2014 Year in Review

Happy New Year!

We did something a little different this year in Drosche Land for New Years!  We'd been hoping to get out and do some camping over the Christmas break, but there were no available spots where we wanted to go. Oh well, life moves on. Then, as luck would have it, Amy found us a spot at our all-time favorite state park - Stephen F. Austin State Park. It's nearby, within 45 minutes, and is our favorite go-to spot. Lots of a great memories made and many more waiting to be made here. So we booked it and began packing and planning. New Years in our camper!  Beginning 2015 out in a relaxing way together as a family. Sounded just like what we needed.  So, yesterday we arrived and braved the cold weather to enjoy some hiking, playing outside, and a campfire where we roasted hot dogs, our usual first night out dinner. The kids went to bed early, as did Amy and I. A busy day outdoors made us tired so we skipped ringing in 2015 at midnight, opting instead for some wine to celebrate at about 9. But enough about this trip, I'll post more later. On with a review of what 2014 brought us here in Drosche Land. 

January

I joined a blog hop to review the Top 20 Photos from 2013. This was fun. I'll have to head over and see if Duncan is doing the same. Or maybe I will again anyway?  January also brought a month filled with adoption classes, twice weekly, as we continued the pre-adoption process. We learned a lot about both the adoption process and the foster care system through this.  We also were busy readying our house for the Home Study process. The weather in January 2014 was wicked, with many freezing days and even brought the city to a stop for some unprecedented Ice Days!

February

February was kicked off by the burglary of our home. Yikes. That was rough. Very emotional for us all as we dealt with the emotional and financial aftermath of such an occasion.  It was a bumpy road but we made it through. Definitely something we hope to never experience again. The adoption process halted to a crawl and we were getting quickly impatient with how slowly everything seemed to be moving.  One fun part of the month included Braeden landing his first, albeit small, part in the school Spring Musical!  We were so proud of him for even trying out and getting the part as an extra. A great accomplishment for him!  So much fun!  February also brought us through the process of having Jackson evaluated for ADHD.  We weren't vocal about the process at the time, but it was emotional and tiring.  Overall February was rough and we were all too happy to see it end. Crazy how such a short month can pack a wallop!

March

March started off ok. For about a month. Until we discovered that our beloved pet dog Lucy was diagnosed with cancer. It was untreatable and aggressive. We made the horrible decision to end her pain and suffering, but just beginning ours. She was an awesome dog. Amy and I got her when it was just the 2 of us in New Orleans. She was our first baby. We will always cherish her and the memories we have of her.  Spring Break brought us an awesome family trip to Dinosaur Valley State Park. We had a blast. It also made us realize that we wanted to trade up our small popup camper for an actual travel trailer. The process was long but we ended up with our wonderful Fireside where I sit right now blogging and listening to rain. Best decision ever!  We love it!  March also is when we decided to sign the boys up for swim team with their cousins!  Something new. Something fun. Well, looking back, not so much, but it seemed like a great idea at the time!  We also received Jackson's ADHD diagnosis and began the process of finding the correct dosage of medication that would help him. More emotional rollercoaster time for us but it was beneficial. The month was brought to a close by our first Home Study visit. It had been postponed once that month, but went well once it finally happened. We felt like we were getting the ball rolling in the adoption process, finally.

April

April brought another year for me to join the Blogging A-Z Challenge where I wrote about TV shows. Good posts. Good tv shows. It was a fun month for the challenge!  The month didn't hold much else for us. We continued the process of medicating Jackson, finally finding a doctor and dosage that we were happy with. Braeden performed wonderfully in the school Spring Musical and swim practices went on, although not as smooth as we would have liked. We did fall even more in love with the Fireside as we took her out on her inaugural run, with much success!  We also were in the home stretch of planning our summer vacation to Disney World as we made reservations for rides and food!

May

Braeden turned 8. 8?!  Seriously?!  Wow.   We also ended our brief foray into the world of competitive swimming after much frustration and miscommunication with the swim team Coaches. Ugh.  Our boys love sports and we want them to be active in something. That something just isn't swimming. I finally blogged about Jackson's ADHD diagnosis on Children's Mentak Health Day.  I'll continue to blog about it as it is an ongoing syndrome that we are always dealing with. But there's no shame in it. We are proud of him and will continue to support him and advocate for him so he is successful. May also brought some shocking news as our adoption agency brought up Fostering and Amy and I, after prayerful consideration decided to become dual track as we proceeded onward with the straight adopt/foster-to-adopt process.  Another school year ended, my first (and awesome) at St. Mark. I also won an iPad mini via a contest with my favorite station 104.1 KRBE!  Holla!  The month ended on a great note as things with the adoption were looking promising and Disney World was getting closer!

June

Stella turned 2!  What?!  2?!  Wow. She was, and is, a hoot and keeps us on our toes daily. Disney was the name of the game for the month though as we spent a week there!  We did Disney World hard and were bus every minute of every day. But we had a blast and enjoyed it all. We made it to every park and ate some incredible food. While we don't have a definite date set, we are always planning, prepping, praying about, and waiting for our next trip!  I led VBS at St. Mark again and had a blast, so much fun and I always enjoy it. We spent the rest of the month relaxing and resting up from Disney while we awaited the all-important adoption phone call!

July

A busy month to say the least!  We started off the insanity by purchasing a new truck!  I love her. My beautiful blue Ford F-150. She is an awesome truck and has been such an improvement as a tow vehicle over the Sequoia (who is also a great vehicle as well, just not the same as my truck!). We took the Fireside out again, pulled by my truck, on vacation with my family. A few problems with the air conditioning occurred but we handled it and all ended up well.  After vacation we adopted not one, but two miniature schnauzer mixes. Twins. We named them Mickey and Minnie because we were, and are, still on a post-Disney World vacation high. They are adorable and we love them to pieces. I will say though, that everyone's is right when they say house training small dogs is way different than big dogs. Much harder and frustration. But it is slowly improving.  Speaking of house training, my awesome wife managed to potty train Stella in just 3 days. This is when she did with both boys and she ended the fun with a 3 for 3 success rate!  She is awesome. We started running. No seriously, we did. I know, I can still hardly believe it. But thanks to inspiration from friends and my wonderful wife, we because runners. We started off very slowly. But have gotten much better and actually, gasp!, enjoy it. The holidays and colder weather have seen fewer runs from both of us but 2015 will bring a change to that as we are excited to get back in it and put some more 5Ks under our belt!  Oh and we got Fitbits!  LOVE them!  Then it happened. At the very end of the month. It happened. We got the call. 2 girls. In need of placement. We talked and prayed (both quickly because you have to be quick) and accepted.  It also changed us. Forever. 

August

August was a blur. We had 5 kids. The foster care process was a lot. Meetings. Doctor's appointments. Meetings. Amy pulled the lion's share of it all. I will be the first to admit that. She was amazing. I saw in her the determination that made me love her. Determination to get things done. Determination to do right by these two little girls. Determination to care for her family, no matter what life threw at her. She was, and still always is, amazing. In the midst of all of this, school was starting back up.  We now had 5 kids to enroll!  Amy celebrated her birthday in the middle of everything.  School started and all 5 were at St. Mark since we'd made the decision prior to placement to move Jackson over. They all thrived. We also had our first home visit with T & L's family. The one where we found out a family member was interested in pursuing custody of them both. Mixed feelings emerged. This wasn't what we'd envisioned with our adoption process. But we continued on, praying and trying (successfully and unsuccessfully) to let Him lead us.  I ran my first 5K!  The FoamGlow Run!  Initially it was supposed to be Amy and I but the girls couldn't be left with anyone other than the two of us so I ran with Amanda instead. It was awesome and I loved it. Amy and I are currently looking into 5Ks this year to do!

