6 months...

and counting. Aug 12th marked 6 months of having our two foster daughters with us. When I look back it seems not that long ago we received the call to pick up G from another foster home and her brand new baby sister C from the hospital.

It has certainly been quite a journey...here's a very brief {or not so brief} recap.

Two babies with no manuals. So we had a three week crasher course with our previous foster daughters, two toddlers. But we truly didn't expect that just four days later we'd have a 17 month old and a brand new baby. Most people get 9 months to prepare for one and we had 24 hours to prepare for two!

What an amazing group of friends and family we have. People blessed us with so many of our immediate needs from clothes, to cribs, to meals provided for two full weeks!!! Oh, how I understand the need for meals now - thank you Long Beach Grace Brethren, John and Alicia for facilitating that for us. We don't attend that church, we just have some wonderful friends that attend there and yet perfect strangers put out all that time and effort to bless us with meals.

Soon after the arrival of our bundles of joy, we started in on what my sister started coining "the plagues". It seemed that one thing after the next kept occurring. Mind you I was still working full time, traveling for Mrs. Int'l and trying to be a domestic goddess {note the word trying}. Praise God for Greg's flexible job and for the fact I have the most wonderful hubby in the world. Without going into too much detail he became mister mom for the first three months and had to go to battle with much of the following that occurred.

Overcoming Lice. Yep that's right folks. Not only did we become parents overnight but we also were immediately introduced to what I believe is one of the nastiest little {no pun intended} childhood bug. Little did we know the oldest was a card carrying member until two weeks after we had her and noticed the proverbial "itch". Praise God for NIX and RID and all the other products out there to defeat the little buggers. And now we know what the term "nit picking" is all about ;-)

Scabies. Oh yes, you've read correctly. Just as the Lice retreated the scabies crept in...we noticed these fabulous little buggies when putting on her shoes. Since I was already a freak about every thing being sanitized after the Lice incident we fortunately didn't have to worry about the spread of scabies and were able to treat that overnight.

Bronchitis, Upper Respiratory tract infections,RSV, Asthma & ear infections. Talk about just getting every childhood disease out of the way. At this point Greg and I felt we'd experienced more stuff than our counter parts with grown children. G got Bronchitis and an Upper Respiratory tract infection which of course spread it's way to every member of our family including the baby...which hers led to a case of RSV. Just when we were pulling a solid six hours of sleep a night with her we had to start waking her up for two different inhalers every four hours.

But even with all these unpleasantness's, I can honestly say, we have enjoyed every moment {ok maybe not when we found out about the lice} with these two precious ones. From G learing so many new words and pulling her hysterical facial expressions when she's excited about things to little C's every first. First smile, first coo, first time rolling over, first time sitting up, first solid food feeding, first haircut.

How humbling to think God gave us the responsibility to take care of his two little daughters even if it might only be for a short while...and to see all the things I've been able to experience with them that their family has missed out on sharing.

Which leads me to the end of reminiscing on our journey and looking forward to the future. I don't know what the future holds in regards to these two babies. I sometimes wish I could just get a glimpse from God to know if they'll be mine forever or if someday in the near future I'll be handing them back to their bio mom. I'm forever asked "won't that be tough?, how are you going to do that?" and I guess my only answer is "Yeah it will break my heart and I don't know how I'll do it". But that's just it...I won't be able to do it on my own but I do know that God is going to help us through whatever ends up playing out. I've entrusted my heart to him and I have to believe he loves me enough to protect my heart no matter what the outcome.

This Oct. will be a court preceding determining the next step in the future of our girls. Please be keeping our family in your prayers. How to pray? That God purely would protect them, no matter where they end up for life. Would we want them to be ours - yes. Do we want their family to get better and be whole again? - yes. I have to trust that God's will and his eternal perspective on things will be better than any will I could try and force on the issue... so for now {and hopefully always, although it's daily practice for me} I'm trusting Him!

Welcome to toddlerhood....

