You only get 1 first birthday so make it a good one!

Our twins just had their first birthday and of course we had to throw them their first birthday party! In a couple of books I read, it said to keep it small, don't overwhelm baby. Just a couple of people baby knows really well, that's all you need. Welllll I couldn't figure out how to cut our guest list so 50 people were invited! About 40 showed up and because our kids are all-stars, they did absolutely amazing!

I wanted to make it feel like a kid's party versus our normal adult parties so I made some decorations:

I also made beer labels for Jon's homemade beer - I posted those on a previous update Beer Labels. They were adorable on all the bottles! I also made a collage for each baby with a picture from each month. My sister made 4 cakes, yes I said 4! She made one small cake for each baby and one large cake for each baby. All of them in the shape of Mickey or Minnie heads. I would post a picture of their cuteness but they have their names on them.

The party was a lot of fun, the only downside was we had it set up outside due to the number of people invited and it was a little on the hot side. Most people just dealt with it and enjoyed the party.

The twins cake smash was priceless. Baby girl just kept stuffing more and more cake into her mouth. She was a happy girl, even licked the frosting off her fingers. Baby boy also very much enjoyed the cake but he was confused as to why so many people were watching him eat.

Definitely a memorable day!

Medically Complex 1 of 3

Yesterday we attended our first of three Medically Complex classes. We covered how quickly we should have an EPST ( Early and Periodic Screening, Diagnostic and treatment) Exam after accepting a placement along with proper medication administration and the different medical resources available to us as foster parents.

Some of it covered the same topics as Medication Administration but a review can't hurt when it comes to medical assistance. Our teachers for this course are much better than the original PS MAPPS course. They are much better at keeping us involved. Such as training us on properly removing gloves. We had to wear gloves, have chocolate syrup poured on them, smear it around, then properly remove them without getting any chocolate syrup on ourselves or the desks! Another way they kept us involved was with proper medication administration. Each group received 3 "prescription" bottles and had to identify the thing that was wrong with the prescription. Sometimes there was a peanut allergy listed on the label and then there were peanut M&Ms as "pills" in the bottle or the expiration date had passed, etc.

We also got out of this class earlier than any of our other classes so all and in all it wasn't too bad. Keep posted for next week's update!

42 days or less until we are licensed!

Dr. Seuss Room

I'm amazed that in 2 short months we went from a guest room and office to full blown children's room and office/guest room. After we picked the theme (Dr. Seuss in case you missed the last few posts), it came down to selecting colors. We already knew we wanted to do a grass/sky scene so we had something to stick the decals on. Check out the decals here: Dr. Seuss decals! Then we went paint shopping!

And started painting the sky....

Well first comes the typical name painting on the walls - no room is complete without a Lyons stamp! "Baby" is a custom made blue to match the colors in the Dr. Seuss decals. "Lyons" is a traditional light blue. It took awhile to choose as the Dr. Seuss blue was very vibrant and fun but in the end we decided on a more sky blue color. 

The room sat with just the sky blue and green, grassy hills for weeks while Jon pulled off the pale yellow base boards and nailed on new, fancy white base boards. For those that don't know, our house was flipped and the paint job was awful! They painted EVERYTHING this disgusting pale yellow color. By everything, I mean base boards, window trim, air vents, closets....literally everything! As we update rooms, we are slowly fixing their laziness.

After the adoption shower, it was finally time to start putting the room together. Jon put together the crib and toddler bed with Maggie's help of course. 

I worked on putting the books on the bookshelf, taking apart the diaper cakes, putting diapers away, putting sheets on mattresses, organizing toys, etc. Look how tiny little kid clothes are!

Yesterday we got to put the finishing touches on the room. Dr. Seuss decals went up, truffula trees went up and picture frames went up. We can now say we are officially ready for our children!!

Interesting fact: The dresser in this picture is the dresser my parents used to change me!

The curtains in this picture were made by my mom. They have little truffula trees on them.
The pink, yellow, & blue truffula trees in the corner are from our adoption shower!

What do you think of our future children's room?

Medication Administration

Last night was our last class for this PS MAPP section. (We still have Medically Fragile in August but that won't hold up our licensure as that is a licensing agency requirement verses a state requirement.)