September

Just as suddenly as it had begun, it ended. T & L moved on from our care. They'd been with us for just over a month. About 5 1/5 weeks. It was an emotional process to say the least. We learned a lot. About the foster care world, about our biological children, about our friends and family, about each other. It drained us.  After it was all said and done we decided to halt any further movement with adoption. We don't know what lies ahead for us or where He is leading us. Our hearts are filled with love, compassion, and advocacy for adoption and the entire process. We just still aren't quite sure what the next step for us is. Other than waiting. Waiting. A word we'd come to despise throughout the adoption process but now one we turn to. Waiting. To see where He leads us, what He has in mind for us. Who knows?  We don't, but we have faith in the fact that He does. For now we just heal from the process and wait. But life moved forward and so do we. The boys were both enrolled in soccer for the fall!  Jackson through St. Mark and Braeden through a league near the house where he played on the same team as his cousin Austin!  Jackson turned 7!  7?!  Wow. Our kids are growing up too fast!  He is thriving at St. Mark and in my class!  He's also doing quite well managing his ADHD!  

October

October seemed to be pretty uneventful. I didn't blog much, life was busyish. Amy joined the Handbell Choir at St. Mark with her mom and is enjoying it!  She won't admit it, but she does and is quite good! Our Tuesday nights were overtaken with both boys' soccer practices and Saturdays and Sundays were both game days. It seemed as though we were always on the move. Halloween was fun, we had a themed- family costume with the cousins. All 4 boys were Texans football players, the 2 girls were cheerleaders (with adorable homemade tutus courtesy of my awesome wife), and Amy and I were referees (a simple costume consisting of a white tshirt, black electrical tape, and jeans!

November

I vowed to blog more. Life had gotten too much in the way and posts dwindled. 2015 will be different!  I had a birthday and Amy spoiled me with an iPhone 6 Plus and I LOVE it!  Soccer ended and the season was a success, the boys both doing quite well!  Amy and I hosted Thanksgiving for the first time at our house. With my family members far flung across the country that just wasn't happening. So Amy's mom and grandparents came and my parents and grandmother did also. It was so much fun to host rather than travel. Something I hope we get to do a lot more of!  Black Friday was a success as Amy's Mom and I continued our tradition of heading out to grab some deals!  The Christmas season began as our little elf, Englebert, reappeared!

December

I began the month posting about Santa and believing in the magic that is Santa. We lost Braeden's believe last year but this year everyone continued their belief, with Braeden helping to keep the secret!  We also announced that after Christmas Amy would be moving up to teach 4th Grade at Epiphany. Something totally new, exciting, and slightly daunting. We spent the first few days of Christmas break cleaning and prepping her new room and I know she will be incredible!  Christmas came and was a blessed day as we celebrated the birth of Jesus and spent time with family. It was so much fun to just stop and relax. The week afterward was spent doing more resting and relaxing, in addition to cleaning the house and reclaiming it from the post-Christmas clutter. That brings us to yesterday, the end of December and the end of 2014. More relaxing family time. Much needed and much enjoyed. 

So, that's 2014. A bit long but it's all there, mostly.  It was a whirlwind. A rollercoaster. One heck of a year. But we made it through and can look back to reminisce it all now, both the good times and the not so good times. What does 2015 have in store for us?  Not sure, but we can ruminate about that in another post. One dedicated to the new year!  

All is well, saying goodbye to 2014, in Drosche Land. 

Update

So I've been absent for a while. Life here in Drosche Land got pretty busy after the placement of T and L. Crazy busy.  So, blogging paused for a bit. As much as I wanted to post, there just wasn't the time or energy to follow through. 

I'll just jump right into the update and let you know that T and L are no longer with us. We received notification last Thursday that they would be moving to a new foster home on Friday.  Friday came and I took Braeden, Jackson, and Stella to school while Amy stayed at home with T and L. A few hours later the CPS worker picked them up and it was over.  As I've mentioned before this wasn't a surprise to us as we always knew it was the likelihood. 

These past 5 1/2 weeks have been quite the journey. Filled with ups and downs. We experienced a lot and learned a lot. We learned about each other, our children, the system, and of course T & L.  We continue to keep them in our thoughts and prayers, that He would keep them safe. Hopefully in the short time we had them with us we were able to instill things that may help to shape their future. 

You're probably wondering what now?  What are our plans?  For fostering. For adoption. Well, this was something that Amy and I obviously prayed about and discussed in length over the past 5 1/2 weeks. We've come to the conclusion that we are not going to pursue anything further. No more fostering. No more adoption. We have 3 blessings that we love very much. We need to focus on the five of us now.  Adoption continues to be something that we hold dear and find important, we will just support and advocate in a different way than we'd planned. 

So we move on. Move forward. This weekend we have spent time relaxing and recovering. Stella is moved back into her bedroom and it has been rearranged for just her.  Amy and I have also spent a lot of time moving furniture and getting the house back in order.  It has been nice to sit. To enjoy each other. To relax. 

So that's it for us now. That's our update. Thank you to everyone for the thoughts and prayers during this past year as we traveled the road through the adoption and foster care process. It was felt and greatly appreciated.  Thank you. 

All is well, updated, in Drosche Land. 

Getting Schooled

Well, I've been gone for a few days as things have been super hectic here in Drosche Land as we prepped for another school year. You can imagine how busy we have been with both Amy and    being teachers and having the 5 kids. But all is well and we have survived the beginning of August which was filled with meetings, preparations, classroom setup, meetings for T & L, and just life in general. We survived!  Today was the first day of school for all of us. Amy lucked out with a 1/2 day while the kids and I jumped in fully with a whole day. All in all it went very well. There were no tears this morning when getting ready. No tears when taking pictures, which I love to do. No tears during drop offs. That in and of itself is a success!  Everyone came home excited and exhausted. They are all asleep now but I, for some reason cannot fall asleep. So here I sit, telling you about our day. 

Stella. This year she is in the Toddler 2s class. Little Miss. Look at her. She was so excited to meet her new teacher, she talked about her for the past few days. She is potty trained and ready to go. Full of sass as always but sweet on the inside. Right now she is I so fully into wearing dresses which she proudly proclaims as a "pretty dress" over and over. So we let her wear one for the first day. She also loves her new shoes that light up (thanks Mom!). They are adorable. Right now in life she loves to play with all things girly still. Dolls, stuffed animals, purses, anything pink, bows, etc. Barbies are just around the corner!  Favorite foods are noodles and rice, she's a carb loader. She also loves fruit and French fries (carbs again). Sophia the First and Doc McStuffins are her favorite shows and she is obsessed with any princess movie, The Princess and the Frog and Sleeping Beauty are in full rotation now. She's a firecracker and has us all wrapped around her little finger.  Again, I'll mention her sassiness, oh my!  

