Motherhood makes you the mother of all children

This quote has stuck with me.

Motherhood changes us.  It has the power to make us better.  To challenge us to look beyond ourselves and love selflessly, for no other reason than now we can see the faces of our children in the broken around us... "What if that was my child?  How would I want them to be treated?"  Changes everything.

Kids on the move

Bella moved on last week, so we are officially back down to me and Sweetie and we're waiting for the phone to ring for our next kiddos.

Which brings me to - ever wonder where kids go after they leave a foster parents home?

This has been my experience (in no specific order):

• To Grandparents
• Back with Mom, living in transitional housing
• Back with Dad
• Adopted by me
• To a non-relative adoption
• Back with Mom, living at a treatment center that accepts kids with parents
• Back with Mom

Respect for Birth Families, please

As a foster parent I see people in their darkest days.  Kids who have been neglected or abused and the parents that did it or allowed it to happen.

There are times when I feel deep anger and frustration at the choices parents have made.  I cry.  I wonder how anyone could do hurtful things to a child, any child.  Their child.  And now the child entrusted to me.  And yet...

As an act of my will, I choose to have respect.  

To speak of with honor (at all times, just not when little ears are listening).

To try to understand (even when I don't).

To pray for them (more when I feel mad).

To be respectful, not only ACT respectful (Yes, there is a mighty big difference).

Its hard.  It'd be easier to get together with other foster parent friends and bash birth families.  To say ALL birth families do this, or do that.  But it isn't helpful and it isn't loving.

So I stop and I ask our community to stop.

It hurts my heart and it hurts my ears.  

Mothers

There are women who make it look easy, but struggle in private. Those who look stressed, but are soaring. Those who gave a child life and those who will raise them. Those whose wombs ache and those that are filled to overflowing. All Mammas. All loved. All celebrated. Happy Mothers Day.

Kid President - Dear Mom's

You may have already seen this but it is too good not to share -

Happy Mothers Day.

War against illness

Sweetie has had a runny nose (i.e. fountain of snot) during the day and stuffy (i.e. I can hear her breathing through the door with a fan on) at night, constantly, for MONTHS!

She has also been running fevers on and off for months as well, to the point that I don't even mention them anymore because she JUST got better and is sick again.  I started to just think, "Well this is just who she is.  She's a sicky.  She's teething and a toddler.  Totally okay." Until I realized that the fevers + stuffy/runny isn't actually normal to have for months.

So I am now in a quest to try to help her feel better.  I asked my smart, smart friends on facebook and got lots of helpful tips.  Some of which I am putting into practice to see how she does and if it doesn't work, I'll try some different ones.

The suggestions that I gravitated towards were those that spoke to building up Sweeties own immunity and attempting to make her healthy over all because really, if they don't work to clear up her nose, they are only going to help her overall be healthier.

Probiotics

• Started giving Udo's Choice Infant's Blend Probiotic to her 3x a day for the next 3 months to build up the good bacteria in her gut and then back down to 1x a day after that.
• I am also looking into making some milk keifer at home, but am a little more wary of that.  I would love some insights from experienced Mammas.  Setting milk on the counter for 24 hours seems to go against everything I know about keeping milk refrigerated....  but that is what you do to make milk keifer (after adding the keifer grains).
• We have also switched to unsweetened, plain yogurt so it doesn't have the added sugar which helps yeast to grow.

Vitamin D also come highly recommended to build good immunity and prevent deficiencies   Here is my source website (http://drtenpenny.com/vitamin-d-and-you/)

We shall see how it goes.  Any advice for me?

Otherwise, Sweetie is doing great!  She is interacting so much and is so much fun to be around.  Its great to be able to form our relationship on another level now that she's growing.  She's such a fun kid.  I got her (and Bella) a pretend bottle and sippy cup for their babies and Sweetie walked right over to the fridge with her pretend sippy, had me open the door, set the sippy inside and closed the door. :)

DNA / Genetic Testing - 23andMe

I just put an very important package in the mail.  And oddly enough, all it contains in Sweetie's spit.  Yup, some of the globby stuff.

A few weeks back I started researching DNA /Genetic testing as a way to get a clearer picture of Sweetie's ethnic make-up.  She is the loveliest shade of brown, but long story very short (for privacy), we don't know exactly what ethnicities came together to create it.

I stumbled upon 23andme and their test, which promises to answer the genetic question as well as look into some medical things as well - namely genetic risks Sweetie might have for different diseases down the road.  This too is a blessing as we also have very little family medical information.

I did hesitate though, genetic anything still seems scary.  I know that the results of this test will not change how I feel about Sweetie or my respect for her birth family, but maybe some people will see it that way.  I also had thoughts about privacy for results on the testing side - but they say it is all super secure and only the information I want to share with others will be shared.

So yesterday, she spit (or more correctly I collected spit from her - as she wasn't really getting the spit concept) in a tube and now it is on its way to be tested.

I'll let you know how it goes.

Other blog posts about adoptees testing their DNA:

• Why Many Adoptees Including Me Are Undergoing DNA Testing
• Why I am testing my DNA

Have you done this kind of testing on yourself?  Your child?  Your thoughts?