We didn't mean to...

That is, we didn't mean to neglect our blog!

This is Daniel speaking. Many crazy things have happened over the last seven months. Probably many which will not get mentioned here because I just don't remember or don't have time to reminisce.

A few big things (biggest one last):

1) The company I work for was purchased by Raytheon in February of this year. There will be big changes coming up. They are taking it slow, which I like, but the honeymoon period may be ending soon.

2) We're finishing the basement. I have been planning stuff on and off for a few months, and just last weekend we did a large portion of the framing (thanks dad and Ben!!) I will likely post some pictures later on about how it's going.

2) We have had two foster placements come and go. If you ever would like a shotgun introduction to parenting, sign up to be a foster parent! Joanna and I, who have unfortunately never really been parents, got such an introduction this year.

Our first placement was only a week. It was a very cute boy from Somalia... who didn't speak English. There are confidentiality concerns, which I don't fully understand. I do know I can't use his name, but just to be on the safe side I won't say too much about his background. He was about 3 years old, and really liked to wear baseball caps. He wasn't with us for long, but it was hard and endearing at the same time.

Our second placement was three weeks, ending about a week ago. This was two half-siblings, girls, a 9 month old and a three year old. They were darling kids too. There is nothing like having your calm "adult" life immediately changed into taking care of two kids. People in our neighborhood and from my work were so wonderful. We got bags of clothes, toys, movies, all sorts of child-rearing tools flowed in, as well as plenty of moral support. The 9 month old was a beautiful little thing with reddish-brown hair and a great smile. The three year old was a bit more of a challenge - it has to be hard being passed around like this! She really liked music, and reading books. Joanna and I, while we were frazzled, felt pretty good about all this.

We didn't know how long they'd stay. It could be only weeks if a kinship placement (i.e. other family that meets minimum criteria that is willing to take the children) is found, or a few months if the parents get their act together, or forever if they don't and we adopt. It can be a real rollercoaster! Well, what happened with these little girls was that DCFS (Division of Child and Family Services) found a kinship placement, a grandmother, and they turned over custody to her. It was sad for us to see them go, but there is a special basic rule in society that I think can't be broken and shouldn't - and that is that kids stay with their family. DCFS follows this rule unless family just can't meet their needs.

I don't know if I can post pictures of our time with them or not - probably not for a while anyway, that's why this is a text only entry - but it has been a very good experience. We look forward to our next placement!

And we're still open to adoption, and trying fertility measures too, if anyone is curious.