Jackson. First Grade this year!  As you know he has come to St. Mark with Braeden, Stella, and I and I am so excited. That means that he is in my class and is the second of our children that I will have taught. He is one of a kind. We have found a good balance of medicine for his ADHD and he is thriving and focused. He loves numbers and anything mathematical. Right now I think he may be heading toward something related to engineering, I could totally see that. He's obsessed with his Kindle and Minecraft. He loves superheroes and collecting feathers (he found a blue jay one on the way to the car this afternoon). He loves being an older brother and dotes on Stella and L. While cartoons of any kind are still loved, he is getting to the age where he loves the Disney tween shows. Jessie, Austin & Ally, and I Didn't Do That to name a few. He had a great first day of school today and is excited to have me in class. With him being at Epiphany last year with Amy I really haven't seen him in an educational setting until today so that was interesting. With as outgoing as people think him to be, he is actually very analytical, sensitive, and quiet. He spent the majority of today just taking in the new surroundings and watching, assessing, and learning. I know he will come out of his shell eventually, he just takes slowly to new situations. But he is a trooper and there isn't anything he can't do if he puts his mind to it. 

Braeden. Third Grade. Seriously?!  Where has the time gone?  Oh he loved today and came home full of talk about his binder, planner, and all the procedures he learned. He loves school and is always excited to start a new year. He proudly proclaimed that today was going to be easy because, "first days are always easy because yet you don't have any homework yet!"  Just wait little man, just wait. He has always been, and still is, our athletic one. There isn't a sport he won't watch or want to play.  He would have the TV tuned to ESPN all day everyday if we would let him. He also is obsessed with video games, sometimes glued to his Playstation 3 and Kindle. He loves to read and is always wanting to start a new book, if only we could get him to finish one!  Like Jackson he is fully into the Disney tween shows. I think he truly believes he is going to turn 16 any minute!  Help us when he does becaus we already are dealing with some of that preteen attitude!  Oh my!  But he is an excellent oldest child, always wiling to pull extra weight and help ell out when needed with the many younger children. He has a huge heart and is a compassionate person, never thinking the worst of anyone.

T & L. Obviously I can't share their photos here. But they started today as well. T in PreK and L in Waddlers. They have adjusted to school very well considering they have never been in a group care setting.  T's teacher said she had a great day and was very excited to be there. Possibly the highlight of her day was her new backpack that she has been dying to carry since we bought it about a week ago. Her teacher is amazing and knows of the situation. She has been nothing but supportive and helpful. No matter how short of a time T is in her class, I know she will do well.  L has the same teachers Stella had last year so that was a smooth transition for us. We know she will be well cared for and loved. Her report today came with a picture of her with a huge grin on her face. She enjoyed it. She also is doing so well and that is exciting. Her teachers also are so thoughtful and caring, which we already knew when dealing with Stella and her allergies last year. 

Amy and I also had great days today. Our classes are awesome and the kiddos great. We are off to a great start. Amy is happy to be teaching the same grade for a second year and the stability and familiarity that comes along with that. I am so blessed to be at St. Mark and am loving it as always. 

So, all in all it was a great first day. Sure there will be days when things are far worse, but maybe I'll come back and read this post during those times to remind me of the good. This year is going to be a great one. It started off a little crazy with the girls' placement and all that has come with that, but we are adjusting and adapting. I know we will have a great time this year, all of us. It's so exciting. Everything is new and fresh. Everyone is excited and eager. I love my job. Well, I think sleep may finally come so I will wrap this up for tonight. One great day down and just a 170ish more to go!  Ha!

All is well, getting educated, in Drosche Land. 

Visiting Hours

Well, the last we spoke Amy and I were preparing for our first visit with the girls' family.  Well, that was last Thursday and it went well. I mean, I guess it went well. We are newbies and have no frame of reference. However, it wasn't our worst case scenario, not by far. Therefore it was a success. 

Obviously given the circumstances of our meeting in the first place, it was awkward. I mean, how could it not be?  But the family members we met were nice. They introduced themselves and we did likewise. They did thank us for taking care of the girls and we obviously praised the girls and said good things.  Then we left them to their visit and spoke with our caseworker and filled out some paperwork. The hour actually went by pretty quickly. When it was over we talked a bit more, sharing some of the current details about T and L. They were enjoying school, playing with our biological 3, our dogs, etc. then it was time to go. 

Probably the biggest news was the fact that we found out a family member is interested in pursuing custody of the girls. This is a good thing. The goal of Foster Care is the mending and reunification of family and Amy and I totally support that. We don't know much more other than that though. There is no timetable. The girls could be with us for a week, a month, or longer. It all just depends on the process. So for now we just continue as we have been. Day by day. Minute to minute. 

Amy does have a phone conference with some family members tomorrow so we will see if that brings any answers or new information. We also still have to meet our new caseworker, also something that should provide some further clarity. 

Overall though the first visit was good. Interesting. It was surreal honestly. To even be in that position, one we never imagined or thought we would ever be in, was something to take in. But it was positive and it was something that I am glad we did, meeting the girls' family. Putting names to faces. Allowing them to see and meet us. I think it was good.

All is well, post visit, in Drosche Land. 

One Week In

Ok. So a week and a day technically. But I was tired yesterday and chose to veg and sleep rather than blog. 5 kids will do that to you!

But anywho. We've had the girls for a week now. And boy has it been a week. A rollercoaster would be an understatement. There have been amazing highs and ridiculous lows, often in the same day. But we are seeing progress in both girls. Slowly but surely. I think I said it before and I have heard it from countless other foster families, in person and via blogs, that you live day to day. Especially at the beginning

So I obviously can't share too much about the girls, although I'm dying to. I know pictures are a no but I'm not sure about names. So I'll stick to L for the youngest, 13 month old, and T for the older 4 year old. That way I can refer to them. 

L is doing well. She's young so she can adapt more easily and I is more flexible. We are working on weaning her from the binky and that is our major step with her. When we got her she had it in her mouth all the time. Now she only uses it for naptime and bedtime. See, we are just not binky people. Braeden was easily weaned. Jackson loved his and was more difficult. But by 13 months they were well past it. Stella didn't want to have anything to do with them past a month so it was never an issue. L though was a trough addict. But the good thing, in spite of the crying and screaming that comes with weaning, is that her verbal skills are rapidly increasing. She has found her voice and is not afraid to use it. Loudly. Anywhere. But that's a good thing. We will work on volume and words as we go. All in due time. 

T is a bit different. Being older she is more set in her ways and has more experiences to guide her each day. But she still has made some progress, albeit slow going. We work mainly on manners and rules to keep her and others safe. Baby steps. Slowly but surely. She and Stella have butted heads quite a bit though so that is our biggest hurdle right now.  Working on their relationship.  As you know Stella is quite headstrong and is used to being the sole female child in the house. Having someone else come in has been a bit hard for her. Plus first impressions were not the best so she is still holding onto that. But there are glimmers of hope. They do play together well occasionally. They do talk somewhat. Baby steps.

We have also been humbled so much and have seen His hand and the goodness of others so much lately. So many friends, coworkers, and others have stepped up to help provide the girls with clothing and shoes, food for the family, a listening ear, and other much-needed things. The things we never could have been prepared for when waiting for an emergency placement. There have been tears of joy and gratitude abounding and it makes our hearts swell. Just another way in which we know He is helping and guiding us on this adventure. 

Amy and I are hanging in there. We also have our good days and our not-so-good days.  Being a foster parent is a whirlwind of emotions, daily. Frustrating. Rewarding. Heartwarming. Trying. I could go on but I think you get the picture. However, at the end of the day we are confident that we are doing what He has called us to do.  We take it step by step and try to remember to seek His help along the way. We also are being sure to make time for ourselves, together and individually. Our runs have become therapeutic and we make sure to get them in. 

