Sharing THE News

Psalm 4:8 on the baby room wall

WELL, I'm finally ready to share THE NEWS with you today!  Although we still don't have signed approval, we have verbal approval that we are going to become FOSTER PARENTS!  The clues that I gave on my blog a while back all pertained to babies.  Since March 2012 my hubby and I have been working towards becoming foster parents to newborns/infants!

today's job: washing and sterilizing
baby bottles

There is an extreme need for infant caregivers in our area and we had thought about it before but there were two things hindering us from signing up: (1) I was quite busy with homeschooling our children and (2) I didn't think that I could let a child go after caring for them and bonding with them.  BUT God has worked on my heart and through various situations (and we've completed homeschooling) and last spring we decided to apply as foster parents and see what happens.  The doors opened all along the way and we completed our home study in November as well as our in-class training.  Since then we have been waiting, and waiting...

Yesterday we heard that we were all ready and just waiting for our final home inspection and then a placement!

I am very excited, apprehensive, scared, and again very excited!  I LOVE babies, LOVE children and look forward to helping families in crisis. We also want to put our pro-life views into action in a tangible way - by being there for those who need help.  So while we're planning our second child's wedding in March, we have also been working on a baby room!  It's a strange feeling to be working on a baby room also while our son and daughter-in-law are also working on their baby room! :)  God has a sense of humour!

how different my dishwasher looks!

I wanted to share this here because I keep saying how busy I am but I haven't been able to share what exactly I've been busy with!  I have been working on sorting and purging the house - jobs that I wasn't able to do when we were homeschooling, but I've also been doing things like setting up the baby's room, buying, washing, sorting baby clothes, washing baby bottles and learning about all sorts of baby care things that have changed since we had our last child almost 19 years ago!  It's been funny to get advice from my neices and younger friends! (oh and learning how to make baby formula - I've never done that since I breast-fed our kids!)

We have purchased a change table, swing, exersaucer, car seat, stroller, clothes, diapers, bottles, diaper bag and I don't know what else!  Children's Aid provides the crib and mattress and we don't have that yet.  We now have child-proofed our home and set things up. 

We have friends who foster and they have taken me under their wings and answered all my questions and worries - and that has helped tremendously!

Of course, because of confidentiality rules, I will not be able to tell you about the children that we are fostering - that must stay confidential - but I can tell you about my sleepless nights and adjustments along the way -- and how my weight-loss journey is going! :)  And if I don't show up here for a bit, I'm likely busy rocking a little one - or taking a stroller walk! ;)

Prayers would be appreciated!

✿ A Healthier Me! ~ Dawn

(next post on Monday - including Friday's Official TOPS WI)