In the meantime- Our First Placement

Meanwhile, we had continued with fertility treatments and made the decision to move forward with IVF. Our appointment was scheduled for October of 2009. In July we got our first call for kids! It was a sibling set of four ages 4-11 (3 girls, 1 boy) who would stay for two weeks before returning to their foster home. We were so excited, but realized now, we had a crib and a guest bed but that wouldn't be enough. We had two days to prepare for their arrival so ran to our local furniture store and bought bunk beds to be delivered and set up the next day. (Flash forward--through the course of only five years as parents, we joke that we have been bed, stroller and car seat poor! I am sure we have owned more than the Duggar's, as we've tried to accommodate our changing situations!) So, bunk beds.....the rooms were readied, we stocked our fridge and the kids showed up. Holy cow! What difficult and fun times those two weeks were. But, in no time, we were sure we had made the right choice in opening our home. They called us mom and dad for that short time...sweet but a  little sad...enjoyed 'cousins', pool parties, a family reunion and church. We love bedtime stories, so decided on The Little House on the Prairie to read. The three girls shared a room in our small house while their brother was in the room next door. When we read the first two nights, he stayed in his room claiming bed time stories were for girls. The third night I caught him at the door way of his room listening and asked him to come in. He sat on the floor at Scott's feet while he read and by the end of the book had his head resting on my knee. They needed love, security, comfort, safety...and although they would only stay two weeks, we (our extended family included) did the best we could to provide these things. When it was time to go, tears were shed with lots of hugs and prayers that everything would be ok. After five years, we still think of them fondly. Funny how love can come on so strong in such a short time. I pray they are loved, secure and safe, even now.

I can't share their picture, but this is a chalk drawing they did for us and took our picture just before they left.