Well, it's official. Greg and I are parents. And not just with one...but two girls! We received our first foster placement last week....and as you've noticed no new postings since new years because we've had our hands full. The girls will be turning 2 and 3 years old in a few months so we've been dropped right in the middle of the wonders of toddler hood...and it's exhausting! I seriously can't remember ever being this tired and just falling into bed. But it's all worth it with the amazing smiles and hugs I get every morning and the giggles all day long (minus a tantrum here and there ;-) I guess it's all par for the course. Unfortunately, I won't be able to post any pictures of the girls due to confidentiality laws and privacy for their situation. Being that we are strictly fostering them at this point means there are certain guidelines we have to follow to be certain that they are protected...and since my blog is "public" I have to follow them here too. So, you'll just have to stop by if you're ever in the neighborhood to meet them in person. Keep us all in your prayers...and put in an extra request for some sleep ;-)

21st Annual Productivity and Quality Awards

Today was the PQ Awards celebration luncheon held at the Grand Hall of the Dorthy Chandler Pavilion in Los Angeles. Last month the County of Los Angeles Board of supervisors interviewed our Heart Gallery as a potential top three contender of 81 PQA entries. (We had made it to the top 10 at that point) Here's a brief explanation of the awards as written by CEO William T Fujioka

Each award-winning project represents the finest innovation in County public service. Greater productivity, cost savings, and collaborative partnerships are valuable outcomes of these first class enterprises. These projects align closely to one or more county strategic goals, report significant cost benefits, and show quality improvement. The Awards event celebrates the outstanding projects created by dedicated employees who continue to enrich lives for the people of the County.

While the luncheon was for employees of the county I was very honored to be invited by the commissioners themselves to be a guest at the event and participate in being awarded alongside the DCFS directors Stephanie & Sari. We had an amazing lunch and the presentation of awards was creatively done incorporating Star wars-esk type media videos of the winners programs. While we didn't win the top three awards we were very honored to be recognized as a top 10 program in our county. Chuck Henry, news anchor for KNBC4 was the Master of Ceremonies and I met several key people from our community ranging from the Board of Supervisors to Sheriff Lee Bacca.

Encouragement from those who have gone before

JR Mahon was a guest speaker at Halogen last Sunday evening and challenged us to get out of our comfort zones and love people, all people. How easy it is for us to walk down the street and easily overlook the homeless or those that don't fit into our neatly scheduled lives. If we say we are who we are then we need to invest in loving people, investing in relationships. JR invested in reaching out to foster children and last year he and his wife adopted a sibling set of three. After the service Greg and I had JR, Devin (host of real fusion & one of our pastors), Andy (producer of real fusion), John (Adoption Advocate) and a handful of others over to our house to talk about how we are going to challenge the American church to do more for the orphans. After all, it is a biblical mandate to the church to do such - calling it the only "pure religion", to take care of the orphan and widow. It was a blessing to be encouraged by JR and John and his wife Terry - who adopted 5 foster children- as Greg and I are going through the very process they went through.

Special Guest speaker - JR Mahon

For those of you in town (or who would like to make a trip ;-), JR Mahon, will be speaking at Halogen this Sun. evening, Sept. 30th at 6pm. JR is the author of Starving Jesus and will be sharing his message at Halogen, "Love Everyone & Candy", which challenges people to foster, adopt, befriend, love and care for the American Orphan. Come on out this Sun. to hear JR's compelling message and his own story of adoption.
(Click on the Halogen website for address & directions- hope to see you there)
Also, Devin has JR on as a guest for the week on Real Fusion so check it out too!

KCHF -TV 11 Santa Fe, NM Talk Show

Preparing for the interview:


With the host of "Issues & Answers", Diane:

During my time in Santa Fe, I was interviewed on a local talk show called "Issues & Answers". Normally speaking, the show interviews Congressmen & Senators (since it is located by the Capitol). Fortunately for me they gave me a 30 minute segment specifically addressing Foster Care advocacy and the Heart Gallery. It was a wonderful interview and I hope to upload it so you can listen - I'm not savvy on how to transfer everything over to the blog yet...so stay tuned.

Outside the Studio:

Long Beach Press Telegram

The Fri. before I left for New Mexico I had a phone interview with staff writer, Adam Pringle, of the Long Beach Press Telegram. Here's a link to the article: Click here

Official HG America Conference

Today marked the official start of our workshops with Heart Gallery America. There were 26 different galleries represented from all over the nation, @ 80 or so attendees. The new board was voted on (see attatched pic) and we discussed all different facets of making our local galleries successful from fundraising to venue selection, to learning about dealing with press & media. It was a wealth of information but we definitely feel better equipped to go back to our communitites and implement the new tools we were given. Workshops are set to continue again tomorrow but I'll be missing the first set due to an interview I have with a local talk show.

