Whirlwind!

OK...I am officially a terrible blogger. This may be a long post, but I'll try to keep it simple. Suffice it to say that this has been a beyond crazy weekend.

My parents came in town this weekend, and on Friday night, my mom, my husband, and I went to see David Platt speak at a dinner in town. I won't be able to put into words the impact that his words had on each of us. As he exited the stage, you could have heard a pin drop among all 300 or more people in the room. No one clapped...no one said anything for several minutes. It was a lot to soak in, and it was a real inspiration for my husband and I to re-energize about this decision.

Saturday was a long day. My husband and his dad spent the whole day painting the nursery. I owe them big time. Meanwhile, my parents and I went shopping. Here was the shopping list:

2 sets of twin sheets for the bunk beds donated to us
crib mattress
booster seat with tray
foam pad for bottom of sink at bath time
towels
washcloths
bibs
burp cloths
bottles
baby lotion
baby shampoo
baby powder
first aid kit
rectal thermometer
children's Tylenol
children's Ibuprofen
child toothbrush & toothpaste
baby monitor
humidifier
stuffed animal & cozy blanket from my mom
big Lego's
stackable ring toy
puzzles
board books
changing pad & cover
plastic plates and spoons
cabinet locks

That's all I can remember, but there may have been more. I'm really trying to stick to ONLY the necessities, but it gets difficult to discern what those are. Everyone has their own opinions. I guess we'll learn as we go.

We spent Sunday setting up the nursery - putting together the crib and bunk beds, organizing donated clothes by age, setting up the changing table, etc.

Then...Monday (yesterday) at about noon, we got a phone call. A sweet 9-month-old girl who we affectionately call Zizi (not her real name), would need a home that night. Could we take her? They had a few more details, but I'm not really able to share any of those. I frantically called my husband, who was (of course) unavailable,  but I finally got him on the phone, and we made the decision to jump right in.

Little did we know that it wouldn't be until 10:30pm that we would finally have that sweet baby girl in our arms ready to go home and go to bed. She was understandably exhausted and had a hard time deciding that she wanted to go to sleep. I was laughing at myself trying to troubleshoot this situation. We walked around. We bounced up and down. We laid down and watched the fan. We rocked in the glider. We sucked on our passy. I hate to admit it, but at one point, she was trying so hard to tense up and stand up that I bear hugged her for several minutes, hoping that she would learn to give up the fight and say yes to sleep. That did not work...I do not recommend it, but the funny part was that the second I gave up on that, she pulled up, turned around to face away from me and leaned back on my chest. She instantly closed her eyes and went to sleep. Haha...she knew exactly what she wanted. Her silly caregiver just couldn't figure it out.

After that, my husband and I went to bed. She fussed just a little bit around 1:30am, but she went back to sleep quickly and slept until 7:30am! Now, her foster mom on the other hand could not quiet her nerves until about 3am. I can't tell you how many times I quoted scripture in my head last night trying to quiet my fears and my insecurities. Now, I should be catching up on that sleep, but I couldn't keep all of these details to myself any longer.

This morning, my husband and I had the new challenge of feeding this little one. I picked up some bananas and carrots and a fleece sleeper at Walmart last night on our way home. The agency sent us home with formula and rice cereal. This morning, Zizi ate about 1/4 cup of rice cereal, 1/3 of a banana, and 6 oz. of formula before she fell asleep in my arms. Now, she's been sleeping for about 2 hours, and she's still going strong!

After she went down for this morning nap, I got a call from her CCFA coordinator. That stands for Comprehensive Child and Family Assessment, and these are the people who will work for the next 30 days to assess the situation and come up with the plan by which Zizi's parents can earn their right to have her back. Being so new to all of this, I pretty much believe anything I'm told, which makes me quite a pushover. Our agency asked that we always direct DFACS workers to call the agency instead of coordinating with us. Of course, the second this lady called and said that she wasn't directly with DFACS and didn't need to speak with the agency, I believed her and may have already gotten myself in a bind. They want to arrange 4 visitation periods a week!!! Yikes! Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, and Friday! When I got off the phone, I called our agency, and lo and behold, they would have rather I ask them to call the agency to coordinate. Oops! For all I know, the CCFA lady may show up in a few minutes and want to take Zizi to visitation. I have been told to pretend that I am not home...haha...what a mess! Why can't I just have a backbone every now and then?

Rather than pretend, I think I may take this girl on the road. There are many people who would love to meet her and love on her, so here we go! I hear her crying now after that solid 2-hour nap. You go girl! Now, let's go have some fun!