One of Those Days...

It is one of those days... where GB's attention span maxes out at 30 seconds. She got a hold of what I thought was a juice box- and was really ice tea. She is moving at warp speed and her brain is either off or on bypass. Caffeine does it every time.We have been home from church for 4 hours and I feel like I'm stuck in quick sand. As fast as I stop her from one thing, she is into four more. She is so unable to sit still, 3 minutes in the time out chair broke it. She is so loud you can hear her from any room in the house- and we have a BIG house. She has had her manic laugh for 2 hours and counting. It will be better when my husband is back- tag team is the only thing that works when she is like this.

I hear my mother's voice in my head, saying "Patience is a virtue."  Maybe God is trying to get me to work on my patience. I also plan on buying a lot of 100% juice boxes for church and sending the ice tea home with people whose kids can drink it.

Christmas Eve

GB and Ellie are waiting for cousins, dinner, then FINALLY decorating the Christmas Tree. TV distracts them briefly.

 

Trying to keep the excitement of the day from being overwhelming.

Overdone

2:30 pm

Today we went to a dog park, then to Barnes & Noble for hot chocolate,and finally to Pet Smart. GB picked out a stuffed blue bone for Killer. When she went to check out, they wouldn't sell it to her because it should have been part of a set. She fell apart completely and was still crying when we got back to Becca's. She was obviously done,so I decided it was time for a break. We are back at the hotel and GB and Ellie are watching Disney and chillin. We are going to order pizza in (Pizza Hut, yuck!) and maybe go to the pool later. Tomorrow's another day.

Halfway There

GB and I spent twelve hours in the car and just arrived at my sister's, outside Raleigh, NC. We have another 7 1/2 hours of driving to get to Ellie. I plan on sleeping in tomorrow(today, I guess), but GB almost never does that, so we will see. We are taking tomorrow(today) off so GB can bake cookies with her cousins (and get some of the car ride out of her). We will leave Saturday morning and make Ellie's by 3 pm. GB can't contain her excitement. It is good to see her enthusiasm, but tiring trying to keep it within some sort of boundaries.

The Beginning of this Journey

GB is a beautiful 6 and a half (don't forget the half!) year old girl. She does great cartwheels, did her first back handspring, loves to dance, is solid student in a regular first grade class, has a contagious laugh and has been diagnosed with Bipolar Disorder and Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorder (FASD). There are times when she gets overwhelmed, and times when she sees danger in everything. New experiences, even pleasant ones, are difficult for her. To expand her world and help her with transitions, we applied for a service dog in March, 2009. She was approved and eventually paired with Ellie. Tomorrow, GB and I leave for Georgia, to do our partnership training and, hopefully, bring Ellie home.