Dear Diary, Let's Pretend I'm 8.5 Months Pregnant

 I am not 8.5 months pregnant but we do have a little one on the way and this little one will be arriving before we know it.  Our last inspection before we are certified for Fost/Adopt is happening on Nov.4.

I still have lots to do around the house so operation freak-out has commenced.  Yes, I cried at Home Depot because I couldn't find a locking box to hold my kitchen knives.  I jumped for joy at Home Goods,  when I concocted a knife solution from a cute casserole cover.  I panicked (still am) at the thought of my studio.  Today is a BIG reboot to my creative space. Everything has to be under lock and key..... yes, baby can't roll over but my scissors need to be locked up according to the state of California.  And baby gates, baby locks, etc.... don't count.

So here is the scoop.....

We decided to go the Fost/Adopt route for building the Filian family.  I am not sure why but it was like a calling.  Not from a higher power but an inner power.  I went to lots of different seminars and events for Traditional and International Adoption and when I looked around the rooms I saw so many lovely people who were in line to adopt the kids.  I knew that line would never get short.  I knew that women who wanted to place their children with other people/familes would always have a line of people wanting to adopt.  I wasn't worried about standing in the line or how long it would take ~ I just had a gut felling that it wasn't the line for us.

So we are standing in a different line.  In Los Angeles county we have 60,000 children in the foster system.  It's depressing.  Buildings in downtown are being turned into nurseries to house all the newborn babies.  We just don't have enough families to take the kids. It was a heartbreaking reality and when we learned about it, we just knew it was the line for us.

We have no idea if a boy or girl will be placed with us. 

We have no idea how old baby will be.

We have no idea when baby will arrive.

All we know is that we are going give that baby all our love.

We are a foster family FIRST and with that, we will have many challenges (trying to pretend like they are adventures) to get to the adoption finish-line. We will know sooooo much more when we know who birth-mom is and who our judge will be.  We might have one foster baby or we might have three.  Baby might have a reunification with birth-mom.  Birth-mom might hate us.  It doesn't matter right now.... all that matters now is that we are a safe and loving home to a baby in need.

Am I scared? Yes - absolutely terrified.

 Some of the challenges (minor) have been decorating a nursery that is gender neutral and not yellow and green.  (no offense to those colors - I happen to love all colors).  So we went with a rainbow of colors.  I'll be posting everything we did for the nursery in a different post.

So our baby bag is packed and the car seat is installed.... oh and I got a new MOM car! I'm a little spoiled and have no problem with that.

Now we just wait for our phone call......................................

xoxoxoxoxox

Cathie