The Verdict is In....

TERMINATION IS FINALIZED!!!! DAD CAN APPEAL BUT EVEN IF HE DOES, THERE IS LITTLE TO NO CHANCE THAT IT WILL MAKE A DIFFERENCE!!!

I don't have time to write more now....I will give you more info another time. Thanks for all the prayers! They have been answered!

Keep your fingers crossed...

I got an email that I have met the minimum qualifications for the position that I applied for last week. The job is a state job so my resume & application had to be sent to the state capital. Then they look it over to see if it meets the minimum requirements and if so, they forward it on to the county in which the job is located. Well the email I got was from the HR director for the state....

Thank you for your interest in employment with the **** County **** Office. I have reviewed your application for the Office AssistantIII position, and you do meet the minimum qualifications for this position.I will now refer your application material to the county office for theirfurther consideration. They will contact you if they need any additionalinformation, as well as the future status of your application.

I am really hoping that they call me for an interview. Afterall, most of them know me. Is this a good thing or a bad thing though??? I'm not sure. As I said, I have lots of knowledge in this area and not just how to manage an office. If you can read between the lines, you should be able to figure out where this new potential job is.

I'll keep you posted.

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We are also supposed to hear from the judge today....I'm not holding my breath it will happen though!

1st day of school

Well we survived going to school for the 1st day today. I really think I was having more issues than the kids were. JP was SOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO excited. He couldn't wait to get there. We went to his room 1st and put his things away and then he took off back to the classroom. He didn't care at all that I was leaving.

Emilee had a little rougher time (which I knew she would). Although we did get thru things without any tears (Thank you G-d!), she was very clingy and needed lots of hugs/kisses/I Love You's!

I spoke with JP's teacher and she knew that he was a foster child and that we have some developmental issues as well as attachment issues going on. Em's teacher on the other hand, knew nothing of her issues. Ok at first I was like...what kind of school is this? But then I had to take a deep breath and remember that she was hired a whole 3 weeks ago as there were too many 1st graders to have only 1 teacher. So then I gave her a quick explanation and told her we can discuss in more detail things later. I would really love to have both JP & Em's teacher keep a little log or something for me at least thru these next few months while we are transitioning from Foster Care to a FOREVER FAMILY!!!! I can't believe I can say that! Ok so we haven't heard the all clear from the judge yet but come on, we better win on this one! I think biodad cooked his own goose on being a dad to these kids years ago and just put the cherry on top last week during his little episode during court.

Tonight the kids get to ride the bus for the first time and will get off at Grandpa's house with Uncle S. Hopefully that goes well!

Court Update

Well I don't know if I should really post about this yet or not. I don't want to jynx myself but here it goes anyways....

SW called about 4:15pm yesterday. She told me that Bio Dad was caught in a lie under oath during his testimony and he hung up the phone. They tried to reach him several times and he wouldn't answer the phone. The judge then told the lawyers to write their summaries and turn them in by Monday am. He then said he would make his ruling by Tuesday afternoon.

There should be no reason that Bio Dad gets his kids back at this point. Really, there's no reason he should have anyways, but after committing perjury, I don't think he should no matter what. I don't know what the lie was and I'm not sure if I ever will, but a lie is a lie and especially when you're under oath!

I called Hubby and told him the news. I asked him if he thought this was good news or bad news. He said neither. I told him I agreed with him to a point. I think it's both Good and Bad. Good - we SHOULD be able to adopt IF we choose.
Bad- It's always sad that these kids are brought into this world and now will have to live with the fact that the people who brought them into this world, don't want them. Unfortunately, that is the truth in this case. It's not that they CAN'T care for them...they just DON'T WANT THEM! I can't imagine how that is making Em & JP feel.

We also discussed a little about adopting them and we know that we have to talk about it more. At the point TPR is official, we look at it as though they are our kids. They are living in our house. They are calling us Mommy and Daddy. We are responsible for their health, safety, well-being. How can we just say...Nope, don't want them. Then are we any better than their bio parents? Yes, we have quite a few behavior issues with them, but things could be a lot worse. I am very optimistic that once the kids realize they are HOME to stay FOREVER, that will help some of these issues. Also with the start of therapy, we are praying that things start to improve. Now the idea that we could be a FOREVER family on Dec 6, 2007 is such an exciting and scary thought all mixed into one.

