First Visit with Bio-mom this afternoon...

Hope all goes well, and ya"ll have a great weekend.

I was wondering how the visit would go. Give us updates!!

Yes, how did it go?

Sorry I'm just now getting around to updating! As you can imagine/know, things have been pretty crazy! The visit was fine. We picked the kids up and explained to them what was about to happen. We told them that they would be coming home with us afterwards and they seemed fine with everything. When we got there the kids ran straight to a lady that was sitting in the waiting area. I thought it was their mom but she was actually the friend that drove their mom there. We went to the visitation room where they had a ton of toys, but it's a very small room. Probably an old office space. Our SW was unsure where mom was so she began to call and walk around while we waited and played. Their 13 yr old brother (who's been in care for a year) was also there for the visit but he was apparently with their mom, who they couldn't find. Inside I was worried that she left or something. They finally found her and 13yo in a conference room with the aide that would be in the visit. FS8 was waiting on the couch with the art work he brought for her. When their mom walked in she had a bag of clothes for them, along with FS8's Wii that they couldn't find the day of removal. She put her bag down and handed FS8 a handful of quarters. He didn't get up to hug her or anything. She then started hugging and kissing all over FD3 while she handed something to FD7. No hugs for the older two, just lots of hugs for the youngest. Then we were introduced to her. I told her that I was happy to finally meet her. We got up to leave and their moms mental health caseworker was there and asked her if there was anything she wanted to say to us or ask us. She told us not to cut their hair. I asked about a trim and she said that was fine, just no length. DH asked her about FS8 because he mentioned that he wanted to grow his hair out to a shaggy cut. She said he was old enough to make his own decisions. (Sidenote - FS8 told DH later that night that when his mom said he was old enough to make his own decisions that she was just talking about his hair. DH told him he knew that and he wasn't ready to give him the keys to his truck just yet. HaHa!) She thanked us before we left and we went on our way. When we came back, they were coming down the stairs to leave. The kids came running to us and were ready to go. Their mom thanked us again, said goodbyes, and left. The kids came right with us. The 13yo came with us, we went to FS8's baseball practice, then we went skating, and 13yo stayed the night so he could watch FS8's baseball game in the morning. FD3 has mentioned her mommy almost every day this week, but never tears with it. Just "I want my mom" or "where's my mom?" and I tell her that I don't know. We've had doctor's appts this week where FD7 got 3 shots she was behind on. Then we went to the dentist. All three of them have to get at least 3 teeth extracted, plus fillings, crowns, and sealing. FD7 practically has little black nubs for front teeth. The dentist said it was straight decay. All of them have many decayed teeth. Our FD's have never been to the dentist and they did very well. FD3 has to be put to sleep at our children's hospital for everything to be done at once. FD7 has four appts to complete all the work and FS8 has three appts, all done with "laughing gas". We're supposed to have a visit with mom again today, but the SW hasn't been able to reach her. So I don't know if it will happen. Plus FD7 has her first of four treatments today at 12:00. ETA - The Service Plan Meeting is coming up in a couple of weeks with the Service Plan courtdate being in July.

That is so sad about her not hugging the older kids. :(

Yeah...it's very obvious that FD3 was the center of attention. FD7 always seems to stay in the background. We are really trying to let her shine, but she's very shy about it. FS8 was with his "uncle" a lot the last few months before removal so he wasn't always around.

Ouch, the older kids have been through a lot with mom by the reactions. That is sad. Hopefully a plan will come together soon.

Well their mom finally answered the phone. They'll be visiting with her in a little while. FD7 had four teeth pulled, fillings, and seals put on her adult teeth. She's at home with DH right now but will be going to visit with her mom as well.

I'm so sorry that your foster children have these dental issues. Thankfully they are in your home and getting their needs addressed both emotionally and physically. Have a great weekend.

Yes. DH and I are beginning to think that FS8 is seeing that the way they were living wasn't "normal".

Well today's visit went alright but I could tell that their mom had been crying. All of the kids cried when they got in the car and FD7 cried before she went to bed saying that she wanted her mom. :( It definitely wasn't as smooth as the first visit. I called their SW and she said that their mom just can't handle certain situations so she broke down. She also said that she's going to have to tell her to stop bringing stuff to do the girls nails because that's all she does and doesn't focus on the boys at all.