Santa Fe, NM Heart Gallery Garden Party

What a day! It began at 4:45 am. when I got up to get ready to head out to the Long Beach airport with my mom for Santa Fe, New Mexico. We arrived with plenty of time, checked in our luggage, boarded our plane, headed out to the runway and then....the engines turned off??? The captain came on informing us that all planes were grounded as there was a major storm moving through Phoenix, the aftermath of hurricane Dean... and he had no idea when we would be able to depart. Two hours later, yes that's right, two hours of sitting on the tar mack, we finally headed out for Phoenix. Unfortunately, we had a connecting flight that we missed due to the delay which ended up putting us in too late for me to make my first appearance. I was bummed that I wasn't able to get there in time for the public plaza event, but alas, what can one do? Fortunately, I at least made it for the second event, which was the garden party held for all the galleries across the nation to kick of our first ever Heart Gallery of America conference. It was in an amazing gallery, with tasty food, marimba players and other entertainment as well as different speakers, including yours truly. It was a wonderful networking event and I met many of the movers and shakers that founded the gallery. I'm tired but the trip was well worth it!! Tomorrow is a free day and then we head into workshops Mon/Tues.

The website is up!!

The Nat'l website is finally up and running...please take a look at it if you have time. I am excited to be a part of the festivities in Santa Fe, New Mexico this coming Aug 25-29th where I will be given time to address all the galleries from around the country. I'll also be participating in workshops to learn more about making our own gallery here in L.A. more successful as well as working alongside my sister to launch The Fresno Heart Gallery...Heart Gallery of America
Below is a video that uses photos from our heart galleries to give you an idea of the impact a picture can have...

CBS Channel 2 News - Palm Springs

I've hit the road running...Greg and I got back Mon. evening from Chicago and literally fell into bed. Tues came a bit too fast and I got a call that CBS invited me to be a part of their news cast early Wed. morning. I didn't even have a chance to unpack so I grabbed wardrobe from Mrs. Intl, jumped in the car and drove out to Indio where I stayed the night so I could get up bright and early (4 a.m.) to prepare for a 5:15 a.m. interview. I really don't know how anchors do it - and look that good! Dennis Cooke, producer of Mrs. Ca Intl went w/ me and was interviewed on the upcoming California pageants. We were put on three different segments so I ended up being there for 2 hours...Note the little dog - he was brought in by animal control as Wed., once a month, they promote doggy adoption...Dan Ball, the anchor, is going to be my co-host for the upcoming Mrs. California Intl pageant Aug 18/19th in Palm Springs so the pageant will have more coverage to come!

Launching Heart Gallery of America!

I write this with such excitement as I just received an email from the founder of Heart Gallery herself, Diane Granito. The Los Angeles Heart Gallery has been working with Diane to have a Natl Heart Gallery that could be the main umbrella over all 80+ other heart galleries out there nationally. The movement spread so quickly after the first heart gallery received natl media attention that local galleries got up and running before a Natl one was established. I'm so honored that our own local Heart Gallery will be at the heart and soul of launching "Heart Gallery of America". We are in the planning stages of fundraising not just for our own gallery but the Natl one as well and should expect Nov. (Natl Adoption Awareness Month) to be the anticipated date of the gallery. What exciting news!! To top it all off, Victoria Rowell (an actress on the Young & the Restless, also a former Cosby child star is on board...she was in foster care for the first 18 years of her life so she has an amazing story). I look forward to updating you all on more info to come!
Below is the email I received....

Hi Matthew and LA's Heart Gallery,

This is an e-troduction regarding possible future collaboration with the Heart Gallery of Los Angeles and Matthew Straeb, myself and other Heart Gallery of America board members and supporters, re the initial fundraiser for Heart Gallery of America and how we could possibly tie this in with and benefit the Los Angeles area's next opening. Matthew will be in Los Angeles in the near future and would love to meet with you all about this.....it would be great to set up a conference call to discuss this. We have a commitment from Young and Restless star Victoria Rowell to work with us on this. It is in the very early stages, obviously!

Matthew, here is the contact information for the LA movers and shakers. Hope to hear from all of you soon.....and thank you!

