Wednesday, September 16, 2009

From that point to this one was a long road and I'll fill in the blanks later. But to seriously fast-forward, I now have Joshua and Joseph placed with me for adoption and we are a little family finding our way.

My intent with this blog is document our journey. So, I'll get on with it.

Today was a good day. A school day, but an Early Release school day. My first Early Release school day as a mom. Just another one of those things that I haven't had to think about and is suddenly a part of my life. Josh and Joey go to Stepping Stone School after school each day. So, after dropping them off for school this morning, I called Stepping Stone just to make sure they would be picking them up early. Of course they already knew to pick them up early...these folks are seriously on the ball!

People say it takes a village to raise a child. With that thought, I've assembled a village. Some help raise my children and some just make my life liveable. I mention this because the second hurdle of this morning was getting my dogs to Taurus for doggie daycare. They had to go to Taurus today because The Maids are coming to the house today to clean up all of our grime and dust and clutter and fur and such. The maids can do a much better job of cleaning if they aren't being assisted by Cooper and Quincy. The funny part of taking the dogs to daycare this morning is that I'm driving a little rental car right now because my 4Runner is having it's hail damage repaired. I couldn't fit the boys and the dogs in the car, so I went back home to get the dogs after dropping off the boys. Cooper rode in the front seat and Quincy sat in the backseat looking like one of those cartoons of an animal driving a car that is WAY to small. He's such a trooper he'll do anything to get to go for a trip in the car.

I left work to take Joey to see his Psychiatrist. Josh opted to stay at daycare which offered Joey and I some time alone. I truly cherish my time with each of my boys when I get to spend time with them alone. Joey has to see a Psychiatrist because he had been prescribed Sertraline prior to being placed with me. We are all working to weene him off if it, but that takes time and we don't want to act to quickly given that all of us...me, his psychiatrist, his therapist, etc...are all new to him. Can you imagine being 8 and in one day having a new mom, house, pets, school, friends, doctor, psychiatrist, therapist, bed...and the list goes on and on?

As we drive to the psychiatrist's office, Joey begins to ramble about absolutely anything. I wonder if he's getting nervous or if he's just taking advantage of having my attention. He holds my hand as we rush in. I tell him I don't remember if we need to go to the 2nd or the 3rd floor. He informs me that it's the 3rd floor as he remembers going to the top. He's absolutely right. Odd...sometimes he claims to have no memory. That should make all of the parents reading giggle. No surprises at the doctor's office. If Joey doesn't surprise either of us in the next 30 days, he'll take him off the Sertraline at our next visit in 4 weeks. Joey really wants to get off of the meds. He's been asking if I'll consider taking him off of the meds since we first met....which, if you are curious, was exactly 54 days ago...not even 2 months ago was the first day I met Joey. Wow.

After the psychiatrist's office, we head to Budget Optical to get his glasses adjusted so they might stop wandering down his nose. Next we head to Academy in search of football cleats, a mouthguard, a junior size football (he has a large one and a peewee one...but his team is playing with a junior size one...and I'm a perfectionist...go figure), a stretchy thing that will hold his glasses in place while playing sports and a Gatorade. Joey's been asking to drink Gatorade and I've been saying no. Honestly, I can't explain why but I haven't felt like that was a trend I wanted to start. When I saw the Gatorades in the cooler by the checkout, I decided it would be a great "event" thing, so I suggested he pick a flavor. He lit up and looked up at me and said "I can have one?" Oh what makes my heart melt! Joey is so sweet and so vulnerable...oh, and he gives the best hugs ever!! I get myself a Dr. Pepper as I've been fighting a sore throat for a few days and Dr. Pepper always helps. Joey offers to carry my Dr. Pepper for me and as we walk to the car he tells me he loves me and that I'm awesome and that he wouldn't know what he'd do without me. As we drive to pick up the dogs and take them home before picking Josh up from daycare, he tells me "When you told me I have a good arm to throw a football, it really made me feel good. So much that I've been telling people at school that my mom says I have a good throwing arm." I love Joey. I love him with all of my heart and I'm so touched that things I say to him make him feel good.

As is totally predictable, even to me..."the starter mom"...Josh is a bit jealous of the attention and stuff that Joey's received that afternoon. Naturally if Josh "had known" he would have come with us instead of staying at daycare. It doesn't help that daycare is tons more fun with Joey there than without, cause Josh likes to think he's the one in charge. Actually he is...but if you don't have anyone to be in charge of, being in charge means less. He's upset enough to sit in a ball in the garage and cry about being asked to close your car door after exiting. Hmmm. By not paying any attention to this, it stops fairly quickly and Josh moves on.

The evening is pleasant and bedtime is easy. Actually there's tons more to tell, but I'm getting tired and it's past my bedtime. Morning comes earlier these days and I need to get some sleep. More tomorrow.