Amy and her son Chris have been on our radar screens for well over a year.

We’ve known about Amy’s soon-to-be-born child for around seven months.

Little Mark has been in our hearts for eight or nine months.

At one time, it seemed possible that we might be raising all three of these children and I can tell you, we had quite a few semi-panicked “How in the world are we going to do that?” conversations. Silly us.

It appears that all of these situations will finally, finally resolve themselves this week.

We should hear about the judge’s decision re: Mark any time. (Please God.) (And while we’re at it, please let my mom stop calling me over and over and over again – just for today. I jump like I’m shot every time the phone rings.)

Amy’s court hearing to determine whether Chris will be going home or whether her rights will be terminated is this week.

It remains to be seen whether she’ll attend, though, because she is expected to give birth at any moment. We've heard nothing from her about raising this child, as she'd once mentioned, so I guess she's going it alone. Three children under the age of three. Heaven help that girl.

I suspect that as Chris and Mark’s situations reach their resolutions, our dreams of having them in our family will come to an end once and for all, but there is a part of me that will be so happy for them – that maybe, just maybe they will get the stability they deserve. It’s been such a long time coming for them both.

I swear to you, if I make it through this week without an ulcer, it will be a miracle.