The Call: Round 2

Yup. It's a car seat carrier in a pack n play crib.

We've been waiting for the call exactly 2 weeks to the day, when my phone rang at 3:00pm today. By 4:15pm I was picking up a newborn little girl at the hospital.
We might have mentioned this before - but we have no idea what we are doing. We are novice parents, to say the least.  But God knew this and put very competent friends in our lives.

As I'm flying out the door to drive across town to the hospital, my amazing friend Amy K. calls and offers to run to the store for me.  Amy is a mother of 3 little girls and well versed in the ways of child rearing.  It then occurs to me that I will need a infant car seat in order to bring the little child home. Swift thinking Amy offers to run to Target, purchase the reputable infant car seat for me, and meet me across town in the hospital parking garage (Did we ever mention God has blessed us with the most amazing friends ever).

I pull up at the hospital and we rendezvous in the parking lot. Amy skillfully, and with great ease, installs the car seat into my car and then shows me the other items she purchased at the store for the new baby.  "You're going to need this," and she pulls out a sweet, warm little outfit for her. It never would have occurred to me that I needed to dress the child before we left the hospital. Then Amy pulls out a new swaddling blanket and fleece throw to cover her up with... Then I was off to the NICU to meet this new baby with infant carrier, outfit and appropriate blankets in tow.

Amy made me look good. All the nurses gave me compliments on bringing her a proper outfit and blankets for her first ride home. I smugly smiled as if I knew exactly what a newborn needs. After filling out a mountain of paperwork and getting a quick "how to care for a newborn" lesson from the RN, I drove home with a precious baby girl in my back seat. Nick met us in the driveway and carried the sleeping baby into the house. And for safety's sake, put the car seat in the pack n play. That's a good idea, right?
Again - we have no idea what we are doing. Other shout outs to go Saryn, Rachel, Sarah, Holly & TJ for dropping by tonight with baby wisdom and essential supplies. What would we do without this very generous and loving community in our lives?

Not a name for a baby... or an adult for that matter

We still don't have a pseudonym for her yet. We are still trying some out on her - but nothing has stuck yet. Nick keeps attempting to tell me that B-list celebrity names are great pseudonyms. I don't think any baby should be called Snooki or Joan Rivers... ever. No doubt her little personality will come out soon and a perfect name will emerge.

She's perfectly healthy and a great snuggler. She's currently sleeping and making those adorable little baby squeaks next to me in the living room (no worries, we eventually did take her out of the car carrier). She's pretty great and we are thankful to be the one's caring for her.

I think a baby sling or carrier is going to be key.
Parents, any brand suggestions?

A Guide to Waiting

While waiting for the "Call" I've been trying to keep myself busy and make the most of this precious time to get some things checked off my to-do list. Since we've chosen a life of waiting for these types of calls, I'm composing A Guide to Waiting. This way I will never again wonder aloud, "What shall I do until the children arrive?"  I will just go straight to my handy dandy guide for all the answers.

A Guide to Waiting: 1st draft
1) Make the drive to Wal-Mart & do some "middle of the day" shopping.

Zack Morris Timeout: While at Wal-Mart, I was first approached by a woman in the sock isle. She said she wants me to be a face model for her makeup parties. That sounds like code for drug parties to me. No thank you.
Then, in the pajama isle, I was approached by a man regarding his photography services. He must of heard I was an up-and-coming model who might need some portfolio shots. Watch out, I may have a new, face modeling career burgeoning.

2) Buy whole milk for the children. (Little Bird taught us there is no finer drink than whole milk)

3) Cook and freeze food for the upcoming holiday. Thanksgiving happens to be right around the corner, so I am going to cook and freeze as many items as I can before the kid-storm hits.

Before

After. There is a divider for regular & extra hot

This is my famous chipotle mac & cheese. That's right. I said famous. I tooted my own horn.

4) Get yearly Dr.'s appointments out of the way.
5) Sell pile of old books to Half Price Books. I took in 24 books and received a whopping $12.25 for them. woot!
6) Organize the garage. Brother and I hung the strollers on the garage wall. I'm so impressed.

7) Fix everything that is broken. i.e: the camera and vacuum

8) Eat out with friends. A lot.

9) Read

10) Schedule a hair appointment

Ombre Fall color? I think so.

11) Car maintenance. Just got not 1, but 2 oil changes and inspections. 

That's all I have for now...I'm sure I'll update the Waiting Guide as each day passes. 

Openings List: Round 2

We've taken a few weeks to grieve and prepare our hearts for the next kiddos. 

As of today, we are now back on the Openings List and waiting for the phone call for our next foster placement(s) from Child Protective Services. Our mobile phones are glued to us and our ringers are turned on high.

Quick Summary:

• We are officially licensed to care for two children between the ages of newborn to 5 years old. 
• Typically, after we get the call confirming children are going to be placed with us, they will arrive in our home that same day.
• It could be a few days or a few weeks before we get THE CALL.
• After we get children placed with us, we'll update everyone through our blog. So stay tuned.

Please pray. Pray hard. We believe God knows the names, faces, and stories of the children that will be placed with us. We need lots of grace as we head into this again.

Thank you for supporting us and the children who need our help (by "our" we mean the "royal our" -- i.e. You're in this with us. You might want to rethink your friendship with us).
We also want to thank everyone in advance for the kind emails, texts, and phone calls of support. Please know how much that support means to us, even if we can't respond to everyone right away.

humbly,

Nick & Jak

Early Retirement

We are making a few changes around here....again.
After much deliberation and soul searching, we made the decision for me to resign from my public relations job and be a full-time foster mom.
We strongly feel foster parenting is our focus right now and we know we are extremely fortunate and blessed to be able to make this choice for our family.

Upon my last week of work, in classic Nick style, he threw me a surprise retirement party!

There were balloons, a purple retirement crown, and my little brother drove 3 hours to surprise me.

 I'm going to be honest, retiring at 31 is as awesome as it sounds!

Orphan Sunday, Nov. 6, 2011

Why Love Orphans? from Christian Alliance for Orphans on Vimeo.

What is Orphan Sunday?
On Orphan Sunday, Christians across America and beyond celebrate the love of the God who
“places the lonely in families” and calls us to do the same. Ultimately, Orphan Sunday seeks to
makes the Gospel visible as God’s people explore and respond to His heart for the orphan in
adoption, foster care, and global orphan ministry.

To learn more check out www.orphansunday.org