for sure that these kids are ours!

Our case manager told us that we should be very excited as this is a great step forward, but she also warned us that there is no guarantee and we should be "cautiously optimistic." :)

SO, please pray for us as we crawl through these next 3 weeks waiting for our big meeting! Please also pray for E and A. Pray that they will come home with us someday! Thanks all!

Also, if you'd like to comment on this post... just click on comment, then post a comment as "anonymous" and sign your name in your message. That way you do not have to create or have a google account.

We love you and really appreciate your prayers!

Heidi and Josh

Still Waiting

Hey Everyone- Just wanted to let you know that we are still waiting for kiddos. Please continue to pray for us and for our future kiddos!

We're LICENSED!

YAY!!!!!! Josh and I found out this weekend that we're officially a licensed foster home! Now, the next phone call we should be receiving will be for placement of children in our home, not paperwork!

We'll keep you updated! Keep praying!

Heidi and Josh

Prayer for our Kiddo(s)

Hi Everyone!

Sorry... no new updates yet, but I wanted to ask you all to consider praying for our future kiddo(s). We don't know them yet, we don't know if there is one or if there are two in our near future, but we do know that God has them taken care of and is preparing them to come into our home. Please pray:

-for their safety

-for their health

-for their upcoming trauma: it's likely that the children placed in our home will be coming straight from their biological families and will most likely be confused, and upset.

-for their biological family: most likely they don't know the Lord.

-for Josh and I: that our hearts will be patient and fully prepared for the child(ren) that God has planned to place with us.

-for our case manager: that she would know the right time to call us with a placement option. She will most likely get more calls than she will feel are a fit for us.

-for our families: most of whom are far away, pray for their patience in waiting to be able to love on these kids too.

-for our church family: that they would be loving and accepting of any situation God brings us in a placement.

Thanks so much for all of your prayers so far! We'll keep you updated!

Heidi and Josh

Background Checks are IN!

We found out today that our background checks are in! Now, they are turning in our issue certificate and home study and we're waiting for our provider number (license)! They tell us that this process takes 2-4 weeks to complete. Obviously, we're hoping to be on the lower end of that, but we're really excited to have one more thing behind us!

It's kind of crazy to think that we will be a licensed foster home within the next month... and that the kiddo(s) we get could be the ones we will have FOREVER! Woo hoo! We're really excited!

Thanks for your prayers and also, I wanted to say thanks so much for actually reading our blog and for keeping yourself updated and informed! I sometimes wonder if anyone is even reading this and then I'll get a comment or a call after a post and it really lifts my spirit!

We can see the light at the end of this tunnel... and we're psyched!

Heidi and Josh

Projects getting completed!

Hey Everyone!

Well, we're hoping to be licensed in hopefully less than 3 weeks! Then, placement could be quick or we could be waiting again for a while! Who knows!?! Anyway, in the mean time Josh and I have been hard at work getting all the finishing touches done and ready for kiddos at the house! Our biggest projects were the kiddo room, the playroom, and all the stinking assembly it requires to have children! Seriously, we're pros at assembling furniture now! (no, we're not

willing to come over and help you... we're sick of it!)

Thought you'd maybe like to see some pics of the projects!

Kiddo Room Before

Kiddo room after! (still some things missing depending on what kiddos we get, but we're pretty good so far!)

Playroom Before...

Playroom after! YAY! We painted the paneled walls, rearranged, assembled, added curtains... Lots of hard work!

Another playroom view... The far left corner will be the art corner. :)

hopefully this post will bring a smile...

Greetings Friends and Family!

Well, we just finished meeting with the ladies from our agency... one who did our home study and the other who is now our "go-to" gal that we met for the first time today. The mission today was for Josh and I to read through the home study that Krystle wrote up on us and sign it stating that it was accurate. It's interesting to have someone come into your home and ask you all kinds of questions about yourself that you maybe have never really considered asking yourself... and then they come back and you read the novel they wrote about every little detail you said! It's crazy how accurately she wrote it!

My favorite memories from reading the home study are... she wrote:

-Growing up, Josh was a "mama's boy" (as stated by Josh in his interview and confirmed immediately by Heidi.)

-The Robertson home is spotless, warm and inviting with more than adequate features. (Woo Hoo! Every woman's dream description of her home!)

-Heidi is a very passionate person and is very easy to communicate with due to her self-proclaimed inability to portray a different emotion than the one she is feeling. (SO TRUE... a blessing and a curse at times!)

-Heidi is a very supportive wife for Josh and the ministry he leads and she stated that she loves standing by his side. Heidi and Josh both agree that Josh is the head of her household. (HAHA... Josh is the head of MY household... I LOVE how that's worded! Glad we all understand how things really are.)

