Is this kid like 3 years old????

August 21st....CPS brough us "TANK".  I was home alone that day, as Chris was still at work.  In comes the CPS worker carrying an 8 month old "little" boy.  Now remember...our only other experience with a child in our home was a newborn....straight from the hospital.


Tank looked....HUGE.  He was fussy...he didn't want to be held, didn't want to be put down, didn't want to eat/ drink...and he was HUGE! 

Chris got home from work, and I will never forget his face or what he said....as he stood in the garage doorway.  "Is that kid like 3 years old or what?"  I think we both crapped our pants a little that day...we were so scared!  We had NO CLUE what we were doing.

What can he do?  How much formula should he be taking?  Does eat other food?  What size diapers?  What is bedtime going to be like?  Holy Moly....God...are you sure about this?  This wasn't exactly what we were thinking or looking for when we said we wanted a child in our home.  We wanted to grow with the child....learn as we went!  We are clueless here!  HELP!?!?!?!?!?

Well, I'm not going to lie....the first month (at least), was ROUGH!  Tank was not easy.  He was difficult to console.  He screamed often...didn't like to be held.  Frustrated easily.  We were not having fun...at all.  There was more than one conversation about disrupting, as we were NOT going to let foster parenting ruin our marriage.  NO WAY!

But...we stayed the course.  We worked with Tank, worked with each other, and prayed often for guidance and strength.  And as the weeks passed....the days begin to improve.  The frustration began to soften.  The unconsolable, became consolable.  Slowly, with caution and some hesitency, our hearts began to stretch and grow...and as we began to bond with Tank, he became our son! 

We knew from the beginning that Tank would probably be a short term placement, and that he would probably go home to his mother.  So, even though our hearts had taken him in as our own, we remained mildly guarded with our emotions.  We would love him...provide a safe, nurturing home for him, and then return him to his birth mother when deemed safe to do so. 

Until November....when the game changed!