Days 13 & 14

Day 13: The SPCA has a hallway in the mall every Christmas, so I thought Harper would love to see the dogs. Yep! I was right! She circled the area at least 5 times, saying hi to each one. She also contributed a (very) small donation.










Day 14: Our home group helps a lady in South Dallas get gifts for the children at her community center. So we went to toys r us to get gifts for the girls we signed for. Harper loved helping with this!

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Saying goodbye...

Saying goodbye to this precious little girl will be one of the hardest things I've ever had to do. I honestly feel like I'm having to give away my very own child. When we first started this, we agreed to love, get attached, and treat our foster children the exact same way we do Harper. Yet, in the end, we knew it would be so much harder for us, because we truly feel like her birth parents. But when you think about what a foster child truly needs...it's to have a mom and dad who unconditionally love and care for them. So that was our plan, and I think we did a pretty good job. Taylor's looming departure is tearing me up inside. I can cry at the drop of a hat. I mean, the song "The Little Drummer Boy" sent me over the edge the other day... what in the world?!?

The hardest part is all of the unknowns. I could drive myself crazy with all of the hypotheticals. Instead, I have to trust. Trust that she will be loved well, taken care of, and will thrive in her new home. I also have to trust that she will continue to be protected from the harmful people in her life. I've had to let go of some pride...thinking we were her very best option. We aren't the only family that can take of her well, and I'm choosing to trust that her new home will be fabulous.

When people find out we're foster parents, the comment I get most often is, "Oh, I'd love to do that, but I wouldn't be able to give them back." Well, trust me when I say this, I don't want to give her back...but I have no other choice. I know this is what we signed up for, but that will never make it easy. Loving a child that you know will eventually leave isn't easy. Trusting that her best interests are being considered isn't easy. Saying goodbye isn't easy. But I can't imagine my life without sweet Taylor in it, so I will say it's been well worth it.

Days 11 & 12

Day 11: Harper got to open a present...which was an apron. And then we baked cookies for her teachers at church.











Day 12: Harper's activity was to enjoy a cup of hot chocolate with the family. She was most excited about the marshmallows but I think she had fun!







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Days 9 & 10

Day 9: Our activity was to go ride the Christmas train. It's at this couple's house in Richardson, and it's free...so we couldn't pass it up. It wasn't crowded, and it goes around the track for a while. Harper had a blast!

About to go for our ride

Our friends, Caroline and Brian came with us!

There are a lot of lights and different characters to look at

According to Harper, this dancing Santa was "creepy"!

Posing with Mickey

Day 10: We went to Santa's Village in Richardson. It's a neat little area with different houses for kids to go in and participate in activities. Thankfully, Harper didn't know what was in each house, so we went to the ones with short lines. She had a great time going into the houses, but I think her favorite part was taking pictures with the dressed up characters.

Getting a cookie from Mrs. Claus

She loved having her picture with Beary...whoever that is!

Sitting with Sparky

She also enjoyed sitting on the dalmatians

More fun with the dalmatians

Not interested in trying on the firefighter gear, so she just took a picture in front of their tree

Mailing her letter to Santa

Meeting Frosty

The view sweet Taylor had for the evening...she looked quite comfy!

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Days 7 & 8

Day 7: We went and bought a new Christmas book. I had seen this one a few weeks ago, so that's the one she got. It uses the rhyming of "The night before Christmas" but is about Jesus' birth.




Day 8: Her activity was to pick out a Christmas gift for her teacher. She said she wanted to get her a doll, so that's exactly what we did. I'll obviously include something with the gift too. But since I wanted her to learn how to pick something out for someone else, I wasn't going to say no to her idea. So next week, Ms Gigi will be the proud owner of a Belle doll!



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Days 5 & 6...

For day 5, her original activity was to pick out some Christmas candy at the store, but I went to the store by myself on Sunday. So I picked some out, and on Monday, she got to put the candy in our star bowl. Sounds exciting, huh?!? Surprisingly, she loved it...probably because she got to eat some at the end!







For Day 6, we went to see Santa. She ran right up to him, told him her name, and that she wanted 2 dolls! We got a cute picture too, but since I only have the hard copy, here's the one from my phone...





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Days 3 and 4...

For Day 3, Harper got to open her new nativity and set it up. She has played with it for hours upon hours!!! I highly recommend this nativity!




Our Day 4 activity was to make Christmas tree pizza together. This is another tradition I grew up doing. However, we would always eat it on the night we decorated the tree. Since we already did that, I figured it would be a great Sunday lunch! It's pretty simple, but Harper loved it!








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