Hi All -
It has been recently brought to my attention that we can not as foster parents even post updates about the cases of the children in our care even without identifying information listed. So the blog that I have been using as a way to keep everyone updated (despite my best efforts to keep the information I posted vague and without identification) has to be locked down. As such, I have sent out some email invitations to people to be "readers" of my blog so you can continue to have access. Please ignore or deny this request if you do not want to continue to read the blog - my feelings will NOT be hurt of course. If you are still interested in following via the blog, please be sure to follow the instructions in the email. If you did not get the email, please email or call me so i can make sure you get an invite if you would like one.
As for posting on Facebook, I will need to identify the best way to do that. I know I have the pictures I have loaded on Facebook locked down to only my friends, but I can't do that on this blog, so I will have to limit pictures to just my Facebook account. I would ask that anyone who also has pictures of our children posted on their accounts to do the same or to not identify me or Patrick in those pictures (so they don't show up on our facebook profiles). I am sorry to have to be such a stickler, but we can not have any situation where the state or attorneys involved in the cases of any of the children in our home have any way, shape, or form an opportunity to take them from us because of something as silly as posting updates, etc. We really appreciate your cooperation with protecting their privacy!
The Pringle Jr's
Photo Credit: Jeanna Cater
Tuesday, September 8, 2009
Friday, September 4, 2009
So far So good
Well, I haven't been very good about blogging lately because I guess there hasn't been anything exciting to blog about - unless you count the every day life of a family with 3 dogs, 1 cat, 2 boys and a mom and dad....I was thinking that even if nothing amazing happens, it doesn't mean I can't jump on a spin a tale or two! :)
So we will start with a bit of an update regarding the boys and our impending adoption proceedings....oh wait, there isn't one. As is the usual custom in these things, it seems time is standing still while some mysterious behind the scenes action is taking place to prep for the adoption. Don't ask me what that means - as far as we have seen nothing is happening right now, but I have to believe that something is happening and that is the reason that we haven't heard from anyone in almost a month. I am also hoping that the month that has passed is one month out of the 2-3 months it will take to finalize our adoption of the boys (whose names I can now use on this site - Alex is 18 months and Gabriel is 3! - BTW - I still won't be posting pictures up here for a while as this site is searchable from Google and Yahoo and I haven't figured out a way to "protect" the pictures. I just want to make sure we are making an effort to be smart about what we post publicly considering the boys' history. I might be a bit paranoid, but I feel its better safe than sorry in this situation.) The boys' caseworker told us that she was transferring the case to the adoption unit this week. I don't know when that has (or will) happen, but they are supposed to "call us, don't call them" sometime soon - I hope. There is a bit of paperwork we have to complete and a negotiation process we have to go through to get approved for any monthly subsidy, etc. that the boys are entitled to. Otherwise, I believe we just wait for the court date - we shall see.
As far as the rest of our lives are concerned not much has happened but the usual daily rotation between work, kids, family and friends. We did get a "new to us" mini-van recently (what a nightmare that whole process was!). I am a bit proud of myself because I was able to get it on my own with no co-signer - the first time I have bought a car by myself! It has only taken me until I was about to turn 30 to be able to do it! :) Oh well, I still think it is a bit ridiculous that I can buy a house by myself, but I couldn't buy a car until now. At least I have made it one step closer to the "grown up" world (btw - I am realizing that perhaps I liked it better in the "little kids' world" instead.).
Our other bit of news is that we have decided that in January (after we have our Christmas with the boys) we are going to go back on the vacancy list for CPS and hope for a girl this time - for real. We are setting our "criteria" to one girl 3 years old or younger - Patrick picked that! I am pretty impressed as I would have expected him to say younger than 1 instead of 3. But as he told me the other day it is pretty nice to have them all sleeping through the night! :) So we are on the hunt for a couple of twin beds to put in Gabriel's room. Alex will move in with Gabriel sometime in the next few months (probably closer to December) so they can get used to the whole room sharing thing - and so we can make sure that will work out. And we will get Alex's room ready to accommodate any age from 0-3 for the little girl. Patrick has almost totally convinced me to be happy with three kiddos instead of four. I know - some of you out there think I am insane for wanting four, but I know how important having a sister for a girl can be sometimes. Of course, there is always cousins to fill that gap! :) Anyways, we shall see what God has in store for us this next year. In the mean time, we are going to enjoy the time we have with our little guys and look forward to a very nice holiday season coming up (don't worry, I have already bought there Halloween costumes and finished their Christmas shopping!!!).
So we will start with a bit of an update regarding the boys and our impending adoption proceedings....oh wait, there isn't one. As is the usual custom in these things, it seems time is standing still while some mysterious behind the scenes action is taking place to prep for the adoption. Don't ask me what that means - as far as we have seen nothing is happening right now, but I have to believe that something is happening and that is the reason that we haven't heard from anyone in almost a month. I am also hoping that the month that has passed is one month out of the 2-3 months it will take to finalize our adoption of the boys (whose names I can now use on this site - Alex is 18 months and Gabriel is 3! - BTW - I still won't be posting pictures up here for a while as this site is searchable from Google and Yahoo and I haven't figured out a way to "protect" the pictures. I just want to make sure we are making an effort to be smart about what we post publicly considering the boys' history. I might be a bit paranoid, but I feel its better safe than sorry in this situation.) The boys' caseworker told us that she was transferring the case to the adoption unit this week. I don't know when that has (or will) happen, but they are supposed to "call us, don't call them" sometime soon - I hope. There is a bit of paperwork we have to complete and a negotiation process we have to go through to get approved for any monthly subsidy, etc. that the boys are entitled to. Otherwise, I believe we just wait for the court date - we shall see.
As far as the rest of our lives are concerned not much has happened but the usual daily rotation between work, kids, family and friends. We did get a "new to us" mini-van recently (what a nightmare that whole process was!). I am a bit proud of myself because I was able to get it on my own with no co-signer - the first time I have bought a car by myself! It has only taken me until I was about to turn 30 to be able to do it! :) Oh well, I still think it is a bit ridiculous that I can buy a house by myself, but I couldn't buy a car until now. At least I have made it one step closer to the "grown up" world (btw - I am realizing that perhaps I liked it better in the "little kids' world" instead.).
Our other bit of news is that we have decided that in January (after we have our Christmas with the boys) we are going to go back on the vacancy list for CPS and hope for a girl this time - for real. We are setting our "criteria" to one girl 3 years old or younger - Patrick picked that! I am pretty impressed as I would have expected him to say younger than 1 instead of 3. But as he told me the other day it is pretty nice to have them all sleeping through the night! :) So we are on the hunt for a couple of twin beds to put in Gabriel's room. Alex will move in with Gabriel sometime in the next few months (probably closer to December) so they can get used to the whole room sharing thing - and so we can make sure that will work out. And we will get Alex's room ready to accommodate any age from 0-3 for the little girl. Patrick has almost totally convinced me to be happy with three kiddos instead of four. I know - some of you out there think I am insane for wanting four, but I know how important having a sister for a girl can be sometimes. Of course, there is always cousins to fill that gap! :) Anyways, we shall see what God has in store for us this next year. In the mean time, we are going to enjoy the time we have with our little guys and look forward to a very nice holiday season coming up (don't worry, I have already bought there Halloween costumes and finished their Christmas shopping!!!).
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