-Josh describes his relationship with his sister growing up as a rivalry... Kari was a mean sister. (LOL... it seriously says that! "Kari was a mean sister." Haha! Don't worry, it also says they're close now and Kari has mellowed out considering Josh's huge weight advantage.) :)

-Growing up, Heidi's brother Josh was her hero. (Awe, so sweet.) He enjoyed couching her and he was often the only one she would allow to take her home after a hard game. (It said "couching"... She felt silly for that spelling mistake so I tried to convince her that it was a new slang term.)

-Josh is a likeable, teddy bear type, gentleman. (Awe, teddy bear! How cute! Hey, how come it never said that about me?... Yeah right, mine would be more like... "She's like a bear, she will growl and often bites." Haha.)

-In order to find relief in stressful times, Josh enjoys spending a little time alone. Heidi cleans. (LOL... again, SO TRUE!)

Well, that's all that comes to mind right now. We also learned that our state background check that we're waiting for has been in for two weeks today... Which means (HOPEFULLY) that we will wait two more weeks for that and then (HOPEFULLY) two more weeks after that to get our license and be ready for placement. Please do not quote me or hold me to this timeline... as we've figured out, it will actually be a miracle if it happens that smoothly.

Other news:

-Heidi had a wonderful time at her "kiddo-shower" in MN and had fun going to Target with Josh to fill two carts with stuff they were given! THANK YOU!

-Josh is still training for the Twin Cities marathon October 4th... and going strong! Yay!

-Heidi started running again this week. Ouch.

-Heidi is done nannying. A very strange bittersweet feeling for that one... I will miss seeing my girls (and their parents) so much, but am so looking forward to spending my days with my own children. I also am refusing to turn in my house key... they'll never really be rid of me! :) In the mean time, I have picked up extra hours at Romp n' Roll and am working hard to prepare the house for kiddos!

Well, thanks for hanging in there and reading this whole post. We're excited to be getting closer and will keep you updated! Love you.

Heidi (and Josh)

the time in between...

I just wanted to share with you something that I've been learning from God this past week. After we heard of our latest delay, I was crushed and completely confused about what the reasoning was. I have been battling with God all week about the "why's" of the situation... Is there still something we're supposed to do? Are our kiddos not ready for us yet? Why couldn't He time it so they were ready when we were?... and again, He has calmed my heart.

There's a song by Francesca Battistelli called "The Time In Between" and it's all about the time when we don't see big obvious acts from God and want to so badly... and how we should learn to be grateful for that time that we're waiting because God uses it to bring us closer to Him. Here are some of the words... as well as the link to listen to the song. (which I HIGHLY recommend you do!)

Don't take much for this crazy world
To rob me of my peace
And the enemy of my soul
Says You’re holding out on me
So I stand here lifting empty hands
For you to fill me up again

But it’s the time in between
That I fall down to my knees
Waiting on what You'll bring
And the things that I can't see

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ykS2ZKSzXlk

I can't help but think too that God is preparing us for something bigger than this delay. In our first post, we said that we would be faithful regardless, and so we will! It is well.

Heidi

many emotions for this one

Angry, sad, confused... These are just a few words to describe how I'm feeling right now. We found out yesterday that a vital piece of paperwork was not sent in when it was supposed to be. Somehow, one of our three background checks was never sent in, a representative from Bethany missed it. The bad part about this is this background check takes 1 month to get back and only THEN does our 2-4 weeks begin for our license. Which means, we will not be licensed/placed with kids until at least the second week in September.

This news is a huge blow to us as we thought we were home free and ready for placement in a few weeks.

We've been working so hard for this and our hearts are so tied in this... I'm angry that it happened and we have to wait longer. I'm sad that I don't get to be with my kids as soon as I thought I would. I'm confused at how this could have been missed and I'm confused at what God is trying to do with this. Please pray for us...

Gotta love the "Process"

So, our official home study paperwork that Bethany is putting together that was supposed to be done... is not done. Blah. Their new goal is to have it done by this Thursday night. The 2-4 weeks for the license to go through does not start until this paperwork is done.

Although understanding of the pressures and many tasks that these workers have on their plates, Josh and I are disappointed with another delay.

Please pray for us to have patience and pray for our home study paperwork to be completed Thursday! We're so ready and are very anxious!

Thanks so much for your support!

Heidi and Josh

Home Studies Completed!!!

Well, we're done! It was a long and exhausting day of interviews, paperwork, and a home inspection... but we're done! I think we both are sick of talking about ourselves, but overall it wasn't too difficult! At this point, Josh and I have done everything we need to do for them to place us with kiddos. Now, we just have to wait...

Tonight, we were told that our official home study paperwork will be completed by Monday night. Then, after that they think it will be about 2-4 weeks for our license to go through and we'll be ready for placement! We're so excited to be placed... and even though we'll start as foster parents, the main goal is to adopt! So, pray that God will comfort us in this exciting, but difficult process!