There is also the fact that we are back at work.  Our jobs have become somewhat of a respite too as we were told they would. Being with our friends and other adults is helping. Working and occupying our brains is helping. It's nice to be busy planning for the beginning of the year and giving our if minds a break from everything else. It's healthy. 

Which brings me to the fact that the girls have attended St. Mark for 2 days now. They are doing well. L has taken to her teachers and friends and is adjusting. She cries a bit but is enjoying it. T is with Braeden and Jackson since it's care for Faculty/Staff kids so that's good. Plus the daughters of a good friend/coworker of our are there too. So we are hoping it will be a good, slow transition to an actual school day. 

Wow. Just like that I have talked your ear off. But blogging is therapeutic too so thanks for listening.  I could go on and I am always blogging in my brain but I will wrap it up here. One last thing is that the girls have their first family visit tomorrow. Amy and I are nervous about this since it is our first time. We are also nervous about the potential for regression and mood changes afterward. But we are praying and know that He is with us as always. So I'll update on that later as well. Along with all of the other foster care stuff in my brain to share. But it's getting late and this is getting long. I think everyone is asleep so maybe I'll veg out with some Real Housewives of Beverly Hills. You know I love me some of that!

All is well, one week in, in Drosche Land.

Final Days

So we are officially in the final days of summer vacation.  Technically I always consider the last Friday (yesterday) to be the final day since a weekend is just a weekend. So that means summer is over for us here in Drosche Land since Amy and I both report back to our schools on Monday. 

In the last post I shared our good news about our foster care placement.  Well, after the first court date we learned that the girls would remain in CPS custody and thus with us. For how long?  We don't know. We do know that some family members (but we don't know who) did express interest. However, they too would have to go through the process we went through this past year as they explore a kinship placement.  That is all also dependent upon what CPS and the court think about that. So basically it doesn't mean much. We do know that the next court date it set for early September, so the girls will likely be here for at least that long. 

I know what you're thinking. Yes, our personal end result was a permanent adoption placement. However, you'll recall that we went dual-track and have accepted these girls as a foster care placement. The goal of foster care is to help families and help them to stay together. Amy and I fully support this as family and the health of the children are first and foremost. We always knew a temporary foster care placement was a risk/possibility, but it was one we were willing to take. So basically we are waiting. Anything could happen at any time. We just don't know. In this process nothing is "routine" or predictable since eveythting is dependent upon each family's situation and circumstances. So we wait. The one thing we do know is that HE has placed these girls with us.  We don't know the timing of anything, nor can we possibly ever predict the end of our adoption journey. We trust that HE has an ultimate plan for us and we are doing our best to stay open to it, listen, and follow. We take it all day by day. 

Having said that, these past few days have been busy as I am sure you can imagine. 5 kids. 5. Kids. That's a lot.  But it's not impossible, nor is it unbearable. Everyone is still working out their roles and relationships but we are seeing some progress. Yesterday was a rough day honestly. Today was better. I can't and won't go into too much detail right now, but suffice it to say we are all learning and working together. At the end of the day though, Amy and I know that progress is slow-going and the road will have twists, turns, and setbacks. But there have also been wonderful moments full of smiles and laughter. It's a rollercoaster. An adventure. 

So, another summer has come and gone. June was pretty normally-paced but I am not sure about July, much of it was a blur. Disney World. A new truck. Vacations. A placement. We were certainly busy but enjoyed ourselves fully. As much fun as we had, it will be nice to get back into our school routine. We are also hoping that this helps with the transition of the girls and gets us all into a stable and comfortable routine. The girls will be attending school at St. Mark with me, Braeden, Jackson (did I mention he's moving to my school?), and Stella. Amy is keeping them home Monday to finish up some of the last to-do list items of the placement and then they will begin on Tuesday. This will give them some time to easily transition into St. Mark before the actual school year begins. 

Well I hope your summer was fun and enjoyable. I know ours was. Are you happy to see it ended?  Sad?  Ready?  I'm sure it's a mix of emotions as it is here for us. 

All is well, it's August, in Drosche Land. 

Placement

So it happened. Yesterday. We'd spent weeks waiting, not being selected for several placements. Then out of the blue it happened. 

We'd spent the entire day at a water park with the cousins. Kind of a goodbye to summer daycation. So, there we were; hot, waterlogged, and tired. Not 5 minutes in the car and the phone rang. I knew immediately it was DePelchin because we recognized the phone number. Here we were, not expecting it in the least and an hour and a half away from home. Not such a bad thing though since it always takes about an hour or so to hear back from CPS. We listened to the information and said yes. About an hour later, 5 minutes from home, we were chosen. 

Now, obviously I can't go into too many details for legal reasons. I'm sure you understand. 2 girls, sisters, ages 4 and 13 months.  They are adorable. They've been with us just a little over 24 hours as I'm writing this and honestly we don't know much. Such is the life of foster care though. We should know more tomorrow and receive some answers about what kind of placement this is and how temporary or permanent it will be.  Until then we are living in the moment. Once again waiting. You'd think that a placement would take away that problem. But alas, #fostercarelife. 

So 5 kids is noisy. It's a constant hum to dull roar of activity. Someone is always talking. It's likely that someone is crying or about to. There are not enough toys for everyone. Ever.  But they are all getting along very well. The girls are doing well. Stella and the boys are doing well too. I'm not going to lie though, it's a lot of work. 5 kids. Amy and I haven't sat much at all. You are always going. Sure, right now is the crazy time when everyone is adjusting and figuring things out, so it won't always be this way. But it is for now. But that's alright. Honestly. Amy and I both still feel strongly that we are doing the right thing. Sure there are risks with foster care and foster-to-adopt but it's worth it. Regardless of the outcome, Amy and I have been given the opportunity to care for these 2 girls when they so desperately need it. To make an impact. To show His love for them. Yes, we do firmly believe this is what He is calling us to do. Despite the fatigue and despite the risk. 

So, that's that for now. Tomorrow will be tomorrow and who knows what it will be. But tonight we are good and all is quiet as everyone is asleep. I myself am about to collapse and turn in myself. Just wanted to share the good news. 

All is well, now with 5 kids, in Drosche Land. 

Making a Run for It

Ok. So if you know me at all you know that exercise and I are not good friends. We are barely acquaintances. However, this summer that has changed a bit. 

I've never been one for physical activity. When I was younger it was mainly due to being overweight. And lazy. When I lost all of my weight I just never got into it. I guess my laziness remained. That and I never saw the point. I'd much rather obsess over and control my eating to lose and maintain weight.

This summer though Amy started up a fitness plan with some friends of ours. They would run/walk every morning. At first I was all, "good for you!", and thought nothing more of it.   Then reality hit me. Hard. In the form of weight gain, the worst. I guess as I've gotten older, into my 30's my metabolism is not what it was before. It's still good I think, but I can no longer just drop weight as easily as I could before. Gasp!  Factor in all of the stress/anxiety from the adoption process and I had put on some weight. Not much, but it was above my flex range and I hated it. I eat my anxiety and being at home over the summer was not helping either. 

So, Amy suggested that I try running. Ugh!  Seriously?!  But nothing was chasing me!  No zombies or clowns, what was the point. But,alas, I decided to give in and try it out. How bad could it be?

