Once again we are reminded how much God cares for us in the everyday "little" things in life. To think that He is paying attention to us - people who are not doing anything significant in His work or saving the world or changing the lives of the masses - and our needs is a bit exciting and overwhelming at the same time. The thing that has always continued to amaze me has been the way He has always taken such good care of us. It isn't so obvious as a bag of money randomly left on our door step or our mortgage mysteriously paid off, but just at the time when we are thinking "what are we going to do?" He steps in once again and provides.
So in that spirit, we would like to say THANK YOU for the support that has come pouring in since we shared that the boys will be staying with us for much longer than we ever originally thought. Not only have we had offers to babysit, help with moral support, but we have had an outpouring of offers for clothes, wipes, food and other necessities. So again we say THANK YOU from the bottom of our hearts and we could not do this little thing we are doing here without you all. We pray that God will bless you the way He has continued to bless us!
More updates on the fun we are having with the boys to come later (we painted nameplates for our bedroom doors tonight!). Till, then keep moving forward! :)
The Pringle Jr's
Photo Credit: Jeanna Cater
Monday, January 19, 2009
Wednesday, January 14, 2009
Still Even More Fun!
Well we had a home visit tonight with the boys' case worker. This was our first visit with her since she brought the boys to us so we were not quite sure what to expect. We figured she would come in and talk to the oldest one by himself and ask to see their rooms, etc. We were not counting on the new forms we needed to fill out, etc. We answered some questions (what time do they get up, go to bed? Do they seem to like day care? Do they act different after they come from their visits?) All things you would expect her to ask.
While she was here we talked about the updates on their families' home studies. There have been some changes in plans we discovered this evening. The biggest of which is that they are not going to be able to do expedited home studies for any of the family members for these little guys. The other is that these home studies take some time (as those of you who have been reading our blog may well know!) and we are looking at another 2-3 MONTHS at the very least with these little guys! Well you know that is Great news to me and scary but happy news to Patrick! :) But that does mean that we will get to do a birthday party for the youngest one!!!! So you better start watching the mail for the invite (in about a month of course!).
So we do have some stocking up to do (clothes - these kids are growing fast!, toys - we are doing pretty well here, but you can always use some more to change out, diapers and wipes!!!!) and we will get these guys enrolled in WIC to help pay for food and make sure we are setting up dental and doctor visits, etc. In the mean time we will keep plugging away at our schedule (at least we get to use our routine we have just gotten used to!).
Their case worker did say that the judge has set a final permanency date of July 7th. This means that CPS will have to have home studies done on the family members ( and they will have to be approved) by that date or (I believe I understand this correctly) the parental rights will be terminated and they will explore "other options". I don't know if that means they will be available for adoption or if they will extend their family search out further, but it does mean we have a final goal date for these boys.
Till then we will keep doing what we do and enjoying our time with these kiddos and praying for a positive result in the permanency plans. We would certainly appreciate all of the prayers you can throw our way as well! :)
While she was here we talked about the updates on their families' home studies. There have been some changes in plans we discovered this evening. The biggest of which is that they are not going to be able to do expedited home studies for any of the family members for these little guys. The other is that these home studies take some time (as those of you who have been reading our blog may well know!) and we are looking at another 2-3 MONTHS at the very least with these little guys! Well you know that is Great news to me and scary but happy news to Patrick! :) But that does mean that we will get to do a birthday party for the youngest one!!!! So you better start watching the mail for the invite (in about a month of course!).
So we do have some stocking up to do (clothes - these kids are growing fast!, toys - we are doing pretty well here, but you can always use some more to change out, diapers and wipes!!!!) and we will get these guys enrolled in WIC to help pay for food and make sure we are setting up dental and doctor visits, etc. In the mean time we will keep plugging away at our schedule (at least we get to use our routine we have just gotten used to!).
Their case worker did say that the judge has set a final permanency date of July 7th. This means that CPS will have to have home studies done on the family members ( and they will have to be approved) by that date or (I believe I understand this correctly) the parental rights will be terminated and they will explore "other options". I don't know if that means they will be available for adoption or if they will extend their family search out further, but it does mean we have a final goal date for these boys.