I'm getting butterflies in my stomach... :) Thanks for all of the prayers... we'll keep you updated! Can't wait to see some of you in a couple weeks!

home study scheduled!

Hello All!

   I'm really excited to write and inform you that we have our final home study date scheduled!  Yay!  Bethany had a lot of changes going on during the last two weeks, so it took a while for them to let us know who was going to be doing the remainder of our home studies... And after all that, they ended up having the same lady (Krystle) who started us out re-assigned to finishing us!  We're happy about that because we really like her!  

   So, the other good news is that Krystle and I have decided to get our last "couple" home study, our two individual home studies, AND our home inspection done all in one day!  :)  She warns it will be exhausting, but with Josh and I being so busy, we didn't want to delay any further!  I'm so grateful that she's willing to work it out that way for us!

   Pray for us on Wednesday, July 29th as we spend hours finishing up!  Then, hopefully it will only be 2-4 weeks to be licensed and then we're ready for placement!

   Also, just an fyi because a lot of people have been asking... When we're placed, I (Heidi) will no longer be working, but staying home with the kiddos.  After a couple of weeks, I will return to work at the children's enrichment center working about 3-4 hours a week.

welcome to our blog!

Hello Friends and Family!

Thanks so much for checking out our blog! We're so close to being ready to get our kiddo(s)... As some of you may have heard, some of our adoption plans have changed!

Since January, we've been training with Project 1.27 getting ready to do our adoption through the foster care system here in Colorado. We're working with Bethany Christian Services as our agency and they started our homestudy on June 10th.

Please allow me to give you a quick vocabulary lesson before I continue telling you what has changed...

Legally Free = kiddos who are in the foster care system and their parents rights have already been terminated by the courts. In this case, the kiddos will be placed in a permanent home and will be able to be adopted approximately 6 months later.

Legal Risk = kiddos whose parents rights have not been terminated and it could take up to a year and a half to do so... then adoption can follow. In this case, you can be placed with these kiddos and they can be taken back to return to their family at any time. In Colorado, they have a wonderful law for kiddos 6 and under... Parents of kiddos 6 and under must complete their "rehabilitation plan" within 12 months of losing their kiddos or the courts will begin their pursuit for termination of rights. After that, the kiddos are free for adoption.

Anyway, Bethany Christian Services, due to budget cuts, has put their entire Legally Free program on hold. This means, that in order to stay with Bethany we cannot pursue legally free children. Josh and I were very surprised and caught off guard with this news as we were hoping for legally free kiddos. (We're open to girls, boys, black, white, purple, blue... and we're open to a sibling pair ages 6 and under.)

Bethany gave us two options: Leave Bethany and start over with a new agency (a ton of paperwork, new background checks and fingerprints, a total loss of about 2 months of time)... or we could stay with Bethany and be open to only being placed with legal-risk kiddos. We had to make our decision as quickly as possible in order to avoid any further delays in our homestudy scheduling.

After I got the call from our adoption process manager about these changes, I was surprised at an overwhelmingly peaceful feeling that I couldn't shake. When I called and told Josh all the information and then told him about the peaceful feeling I had, I told him, "I can't believe I'm not crying and really upset about this. I even tried to convince myself to cry about it." When I got home, we talked for a long time, prayed, talked, prayed, talked, prayed, slept, talked, prayed... and then called Bethany that next morning to ask a few crucial questions we had come up with and then told them our decision... We want to stay with Bethany and pursue legal-risk kiddos.

Immediately following, we were assigned a new adoption process manager (which is a bummer right now because we loved the one we had) and are awaiting a call from them to set up the remainder of our homestudy and home inspection. Then, it takes approximately 2-4 weeks for the licensure to happen... and THEN, we're ready for placement!

Josh and I are both in awe of God's amazing comfort for us in all this and we are so grateful that He is sovereign! We know that it's very possible that we could lose whatever kiddos are placed with us, but we need to remember the reason we are doing this in the first place... It's not just that we want children because let's face it, there are easier ways to do that! We are doing this because we felt God's call to help these orphans in the best way possible! This is NOT about us! This is about helping these kiddos and if that means we have them for 2 months, fine! 80 years, great! God is in control and we are submitting ourselves to Him in this and all situations of our lives.

Thanks again for reading our blog... This post will be the longest by far that I ever post, I promise! Please let me know if you'd like to be notified by email each time we update the blog. (email me at hmrobertson625@yahoo.com) You can also comment on the post by clicking on the "comments" link below each post.

Your prayers are incredibly important to us... pray for our patience and peace... And pray for our kiddos, wherever they are.

Josh and Heidi Robertson