[crayolamom]

Just last evening Owen's Foster Mom suggested we look into getting a web camera set up so we could chat live. I would love for her to see Owen in action. I love this idea, my question is has anybody done this? Is it fairly easy to set up. Please share experiences. Thanks.

[2xaround]

Yes, we have done this. We bought our foster family a web cam and my friend took it to Guatemala with her on her pick up trip. Our foster mom and her daughter went to the hotel to pick it up. We were able to see our dd while we were waiting to complete the process and now that she's home our foster family is able to see her. For a matter-of-fact, dd came home not too long before her first birthday and we had a little party via web cam. Her foster family bought her a birthday cake and sang happy birthday to her and got to watch her open her gifts all via web cam. We just couldn't imagine her spending almost her entire first year of life with this family and not having them be part of her 1st birthday.

Anyway, it's easy to set up and use so if you can make it happen I would suggest going for it.

[robandjulie]

We are lucky enough to have that now and get to see DS almost every weekend. We'll use it once he's home so they can see him and stay part of his life.

I watched the deals on sites like dealsea.com and techdeals.net and slickdeals.net and ended up finding a nice small video webcam for about $15 which I really like. It's tiny and lightweight and clips to my laptop so I can walk around with it--we gave them a tour of the house last week and showed them DS's room (a work in progress). We get to see him walking adn dancing and we usually play peek-a-boo or just talk with him. Before this webcam we were using our video camera which has a setting to work as a webcam, but it had to sit on a little tripod and was too bulky to easily move it around if we wanted to chat somewhere other than the desk.

We use MSN messenger for ours, so the software is free and super easy.

(if you're curious, we ended up with a logitech quickcam deluxe as our camera. It's really working well for us.)

[rapf777]

We just got one recently while my sister was in the hospital. We LOVE it. It is soooo awesome and cool.

You will not regret it!!! I just wish we would of gotten one sooner.

Rose

[jimanddarla]

We had a webcast last night with Abe's foster family. It really is cool. We found out they got an internet conection at home but no webcam so we sent it down with our next care package via King Express. Next one is scheduled for Saturday!

Currently we are using Windows Live Messenger to do the web chat, but I'm going to try to talk them into installing skype. That way we would have full video and audio.

Once Abe is home (agency says September!) we will be able to return the favor to his wonderful foster family.

[robandjulie]

Originally Posted by jimanddarla

Currently we are using Windows Live Messenger to do the web chat, but I'm going to try to talk them into installing skype. That way we would have full video and audio.

We use windows messenger and get the video and audio. You just turn the cameras on and then do a video call. Sometimes our network bogs down and it's choppy, but not sure if that's the wireless connection or Messenger or their side or what.

[carlyincali]

I did it with Shay, and I get to with Josi too. With Shay is was through MSN hotmail, and with Josi, it's through Skype. Skype is super cool!

[cbmstephanie]

We bought our FM a webcam for Christmas and it was great. They are super easy to install, usually just run the disk and plug in the camera. I use Live Messenger with it too and do the video call. It's great to be able to chat with others. I also love it for grandparents...and believe me, if my mom can do it anyone can!!