A new adventure for our family

It has been so long since I blogged and I had thought in February I would do my final post to celebrate Oliver's 2nd year gotcha day. However, the Baers' den is about to grow again so I decided to start blogging again. You must be wondering what we are up to if you haven't had contact with us in the last few months (I know my bad blogging doesn't help).....well, we are embarking on a new journey fostering children in our home. It is something that has been in both Don and my hearts for some time. We both feel that God has led us to this decision.

We started MAPPS classes to become parents this past fall only because one of Don's classes at the local college was canceled at the last minute. We kept looking at taking them but couldn't find the time. But low and behold we could manage it. Our intention was to foster one child close in age to Oliver (under 4) until this fall when Brynn goes off to college. Well this last week an earthquake in Haiti changed all that for us. God kept talking to me and I to him. Then the news media showed picture of all the devastated children in Haiti and I cried, stopped watching the news because my heart couldn't take it.

Well this past Saturday was our 11th anniversary. We were in Orlando visiting our parents. So, we got a rare indulgence of a night out by ourselves. We chose the same Outback steakhouse that Don picked 12 years ago to tell me that he loved me and wanted to be a part of my life forever in. I don't think either of us thought of that on Saturday but I have since. Well our conversation somehow turned to Haiti, our fostering and that Don thought we needed to do what we could by fostering more children and I was totally on board. We then went to see the Blind Side and if you have seen it I don't need to say more....for those of you who haven't, it shows what a difference a great family can make for a child without parents. Then on the news that night we saw Haitian children get off a plane at the Sanford airport with only the clothes on their backs going to foster families.

Sunday and Monday we kept talking about it and how we were going to do it. We honestly had and still have no real idea how we will manage three more kids with the trauma that they have been through not to mention the language barrier, etc. Well on Monday evening I sent an email to our social worker and asked what we could do, can we quickly go from 1 child to 3? I quickly got an answer on Tuesday, "move your furniture around and show us you have a bedroom and beds for 2 more kids and take a picture FAST." They were going to call us anyway as they are expecting a large number of Haitian orphans to begin arriving soon and need to find beds and homes for all of them. Our license was at the perfect place in the approval process to be quickly changed to 3 kids.

So a post on Facebook and an email to all the folks at North Naples Fire District and guess what?? The Lord has provided us with an abundance of love and support not to mention furniture and clothes. Don took yesterday off and we moved bedrooms around, picked up furniture and displaced Brynn from her pretty room to the den. We will get her better situated this weekend. Thank you Brynn for helping us and trying to get on the Tanya train. We are still in need of clothes, toys, car seats, etc. but I am sure it will all come together. We don't know when it will happen, ages of kids or anything. I am hopeful we can help keep a sibling group together. And thank you to my husband for believing in me! I love you! I think our 11th year of marriage has some awesome things in store for us!