My first time out I did 2 miles. I'm pretty sure I almost died. I may have blacked out somewhere along the way but I can't be sure. But I survived. Sure I was out of breath and my legs were killing me and I was drenched in sweat; but I was alive. So I decided to continue. That was about 2ish weeks ago and all is going well. It's not horrible. I won't say I love it, but I definitely don't hate it anymore. It is somewhat enjoyable, mostly when it's over and I've recovered, but enjoyable nonetheless. I still have yet to experience this "runner's high" people talk about. I'm pretty sure I have the runner's low down pat, but a high?  Nope. Not yet at least. But I've lost a few pounds and I feel better. 

Well, in keeping with the way Amy and I dive head first into adventures we have also signed up for our first 5K. Seriously. It's a GlowFoam run late next month and I am actually excited about it. It was Amy's idea and she talked me into it.  So, we are in prep mode now and I have stepped up my game to get ready for the 5K. Apparently it is like 3.1 miles so yesterday I upped my daily run to 3.5 miles. Again, I didn't die so all is well with that. 

Amy and I also got Fitbits yesterday to boost our fitness adventure. We are in love. You know I love me some technology and wearable technology is taking over. So now my Pebble I have the Fitbit on, I'm always connected!

Now, I'll quickly clear some things up for you. I do not run the entire time, not in the least. I am not that good. Yet. But I don't walk slowly the entire time either. I do a combo of briskly walking and running. Alternating between the two during my time. I'll call is rulking since it's neither full-on running but also not walking. That makes it sound better. Rulking. That's more my speed!

So, that's it. If you would have said, even a month ago, that we would be into fitness, rulking, and prepping for a 5K I would have said you were crazy!  But here we are fully into a new adventure and loving it. Life can be surprising I guess. Always. 

All is well, working on our fitness, here in Drosche Land. 

Double Trouble

Yes. The above happened this past week here in Drosche Land. 

Finally, some news on huge adoption front. Well, one of our adoption fronts. The pet one. See, we'd been debating getting a new dog for a while. We desperately missed Lucy and needed some grieving time. However, we also thought that Rex was lonely. He needed a companion. My parents watched him when we went to DisneyWorld and he loved hanging 

out and playing with her two dogs. Then we went on vacation with my family and again he enjoyed them. So, Amy and I decided to bite the bullet and get a new dog. 

Truth be told though, it was Amy who was ready first. Randomly one day she was researching and looking online. The next thing I know she was doing a great job lobbying on behalf of getting not one, but two dogs. Two?!  I wasn't so sure about this. Especially since we were looking at puppies rather than older dogs. Two?!  I mean, I've always wanted twins, but two puppies?!  At the same time?!  After some serious convincing I found myself with the boys on the way to a shelter. Amy had found two puppies and we'd fallen in love with their pictures. 

As luck would have it they were available when I got there. In fact, that was the first day that they'd been available for adoption after their initial inspection, doctor's visits, and spaying/neutering.  Plus I was the first person to inquire about them since I got there first thing. The boys and I were instantly smitten. About an hour later we were headed home with two tiny puppies in the truck with us!

They're miniature schnauzer mixes. We personally think they look like they are mixed with dachshunds.  If this is so the technical name for them is, I kid you not, schnoxies!  However, I prefer my own term - schweenies!  So that's what we are going with. Originally we were looking into chihuahuas or chihuahua mixes. But after some research we figured they were not for our family. So mini schnauzers it was. 

Their names at the shelter were Hannah and Hamilton. As cute as those sounded we decided on Mickey and Minnie since this was the summer of Disney!  They are 8 weeks old and each weigh just under 4 pounds!  So far they have gotten along so well with Rex. In fact, he is so timid around them and Mickey chases him around often. Rex is so mild-mannered and timid in nature anyway. But he has become very protective of them and always stays where he can see them. That or he just doesn't want to be snuck up on!

We are in the process of potty training them and even when they make a mess it is so small that it is not remotely difficult or stressful. They also sleep through the night without crying so that is great.  So, overall they have been a great addition to our family and have brought a lot of fun and excitement into the house. The kids love them and Are great, we are working with Stella on being gentle though since, she is two and in that rough and tumble stage, she can be a bit heavy-handed. 

So, there's our second big adventure of the summer. Last year it was the pop-up and the Sequoia. This year it was my truck and twin puppies!  It's always an adventure here so we will see what next summer brings. I shudder to think!  :)

All is well, now with puppies, in Drosche Land. 

I'm Still Here

Well, I'd like to say that the reason I've been absent for a while was because we'd finally received that much-anticipated phone call. I'd like to, but alas that is not the reason. 

We actually did receive a phone call the day after we met with our DePelchin people. It was a placement call. However, CPS did not choose us so it was a no go. Since then we've been waiting and waiting and waiting some more. For that next phone call. The one where we will be chosen. Finally. 

It's an odd feeling actually. Technically the reason we'd receive a phone call is because children needed us because they'd been removed from their home for some reason. So really I feel guilty as I bemoan my waiting.  But I do. We knew the process was long yes. But I guess in my mind I'd imagined that once we got to the Matching process the wait would be over. Instead it has just changed to a different kind of waiting.  I don't do waiting well, as I have mentioned many times before, and am trying not to drive myself or Amy crazy throughout this whole process.

But life has gone on around the waiting here in Drosche Land. It is July?!  Wait, what?!  Summer is now half over, which is totally crazy. We've been enjoying a relaxed schedule and have been keeping ourselves busy. I have some other posts mentally being written about some of the goings-on here, and I still want to post more about the Disney trip, but I will get to those another time. This post was just to return to the blog and provide an adoption update.

Tomorrow we head on a family vacation with my family. Hopefully that is. Jackson was not feeling well at all this afternoon and threw up several times. Weird. So now we are in a holding pattern until tomorrow morning when we can reassess the situation and decide for sure.  So I'd better head to bed so we will be ready to go in the morning. 

All is well, 2 weeks of waiting and counting, in Drosche Land. 

Ring Ring Ring

That's the sound we are waiting for now.  A phone to ring.

Yesterday we had our first Matching meeting at DePelchin.  We met with both our Straight Adoption worker and our Foster Care worker.  It was a good meeting, productive in the sense that we got to meet them face-to-face and vice versa.  Productive in the sense that we were able to clarify our needs and wants, what we are looking for and what we are capable of.  So that was good.  However, that was about all the meeting provided.  No more answers or forward movement, not that we were expecting it.

It is likely that we will end up going the Foster Care route even though we are Dual Tracking.  But that is ok.  Amy and I have talked and prayed extensively about this and we feel that He has a plan for us and we are doing our best to listen and wait.  Wait.  Ugh.

So basically we are on-call 24/7 now.  Our phones are always on, never silenced, and we took off the Do Not Disturb function for night.  Just in case.  Every time the phone rings I jump.  Usually I do not answer my phone if I don't recognize the number.  That has changed as well now.  While we wait.

That's the only adoption update I have.  Nothing groundbreaking or earth shattering, just another small step forward.  And more waiting.  Of course.

In other Drosche Land news Disney was amazing!  I want to write about it all and share pictures but this week is VBS at school and we have been busy with that.  We also had some fun news on Monday so I will have to get to that soon as well.  But those are posts for another time.  For now I'll go and check my phone for the 1,000th time; even though it is sitting right here next to me.  :)

All is well, awaiting a call, in Drosche Land.   

One Last Shot

Not as in chance.  Literally.  A shot.  Like the kind you get at the doctor.

See today we took all of the kids to the doctor.  Yes, all 3.  If you've never taken 3 children to the doctor, then you're missing out.  Trust me, it's a trip.  But seriously it wasn't all that bad actually; they did quite well.  See, Braeden and Stella were up for their yearly check-up and the boys needed their TB skin test for the adoption.  

