Today marked one hundred days we've shared a roof with our Little Lady.
It wasn't like the 100th day of school when you get to wear sunglasses that are shaped like the number 100 and you bring a hundred pieces of candy to "share" with your friends. This was the kind of 100th day that you wake up and you feel like it's Christmas and you want to run into your little girl's bedroom and scream, "Yeah! We've known you for 100 days! You're our favorite person who has ever lived on the earth ever! We can't imagine our lives without you. Can you stay forever so it'll always feel like the 100th day?!?!?", but instead you decide to tell her (very quietly and calmly) this way, "So, ummm, today is the 100th day we've been together. Pause. It's okay to feel happy and sad today. We're happy that you've been in our lives for 100 days, but I know it also means you haven't been with your family for that long, too. And I know that's sad."
And then she says something waaaayyyy beyond her years...
"It's always a mixture. Happy and sad. Always has been and it's always gonna be."
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I had a lot of high hopes for us that we'd be able to come up with a list of the top 100 things we love about our Little Lady, but then something called LIFE got in the way and I think the list made it's way to like number 45 or something. Oh well, here's the list anyway! Bry's favorites and my favorites are all mixed together.
100 40 something things we love about our Little Lady
It wasn't like the 100th day of school when you get to wear sunglasses that are shaped like the number 100 and you bring a hundred pieces of candy to "share" with your friends. This was the kind of 100th day that you wake up and you feel like it's Christmas and you want to run into your little girl's bedroom and scream, "Yeah! We've known you for 100 days! You're our favorite person who has ever lived on the earth ever! We can't imagine our lives without you. Can you stay forever so it'll always feel like the 100th day?!?!?", but instead you decide to tell her (very quietly and calmly) this way, "So, ummm, today is the 100th day we've been together. Pause. It's okay to feel happy and sad today. We're happy that you've been in our lives for 100 days, but I know it also means you haven't been with your family for that long, too. And I know that's sad."
And then she says something waaaayyyy beyond her years...
"It's always a mixture. Happy and sad. Always has been and it's always gonna be."
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
I had a lot of high hopes for us that we'd be able to come up with a list of the top 100 things we love about our Little Lady, but then something called LIFE got in the way and I think the list made it's way to like number 45 or something. Oh well, here's the list anyway! Bry's favorites and my favorites are all mixed together.
- Her freckles. Sometimes I dream about eating them they're so stinkin' cute!
- Her toothy smile, which actually lacked several teeth for the first few months she was with us. Another sign of time passing...
- As Bry puts it, "The way she grabs life by the horns and just goes for it, whatever it is!"
- Her curls - or straight hair, I love it either way.
- When she picks out her outfit for the day and it's actually pajamas, but I don't have the heart to tell her because I know how much we struggled with her independence during the first 50 days or so.
- I love how she watches Bry and how they play together.
- When she's REALLY excited, she hunches over and her jaw drops and she just stands there for a minute - frozen, with her mouth wide open. (This may be my #1 favorite thing about her!)
- The fact that she knows every single word to Bob Marley's "Don't Worry about a Thing." Most adults don't even know all the lyrics.
- I love how she makes everything fun - even a simple event like eating toast; she sees things no one else sees. She sees someone doing a crooked smile, a goat, a howling bear. In a piece of toast! Lord, please give me eyes like this little one...to slow down every now and then...just long enough to really see what's in front of me and to be content.
- I loved watching her play in the snow at the top of the Rocky Mountains.
- The way she laughs when she farts (this was Bry's number one favorite thing he wrote on his list when I asked him to send it to me!)
- I love listening to her talk to her stuffed animals when she supposed to be sleeping.
- I love that Lucy and LL can wear each other out, but that LL is also very gentle with her.
- She's awesome with little kids and babies. She will be an amazing little mommy someday. Every time we go somewhere and there's a child under the age of 6, she immediately feels like it's her responsibility to look after the child. I can see it in her eyes, "Well, I know what I'm doing for the next two hours. Gotta get to work. Obviously, no one else is watching this baby. Guess it's my job!"
- She asks, "Why not?" when she wants to understand something.
- She loves going on hikes with me.
- She likes cuddling when watching TV.
- She's always honest. Even when it means she's about to get in trouble.
- She likes planting things.
- She's excited about little things.
- She's always super friendly to everyone she meets (sometimes this gets her into trouble and we have to explain that she doesn't have to tell everyone everything about her.)
- She treats life and learning with the sense of wonder and curiosity.
- She loves pizza, and cake, and pretty much all foods that start with one of the 26 letters of the alphabet. But especially cake. And rolls. Oh, and cake. And don't forget cupcakes.
- She's really good at cartwheeling and hula hooping.
- She prefers cartwheeling to a location versus walking.
- She tells hilarious jokes, and she's just funny in general.
- She likes dressing super cute, but she'll also rock a Monday-morning-hairdo-fuzz.
- She gets excited about earning a quarter. And checking the mail. And opening a new gallon of milk. Seriously - she just loves everything, no matter how simple it is.
- She'd be thrilled to be trapped on a deserted island if it meant that she got to go swimming. And eat cake.
- She loves reading (even though she hated it 98 or 99 days ago.)
- She tells adorable prayers.
- She reminds us to pray if we forget.
- She gives Bry running-cannonball hugs off of the bed every night before she climbs into the top bunk.
- I even love the incredibly disgusting, but impressive, mess she calls, "Bath time."
- She stays pretty organized.
- She remembers everything.
- She forgives easily.
- As the case worker put it, she "doesn't tire easily."
- She's my adventure buddy.
- She says, "Awwwwwww!" anytime she sees something cute.
LL's quotes:
- "How does Siri know everything??"
- "This gum is gross, but I've had worst things in my mouth, like dog spit."
- "Oh no way... Does that doll poop and pee, too?"
- "I'm meeting with my lawyer tomorrow." She said this to 11 other preteens over dinner tonight at the birthday party we were at. They must've been very confused!
- "This gum is gross, but I've had worst things in my mouth, like dog spit."
- "Oh no way... Does that doll poop and pee, too?"
- "I'm meeting with my lawyer tomorrow." She said this to 11 other preteens over dinner tonight at the birthday party we were at. They must've been very confused!
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About Us:
We began our foster journey in mid-August 2013. We finished our classes in October, had our home study in early January, and we were licensed on February 7, 2014. After seven calls from CPS, we received our first placement, a 7-year-old girl (our Little Lady, or LL for short) on April 3, 2014. Thank you so much for taking the time to read about our journey through the craziness that is foster care. Most importantly, thanks for your prayers, love, and support. We hope to encourage fellow foster/adoptive parents as we document our ups and downs each day.
About Us:
We began our foster journey in mid-August 2013. We finished our classes in October, had our home study in early January, and we were licensed on February 7, 2014. After seven calls from CPS, we received our first placement, a 7-year-old girl (our Little Lady, or LL for short) on April 3, 2014. Thank you so much for taking the time to read about our journey through the craziness that is foster care. Most importantly, thanks for your prayers, love, and support. We hope to encourage fellow foster/adoptive parents as we document our ups and downs each day.
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