The topic last night was Medication Administration and was the only class that had a test. We were given the test at the beginning of class and told that it would mirror the powerpoint. Sadly, I still saw people leaning over and copying from their neighbor. If you can't answer some simple true/false and fill in the blank questions that are almost verbatim off a PowerPoint then I don't think you should be parenting. Luckily for them, I don't make the requirements otherwise I would have failed some people.

Most of what we covered is pretty basic stuff. Wash your hands before administering, explain what you are doing, check the labels, make sure there are no funny pills mixed in with the regular, you know, the norm. Then we started walking through the documentation required. If you know me, you know I am OCD about being organized but even I am overwhelmed by the amount of paperwork we'll be completing. If you're curious on how many forms I get to keep track of here's the  DES foster parent forms website. Although the only form that appears to be missing is the medication one.

For med's alone, I have to document every single time I or someone else give the child any meds including over the counter (cough medicines, ointments, aspirin, tums, etc). According to our instructor this apparently includes sunscreen. Last time I checked, sunscreen wasn't considered a medicine but what do I know? Don't mind me if you see me with a child and my head in a tablet, I'm probably documenting that we just put some aloe on the child because we forgot to use sunscreen because I didn't have time to document it so now we have a burnt child. That's another thing, most of these forms have to be signed so we are not sure if they can be done electronically. We are going to look into it and then I'll just carry a tablet around instead of a binder full of silly paperwork. Someone needs to tell DES to get with the 21st Century!






Needless to say, Jon and I passed our exams and received our certificates for both PS MAPP's and Med Admin. Look how pretty they are! We worked so hard for these! 

For all our loyal blog readers, you get a sneak peek at a little project Jon and I have been keeping secret. We've been looking for a way to make the foster/adoption announcement public (right now it's mostly close friends and family) and we thought, why not do a foster/adoption photo shoot? So we did and we just got the pictures back. Here's a sneak peek of our soon to be official announcement:

We are excited to share all the photos very soon...

I'm not sure how often our updates will come now that our main classes are completed but I will still try to do things every couple of weeks so no one gets bored :)

Parenting Preparations

Our families are throwing us a foster care / adoption shower on June 29th and my sister has been bugging us to get registered so she can send out the invitations. The invitations are extremely adorable, what do you think? 

We think she did an AWESOME job - Thanks Lisa! 

I don't know how first time parents figure out what they need and what they don't need. There are SO many things at baby stores and 50 different types of every item. Do you want a big bottle or a little bottle, a slow flow bottle or a fast flow, a jogging stroller or a regular stroller and then do you want a single or a double? Baby stores are very overwhelming for first time parents if you ask me. We did manage to have a little fun and not just get stressed out. Jon had a lot of input on the diaper bag as he didn't want to be carrying a pink purse, what do you think of our selections?

My biggest concern is the stroller. I refuse to own 3 strollers. Everyone suggests a regular stroller and an umbrella stroller since they are so compact however I'm concerned I'll also need a jogging stroller. We are trying to find a stroller that can be used everyday and I can take jogging. I spent a good 30-45 minutes at each store testing strollers, running down aisles with them and testing their turning radius. Don't think that I was the only one having fun though, Jon was making sure they could do some wheelies! Does anyone have some good advice on strollers?

 

 

This week we also had our CPR/First Aid Certification course. Neither Jon nor myself have ever taken a class like this and we heard from other people in our regular class that it is quite boring so we were less than thrilled. Luckily we had an excellent teacher named Nick from Heart Savers who was extremely interesting! After about a 30 minute run through of CPR we got to practice on Bob (Adult mannequin) and Stewie (Baby mannequin). Here's me saving Bob's life :)

After our break we completed the First Aid certification. We also found this class very interesting and practical. We learned what to do for internal bleeding, asthma attacks, allergic reactions, seizures, strokes, scrapes and cuts, eye injuries, nose bleeds (interestingly enough you actually don't put your head back and pinch your nose like we were all taught), tooth injuries, burns, poisoning, and bites and stings. We now have a handy book with phone numbers and quick reference for all the different situations. I'm very happy we had to take this course.

Any advice for first time parents from all our experienced friends and family?

PS MAPP 10: Endings & Beginnings

Technically our last PS MAPP course! *Commence all the cheering and applause* We actually made it through!! I say technically our last because we still have to attend class next Tuesday in order to graduate. It's a class called Med Admin.

