It's a wonderful day!

My stomach has been in knots all week! I mean, how do you prepare for the day you meet your children? With birth, things are a bit out of your control. I mean, you are either drugged out or in great pain, so you are not particularly picky about the professionals following your birth plan to the letter. Things just seem to fall into place. But, this is different! Today is the day we meet the twins! I have packed and repacked their gift bags, second guessed myself and made several trips to the stores to get just the perfect gift. I wanted something meaningful for our first meeting, something to break the ice, but also, something that was not overwhelming. I never knew I could get this indecisive! The indecision must have been contagious, because just when I thought I had finally gotten the right gifts, my husband started going through the gifts bags and second guessing every gift! I finally convinced him that mama had things under control and to trust me on this one! Our meeting was in the afternoon and as luck would have it, I left the gift bags at home when I went to work in the morning. I spent the whole morning having visions of my husband going though the bags and removing some toys!

We went to the foster home, and in tow were two social workers, my husband and I. Not only was it nerve wracking getting to meet my kids for the first time, we were going to be under the scrutiny of two social workers and a foster mom who is really attached to the kids and wants to make sure they are going to a good family! We need not have worried! I am so thankful that the social workers were they. They really stayed out of the way and just chit chatted with the foster mom while we got on the floor and started talking to the children. It took about fifteen minutes before they got curious enough about us. At first they would hold on to the foster mom's legs before they started peeking at the people making goofy faces at them. They finally felt sorry for the two strange adults who were trying their hardest not to cry and they got curious about the bags we had brought. The wrapping paper was a hit! My baby girl was the first to start tearing open the gifts and giving us a smile. My baby boy is more reserved and first observes to make sure that everything is okay. He did finally warm up to us and he was fascinated with my buttons and teeth! He must have been thinking, mommy, what big teeth you have! Daddy played with his baby girl more while I had purposed to focus more on my son, because the social worker had described my baby girl as the more robust of the twins. Per the social worker, she is the one who has always rebounded from their hospitilizations faster and is more curious. My son loves to cuddle! Yeah, because this mommy loves to cuddle her babies! The social workers had the presence of mind to ask all the important things my husband and I could not think of. Important things like sleeping schedules (6:45 p.m. to 6:45 a.m and a three hour nap in the morning), feeding schedules, what foods they eat and like (yogurt melts), their nightime schedule (bath, book, bottle) and their clothing sizes (18-24 months for my baby girl and 24 months for my baby boy). I could not have asked for a better home for my children to be waiting for their forever family. The foster mom is warm and loving and has an immaculate home. She has one child, a 20 year old who is away in college, but you see the love she has for children. Her home is so kid friendly and the children have so many toys and books. The babies were all dressed up and my daughter's hair was nice and all fixed up in cute barrettes. They are working so hard to walk! They were both evaluated by our Regional Center which intervenes to provide services to children under three that have handicaps. The specialists at the regional center feel that all their delays are environmental and they don't qualify for services. Thank you Jesus! They only will provide Occupational Therapy for my son because he has torsilitis (his neck muscles did not develope well and sometimes, his head is tilted to one side). This was not evident at this meeting and the foster mom told us she only sees it sometimes. The social workers were amazed at the progess the kids have made since coming into care and knowing just a little of their case history, I know God has answered the prayers we were praying for our child/ren while we were waiting. God has brought healing. Knowing some of their case history, I can only thank God for my babies' tenacity.

We visited for about an hour and a half and when it was time to leave, the babies actually crawled us to the door! I left wondering if the foster mom approved of us. She does not have any say in the matter, but I really wanted to reassure her that the children she has taken care of and loved for the last few months are going to a home where they will be absolutely loved. We spent a few minutes outside with the social workers decompressing from the emotion of the meeting. I am so thankful for how the process is going now!