Updates

I wish that I had the energy to post more updates as so many things keep happening. But I choose to get those extra minutes of sleep instead of blogging after the girls go to bed.

Here are a few things that we have been up to:

1. Visits with mom and A's dad were scheduled for once a week, for two hours each, back to back. Some visits were rocky, others were great. I am very thankful that we have a local place that hosts these visits with supervisors that take great notes as I had to contact them about a fight that A had with her mom that resulted in her spending the whole two hours not talking to her. We worked it out at home but so much anger is simmering in this little girl toward her mom. H is more pragmatic (and willing to believe her mom) than A is so while she has anger, her natural desire to see the best in her mom keeps her from expressing that anger. Which is good and bad.

2. We went out of state for Easter to visit some of my family. That was a doozy of a trip since when we were an hour away from our destination I got a phone call that someone at the visit the night before noticed A scratching her head and suggested I check her for lice. So I did and sure enough- those little buggers were back. Which is crazy since I had checked her four days before (as a precaution) and didn't find anything! So we spent the weekend dealing with that. Oh the joys of having a kid in school.

3. Since my last update we have had:

• Court date (that we missed due to transportation issues with the CW)
• Went to the funeral of the girls step-great grandmother. That is another whole post...
• Visit with my RD
• Visit with one of CW who is helping with the girls case
• Visit with the girls main CW
• Assessment from Georgia Hope (a state agency that determines if counseling or therapy is needed) 

Upcoming is:

• Dentist visit
• Educational assessment (to determine if tutoring or special ed action is needed)
• Another court date
• Weekly visitations with mom
• Arranging and supporting unsupervised visits with A's dad

4. Yes, A's dad got moved from supervised to unsupervised visits as of yesterday. Saturday is the first day she will spend with them on her own. I am nervous and excited for her to have this opportunity which is a first in 3+ years.

5. Both girls have their CRCT's upcoming and I am praying they pass. I don't care how low they get, as long as they pass their grade I will be a proud foster mom.

At the next court date I've arranged to have our CW request a private meeting with the judge so the girls can tell him where they want to live. They both know that they have multiple options and I feel very strongly that they should also know that they have a right to be heard. At this point, neither one seems inclined to choose mom but rather A has the option to live with her bio-dad and H may choose her step-grandparents. Or they both may say that want to stay with me as that has been a reoccurring conversation where they both express they would rather stay "in the middle" than choose somewhere else. I think they both are so tired of moving and losing everything that goes with moving that they just want to stay where they are for awhile. I tell them that they are welcome to stay as long as they want but I also encourage them to at least keep thinking about their options.