update

DSS lost another form.  Shocker.  Resent.  
Her reply:

" Yes,, your packet has been submitted to the state office. The response from the state office is taking longer than usual.  I will keep you informed."

Show me the $ (seriously...where is the $?)

People often wonder (and ask) how much foster parents get paid.  You hear about these people that foster as a "living" and take on more and more kids to make more and more money.  Let me be the first to tell you:  these people suck.  these people are poor (morally and financially).
South Carolina is amazing - we won't ever leave...BUT we are one of the lowest funded in terms or reimbursing foster parents.  So the monthly board payment varies based on the age of the child and medical circumstances.  The child (note: not really us) will get roughly $330 a month....this is to pay for food, clothing, any supplies (diapers, formula, etc.).  The "Minimum Adequate Rates" is 73% higher.  The child is also considered a "family of 1" by the state - making them eligible (based on having NO income) for fun stuff like Medicaid, WIC (food stamps...**note:  learned pretty quickly not to judge the people in line that seem like they have $ but are still using food stamps....you just never know why they have them**), and the ABC (daycare) program.  We will end up paying a little out of pocket for daycare because the amount doesn't fully cover the providers in our area.  Overall, we will probably break even or be shelling out a little money to cover everything....that said, we are hoping our pay off will be in other forms - like seeing a child that doesn't know "normal" thrive with us, seeing parents of these kiddos get their lives together and do the right thing by their children, and like knowing the will of God and taking care of the least of them.
Nothing new from DSS yet.    

Another day...another form

Got another email from the DSS licensing lady.  This may come as a shock but she needed one more thing on a form.  She did say 
"Thank you for diligently working with me to complete this process. We are waiting for the state office to view the completed packet and make the final decision.  The state licensing office may have additional questions, until then,   I will keep you informed."  
Sounds like our application finally made its way to Columbia...but I'm not so sure I believe it.

Strange

Wow so that lady at DSS must've gotten into a lot of trouble or something! Since yesterday, I have heard from her twice today. I usually hear from her about every 6 weeks for some random form. I had most of the things she had asked for together so I emailed everything over - including the form where I had to put the new date. Then this evening, I get an email from her asking me to update this other form and send back asap.  Really lady??! ASAP???  I'm pretty sure that when somebody drags their feet for months they're not allowed to say ASAP. I will send over in the morning.  We can't help but be curious as to if they are trying to fast track us now.  Guess time will tell.

Ridiculous

DSS contacted me today.  As soon as I saw the email, my heart skipped a beat.  Well.....apparently I am the only one who is anxious.  THEY STILL HAVEN'T SUBMITTED our package.  In fact, she wanted me to "update" our application with today's date.  Makes sense given the fact that we applied on AUGUST 2, 2013 (and that was after already submitting a ton of stuff).  No WONDER they have such a shortage of families...this is enough to make people want to drag their feet or just say 'screw it'.....  Guessing someone lit a fire under her since we were mentioned by name yesterday.
onward march.  bleh.  6 more weeks she said......riiiiiight.

Say what?

A friend from church who does foster care and is my "go to" for questions about it sent me a text yesterday afternoon.  Her:  "have you heard anything"  Me:  "not a peep"  Her:  "Can i call you?"  Me:  "sure"......i put the phone down wondering what she wanted to chat about.  She called a few minutes later and we exchanged pleasantries for a couple minutes.  Then she told me that DSS had called her regarding 2 three yr olds and a 1 yr old.  The 3 yr olds are being placed in a new foster home because DSS had to "close" the other one.....that CAN'T be good; right?!  The 1 yr old is a new placement (she thinks).  DSS can't find a home for the 1 yr old so they called my friend.  Now, my friend has 5 children (3 bio and 2 long term fosters pending adoption).  They are an amazing family, which is probably why DSS approached them.  They typically only take in older children (not babies/toddlers) but were making an exception.  "How nice" I thought.....then, she told me she dropped our name to the case worker.  Telling them how we are looking to foster that age range and that she wasn't sure where we were in the process.  FREAK OUT A RAMA.
I guess a good way to explain my freak out is similar to a woman who is pregnant...you're ready to get things moving and have the baby but then when it's "go time" you freak out a little but there's really no going back.  We have waited so long that even a potential placement and/or a long shot (since we aren't really licensed) is a BIG DEAL.
Timing would be totally typical for our fam....Brady just broke his arm, kids are about to finish school, work is heating up, and Danny may have to travel next week.  That's just kinda how we roll around here.
Okay, so I am packing a ton of things up for my friend - pack n' play, booster seat, etc....cleaning the dirty car seat from my attic off with the vacuum when i realize i had a missed call....from DSS.  FREAK OUT x2.  No voice mail.  Interesting.  Now I can't help but wonder WHAT they wanted and i really don't think it was a coincidence since she mentioned us by name.
When I brought the supplies to her house, she mentioned that she plans to keep the 1 yr old (who I now find out is 14 mos old and HUGE...that's ALL i know and probably all you will ever be able to know) until a perm placement is found.  She thinks it will be us.  Crazy.  Scary.  Exactly what we signed up for.
I've been praying hard for this little guy.  You can't help but think that someone must have done something pretty awful to have a child taken from them.  At least he's big....that says he was fed.  (sad to even think about that)  I've also been praying for our family, that whatever the plan is goes smoothly.  It won't but we will make it work and laugh about it at the end of the day. (see above:  that's how we roll)  :)
So, who knows....will we get a temp license?  Have they even submitted our paperwork?  Was our application still at the bottom of a pile here locally?  Did they just dial a wrong number?  Is this guy a long term placement or will he be going back to his family soon?  What's the story behind it?  Will the kids adapt easily?  Will Danny and I?  Will our friends and family?  Thy will be done.
I'd say "here we go"....but who knows at this point.  Please keep us in your thoughts and prayers.  Nervous and excited over here!