This class started with a woman from the agency who explained how the foster care placement process works. Basically there are 2 types of placement:

1. Emergency/immediate
2. Regular

With emergency the child is in need of a safe home right now. We will receive a phone call from our agency asking if we are willing to accept the placement. They will know only basic details: age, gender, ethnicity, etc. If we accept, they will submit us to CPS. CPS will receive families from numerous agencies. If they pick us, we will receive a phone call from the CPS Shelter Coordinator who will notify us that we will be receiving a child/children. Then we'll get a call from the CPS Case Manager that will schedule a time to pick up the child/children. 

The most interesting thing about this is you cannot check with your spouse before accepting an emergency placement. There is not enough time for it so whomever answers the phone has to make a wise decision.

Regular placement occurs when there were no foster homes available on the day the child was removed and so they were placed in a group home or shelter. If a child matches our specifications then an initial meeting is set up with the child, us, and the CPS case manager. If the meeting goes well, then we set up a day visit where the child can come to our home or go out for an activity. If the day visit goes well, then we can schedule an overnight visit. There are generally only 3 visits prior to placement. Children in regular placement tend to be older than age 6 so we will most likely be in the emergency situation.

Next we did a few activities regarding shared parenting and then we quickly moved onto the end of PS MAPP's and the Next Steps we have to take.

While going through this 4 page document, I quickly became overwhelmed. Here is a quick overview of it:

• Once all your completed paperwork is turned in, all of the references are received, fingerprint and CPS checks have cleared, and your packet is complete, you will be assigned a licensing worker. (We still need our CPR/First Aid Certification which is scheduled for this Saturday)
• Your licensing worker will contact you to set up a meeting to complete your home study. This interview process takes approximately 4 hours to complete!
• The home study must be completed within 30 days of class ending.
• The state licensing department has 60 days to approve or deny our license.
• At a minimum you must have a bed and dresser for the number of children you are seeking, prior to licensing.
• It is a good idea to have items on hand that you may need in the first month. (For us this is a crib, car seat, formula, couple of sizes of clothes, etc."
• You will need to have a couple of day cares selected as you can receive a placement within a day of being added to the available bed resource list.
• You are required to keep a file folder for each child that is placed in your home. This will be checked by your licensing worker on a regular basis.
• You will need to log all contact on the contact log, this will be checked during monthly visits. 
• On a quarterly basis your worker will be checking the Life book for each child and checking your medication storage.

It's crazy to think that in about 2 months we could be fully licensed and potentially have children in our home! I definitely do not feel ready especially considering we don't have anywhere for them to currently sleep, no car seat, no clothes, no baby food...pretty much we have 1 book, 1 bottle, and Cat in the Hat with Thing 1 & Thing 2 that need to get on the walls! We have a lot to do!

Steven Part 2

Envelope #2: Second day after placement

During the comprehensive developmental exam, the doctor has concerns about Steven's developmental delays and recommends that he be evaluated for services through the Arizona Early Intervention Program. The pediatrician also wants Steven to have an extensive eye examination by a Pediatric Ophthalmologist and would like the exam completed this week.

At 5:00pm today, you have the introductory meeting with Sara Smith (Steven's mom). During the meeting you each share information and learn about each other. It is apparent that Sara is angry at CPS and desperately wants to have her child returned to her care. Sara is courteous with you because you are caring for her son although she seems scared of your motives and fears she will never get her son back. She did provide you with an abundance of information so you can care for her child as she would. The first parental visit is set for tomorrow at 5:00pm.

1. How do you feel after meeting Sara?
• Surprisingly positive because she is working with us, sharing information, and doing what's best for Steven.
2. What are the benefits of this type of meeting when a child is first placed in your home?
3. How do you prepare Steven for his parental visit?
4. Who is responsible for transporting Steven to the visit?
• CPS and the foster parents but primarily the foster parents.

Envelope #3: Third day after placement

The CPS Case Manager reports all went well with Steven's visit with mom. He was so excited to see her that he clung to her leg when informed that mom needed to leave. Mom bought him a new teddy bear to sleep with and a new blanket to carry around that he brought to your home when he returned from the visit.

While the case manager is there she asks to see your home. You give her a tour. In Steven's bedroom she checks on his bedding and opens the closet and dresser drawers. Then in the kitchen she opens the cupboards and checks the refrigerator.

Once the case manager left your home, Steven begins to act our. He is screaming, crying and running around having a tantrum. He continues to be inconsolable after using every technique you know.

Steven, in anger and frustration, grabs something very special to you. The piece has great sentimental value and is irreplaceable. It falls to the floor and breaks.

