Baking an Apple... Literally.

Baby Bean is growing, or at least we think so! We got to hear the heart beat at 15 weeks and it is nice and strong. His/her heart beat is slowing a bit and is down to 148 BPM from 160 BPM. It was Tate's first time to hear the heart beat so a pretty fun visit. We celebrated with Blanc Burgers and later in the week some baked apples to honor Bean's growth.

We follow the doctor's appointment by a final visit from our Social Worker. We signed our contracts to be foster parents for the state of Missouri and are now waiting to see our home study (a little backwards...). The timeline has been changing slowly and now it looks like we should be finalized by the end of this week (translation= next week maybe?) and will start receiving calls shortly after that. Also, we started our adoption classes yesterday. To adopt from the system, you have to go through the foster classes then the Spaulding classes which deal specifically with adoption. This set of classes is only 4 weeks long and already has a different feel than the foster classes. We are looking forward to learning about this side of the system and getting to know the new people in the class.

Bean is now 16 weeks along and making his/her presence known. I have started to feel some "quickening" aka baby moving, or at least I think I have a few times. He/She is also starting to rearrange my shape and change my wardrobe. We are looking forward to our next appointment in a week and a half. This will be the big ultrasound appointment where I look like a total crazy person making the Ultrasound Tech count each finger/toe more than once, triple check that the spinal column is fully formed, quadruple check the heart, etc while I am running through all the possible birth defects that I have learned about and worked with. Also, seeing Bean in baby form will help my wrap my head around the fact that there really is a baby growing in my tummy.

Also, Happy 1st Birthday Samson! You are currently our only dependent and totally spoiled, but you life will be drastically changing soon!