hollykaustin

Newborns are cute. And painful.

Yesterday late afternoon I got a call from the County asking if I would take a short term placement of a newborn male. We are focused on girls with medical issues in this household now, but I’ve always wanted to have the newborn experience and couldn’t until now because I was working. So since itContinue reading “Newborns are cute. And painful.”

Recertification as a Foster Home

Every two years we have to be re-certified by the County that holds our foster care license. The process is fairly simple. First, we have to do physicals. There’s a form our doctors have to complete that basically confirms we are healthy enough to be foster parents and are up to date generally. Second, sinceContinue reading “Recertification as a Foster Home”

Gloriously Unemployed

I’ve written a little bit about my work history previously here. If you don’t feel like reading the old post, in short, my work story is as follows: I went to Cornell Law School, and went straight to a law firm of roughly 65 attorneys where I worked for 15 years practicing environmental and zoningContinue reading “Gloriously Unemployed”

An update on Dude Man

Little Dude Man is spending his first night in his new foster home. And I could not be more thrilled with the family that he went to. Mom is a Special Ed teacher, and incredibly sweet. She’s got another boy foster at home who Dude can play with and hug like he hugged Sprout allContinue reading “An update on Dude Man”

A Yucky Post to Write

We have notified the County that we need to have them move Little Dude if they can find another place for him. I’m feeling… well, terrible about it. I’m also vastly relieved at the idea, which is probably pretty telling. I wrote a while back about having a hard time bonding with Little Dude Man,Continue reading “A Yucky Post to Write”

“Sprout” it is!

Commenter Vicki won the naming contest for our three-year-old, formerly referred to on here as “Tiny,” with the suggestion of “Sprout.” I just love that one. It’s cute. And suits the kid. It comes more naturally to me (and my writing) than any other suggestion. I’m not sure why, but there it is. I gotContinue reading ““Sprout” it is!”

“Tiny” needs a new nickname

When she first came to us, “Tiny” was deemed failure to thrive. She was so small and so sick, that calling her “tiny” came naturally. Since then, she’s been diagnosed with a whole host of medical issues that keep her small, not least of which is a form of skeletal dysplasia, a.k.a. dwarfism. She’s aContinue reading ““Tiny” needs a new nickname”

Gratitude Journal

I bought a new blank book today to re-start an old practice: keeping a Gratitude Journal. It’s a practice I started several years ago at the urging of my therapist. The challenge is to write down three things each day that I’m grateful for, and try not to repeat any one thing throughout the book.Continue reading “Gratitude Journal”

Kids and Cats Galore

If you hadn’t realized this already, we are crazy cat people. Like for real. We never set out to be, it just… happened. When I met Seth he had one awesome cat. And when he died we took in a stray kitten that the neighborhood kids found in a dumpster and brought to us. ItContinue reading “Kids and Cats Galore”

Relationships with Parents of our kids

Generally speaking, we’ve had good relationships with the parents of the kids in our care, or at least with the Moms who are doing the hard work to get their kids back. Dads have been hit or miss but the ones who have been engaged in services and visits we’ve had a good working relationshipContinue reading “Relationships with Parents of our kids”