2 WEEKS

It has been just over 2 weeks since S & K arrived at our house. The past 2 weeks feel like a lifetime at moments and like it was just yesterday at other times. The "honeymoon period" is definitely over. Foster care refers to the "honeymoon period" as a time when the children behave and act differently at first because they are unsure of their surroundings. K's honeymoon period seemed to end after about 4-5 days, S's however seems to be ending more recently. She is now pushing back on our limits/rules and tries the argument over and over "my mom said....". We can't really say "I don't care what your mom let you do...." but instead we say, "well here, we do it this way." Bedtime for K has gotten so much better. She hardly wakes up in the middle of the night anymore. Occasionally I'll still hear her cry in her sleep but not nearly as often. Going to bed for her is also getting easier. We have progressed to her hearing her stories and songs in her bed instead of having to be rocked. It's so sweet to hear her ask me "mommy please stay" when it's time for her to fall asleep. S is now pushing the bedtime issue. It's hard for her to understand that bedtime at 10pm is actually not unreasonable but since she was allowed to stay up as late as she wanted before (she's told us this herself) then she doesn't understand.

I don't want people to think that it's all bad, it's not. Being a parent these last few weeks has been one of the  greatest blessings we've ever had. These girls are so sweet and fun to be with. Their first court date was last week and they will be with us for at least 1 more month. There are a few family members who are trying to get home studies done so that the girls may be able to live with them. We will wait until next month to see where this is going. However, we have been told by our social worker that it could take a few months to have the family members home studies complete and approved. We will continue to love on these girls and teach them the love of Jesus while they are here. I'm so greatful that my residency program has been letting me spend so much time with the girls and Jonathan this month.

Please pray for us. Tomorrow K has a lab appointment to see if she has a pretty serious medical problem that she was possibly diagnosed with right before Christmas. It's hard for her to have to have blood drawn and it's hard for us to see her cry as well as to sit and wait for results.

~until~