California - Los Angeles

www.heartgalleryla.org

Jim Nicolay, President
(jnicolay@msn.com)

Arri Weeks, VP/Portrait Coordinator
(arriweeks@gmail.com)

Jena Ritchie, Treasurer/Internet Coordinator (jena@annabellaimagery.com)

Rebekah Negrete, Secretary
(kelneg@sbcglobal.net)

Sari Grant, DCFS Program Administrator, Director (gransa@dcfs.co.la.ca.us)

3017 Mineral Wells Drive

Simi Valley, CA 93063

805-583-9482


Diane Granito
Heart Gallery(tm) Founder
Statewide Special Events Co-ordinator
New Mexico Children, Youth & Families Department
Protective Services Division
PO Drawer 5160
Santa Fe, New Mexico 87502
Phone 505-476-1045

"Talk of the Desert" TV

Melinda Reed is a talk show host in Palm Springs and invited Eddie & me to be guests on her show. We had such a fun time talking about our pageant experiences (she's a former Mrs. California) and talking about my platform "Foster Adoption Awareness". It has been rewarding to be involved with these types of appearances that have really made a difference with helping me get the word out. Not to mention...it's fun!

Light & Life 1st Annual Heart Gallery

I can hardly believe how fast time flies! It seems like only days ago that I suggested Halogen sponsor a Heart Gallery event and now it's already here and gone. The event was even more than I had expected. I had a wonderful troupe of friends that helped me set up the sat. before...thank you to my faithful friends, Jason & Traci, Izzy & Audrey, and my incredible husband Greg who supports me 100% in whatever I do. Fawnda, from DCFS (Dept. of children and family services) came that evening to help set up as well, thank you Fawnda for all your hard work too! Sunday morning Larry let me address the congregation on the importance of being involved in some capacity with the foster children in our own community. In the Lakewood/Long Beach area alone, there are at least 800 foster children waiting to be adopted! After speaking at both services I had a booth out front to answer questions and take sign ups for those interested in doing more. We had 47 names on that list by the end of the morning and several families were interested in specific children in the gallery. My next step is coordinating an informative class at the church where these interested families can come for more information and get signed up officially to start the paperwork in getting them approved to be host families, foster families, tutors & mentors, and some signed up to be a part of remembering the birthday's of foster children. The day continued with a special service at Halogen's evening service. Johnston Moore, a foster adoption advocate from His Children Inc., came as our special guest speaker and gave a compelling testimony of his own family (they have five children - three they adopted from foster care & two they are fostering that are in the process of being adopted) They were so inspirational and challenged the church on what they are doing to take care of the orphans. Devin followed up with a compelling message that also tied into the need for us to care for these children. During slow worship the church was asked to go around the sanctuary and read the children's biographies and look at their pictures and even more importantly, to pray for each one specifically that they would be placed in a loving family. I want to thank all of you who played a part in making LLCF Heart Gallery a hit, I can't wait to put it on again next year and bring even more attention to the need of our Foster children and what the church specifically can do to make a difference.

Heart Gallery May 3rd

Light & Life Christian Fellowship is hosting the Los Angeles Heart Gallery this Sun. evening at the Halogen service 6 p.m. at 5951 Downey Ave, Long Beach. If you can't make it for this special service you can view the portraits at the 9 a.m/11 a.m. services.

May is the National Foster Care Month - so come on out to learn more about what you can do to make a difference in a young person's life!

When love takes you in

Heart Gallery OC Gala

Sat. night was the Heart Gallery OC gala and it was a smashing success. The event was held at Mariners Church in Irvine. The evening included yummy food, a silent auction, videos of children in foster care waiting for their forever families as well as portraits beautifully displayed around the room. I had the opportunity to share my family's story of foster/adoption and encourage those in attendance to look into what they could do to impact the lives of children in the foster care system. I just added two links to my blog that will take you to the heart gallery for both L.A. and Orange county so check those out for more information! A big thank you to all my friends & family for always supporting me over and above the call of duty. You guys are truly the best and made the night even more memorable.

Interview on "Real Orange"

I had the opportunity to join the director of the Heart Gallery OC for an interview on the "Real Orange". This was my first media appearance to promote foster/adoption awareness as well as the Heart Gallery.

Heart Gallery Feb. 3rd 2007

This Feb. 3rd I will have the pleasure of being one of the guest speakers for the Heart Gallery of Orange County! The Heart Gallery is a traveling photographic exhibition spotlighting children who need adoptive homes. Please feel free to come out and support this amazing cause. Please RSVP no later than Jan. 19th to latayn@cox.net or call 949-855-4615. The gallery will be held at Mariner's Church (upper room) 5001 Newport Coast. Dr., Irvine, Ca 92603. There will be several guest speakers, information on foster/adoptive parenting, and becoming a child advocate. In addition, there will a silent auction with amazing items, live musical entertainment, and hors d'oeuvres & beverages. I hope to see you all there!