Incredible Family » Blog

1. It doesnt’ matter if a child in our home is biological, adopted, or fostered….I will love them unreservedly.  I fell in love with teeny tiny little guy completely and so did everyone else around me.  If a child is in your care, you love them….

2. My boys are going to be okay when Lyla comes.  Their capacity for loving another child was so fun to watch unfold….they both quickly and easily fell in love with little guy too!  They wanted to know where he was at every minute and what he was doing and they’ve been asking for him since he left. I’m more excited than ever to watch them get to know their little sister when she comes home!

3. Sleep deprivation while maintaining regular life is rough!  :) Little guy did NOT sleep any of the four nights he was here. We took shifts, I’m very thankful to Mr. Incredible for being an equal partner in his care….keeping up with our usual daily responsibilities in addition to newborn care in the past couple of days has left us rather bleary eyed with fatigue.

4. It will always be hard to say goodbye…but it was totally worth opening my heart and home. I always want to be open to being shaken out of my comfort zone, and to help others in need regardless of their age or situation.  I loved being a foster mom for a mere 4 days and I loved having him here, but…I don’t know when I will do it again since my schedule is such that it’s not easy to maintain everything without sleeping (if I got a newborn again) and because it was so hard to say goodbye even after just a few days.  I would have totally kept him forever

5. It was fun to start a “life book” for him at the request of his social worker….I did a newborn photo shoot of him (of course!) and put together a scrapbook with his beginning story and photos and room for more photos through the years wherever he goes!

In the midst of a particularly crazy whirlwind weekend this weekend, we got our first foster care call & within a few hours–our first foster care placement!!!   It was all totally unexpected, as these things tend to be, and while I can’t share any of the details since it’s not our story to share, I will say we are all extremely excited (although that will fade at 3:00 am tomorrow morning I am sure, ha ha ha). The boys have been laying on their bellies staring at him on and off for most of the day. Mom! His mouth opened!  Mommy!  His finger moved!!  Jack Jack wants to love on him pretty much constantly.  We kept things super simple with the boys and said we were taking care of him for just a little while until his mommy can again, but that the two of them (and Lyla when she comes) would always live here with us (at least until they are all grown up, as Dash felt the need to clarify).  I am so thankful we have a brief moment of time to meet this little one’s basic needs to be safe, fed, warm, and loved.  That’s all he needs right now while he waits for the big stuff to be sorted out.

This is the hands-down best article on foster care I’ve ever read, and I highly recommend reading it:  http://www.rageagainsttheminivan.com/2013/01/what-i-want-you-to-know-foster.html

If you’re up with a baby in the night tonight, I will be up too empathizing with you