The other thing is Em has been talking a lot about wanting to change her name. I don't know. I don't particularily like what she wants to change it to. Then again, her real name isn't one I would choose to give to a child either, but it fits her. Do you change her name at 7 yrs of age? What would that be like in school for her teachers/friends? We plan to change their middle names, but I don't know what to do about first names? What can you guys tell me from experience? JP has never said anything about changing his name. We actually like his name and it goes well with what his middle name would be. What if he wants to change his if we let Em change hers??? So many things to think about......

Nothing else new. JP's birthday party is this afternoon. Should be fun. Supposed to be near 80 degrees and I borrowed mom and dad's little pool with the slide on it so I think the kids will enjoy that.

Have a great weekend everyone!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY JP!

JP,

Happy 5th Birthday to you! You have brought so much joy into our lives over the past 2 1/2 months! I remember the day we were told you were coming to our home. We were so excited and yet apprehensive because we had been down this road before. The day your sw sent us your pictures, I knew it was for real. We made the trip to Bismarck the day before we were to meet you and Emilee. That was one of the longest nights of my life. I could sleep at all. I kept wondering where you were and what you were doing. Finally, morning came and we got ready to come and meet you and your sister for breakfast.

When we drove into the parking lot, I saw you right away. I told daddy that you guys were even cuter in person than in your pictures and we had already fallen in love with the two beautiful children in the pictures. You were shy at first. We sat down at the table and decided what we were going to eat. Then we started looking thru the picture books that your old foster parents made up for you to take with. First was Emilee's turn and you really wanted to show us your book. It was hard for you to wait your turn. Then you had to go potty. First the sw took you. A few minutes later you had to go again (or so you said) and I asked if I could take you. You said "YESH" in your oh so cute way. You took my hand and we went. My heart melted immediately.

After breakfast, we walked outside and took lots of pictures of you and Em on the wooden rocking chairs lined up outside. You both wanted a chair for yourselves but we told you it would have to wait. Then we unloaded all your stuff into the van and off we went to the park and the zoo. Every time daddy and I looked at eachother that day, we would smile. We couldn't believe we were finally a family of 4.

We went to McDonald's for lunch and of course, it was super busy. You were standing with daddy, holding his hand and I remember hearing you ask him if he was your new daddy. He said yes and then we winked at eachother. That is a time we will never forget. Oh and we also learned that we need to remember to bring socks with when we go to McD's or you guys won't get to play in the playland. I'm sorry for not knowing the rules....now we know and I promise we will try to remember next time.

We spent the next 2 days in Bismarck at Uncle J & Auntie S's house with C&D and all her daycare kids. You guys had fun playing with everyone. The first night Em decided to sleep downstairs with C&D but you wanted to be near mommy & daddy so we made you a bed on the floor next to our bed. We flew your new kites and went out to eat and just had a blast.

Finally we came home and you met Grandpa D & Grandma P and Great-Grandma A on the way home when we stopped at their house for supper. You guys were pretty shy again but soon warmed up when Grandpa D got the 4wheeler out. He sure knows how to win you guys over. Now all we hear is "Where's Grandpa D?"

You really wanted Em's Winnie-The-Pooh room but after a few minutes decided SpongeBob wasn't such a bad option either when I told you you could help pick out the color to paint your room and Em had to leave her room the color it was painted.

We've had our issues but in the whole picture of things you are a wonderful child. I know it's been a rough 5 years for you and for that I'm sorry. I wish I could take away all the pain you are feeling inside and make life easier for you to understand but I can't. Please remember that Daddy and I love you with all our hearts. We are hoping for the best for you in all you do and we are excited to be here to watch you accomplish all your dreams! We LOVE YOU JP!!! I hope you have a wonderful birthday.

Love always,
Mommy Jody & Daddy "Hubby"

To do or not to do...

that is the question of the day. Remember the issues (or should I say accusations) here at work a few weeks ago...well they are still looming and now the employee whom we feel started the whole mess is still causing some ruffles in the feathers around here and it's driving me CRAZY!! Well, today I was searching on the internet on the Job Service website and found a position that I am going to apply for. I'm really excited. The hours of this job are just getting to me and this fellow employee is really more than I can handle. This new prospective job is back at the 40 hours per week with actually more income...hmmm this is a no brainer isn't it??? I spoke with someone at this job (I don't want to say where it is yet...let's just say I have quite a bit of knowledge concerning this type of employment and what they do at this place) and she said that i should FOR SURE DEFINATELY DON'T WAIT ANY LONGER apply for the job. That makes me feel pretty good.

I'll keep you posted....supposedly they will be calling for interviews next week.