Now, given past incidents Amy and I were pretty hesitant and worried about how this was going to play out.  3 kids, all getting shots.  Ugh.  The thought of the impending crying and screaming was definitely a fear.  However, all ended up quite well.  The boys were super brave for their TB skin tests and Stella only cried for a little with her shot.  All in all the trip was a success and we were able to happily cross one more thing off of our adoption to-do list!

So now we continue to wait.  Wait.  We were given a 2-week window from Home Study approval to when we would hear from Matching.  We went past that marker last Friday and we are doing our best to be patient.  Luckily we have the upcoming Disney trip just a few days away to occupy us in the meantime.  Once we return though I hope we are able to maintain our patience.

So, there's the latest adoption update.  Nothing huge or landmark but a victory nonetheless.  So for now we will take that.  And wait of course.

All is well, on the road to Matching, in Drosche Land.     

Lucky Day

Wednesday was a good day.  However, it was also the last full day of school and super busy so you are just now hearing about it on Friday. 

1. We received an email late Tuesday night, after we'd already gone to bed, from our Home Study worker. Our Foster-to-Adopt Home Study was approved!  So that started our day off on a good note. But it also means more work for us. Since we have now expanded to the fostering world, we will need a fire inspection of the house. But before that we have to have our gas lines inspected. S the past few days have involved phone calls between myself and the fire marshal's office and plumbers.  A plumber is coming to the house on Sunday and we will see about the gas line inspection then. Friday brings the fire inspection so hopefully by this time next week those things will be taken care of and we will be ready for the next step. What's that you ask?  Well, I was just going to tell you. Within 2 weeks we I will be contacted by someone from Matching and that process will begin. Yet another step closer. Hopefully an easy and quick step???  Fingers crossed!

2. So, Wednesday was good. Bittersweet as another year came to an end. I had a great class and I'll miss them terribly. This past year of changes was amazing and I was I truly blessed with awesome coworkers, friends, students, and families.  The changes were refreshing and reminded me of why I LOVE my job and what ministry is all about!  But the end of the year came and went. On the way home Amy and I met at the doctor to get our TB skin tests (another step since we'd received our approvals). Upon leaving, luck once again visited us. Via a texting contest with my favorite radio station (104.1 KRBE) I won an iPad Mini!  I know right?!?!  I've rarely won anything in life so I was quite excited about this. Plus I got to be on the radio for a few brief seconds. What fun!  You know I love me some Apple products so an iPad Mini is something right up my alley. I have to go pick it up next week so stay tuned about that. 

So, this past week has been a good one for us here in Drosche Land. Amy's and Jackson's last day was today and they also had a good one to end a good year. Next week brings meetings and cleaning before summer fully begins and then we will be in full whirlwind status as we prep for Disney!  But it seems as though things are settling down and calming a bit for us which is good for a change, especially since we are about to (hopefully) enter into the fine stretch of the adoption process! For now though things are good. We've got approvals, an iPad, and summer is here!

All is well, lucky, in Drosche Land. 

Asterisk

You know what an asterisk means. 

An addendum. The fine print. Further details and information. 

Such is the case with our adoption journey. Last Friday we found out that our Straight Adoption Home Study had been approved!  What a relief. How exciting. But with it came an asterisk. A side note. The Committee wanted to be sure we knew that the wait might be longer than we anticipated. See, they tend to lean more toward families with one or no children. We understand, we are not frustrated or upset about that. It makes sense. But it does put a little hiccup in our plans. A Straight Adoption (no fostering) was still possible, just with a likely extended timeline. In addition to this they also were wondering if we would be interested in the Foster-to Adopt program. Bam. Asterisk. This would greatly reduce our wait time, but brings with it many new aspects of adoption that we thought we had decided on. 

Fostering. We obviously knew about it and learned plenty in our classes. It just didn't seem right for us. Plus we are seeking an adoption placement so Fostering is not the route we wanted.  Foster-to-Adopt is similar but with the end result being an adoption placement. Permanent. But with it comes a host of possible scenarios. We could get a placement right off the bat that works out as an adoption placement. Or, we could get a placement that results in the child(ren) being returned to their birth family. Not us. Not an adoption placement. At which point we would have to say goodbye and would enter the process all over again. You can see our dilemma and concerns. 

So we talked. Then we prayed. Then we talked some more. We finally decided that proceeding with a Dual Track program was right for us. Simultaneously working in the Straight Adopt and Foster-to-Adopt programs.  That felt right. That felt like where He was leading us. Will it be easy?  Likely not.  But then again very little in this process can be considered "easy". Might there come a time where difficult decisions need to be made?  Maybe. Who's to say?  Sure it's scary and it's unknown. Sure there are risks and the potential for heartache. But there is still just this nagging feeling that this is what we are being called to do.  To change the life of a child. To change our lives. To grow our family.

So that's where we are now. Our Foster-to-Adopt Home Study went to committee today and I haven't heard back yet. We were told that the Straight Adopt approval was more difficult to get so the odds of approval are in our favor. The one difference that we will need to handle between the two is to have a fire inspection of our home done. I've begun the process but we will see what that means for the approval; if we can get it with without the actual inspection done or if it will have to wait for resubmission once the fire marshal gives us the all-clear. Until then we wait some more. I believe that our Straight Adopt file will proceed to Matching where we will begin that process, but we have yet to get confirmation on this so we wait there too. Just waiting all around. 

In the mean time school is getting out for both Amy and I this week so that means summer is just a few days away. That also means that Disney is just a few weeks away!  I haven't blogged much about that so I'd better get started before we head out in mid-June. So, more on that later.  Back to waiting. 

All is well, reading the fine print, in Drosche Land. 

Hard Pill to Swallow

Today, May 16, Is Children's Mental Health Awareness Day. It's the first.  We found out about it through DePelchin and their promotion of it via social media. It's a day to acknowledge and promote the awareness of caring for the mental health of children, specifically in the Houston area. You're to wear a green band aid on your head as part of it. As you can see from above we didn't get green band aids but I think our homemade ones are awesome. We also didn't put them on our foreheads, opting for arms instead. There is also the #healyoungminds to use and I do love a good hashtag!  But nonetheless this is a cause that we support and find valuable. It's also one that is now near and dear to us. For several reasons.

The first is obvious. Being smack in the middle of the process of an adoption (Home Study update post forthcoming) we have been made extremely aware of this. Of how so many children are affected through abuse, neglect, heredity, etc. The likelihood that the addition to our family via adoption will suffer from some form of mental health issue is practically 100%.  I mean, regardless of diagnosis, any child who has been through the CPS process will have issues strictly because they have been removed from their family into CPS custody, that's a given. Add on to that any possible diagnosis ranging from very mild to very extreme and you can easily see how this is such an important topic.  I am so glad DePelchin has begun and is advocating for this.  So there is one reason we are supporting today. 

The second reason is something I have been meaning to post about for some time. I just haven't gotten around to it. Working on the right words. The right time. The right information. I have been mentally writing it for a long time. I think that today offers the perfect platform to finally publish this post. 

