Tag: journey

Adoption, foster, photography

The phone calls we have waited on!

by Sheridan Johnson3 Comments on The phone calls we have waited on!

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Image Credit: here

The past two weeks have been SO busy here at the Johnson household and I have been wanting to post this blog for some time now!

So if you remember the post about the post on our update on our boys and then back in August when I posted an update on our baby girl and how things were going with each of the cases, well things have FINALLY moved forward and we have some good news!!

I will start with our boys:  Their legal worker called me about a week and half ago and told us that unless the boys’ biological parents took the case to the supreme court (which they would have to pay out of pocket for–which is highly unlikely) then we could move forward towards adoption!!  They estimate that it will be done in a couple of months, and we are SO excited to get things moving along in their case! My mom stated that as of Friday they have been in the foster care system for over 730 days now (Can you believe that? Ugh so sad)!

Now on to our wild child a.k.a our baby girl:  Her Adoption worker called me on the day of her placement review hearing on Wednesday and let me know that after I talk to the adoption negotiator (which I did Friday), that the last step is that everything is sent to our lawyer to be submitted to the court and we will get a FINAL adoption date!!! AHHH! It is SO real that God really may give us our Christmas wish for her to be officially adopted before the end of the year! Gosh we cannot wait! We have prayed and had MANY ups and downs with our baby girl in her case, but we knew that God would always put her right where she needs to be.   (Oh and an added bonus: She won’t have to be blurred anymore and we can FINALLY announce her new name!!)

So definitely there are some BIG things happening within the next few months (along with baby Johnson coming next month) so definitely keep following along!

Oh and our Christmas cards came in and they are ADORABLE!! I love every single picture and I love how our family changes every year (will leave you all with a preview and I will definitely be posting the full front/back when all of our family/friends have received them) ♥♥
©2017 Sheridan Johnson @Journey with the Johnsons. All Rights Reserved.

 

Adoption, foster, parenting

Detour in our journey

by Sheridan Johnson9 Comments on Detour in our journey

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This week has definitely been one for the birds.  Quite literally.  Everything that we knew about this foster process, definitely got thrown out the door.  With little mans case they had cancelled visits due to both parents not following the services CPS had laid out for them, and so we just automatically figured that we would have him in our house for at least 6 months.  Well, the legal worker came to my house yesterday, and told me that a home study was approved for little mans aunt, and that he will be removed from our house next week on Wednesday after his MD appointment.

We feel everything at this time.  Happy that he is being reunited with family, sad that he won’t be going back to his mom and dad as planned, wondering if his family will follow all of the strict rules they place on them, and just continuously praying for everyone involved.  His parents, his family, his legal team and all of the CPS working on the case, us during this transitioning period, and of course him.

We pray that he knows how to love, how to use language (signing as well) to  communicate his wants and needs, to share with others, to have fun with other children, and truly remembers what it was like when all of his needs were met.

We also got told that baby girls track (that we thought was leaning towards terminating parental rights), might be changing as well.  We won’t know for sure until the hearing at the end of the month, but this is definitely a huge change in the Johnson household!

We are staying strong in our faith, and knowing that God is placing these precious kids in our lives for a reason, and we are just going to be the best version of ourselves to these kiddos.  We know that there will be more children in our future that we will indeed be able to help, and that’s what we have to look forward to in our future.

Please say a sweet prayer for all involved, that would be greatly appreciated. ♥

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

 

Adoption, foster, growth, monthly update

2 months!

by Sheridan Johnson1 Comment on 2 months!

 

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On this day, two months ago, Shane and I took a leap of faith and followed what God has finally called us to do.  Foster/Adopt a child.   He was brought to us the day after Brielle turned 3 and it has definitely been a whirlwind ever since!

I used to say “time flies” all the time for Brielle when she was growing up and it feels like that is all we same for him as well! He literally came to us at 14 months non-verbal, not able to walk, and just overall developmentally delayed.  He has come SO FAR is such a short amount of time and even started calling us mommy and daddy (he hears Brielle do the same) and we are just amazed at how much he can verbalize now!  He also has started this little crooked run when he thinks we are playing hide and seek/chasing each other.  It’s beyond precious and it’s so unique just for him!

He had his 60 day hearing Aug. 11th and that was a very interesting hearing to determine where the court system thinks he should be placed/is any family members have stepped up and shown interest in wanting him placed with them.  Well, turns out an aunt (of course, always an aunt, right?) stepped up and now little mans legal worker has to submit a home study on the aunt to see if she has a clean background/place to live to be able to provide for him.  We won’t know anything more, until after that is completed.  Something was said in the hearing that did really bother me though.. the lawyer stood up and asked the legal worker if “the foster family is becoming too attached too quickly”, and he said yes.. then she proceeded to move up the home study date to be completed within 2 weeks, in hopes that he is removed from our house and reunified with his family.

THIS right here.. is why the system is crazy!  We will forever continue to show him the same love, affection, and protection as we do with Brielle.  He is in our care at this time and we are going to do the best we can to make sure that he succeeds and he gains confidence and independence, so that one day he will be able to contribute to society, instead of following in mom and dads footsteps.

He will do amazing things in this life, and we just hope the little bit of time that we do have with him, sticks, and he knows what real love and affection is.

Cheers to two months with the Johnsons, little man!!

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(I REALLY wish I could show y’all his precious and adorable smile! He is SO photogenic)

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