Finding our rhythm

So yesterday morning while I was down here writing my post D was upstairs having a nose bleed. A pretty bad one, too. He was so calm about it all. I went in their room and C was awake, lying quietly on his bed. I started talking to him and started changing his diaper when D started to stir. I looked over at him when he sat up and my heart just sank. He noticed right away because the blood dripped on his arm and he said "I have a nose bleed". Just like that, all matter of fact. I grabbed some tissues and had him hold them on his nose while I finished C's diaper. Poor little D was a mess. I ended up calling my MIL because the bleeding wasn't stopping. She was an LPN and a para-pro at the ISD school. She said I was doing everything right, pinching his nose and having him breathe through his mouth. Finally it stopped. I was calm, cool and collected but inside I just wanted to cry!

He said he gets a lot of nose bleeds. After I got him all cleaned up and got them both dressed for the day and breakfast was on the table my hero arrived! My MIL was at the door. She stayed for several hours while I soaked all the bloody bedding and jammies and got the humidifiers going upstairs and down. I am hoping the dry air is what caused the nosebleed.

My MIL stayed until just after lunch and as she was getting ready to leave my mother came over. I am so blessed to have both of them! They played with the boys and read to them and just watched them and hung out while I was going laundry and making beds and all that work that needs to be done.

I feel like we are finding our rhythm. We'll see tomorrow when D goes to school and Wednesday morning when I am on my own getting all 3 of us ready. They were in bed last night by 8:20 and they were both asleep when I crawled into bed at 8:30. I just couldn't stay up any later. It worked out good because today I got up just after 4 and did some work, showered and was ready for work by 6. The rest of this morning will be devoted to the boys. I think I'll wake them at 7 so they get used to this schedule. E has the day off today so he's hanging with the boys. They are going to my MIL's while we meet with DHS.

E found out a bit more about their mom. Seems she dropped the kids off at one of her ex's and then went on a bender. She tried to kill herself by taking a whole bunch of pills and that combined with the alcohol put her in ICU for a few days. She went to jail on Saturday (the magistrate charged her with a parole violation) and she spent the weekend in the detox cell. E said she was a terrible pain in the u-know-what all day yesterday.

I don't know her record. I don't know how many times she has had her kids placed with CPS. I know she has 5 children with 4 different men. 3 of the children are with their father's or their father's family. C and D are with us because one of their father's hasn't been located (as of Friday) and the other father has a no-contact order. I don't think any of mom's family will step forward to take care of these boys. I remember when we were in high school Grandmother could not take care of her own kids so I doubt she's any better now.

I pray the boys get to stay with us. I pray for their mom that she can straighten herself out some. I really don't think she is in any shape to take her kids back. I know she has 15 days in jail but that could change. We'll know more today!