Till then we will keep doing what we do and enjoying our time with these kiddos and praying for a positive result in the permanency plans. We would certainly appreciate all of the prayers you can throw our way as well! :)
Tuesday, January 13, 2009
Still Kickin'!!
Well it has been about two weeks since I have done another post. I actually forgot that it has been that long and realized that I needed to get on here! :) It has been a whirlwind the last two weeks. For starters, we do still have BOTH boys. We have a home visit with the boys' case worker tomorrow evening so we will get an update then about how their family members' home studies are going. This could give us a better idea of how long we will have these guys. We are finally starting to get in to a bit of a routine so I am sure we are just in time for them to go home now that we have gotten this routine down! :)
The youngest went to get a hair cut - his first! - and while I I expected it to be a much more involved process (I couldn't imagine how Elizabeth was going to cut this squirmy baby's hair!) it really was very easy! Elizabeth is like a haircutting ninja! :) If you need a good stylist let me know and I will pass on her info.
We've also been to the park (and experienced the worst temper tantrum when it was time to go I think I have ever seen!), had a "play date" (my first!) with my friend Tosca and her boys, hung out with Noni (my mom) while Mommy and Daddy had a date night and spent several Sundays with Grandmother and PaPa. Aside from the regular visits to day care, we have also made a new Potty Chart with Spiderman and Cars stickers for every time we go potty and a new tooth brushing chart with a star for every time we brush our teeth! On top of all of that, we are taking the oldest for a dental check-up tomorrow and should have some interesting changes to our routine after that.
So as you can see in my breif description, things are going well. Though we had a rough night tonight what with getting off work late, Patrick stuck at jury duty until after 7:00 pm, coming home to attempt to do some cleaning before the case worker comes tomorrow night and Patrick getting side swiped in a hit and run before he got home and fussy babies because they were tired and needed some attention, it sounds like a regular night in the homes of many when you type it all out - and we are secretly happy to be a part of that "club". We hope that we will get to keep these little guys for a little longer and that the next ones will bring us closer to beginning our own family (though all of these children will be a permanent part of our "family" no matter how long they stay with us!).
I will try to do better about making an update a little sooner than two weeks next time - but I can't promise baths or stinky diapers won't get in the way! :) We love you all and appreciate your continued prayers and support as we continue moving forward on our journey!
The youngest went to get a hair cut - his first! - and while I I expected it to be a much more involved process (I couldn't imagine how Elizabeth was going to cut this squirmy baby's hair!) it really was very easy! Elizabeth is like a haircutting ninja! :) If you need a good stylist let me know and I will pass on her info.
We've also been to the park (and experienced the worst temper tantrum when it was time to go I think I have ever seen!), had a "play date" (my first!) with my friend Tosca and her boys, hung out with Noni (my mom) while Mommy and Daddy had a date night and spent several Sundays with Grandmother and PaPa. Aside from the regular visits to day care, we have also made a new Potty Chart with Spiderman and Cars stickers for every time we go potty and a new tooth brushing chart with a star for every time we brush our teeth! On top of all of that, we are taking the oldest for a dental check-up tomorrow and should have some interesting changes to our routine after that.
So as you can see in my breif description, things are going well. Though we had a rough night tonight what with getting off work late, Patrick stuck at jury duty until after 7:00 pm, coming home to attempt to do some cleaning before the case worker comes tomorrow night and Patrick getting side swiped in a hit and run before he got home and fussy babies because they were tired and needed some attention, it sounds like a regular night in the homes of many when you type it all out - and we are secretly happy to be a part of that "club". We hope that we will get to keep these little guys for a little longer and that the next ones will bring us closer to beginning our own family (though all of these children will be a permanent part of our "family" no matter how long they stay with us!).
I will try to do better about making an update a little sooner than two weeks next time - but I can't promise baths or stinky diapers won't get in the way! :) We love you all and appreciate your continued prayers and support as we continue moving forward on our journey!
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