Catching up

I know I should write again. I used to get inspiration while driving alone. Hmm, alone. What IS that?  I'll try to catch you up. 

God somehow blessed me with two soul friends. I don't deserve them. Friends able to reach down and lift up. 

Sometimes it's hard to look pass the face, but take the chance. Reach out. You may be missing your new best friend, and they are standing right in front of you.

My best friends took a chance with me even though I didn't deserve it. 

Josie..

Where do I start?  She loves to use words like "apparently, frustrating, privacy, or having a issue" even if it doesn't make sense. She has no filter and its opening up a high new level of embarrassment for me. Like a large woman leaning on her shopping cart...within hearing distance "can't she walk?" Very loudly. Or "I can't tell if that a boy or a girl?"  She uses her manners at the most "interesting" moments. Like walking up to a work release prison worker that is emptying trash cans at the park and saying.."what's your name? Oh, Bill. My name is Josie. Nice to meet you."  Oh most days she can't remember to use a single manner, until she wants to remind you to say please and thank you after EVERY SINGLE phrase. Or after she is WAY disobedient and I'm WAY cross at her...she says "smile, Mama" it's not nice to frown". Pthhhhh

She seems to remember nothing from before the adoption. We occasionally asked her questions just to see if she would answer anything. We were eating pizza tonight and we decided to tell stories. She started our story as "a long time ago once upon a time she was tiny tiny and in China and she had two girls that took care of her".  Supposedly they fed her with a spoon and she had all kinds of details about how it was. She seem to be telling the truth. Gary and I was raising eyebrows at each other thinking we're getting somewhere. And then I asked her if she could give me the name of who she played with and she paused and tilted head and she's like.... "Eli" with a smirk. We all rolled with laughter. We will never know but it was good to have real belly laugh. 

I went away for three days and two nights for the first time while mom and Gary took care of Josie. I thought it would be rough but she was just fine. We Facetimed each day and she was WAY more interested in seeing my friend then me. But after I came back, sleeping again became a issue, only one night in two weeks, she went to sleep without screaming and stayed sleeping. We are doing again a sleeping chart that if she fills it up, she gets a prize. It's not working this time :). Tonight she told me that she wanted her sound machine on so that she couldn't hear the tiger that is outside and it could get her. We had a impromptu lesson on where tigers live. Lately lots of leg cramps and occasionally arm cramps which would cause screaming at night. It seems to be happening less with magnesium, calcium, and a daily banana. Thank you, Jesus!  

We walk to the grocery store, dollar general, or cvs at least once a week. I give her the choice to walk or drive, she always picks to walk it. We walked by a dead bird, while she is tripping around nearly falling into the road. The good mother that I am, I ask "do you want to fall into the road and get run over and look like that dead flat like a pancake bird"?  She calmly looks up and says, "no. But if I do, I'll go to heaven and get to meet Devin (my best friend's Angel)."  Oh, melt my stinkin' heart. 

Does every child move at the rate of a constipated sloth on Sunday mornings?  I'm sorry if I ever thought why are those people always late... Especially those with lots of kiddos. I have to SPOON feed every bite on Sunday mornings. Why?  Why?  I always feel like a super mom if we are sitting in church on time. 

Her favorite songs right now are Jesus Loves Me, Praise Him Praise Him, You Are My Sunshine, and a homemade one about if you see, you have to put your glasses on. Favorite food is still noodles but now also shrimp. Expensive kid. She searches the sales flyers to find "that stuff that you can't touch your eyes while eating it".