If you know us or have been following this blog for a while you know that Jackson is our active child. He always has been. He's always been the one referred to as "active", "all boy", "headstrong", and "busy".  He's been this way since birth. It's just him. He's just Jack. However, as he got older the behavior didn't change or diminish with maturity as we thought it would. This year in Kindergarten it became more evident that he had troubles with self control, impulse control, staying focused, calming down. It also because evident that these troubles were slowing creeping into all aspects of his life, social, academic, emotional.  So, working heavily with his teacher this past fall we began the process of evaluation. You can probably guess where this is headed by now. 

It came as no surprise really when Jackson received his diagnosis of ADHD. We were expecting it. Not wanting it, but also realistic enough to anticipate it. Being teachers Amy and I have extensive experience with this. We know the signs and symptoms. We know the evaluation and treatment process. We've recommended and supported and advised numerous parents and students over the past decade. But it's different when it's your child. It's different when it becomes your reality. It hits a little harder. 

After the diagnosis we tried changing his diet severely limiting the amount of processed foods he ate. Artificial colors and flavors were nearly eliminated from our house. We also worked with his teacher to implement behavior modifications. These all worked. A bit. We noticed changes. A bit. However, it just didn't seem to be enough. So, despite our initial hesitations, we pursued the route of medication.

As we already knew, this was not a choice to make lightly. These medications are serious. The side effects are numerous and can be severe. But in the end Jackson deserved better. He deserved a chance to be just Jack again.  He deserved some help where he needed it. From the first day he was on medication a change was obvious to everyone. Even Jackson himself noticed and commented on it. I will spare you the details of our adventures with medications and dosages. Suffice it to say changes and tweaks were made. Side effects came that were undesirable. He is now on his 4th medication and doing well.  The morning routine of dispensing his medicine has become second nature to us all. It is just now another part of our life. Neither good nor bad, just us. 

As calm as things have gotten (as calm as they can here) we know this is not the end of the road for this. This is just the beginning. Changes will need to be made as he grows and develops. This is something he will have to work with forever. But we have made it clear to Jackson that he is not defined by this ADHD. He is Jackson and he always will be. Wonderfully made by Him. Special in his own way. He just needs a little help in calming down and focusing to make good choices. That's what his pill is for. However, we have also made it very clear that ADHD is not a crutch or an excuse for him. The pill only does some of the work to help him. He is still in charge. He is still responsible for his words and actions. He and the pill are partners, so to speak, working together for one common goal.

So. There you have it. Yet another adventure for us. One we've been experiencing for a while here in Drosche Land, just working through and understanding.  So, you can clearly see the way today's awareness hits home with us in 2 very big ways, and it always will.  I also want to point out the positives that have come from this adventure, other than the help provided to Jackson of course. We are eating much cleaner and healthier, avoiding processed and artificial ingredients as much as possible (although don't get me wrong, I still love me some junk food, but all in moderation). We've also been educated and enlightened. Knowledge and experience that can be carried with us always and used professionaly for growth and advancement. It's also strengthen our faith somewhat as we have had to rely heavily on each other for support as we pray and grow closer to Him as His plan is made known to us. So, it's not been an entirely bumpy road wever traveled.

I also have to give a shoutout to my wonderful wife. She is amazing and has done so much for our family through this. Researching, meal planning, going to doctors, praying, etc. She is one of the strongest people I know, although she will never admit it. Also, since Jackson goes to Epiphany with her, she deals with the he lion's share of this on a daily basis. She is awesome and continues to be so as we make this our new normal. 

Well, I think I've made this post long enough. I'm sure I'll talk about it more in the future and often. But for now I'm finished and my fingers are tired. So, thanks for reading!

All is well, #healyoungminds, in Drosche Land. 

To Swim, Or Not To Swim

Not really much of a question anymore here in Drosche Land. 

You'll remember from my last post that Braeden chose to cut short his swimming career on Monday.  You'll also remember that we chose to let Jackson remain on the team since he was enjoying it and working hard. Well, then Tuesday came. 

I should back up a tad and give you some information you'll need to know. About a week and a half ago we received a check from the swim team. It has Jackson's name on it. Hmmmmm. That's odd. We wondered what it was for so I emailed them. We didn't hear back. Error. Glitch. Some misunderstanding.  Well, Tuesday Amanda (Amy's sister) texts me. She got an email about a similar check she had received for Audrey.  Turns out Audrey was on the original cut list from the beginning of April after Guppy School.  We'd discussed the scenario that Jack and Audrey had been cut but figured not since we hadn't heard anything about it. We then received a similar email about Jackson. Bummer.  Somewhere along the weeks the information never made it to us. Hmmmmm.  Frustrating. Not that he'd been cut, I'm a firm believer that cuts happen and support trying hard but knowing that not everyone is gifted in the same way. Not everyone is going to be the best, or even mediocre, at everything. Something's are just not for some people.  It's the communication breakdown that's frustrating. But, we moved past that. After all, there's nothing to be done about it now. 

So we broke the news to Jack. He was sad at first, afraid he'd let us down. We reassured him that he did is best and we were proud of him. He just wasn't quite ready this year.  That helped and he is over it now and has moved on, not really giving it another thought. 

Thus ends our brief foray into swim team. We came. We saw. We swam. We have 2 team swimsuits to show for our trouble. Looks like the boys don't need new ones this summer!  :) In the end all is for the best. We suddenly have a much clearer schedule as we finish up May and the school year. Our Saturdays will not consist of 4:30 am wakings to be at a meet from 6:30 until 4:00.  All in all I think we will survive. Maybe it's just His way of telling us to slow down. Clear our minds and schedules. Maybe to focus on the adoption?  Maybe?  Maybe?  Or maybe just to take a break and take a breath. Either way we are all fine with these happenings. Oh, and did I mention I dont have to wake up at 4:30 tomorrow morning!  Whew!

All is well, out of the pool, in Drosche Land. 

Catching Up

Hey. 

Well, April is behind us now and all of the A-Z posts are behind us. It was a fun month and I am excited to have made it through my 3rd A-Z Challenge. But enough about that, I'll save the reminiscing for the upcoming reflections post.  This post is about what else happened in April. It was a busy month here and I wanted to be sure to share everything.  Hopefully it won't end up being super long, but I'm wordy and make no promises. Here goes.

Swim Team. Well we jumped in feet first with Guppy School in early April. It was hard at first for the boys. They both can swim, but it had been since September so they were a little hesitant. But we kept on, after all we'd made a commitment and we were determined to see it through. Daily practices are rough but we did our best. Sadly though Braeden ended up missing about a week's worth due to his involvement with the school play. Upon returning to practice this week he didn't seem to be in it at all. We'd had conversations with both boys throughout the month about trying hard and doing their best. Jackson seemed to be showing some improvement and worked hard. Braeden though was a different story. For some reason he just didn't want to try. We were surprised as he has always been the athletic one and has never had a problem trying sports. Swimming though must not be his forte. Despite our stance on quitting, we allowed him to withdraw from the team this week. The daily struggle and drama were just not worth it. For him. For us. For his coaches. He paid us back for the cost of his swimsuit and we have chalked it up to a life lesson, hopefully one he will learn from. Jackson on the other hand is still on the team, he wanted to stay so we are encouraging him to keep at it and try hard. Time Trials are this Saturday and thus begins our loss of Saturdays with swim meets taking them over. 

Speaking of the play, Braeden had a blast. Quite uncharacteristically he took this seriously and gave it his all. I heard great things about him from the teachers in charge of huge play. How he was paying attention, knew his cues, worked hard. It all paid off too last week as we proudly watched our little squire take the stage.  He's already wondering about trying out for the play next year, we've shelved that decision for revisiting. So April had a win-lose aspect for Braeden. 

