SIDS, Sudden Infant Death Syndrome, is the leading cause of death among infants 1 month to 1 year old, and claims the lives of about 2,500 each year in the United States. It remains unpredictable despite years of research. (Quoted from Kids Health.org)
One of the hardest things I’ve been through in this lifetime is losing my niece at seven months old to SIDS. As the disease is unpredictable and misunderstood there needs to be more awareness. As parents, aunts, uncles, grandparents, we can make a difference and one such way is taking the time to raise money for organizations such as March of Dimes.
The March of Dimes supports programs all around the world that help moms have healthy, full-term pregnancies. And it funds research to find answers to the problems that threaten our babies. As such this particular organization is near and dear to my heart. My part is doing the walk each year and I rally my friends, family and co-workers to support and donate to my efforts. [click to continue…]
I recently decided to be more open about being a Relative Caregiver for my nephew that I am in the process of adopting. I don’t usually write about such personal things but I found myself wanting to connect with other families that have been through this process from preparing the house to dealing with the courts and everything in between.
The Process: A Vent of Sorts
Wednesday is my first home study. I went through a home study in the beginning but this is more in depth as it’s for permanent placement. I’ve been going back and forth to court with this for nearly two years now so it’s not a new process, just a frustrating one at times. Dealing with two counties has also made it more complicated.
The paperwork is very detailed as you might imagine, I mean they are giving me a child for crissake. But, being that I’m adopting him on my own all the questions about my soon-to-be-ex really just makes me want to punch something but, it is what it is. Part of the packet included going to get my fingerprints done. But, it just can’t be that simple, I also had to take two of my three kids because they are over the age of 18. That sounds easy enough, right? Wrong. Coordinating with them is ridiculous. I went and got mine done and explained to the adoption coordinator (feeling like an incompetent idiot) that they would be going soon. [click to continue…]
Moving is never fun. Not knowing when you are moving is even less fun. But there are benefits such as having ample time to get situated by getting rid of what you don’t need and planning for what you do need.
If my mom were to read this she would laugh because I’m not a very organized person and I border on being a hoarder. That being said, I’m working hard on getting organized so that I can break these habits. The very fact that I’m figuring this out before moving day is nothing short of a miracle.
Out with the old, to make room for the new
I never realized how much ‘crap’ I have! Tons of seemingly useless stuff that has been gathered over the years, that I’ve yet to use. This is when four piles were created – keep, toss, donate or sell. After I came up with the four pile plan I went room by room, person by person. [click to continue…]
