What a difference a day makes!

In the immortal words of Ice Cube...today was a good day!  It seems that attending the adoption party was the best decision we ever made. We got FOUR adoption related calls today.  That's right, FOUR! Our adoption social worker said that people are "fighting" to get to us first.  We hope to have some meetings set up soon with social workers to get more information.  Our social worker said we are "first choice" among the children:

1 girl, almost 4 yo.  No known special needs, no legal risk
2 boys --- 1 two yo, 1 three month old.  HIGH legal risk.  No known special needs.
2 boys - 19 month old and 4 yo.  19 mo old has PT and some motor delays.  4 yo has speech delays but is making gains.  Born methadone addicted.  Low Legal risk. Social worker MAY want a SAHP.
20 month old girl and 3 yo boy: Both on the autism spectrum, girl is having seizures.  We said no to them. :(

There was a sibling group at the adoption party of 4 girls ages 3 - 9.  Part of me wishes we could adopt them.  My husband said, "Yeah right.  Maybe with your next husband." The thing with 4 girls - they will all be teenagers at the same time!

A social worker also e-mailed our SW to request we attend another adoption party in 2 weeks at a local office.  After feeling discouraged for a little while, I am now feeling really optimistic.  Maybe one of these cases is our children/child. Maybe not.  But I guess it is nice to feel "wanted." And a reminder that our children are out there.

I have an all day training tomorrow where they have a "no phone" policy.  I will be checking my phone on the sly like a madwoman!!

Baby Prep

I have found it is hard to try to prepare for such a wide age range.  Parents who are pregnant know when the baby will be coming, and that they will be a newborn.  I am trying to prepare for anything from birth to age 5.  How do you prepare for that? As part of the preparation, I came across two parenting DVD's: The Happiest Baby on the Block, and The Happiest Toddler on the Block.

      These DVD's are based on the books by the same names.  I was able to find them both on Netflix.  The Happiest Baby is basically how to soothe a crying baby.  The Happiest Toddler deals more with tantrums, and how to prevent them and de-escalate them.  I have met parents in real life who swear by the methods in the Baby DVD.  I found that movies to be helpful, because you can see the techniques in real life. You also get to see a lot of adorable babies. :)  Now the production quality? Let's just say that it won't be winning any Oscar's.  The Dr. is kind of goofy and cheesy, but gives practical advice without being condescending.
     I found some of the techniques in the toddler DVD to seem a little silly.  Some advice was similar to social work skills, such as reflection (restating what the person said). I haven't met anyone who tried these techniques, so I guess time will tell.  It may still be worth watching for other parents of toddlers, because they are so short.  Being in DVD form, there is also a better chance the my husband will watch them.
     I have also been reading What to Expect: The First Year and What to Expect: The Toddler Years. To be honest, I find them kind of overwhelming.   There is a lot of information. I feel like the author talks down to people without giving real advice.  Some of the information may be helpful as a reference when we actually have children in the home.