Paternity Tests and Engagements

So how 'bout my best friend from high school is engaged?! Congratulations Dan! (He doesn't go on AIM, so he won't read this anyways.) On the phone tonight, I said, "Kinda strange, huh? You're getting married and I have three children." I don't mean to judge God, but I'm just sort of wondering how I'm going to meet someone now that I'm involved with foster care. I do NOT want to stop what I'm doing ... I really feel that it's a calling in my life. But now I don't just have to find someone who loves me, but quite possibly someone who will also love the kids. I go back and forth on this one ... mostly, I think if he DOESN'T like what I'm doing in foster care (or the children in my home), we wouldn't have ended up together anyways ... he wouldn't be the type of guy I wanted. But then sometimes I wonder if I could've managed meeting someone had I done something differently after graduating from college. Good thing God's in charge, even when I doubt my own decision-making. :) "Mom" and "Dad" didn't show up to the court hearing last week and the judge ordered paternity testing for the little girl. If "Dad" is in fact a dad, he'll probably keep fighting, although won't gain custody immediately. If he isn't the father, then I wouldn't be surprised if he left. Can you imagine me waiting by the phone waiting to hear THAT verdict? Life seems a little too stressful for me right now. On the good side, Nina slept in her cradle tonight for about a half hour. She's crying, so I'm going to go move her to her swing. Later.

3 weeks later ...

Auntie Kelsey urged me that an update was due ... so here it goes (rather briefly!)

On the way to pick up my mom from the airport the Thursday before Christmas, I made a few phone calls and FINALLY heard that I received permission to take ALL THREE children home with me for Christmas. That evening, we discovered that Nina had gunky eyes, so our trip was delayed a few hours so that I could take her to the doctor. I took her Friday morning, to find that she had one or two blocked tear duct(s) which isn't a serious problem and she'll grow out if it (and may have already done so.)

We had a wonderful trip home, a wonderful Christmas, and a wonderful time "relaxing" with my family. One of the best parts was Nina's crib in my parents' room, so I didn't do any middle-of-the-night feedings for a while. (Actually, I was sick when we came back, so Katie had her for the first couple of nights back, too.)

Last week, Nina ended up in the E.R. Turns out it was an ear infection, but she's also quite congested. Christian woke up from a nap in nursery this morning and seems to have something that LOOKS like pink eye. There are three scheduled doctor's appointments already this week, and there may be one tomorrow. Plus, we have speech, special instruction, caseworker visit, and I have a huge observation at school on Wednesday. I sort of dread starting weeks like this.

I started a new grad school class on School Law and it's quite difficult. Most of the time, the difficulty lies more in the fact that my computer is terribly infected with a virus than the course material being difficult. I'm hoping Katie's brother can help us out this week, so I can get back to normal grad school schedule.

For now, I'm going to fold laundry until the basement is clear and start the week off with it all done (yea!) How exciting is my life. It looks like I'll have all three children at least through July. Nothing's ever definite, but that was encouraging! Thanks for reading. :)