After Steven has cried himself to exhaustion, you tuck him into bed for the evening. You finally can take a breath.

1. What is your immediate reaction to the loss of this item?
• Anger. I would need to take a deep breath before I react.
2. How do you handle Steven's behavior?
• Timeout for 2 minutes in order to help him calm down. Talk to him about what happened at his visit and why he is feeling the way he is. Explain to him that is behavior is unacceptable.
3. How do you feel about this outburst?
4. If it continues how will you deal with such incidents in the future?
5. What do you think of the actions of the CPS Case Manager while in your home?
• Intrusive and frustrating but at the same time we understand that it's in the best interest of the children.

Envelope #4: Ninety days after placement

This evening while you are fixing dinner one of your children and a friend are playing their favorite video game in the next groom. Steven enters the room where the children are playing and says, "mine...froggy game...now". Your child pauses the game and tells Steven that as soon as they are done with this game, he will put on the froggy game and play with him. Steven does not want to wait and goes over to the game system and pulls it onto the floor, it is attached to the tv and the tv falls to the floor. The TV has hit Steven in the head and he is now bleeding. Steven is crying and still yelling that he wants to play the game.

After you remove Steven from the area and attend to his wounds you believe that he needs stitches.

1. Where do you go to seek medical attention?
• If only stitches are required, we can only go to an urgent care.
2. Who do you notify and how do you document it?
• CPS must be notified within 2 hours. We will have to file a significant incident report.
3. What are you going to do about Steven's actions?
• No TV & video games. Explain the reason these items are being taken away and begin working on his patience and sharing.
4. What assistance might you have with the property damage?
• We can file a claim with the Provider Indemnity Program. 
5. How do you feel right now about your decision to bring Steven into your home?

Envelope #5: Six months after placement

This morning you take Steven to Target to get some more clothes. Once inside, Steven yells his mom's name and runs to his mother. He is not going to leave her side.

Later in the day, Steven is quietly playing with building blocks on the living room floor. You step away to use the restroom. When you re-enter the living room, Steven is no where in sight and the front door is open. You rush outside and yell his name; frantically you search everywhere for him. You are unable to find him.

Thankfully, Steven was found by the police. He had run after a dog that was in the front yard. The police found him six blocks away from your home.

1. How do you handle the situation in Target?
• Say hi, talk for a few minutes. Explain to Steven that we only have a few minutes but he'll see his mom again on the specific date of the next visit.
2. How do you feel about the situation in Target?
• Awkward and uncomfortable
3. What reports do you need to file after the runaway incident?

Congratulations, you have just completed a simulation of your life with a foster child in your home!

1. How do you feel?
2. What type of impact has this experience had on you and your family?
3. Did anything have to change with Steven entering your family?
• Yes, work schedules, patience level had to increase, our roles within the house changed

Home Preparations & PS MAPP Class 4

     This past Saturday we began home preparations. The current guest room is going to be the new kid's room and the office is going to be converted into an office/guest bedroom. Jon and I spent a couple hours going through the closets and getting rid of stuff including Jon's wine barrel desk which he loved but truly hardly used; his brother Kris was more than happy to accept the wine barrel's as a birthday present. The old office is now a guest bedroom and my office when no one is staying with us. The children's bedroom is awaiting a new paint job; Jon and I have decided on Dr. Seuss Blue!  Jon came up with an awesome idea for the big piece of wood from his old desk: he is going to make a children's table shaped like the hat from cat in the hat! I'm sure this means more tools are going into next month's budget!

       We've also started preparing for our home inspection by adding a lock to the coat closet door. This is going to hold our bleach, spray paints, and roach spray and perhaps our alcohol if that's required. We still need to figure out what to do with our prescription and over the counter drugs as they have to be kept locked at all times. Suggestions are welcome. We don't have a medicine cabinet in our bathroom so that idea is out. Take a look at our Home Safety Inspection Checklist page to keep tabs on how our home preparations are coming!

      This past Tuesday we had our fourth PS MAPP class. Overall this one was much more interesting. The discussion of the night was attachment and different ways to help the children attach to you. I think the main thing I took away from this class is all kids need certain things in order to attach and form a relationship. It's just going to be a little hard at first since the children have been removed from everything they know. They are going to be scared, sad, and confused when they come to our house but through consistency and support, attachment can happen.

We are looking forward to some more home preparations this weekend, stay tuned!