Boys, Boys and more Boys

A few weekends ago we began doing respite care for the Foster Care system. For those of you that don't know, respite is when you watch a foster child that is currently with a foster family.  It is essentially giving that foster family a break.  

Our first foster children were 2 and 3 year old boys.  They were great kids and seemed to love playing with my boys.  The especially loved our dogs.  All was really great until they continually woke up crying as they didn't know where they were.  Poor little things.  It is so hard to fathom what is going on in their heads.  They were also up at 5am.  If you know me, you know that I desperately need my sleep.  If I don't get a good 8 hours I turn into a monster.  

The following weekend we got a 5 month old boy.  We had him for a week as his foster family went out of the country and couldn't take him.  He was adorable......until.......he started screaming on Saturday.  He did not stop screaming morning, noon and night.  On Monday afternoon, his daycare called and said he had Hand, Foot and Mouth disease.  I lost it....I was crying as much as the baby.  Turns out it was a double ear infection not a highly contagious illness.  Once on antibiotics he was back to being the sweet little baby that he was supposed to be.

Today, our testosterone levels are back to their normal high.  No additional boys in the house.  I slept a full 8 hours and feel great.  Our foster care journey had been interesting so far.  I have to say, it is incredibly rewarding despite the crazy times.

The boys loved the baby.  They took an active role in caring for him.

I mean, an active role.  This is Myles "fishing for babies".  I swear the baby was laughing the entire time as Myles "reeled" him in.  They did an amazing job with all of the kids.