Finally some time off

Well after 44 hours being put in between last Monday thru Thurs I was not a happy camper. I left my house at 6:30am last thurs and got home at 10:05pm thurs night. YUCK! Needless to say when I got to work on Friday morning I told the boss how I was feeling. He told me to leave at 11:00. :-) It was about 11:40am when I finally got outta here but it was a nice break. I ended up going to visit my sister & her family and brother & his family for the night. We had a good time for the most part.

Sis's hubby stayed home and watched the kids while her and I went out for a while on Friday night. Not like we could do much but it was nice to have an adult conversation without the interruption of a kid telling me they just want a hug! She did ask me to be there when this baby is born in about a month. I have mixed feelings about this. I wanted to be there when my niece was born last Nov and sis wouldn't let me. Then she let one of her students be there! {{GROWL}}. She knows that one of my friends has asked me to be there when their baby is born in Feb and I get the feeling that the only reason sis is asking me is because either A. My mom has told her she needs to or B. she feels guilty that a friend is going to let me and she didn't want to. Either way, I really don't want to be there. Plus I am gone to a school for work Sept 10-14 and sis is planning on being induced on the 20th. 1. Thurs are my late night so that won't work and 2. I can't ask for a day off right after being gone for a whole week. Deep down I think sis knows this too and that's why she asked...she knew I couldn't make it work. UGH! Why do I feel this way?

We came home Sat afternoon and that was plenty of time. Sis & hubby are building a new house to the toon of $300K. Yep they are rolling in the bucks and like to flaunt it. Brother & family just bought a new house but it's not NEW in that sense. Just new to them. I actually like Brother's house better. It's more my style but that is also becuase it's outside of town and they have some privacy. ALthough they have neighbors , they still have a yard and it's not like you can reach out your bedroom window and touch your neighbors house like you can at sis's house. Ok so Maybe I'm exaggerating a little but I know there isn't 15 feet between the houses! YUCK! I'm a country girl and guess I always will be.

Sis and I went out to the county fair for a while and holy cow - I think I need to drink some Aberdeen water! Talk about Preggers people EVERYWHERE!!! ;-p. That probably put a damper on my mood too.

I have talked with a fellow blogger who I won't name for confidentiality reasons and I want to say a GREAT BIG THANK YOU to this person for her help. Hubby and I are really having some issues accepting parenting on a long term basis to Em & JP. Don't get me wrong, they are great kids, but we need to HONESTLY look at all options before we can make a life-long committment to them. (I feel like such a bad person right now!) Thanks to this fellow blogger, we are going to make a profile and submit it to some infant adoption sites and see what happens. Deep down, I know this is what I want. This is what we both wanted when we started this journey. To start our family with an infant. After that, we both said we would be open to older adoptions. Now we're staring down the road of older adoptions and wondering "WHAT IF???" I feel so lost.

To be honest somedays it is even hard to read fellow bloggers blogs' who have infants in their homes and who get daily calls for younger kids. In our county, it is so screwed up. There are so many kids out there who need to be put in foster care for safety reasons.....neglect, drugs, abuse, etc and yet our county doesn't want to get involved so the kids stay in these homes. Then when they kids are teens/late pre-teens they pull them from the home and can't figure out why they can't find a foster home to take them. They have WAY TOO MANY ISSUES than what we have training / support for. Had they pulled them at a young age and forced the families to get the help they desperately needed, this could have been avoided in most (not all) cases. At least the parents would have been forced to either 1. clean up their act 2. give up their rights. Whether their was other family suitable or an adoptive home, these kids deserve so much more.
I'm not sure how your counties work or how close some of you are with your workers, but if there is EVER an infant that can't be placed and there is an option of placing out of state...please email me and I will give you my contact information.

Ok...my mom just called. My niece is now in the hospital. She was sick this weekend when we were down there visiting. Guess her temp is still running between 101 - 104 degrees F. Her WB count is way up too and she's been on antibiotics since last Friday. Plus now she is dehydrated. Poor thing!

Mom also told me that she has to have arthroscopic knee surgery sometime in the near future. She's been having knee problems for a while and nothing is seeming to help it so she finally went to a specialist. I told her to set up the appt! and not wait. She needs to get this fixed! She just laughed at me and told me she was too busy! Guess me and daddy will have to have a talk!

Not much else knew. JP turns 5 on Wed so we are planning a party for him this Sat. Not a lot of people, but should be fun. Hopefully we have nice weather so we can be outside.