Whitney Marie

This story is long and painful, and while sharing it brings up the pain I went through 6 yrs ago, I am also beyond ecstatic that one of the girls we brought into our lives and hearts at that time, has come back to our family.
6 1/2 years ago, Dennis & I were going to adopt 2 sisters. The oldest, Whitney, & I bonded quickly. It took no time at all for her to become my daughter. The youngest had a hard time adjusting to not being the baby anymore (Cai was the baby) & there were a lot of other problems.
They were eventually moved to their old foster home.... If we didn't have Cadence, things would have been different and we would have been able to do something to fix the things that were broken, but we couldn't put Cadence through that, so with a very heavy heart, we accepted the new future, without them.
During these last 6 years, I've dreamt about Whitney, prayed for her, reminisced over pictures. That girl stole my heart. I wanted to contact her, but out of respect for her and her family, I didn't think it was a good idea. I wanted her to have a fresh start without me holding her back.
She turned 18 last yr. I waited until she moved out and contacted her. She's been part of our lives since. I feel like a void has been filled. She loves being an older sister to my girls, she's asked if its ok to call me mom (UHH YESSS!!) and enjoys spending time with us and doing family things. It makes me so happy to have her back. I've missed the last 6 yrs but I'm gonna make sure to be in the next 70!! We are very excited 2 have her back in our lives.  Its hard to believe she's not the same 12 yr old girl asking me questions about life, but she's turned into a beautiful adult with a fantastic future. 

Dammn Girrll

There is no doubt in my mind, when Bryleigh is older, whomever marries her, better be rich AND up to the task of caring for her. 
At 3, she is already demanding.  Not in the 'damn that kid is a brat' way..well at least not to outsiders...but at home - this kid wants back rubs and foot rubs and wants her nails done and her hair to be beautiful.
The massages are what kills me.  She will plop down next to me and throw her feet up onto my lap & say 'rub my feet, please'.  She says please, how can I not listen to her demands? 
The moment I quit rubbing her feet, she coughs and moves her foot so I will start back up.  WTF, kid? You're 3!  It only gets better..
This morning, as I lay in bed, dozing in and out of sleep, she crawls in next to me.  She puts her face into mine and says, 'I nuv you, mymom' - apraxia translation: I love you, Mommy.  My heart melts..  Then she says, 'wub my ba pease' (rub my back please)... So I start rubbing her back, she pulls away, pulls her shirt up to her shoulders and lays back down.  I mean, yea, I get it - it feels better on your skin then thru your shirt..so I start over, gently rubbing her back, hoping she'll fall back to sleep.
Turns out, I fall back to sleep.  Not for long, though.  Bryleigh starts floudering around, like a fish out of water  It startles me a bit and I open my eyes.  At this point, I don't totally grasp what happened, but Bryleigh lifts her head ever so slightly and says 'mom, wub my ba'. 
I began to rub her back, putting myself back to sleep.  Again, I feel Bryleigh popping around & wake up...this happens a few more times and I realize, she's flopping around like a fish to make me start 'tickling' her back again.  I mean, come on...can mommy go back to sleep.
She annoys me to the point of hysterics.  I can't help but laugh when she does this, so yes, I know her demandingness is probably my fault, but really, when something so tiny is that demanding, you can't help but get a kick out of her spirit!

Continue to demand what you want, Bryleigh Noelle, just make sure you don't hurt anyone in your quest to run the show!