A new Wickerbaby is on the way!

Lilypie Pregnancy tickers

Friday, March 6, 2009

YAY!

We FINALLY got our pictures in today! I already have all the announcements addressed and in the mail!! I am so excited about them going out. I only had 12 though, so I sent them of course to all the grandparents and great grandparents and then just other people who I thought would really like to see them: aunts, uncles, etc.
I also organized all of the other photos and figured out which ones to send to my Mom and Chris' mom. So as soon as I get some envelopes that will fit the pics I will send those out too! They are seriously adorable pics.

Note: If anyone would like copies, send me an email at abwickersham@gmail.com or leave a comment with your email, and I will send them via email and you can print them out.

In other news, I am really bummed out about the budget cuts the state has had to make here in Arizona. As you probably know we are foster parents and the budget cuts have a definite effect on our pay. They have cut the daily allowance by 20% which figures to about $300 a month less for us. Not only that but they've cut all the 'extra' stuff too, such as vacation allowance and summer camp allowances. So that means that if we want to go anywhere for vacation, say Florida, we would have to pay for them to go with us (airfare/hotel/etc). Also, we've used up all of hours for respite this year. Our agency allows for about a weeks worth of respite (the kids can stay with another family while we are out of town or in the hospital as was our case with the babies). We've used up all that time from when we had the babies, so if we want to go out of town and leave the girls we'd have to pay for the respite care ($1/hr/kid). All of this to say, that it looks like we won't be making any trips to Florida any time soon. We had hoped to make a trip in June when some of my family would be there but because of all of the budget cuts it doesn't look like it will happen. Of course I could always just try to make the trip by myself with the babies but honestly I am a bit nervous about that!

Honestly this is just another...nudge towards not doing foster care anymore. Chris loves it and doesn't want to stop, but I am not loving it so much. Don't get me wrong, I really care about the girls we have now, but 4 kids is really a lot. There are lots of appointments and different issues that come with foster care and handling all that with two babies is proving quite difficult. One of our girls has to have surgery on both of her ears in April, plus they have some serious dental issues that have to be dealt with. I am very conflicted about the whole thing.

Anyway, the babies are doing really well. It's unbelievable how big they are getting right before my eyes! Next week they will be 8 weeks old, that's about two months! I just can't even believe it. They are finally starting to smile a lot more, and they are getting so strong. They like to "stand" on their feet while we hold their bodies, they are both very curious, and they are both really loving the swing-especially Olivia. They are eating so so much, obviously going through a growth spurt right now. It seems like as soon as they finish one bottle they want another. Just always hungry. I've gotten a lot of comments about their eye color too. Both have deep blue eyes, and I know the color can change any time until about 6 months, but every Mom who has looked at their eyes says they don't think the color will change. Every one of them has said it's because of how clear and deep the blue is, as opposed to like bluish gray or a cloudy looking blue. So, we might have blue eyed girls! Chris and I both thought they'd end up with green eyes since we both have green. However, I knew they could be any color because I have one brother with blue eyes blond hair, another with brown eyes black hair, and then I have green eyes brown hair. So who knows?! They'll be beautiful no matter what, I'm just so curious to see how it will turn out. I wonder too if their eye/hair color will be the same. Sarah already has a darker complexion than Olivia does, so I'm just curious if there will be a difference in their hair/eyes. OH! They are also starting to coo and 'talk' so much now! Before it was just grunts and crying but now they make baby noises! Sarah especially! It is just adorable. I read that it's good to make noises back at them and talk to them lots and lots. Speaking of talking, I've decided to start doing the baby sign language with them. The earlier the better I always say. If we start now they will be able to communicate with us so early, even before they are able to speak. So I am excited about that.

Well I better get to bed. Good night all!

2 comments:

Jonathan H. Liu said...

The eye color/hair color thing is really funny to me, because up until around the time we had Ridley I'd never heard of eye colors changing. And I remember in high school somebody saying that they were born with dark hair but then it all fell out and grew in blonde--until then I'd never heard of anything like that, either.
Being Chinese, I kind of expect dark hair and dark eyes from the start, and not much chance that it's going to change later. :) Of course with my kids it's varying shades of brown, but I was pretty sure none of my kids would end up with anything but brown hair and brown eyes.

The Wickershams! said...

lol, yeah I would assume the same thing if I were you.
I've had a few people tell me their kids hair all fell out and grew in a different color. I think that would kind of wig me out if their hair just falls out all of the sudden. I don't know if it's gradual or what but it just seems kind of crazy to me. I'm excited to see how it turns out though.