Our last night as parents

The goodbyes continued today. 

Our Little Lady has put up some pretty thick walls around her heart. As people are hugging her, crying, and saying goodbye, she is either changing the subject, walking away, or laughing and clapping. 

I know that this is just her way of protecting herself, but it's still hard to watch. 

When her best friend was sobbing in front of her, she just smiled. When my sister-in-law hugged her and said goodbye through tears, she said a simple "bye" without even looking at her and walked away. (When we were outside, she told her goodbye again, but it wasn't much more sincere.) 

We're preparing ourselves to receive a similar, half-hearted goodbye tomorrow. 

We kept things pretty simple today. Breakfast, church, lunch with family, packing, and rollerskating. It was hard to decide what we should do...what would feel "worth it?" We decided to just do what we normally do. 

Our last night together concluded with a FaceTime call with her grandparents. I just can't say enough about how incredible they are. Talking to them renewed our strength and hope and reminded us that she's going to be so well cared for. 

Such a special gift. LaurieAnn gave LL a photo locket this morning. 

She was a fancy journalist this morning. She brought her notebook and wrote little notes about how breakfast was. 

Last day in kids' church.

Our children's minister gave LL a photo of all of the kids who were there this morning. 

She stared at it the whole way to lunch. 

Our last meal together as a family of 8 (would've been 9 if David was there.) 

I hope we can get these two together again someday. 

I love these people. 

A few weeks ago, Jan asked LL what kind of baby blanket she'd like to have. LL described the blanket she would design, and then Jan made the blanket! I'm telling y'all - I have the BEST mother-in-law in the history of EVER. 

One of our last photos together. 

Packing up after we got home. 

It's so close. :(

She tried out her new roller skates tonight. 

Teaching LL how to skate in the garage before we moved to the street! 

Trying to fit in a few more life lessons on our last night together...how to roller skate, never buy into adjustable rate mortgages when you're older, and always carry granola bars in your car for homeless people. 

Bry carried her up and down the hill a few times. She loved it!!

The last supper. 

And the packing continues...

So many memories packed neatly into this box. I wonder what she will remember about us and about her time here after all of this is over. 

I know this just looks like paper and tissues to most people, but it's the most beautiful thing in the world to us. Now I understand how kids can get away with giving their parents a piece of "art" for Christmas. Without anyone asking her to, she painted rocks for us and wrote us individual notes. 

She requested that we put it all on top of Bry's dresser. 

I'm looking forward to seeing you, too, little one. 

Her last "feet night" in her bathroom. Lucy is going to miss this girl. 

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About Us: 

We began our foster journey in mid-August 2013. We finished our classes in October, had our home study in early January, and we were licensed on February 7, 2014. After seven calls from CPS, we received our first placement, a 7-year-old girl (our Little Lady, or LL for short) on April 3, 2014. Thank you so much for taking the time to read about our journey through the craziness that is foster care. Most importantly, thanks for your prayers, love, and support. We hope to encourage fellow foster/adoptive parents as we document our ups and downs each day. 

Key Posts:

We are Facebook-Official!

Saying goodbye to someone I've never met

Will you get a white one?

Yup, it's gonna hurt.

Day 1 with our Little Lady

Oasis (post from Brian)

What we tried to build

Why I don't usually write (post from Brian)

Another night in the closet

LL...if you just stumbled upon this blog and you're freaking out because you see pictures of yourself, please START HERE.