Baby On Board!

We finally have our very first foster baby!  Wow have the past 53 hours been CRAZY!  (I'm going to call her Baby A since she is our very first charge and we're keeping confidentially etc in mind.)
Wednesday afternoon I got a call about 3:30pm saying that we might have a placement within the next 36 hours... they weren't sure of the timing but did we want to have Baby A come to our home?  My response was almost "duh?!?!" but I refrained and said "of course.  We're ready when she comes"  Not even an hour later they called back and said they'd be here in 5 minutes!  AHHH!!!! What happened to 36 hours???
I had already called B at work and left a message letting him know we were getting a child in the next day or so.  When he finally called back was after I had gotten the 5 minute warning.
Five minutes turned out to be about 25 so the girls and I had time to tidy up and prepare ourselves for our new family member.  When Baby A and her CSW got here my heart melted.  Here was a beautiful bundle of a 9 month old baby girl.  Obviously Baby A was nervous but she got over it amazingly quickly and took right to me and the girls.  When B arrived home about 10 minutes later there was another love affair happening between baby and B. 
The CSW filled me in on pertinent baby info and told me nothing would happen till mom's court date Monday and she left us with our new charge.  WOW that was fast.  I was told that she should sleep though the night without waking - who'd think that!! And sure enough she did!  7:15 to 7:15!  I just wish I had slept that long.  Between my own adrenaline rush keeping me up till nearly 1a.m., the kids waking me up at 1:45 & 2:15 and my cold keeping me awake with coughing and a scratchy throat I managed merely 3 hours of sleep!  The amazing thing was that even though I didn't sleep and was up at 5:00am baking muffins, we had a really good first day!
T & MJ got up and helped us get ready to go to our regular play group.  They actually gt dressed and had breakfast without a fight!  I think that's a first.  Baby A got lots of attention from the other mommies at our playgroup and they gave me some great advice about how to deal with a 9 month old.... after all its been 3 years almost since I had one in the house and I didn't have a slow gradual lead in with this one.  It was an emotional thing to have everyone want to see 'my new baby'.  But it was nice to know everyone there would help if I needed it.
After play group it was home for a speedy lunch then off to school for T.  When we walked up the side walk everyone was in awe that I had 3 children instead of the 2 I normally have.  Only a few of them knew that we were registered as foster parents and we were just waiting for our first placement.  Baby A at this point was absolutely exhausted not having had a nap yet but she was SO well mannered and behaved.  MJ & I quickly walked Baby A home so we could get her down for her long overdue nap.  Much like when she went to bed she laid down quietly and appeared to bed drifting off to sleep.  But she didn't.  The little monkey played for about 30 minutes before falling asleep but since she was happy I just let her play. B came home from work early so I could let Baby A sleep instead of waking her to go get T and she slept until I went in to check on her after 2 hours.  She heard me come in and woke up very happy!
I must admit that because she is 9 months old  she's not the a tiny bundle of squishy baby I was hoping for BUT she is certainly wonderful!  In spite of some minor issues in her physical development, which can be fixed by regular exercise, she is happy and healthy.  She is truly such a joy to have in our house.
Our girls are adjusting.  Today was rougher than yesterday but it was also a VERY busy day full of appointments.  Let's see what tomorrow brings.
Yeah we have a baby in our home again!!!