Adoption. We completed our second Home Study visit and had anticipated our report and file to go before the committee about a week ago or so. However, we were once again reminded that not everything is on our timeline, but His. Due to illness and issues in the life of our caseworker, our file will not be presented until next Tuesday, and I will update once we know more. So we have been dealing with that. Sure it's frustrating, we've been in this process since September and are eager to get a placement and be finished. However, May is so crazy busy since we are teachers that it is also somewhat of a blessing because we know we will be through May before anything else happens. So we wait. Ugh, there's that word once again. Wait. But hopefully we can continue to be patient about it. 

What else happened?  Easter came and went. Stella was made for hunting eggs it seems as she went at it seriously. A toddler on a mission. I still haven't gone through all of our photos so hopefully there's a belated Easter photo post soon!  I served on an Accreditation team for another Lutheran school last week. Planning for and being out of the classroom for 3 days was crazy, but the experience was awesome and I had a blast. It is so amazing to get into other classrooms just to watch, observe, and talk to other teachers. Often this is far more valuable than any conference.  I hope to have these opportunities more in the future.  Oh, at St. Mark next year we are adding a second Kindergarten class and a former coworker, and great friend, of mine will be the teacher!  That was super exciting as she is Stella's godparent and it will be great to be on a faculty with her again after a year apart. We are already planning, along with the other Kindergarten teacher, fun things for next year. So there's some good news from April. 

I think that brings us up to date then. So, it may not sound like a lot but factor all of that into daily life, along with other stuff I'm sure I forgot to mention, and April flew by. As of now there are only 16 days left of school, gasp, and I don't know if I am ready to say goodbye to my students. Although, I never truly am anyway. These next 2 1/2 weeks will be a flurry of assessments, projects, cleaning, and fun. Just the way May is intended to be.  So, now that the catching up is taken care of, we can proceed with regular, current, posts about the adventures here. How was your April?  Busy?  Was it a blur or did you have time to slow down and enjoy it?  Regardless, I hope it went well!

All is well, caught up, in Drosche Land. 

Home Study - Part 1

So Saturday was the day. Finally.  After two reschedulings we completed our first Home Study visit this past Saturday!

There was a lot of vacuuming, mowing, and tidying that went on that morning prior to the arrival of our caseworker but we got it all finished. All in all it went very well, not really worth all of the worry and anxiety we'd worked ourselves into.  She was here for about 4 hours total. In that time she observed us giving the kids lunch, talked us through the process, administered the individual interviews to Amy and myself, and took a tour of the house. 

We've been prepping for so long that there weren't really many suggestions for things that we needed to do before the next visit. Since we are straight adoption and not foster or foster-to-adopt there are some questions concerning procedures but she will be finding out the answers to those and then we can work on them if needed after our next visit. 

The kids were very good too while she was here. Stella was her usual self and our caseworker even commented on how much personality she has!  Ha!  No kidding. The boys pretty much stayed upstairs, as usual, occupying themselves with TV  and toys. I was even able to get Stella down for her nap so that was great. 

After the visit was finished we were left with a huge stack of paperwork to go through, fill out, and sign before our next visit. Being ourselsves though, we finished it last night. We are currently awaiting a response to see when our next visit will be. Either this Sunday afternoon or next. The sooner, then better so I hope it is this weekend even though we are super busy with taking the camper out for her inaugural run. 

The next visit should just be more talking. The boys will have their individual interviews and I am sure Amy and I will hear more about the process and what to expect next as well. But we shall see. One more Home Study visit and then we wait some more. Wait for the writing of our caseworker's report. Waiting for the approval of our Home Study. Waiting to be sent into matching and begin that process. We all know how well I do with waiting so I hope I find a measure of patience in the next few weeks and am able to stay calm. Until then we just pray and wait, wait and pray. You know, the usual. 

All is well, one step closer, in Drosche Land. 

Rescheduled

Well. Today was supposed to bring you a post about our first Home Study visit. 

A little over a week ago we finally heard from the person in charge of our Home Study. We were ecstatic. The appointment was scheduled for today, 11:00 - 4:00. A nice long time to get to know us, our home, and build a relationship that will help us to bring home outer daughter. 

We were cutting it close since it is Spring Break and we are reading out of town tomorrow to go camping, but the Home Study visit was so important we knew it had to be squeezed in. Last weekend we began cleaning and straightening everything. That way today would bring a quick once-over and we'd be ready. 

Then we got an email last night. Our caseworker had been out of town and unable to read through our file prior to meeting us. She would have to reschedule. Next Saturday was worked out. 

Argh. Bummer. Not what we wanted to hear. We did not want to push the process back for another week. But, it is what it is and we moved on. Next Saturday. Luckily we will be back from our trip with plenty of time to finish prepping the house and ourselves. 

So now we focus on vacation. Who doesn't love a vacation?  This will be the first Spring Break trip we've ever taken. With Amy being a Director for so long and Stella being so young still last year we have never gone anywhere so we are all pretty excited. Planning is done but packing is not so tomorrow morning will be a flurry of activity as we head out.  Which reminds me that I have to change out the laundry. So I guess I will say goodbye and get to that.  Stay tuned to upcoming posts on vacation, the Home Study, and another new adventure. 

All is well, change of plans, in Drosche Land. 

Adoption Update

Hello. 

So far this January my posts have been more frequent. New year. Near blogging leaf turned over. Also, thanks to the Top Photos of 2013 blog hop. 

But now that is over and regular posts can resume since I sort of put them on the back burner during the blog hop. So I thought it would be great to offer an update on our adoption process. People frequently as us about it. A timeline. What's going on. What's next. 

Well, January has been quite busy because every Tuesday and Thursday we have been attending nightly classes as part of the pre-adoption stage. It's not been as bad as we'd feared at first because the classes, albeit at night, don't run as late as scheduled. Also, the childcare available at the Methodist church where the classes are held has been great and the kids love it. So those things have definitely been a blessing at this stage. But it still means that twice weekly we have late nights. 

Amy's been fantastic at planning, organizing, and bringing meals. She's done a combination of fast food/restaurant gift cards and food from home. So that is also going better than we originally expected. We only have 2 more classes left, tomorrow and next Tuesday, and then we will be finished!  We a quite ready. 

Once we have finished our classes we will be assigned a caseworker from DePelchin and will move into the Home Study phase. This is somewhat familiar to us from when we went through the process for Margaux a few years ago. But things have changed since then and adopting via CPS rather than an international adoption are polar opposites. Still though. We have a general idea of what to expect.

To prepare for the Home Study we have been getting the house ready. Cleaned, tidied, rules and regulations met and followed. For example, having a 2-story house means that we have to have an escape route from the upstairs other than the stairs in the event of a fire. So we bought a fire ladder. Also, all medication (ALL) must be locked up where tiny hands cannot access it. 

We're not sure how long the Home Study phase will last or how many visits from our caseworker it will entail. But we are more or less ready for that. Truth be told, we are ready for the process to be totally done. To have our daughter here with us. To be finished. The fatigue from planning, coupled with the excitement of bringing our daughter home, make waiting even more difficult for me, an already impatient person.  But waiting is the name of the game so I play along. 

That about sums it up for now. Hopefully I'll be able to have a Home Study post ready to roll soon!  But until then we have classes to do, a bit more paperwork to fill out and submit, and many more prayers to say. Oh. And the waiting of course!

All is well, ready for the next stage, in Drosche Land.