Baby girl sees her parents!

I remember when we were in the hospital signing initial paperwork, the CPS lady started telling Shane and I that we had to also take baby girl to see her parents weekly due to court orders, and I started thinking, okay I have two foster kids, two weekly visits, and a ton of appointments to have to make (6 doctors in total) for baby girl.

So logically I scheduled for both kids to have the same time (1:30-2:30) every Tuesday at the same location, to make it easier for everyone.  We still have to drive an hour there and an hour back, but it seemed to work best.

Well, it turned out that baby girl had her first follow-up eye exam (see more about that in my post here) in San Antonio, and so we just met at the CPS location that her legal worker was at, to make it easier for both parents and us and it worked.  The parents waited until the appointment was over, which actually caused the first visit to be over an hour late, but we all were patient and make it happen.

The difference between our foster childrens legal workers (what a major tongue twister!!), is experience and professionalism.  Baby girls legal worker is very professional and seems to know a lot of what he is talking about, and he tries to communicate with both the parents and Shane and I as much as possible.  I am so glad to see the right way of how things should be done.

This time, we don’t actually get to meet the parents.  I am assuming that is written in court documents, because her legal worker makes sure that we go in one door on one side of the building, while they go in the complete opposite way.   Given the history of both mom and dad, I think this the best option, but one day I would like the chance to meet them and let them know that baby girl is in great care, and that we are here to help in any way possible.

After the first visit was over and her legal worker brought baby girl back to me, the parents had changed her outfit, and bought her a lot of clothes that they said they wanted to give to us to take home and use for her.  It was a nice gesture of them.

The second and third visits are relatively the same, but after the second visit the legal worker state that the parents wanted to know what they could help us with (if anything at all). I told them that her diapers are her biggest expense (she goes through about 8-10 a day), and that we pretty well stocked on everything else (clothes, formula, wipes, bottles, etc), but I thought that it was nice that they asked.  At the end of the third visit, the legal worker brings us back 2 packages of newborn diapers, more clothes for the baby, and a box of wipes.  It was very nice to see how much they love and care for their baby girl.

I am not excusing anything that they have done to put them in the position that they are in right now, but forgiveness is so important throughout this journey, and it’s so good to know that they truly do love their child.  It makes everything that much easier, knowing that they know they might never get her back, but are going to love her and cherish the moments that they get with her, every week.

I hope that throughout these next few months, with whatever the court decides should happen with this case, that the parents remain this involved in the case and attend each weekly visit, as scheduled.  I know it means a lot to baby girl to hear familiar voices and know that she is loved by them as well.

She does appear to be a little fussy after each visit, but nothing that cannot be calmed and soothed by a little rocking and love.

I will definitely keep you updated on any major hearings that could change the route that this journey is going, but for now… please pray for both baby girl so continue to grow and heal and get stronger every day, and for her parents to lean towards God in this difficult time and know that whatever temptation that may come in their way, that they can resist it.

©2016 Sheridan Johnson @Journey with the Johnsons. All Rights Reserved.