Doing GREAT...

Well, we have had a few really good weeks under our belt at this point. I can tell that C is really feel safe and happy here and because she is in a stable and loving environment, she is learning to be more stable in her behaviors and emotions. There have been many incidents of late that normally would have resulted in a tantrum- BUT NOPE!! Good girl.

Tonight is a father/daughter dance at school. She really wanted to go and Daddy liked the idea, too. I do think it will be good for them. They have been wrestling lately and I can tell that she is more attached to him lately as she is contantly asking where he is or where he is going if he is not in the room with her. Anyway, $20 for the dance. $45 for the shoes and dress and corsage (Sp?) and they are officially going to the dance tonight. She wants me to put her hair up all fancy for her. She will be quite a vision.

The things we are having issues with at this point are-

-whining. Yup, she really does whine. Atleast once a day. Almost always in the morning or anytime she doesn't get what she wants. I point it out to her as subtly as possible but the behavior is not going away.

-babysitter. She is like our babysitter. She has to know where we (me and Daddy) are at all times and before we can go upstairs (like right now to type) she wants to know where I am going and what I am doing. I can be leaving to use the bathroom and I "have to report in".

-being too busy. She wants to do so much but above most things is just having down time with me and Daddy. We have had VERY little time for this, yet she doesn't want to miss out on her Wed night church or things like this dance. She hates visits because they cause a back up in homework and take away any chance of down time with us for a few days after the fact.

-etiquette. She has none. We are slowly working on it but the girl doesn't even sit right at the table (One leg up with the foot on the chair and full crotch view. It isn't nice.) There are no table manners at all. I have volunteered to host an etiquette class for her and her friends this summer with the "prize" of getting to all go out to a fancy dinner together. That is a long way off and I am trying to work on one little thing at a time and keep it a postive that is received well.

-needing her permission. She fully expects that if I want to go visit my mom one night or do something without her like make my family Christmas gifts, that she should be invited and that I need her permission to do it. I don't allow this, obviously, but she just doesn't understand why her expectations can't be met her and why that kind of thinking is wrong.

This are not big things, really, but with it all being so constant, it can be quite exhausting. She is doing REALLY well right now and I no longer feel like I am living on egg shells. I can tell her "no" without expecting a complete break down. This is really nice and allows me to enjoy her company a lot more.

I am planning a trip to an orphanage in Africa next summer that I ministered to this past summer. C REALLY wants to come. I explained that as a ward of the state, she can not leave the country... she told me she would be adopted by then. We discussed this as being something to pray for but that there were no guarantees of adoption, let alone on that time frame. It is still something she is shooting for. Today she told me that any money she gets for Christmas she can put in her bank for her trip to Africa. We talked about why God opens and closes certain doors and that we can pray for it to happen... but the only way I think that could happen is if her aunt stopped pursuing reunification, right?? There is no way to get her a passport if she is not adopted, corrected? Even for missions work?? Anyway, she is still of the mindset that no matter what, she is staying here. I love it so much on one hand, and then I fear how FAR that FALL would be if it didn't work out, and it scares me to death.