Thursday, February 24, 2011

Catch Up




We have had 2 glorious weeks. Glorious may be a weird word when almost one of them Josie was sick. Glorious in that when she was sick we slowed our life way down and could just be together while she got well. Right before she got sick she got to have her very first slumber party. This slumber party had been planned, talked about and highly anticipated. She was ecstatic. I know normal parents let their child have one friend spend the night the first time. But think about it, when has normal and Jenny ever collided in the same sentence...yeah almost never. Josie got to have 4 of her friends. I figured that if I was going to do it and forgo what I thought would be a night without sleep, let's just knock it out all at once. She had Audrey, Hailey, Tara and Caroline. Such sweet little friends. When they got here, I piled them all into my parents suburban. Off we went to Chinatown in LA for Dim Sum. Silly me to not realize that Dim Sum is only served at breakfast and lunch. Needless to say, we had a very authentic and somewhat unusual Chinese meal. Back at home we made the family room into one giant bed with air mattresses and Josie's mattress from her bed. The girls watched a movie from our "bedroom" and ate warm rice crispy treats. They were just bound and determined to stay up all night, yeah right. We made a deal, they could stay up to make a wish at 11:11. At 11:12 I turned out the lights and at 11:13 they were all sound asleep. They actually slept until 7:30. Not bad. After a picnic in the front yard of chocolate chip pancakes they were off to play with the bunnies before they went home. I love the sweet innocence in how they see the world, experience life, and treat each other with such kindness. Everyone of them offers to push Josie around. In fact they don't even offer they just do it. They include her in everything. There has to be a special place in Heaven for these wonderful souls. Josie couldn't be more blessed with friends between here and Michigan. She definitely won the friend lottery.

Well as soon as be said goodbye to the girls, Josie's cough had really picked up and her little body all of a sudden started burning up. Straight into bed she went where she stayed until Tuesday. Poor baby. She made it through her first sleep over and luckily no one else got it, including me..phew.

More big news is that she got her bottom braces on. She is doing a good job with them. They were sore at first but better now. Today she got her top expander put back on. This has hurt her all day. She even went to bed by 7:45 tonight. That nagging teeth pain wears you out. Unfortunately, she has to get braces. We have to get those bucky beavers (as her Uncle Brian calls them) need to be put in their place.

We are really gearing up for the fashion show. Of course the illness didn't help our progress, but we are back at it. She walked better then I thought she would today with Liz. She felt awful because her teeth hurt so much so I was worried that we would get her to do anything. She complained through most of her workout, which is so unlike her these days, but she pulled it together during her walking. Now I REALLY have to get her to do a lot of it this weekend when we go to the desert. She is so excited for the fashion show and I want it to be a success for her. Anyone who wants to see it can get tickets at www.flintridgeguildchildrenshospital.org. She is modeling on Saturday, March 19th at all 3 shows. The 10 AM show is already sold out and the others will go quickly.

Thanks for checking in. I know more has happened but I can't think of what right now. Ciao for now, Jenny and Josie

Sunday, February 6, 2011

Long Overdue

I feel like lately that I start these posts with apologies. So here is another one. Life has been great and busy. Busy is what I vowed not to have happen when we returned home. I need my dose of Michigan to slow us down again...to bad MI is under snow or I may show up on some doorsteps. Our busy has also been good. Josie is doing really well all around. Her walking is good, school is her love right now (at least the social part of it). Josie is in the Junior Peacemakers club. They have a meeting a week at lunch and then do their assigned jobs on another day at lunch. Her job is the hall monitor. Lord help the kids who make the bad decision to run past her. I am trying to tell her that it is Peacemakers so you have to do your job with a very kind voice. I can see it know Josie yelling at everyone to slow down.

Happy Birthday Dad and Happy Adoption day Josie


It was such a thrill that I officially adopted Josie on my dad's birthday in 2007. We will forever celebrate the 2 great occasions on the same day. This year we went to Oakmont Country Club for dinner. Always a treat to be together. Happy Birthday Dad!

Dr. Borchard and Josie at her lasted eye exam. She is so cute in those glasses, Now we just have to get in the habit of wearing them more often like everytime she reads. When you work so hard in one part of your life a few things fall to the wayside in the rest. Well can't do it all.


Liz with the girls taking pictures during their break


Therapy has been going well. Liz and Josie are practicing very hard for the fashion show in March. Josie only has 5 minutes to get down the runway. This will be a trick. Thankfully Liz will be on stage with her. We are at therapy with Teresa every Monday. Now on Thursday's we get to pick her up from her school and take her to therapy. The girls get to be together in the car and at therapy. Teresa just grins from ear to ear when we pick her up. On Thursday Annie (her therapist) and I asked her if she wanted to listen to Hannah Montana. She very deliberately nodded her head yes. Unable to really believe that she did this, we tried it again. With much deliberation she indeed nodded again. Then we asked which CD she wanted to listen to and to show us her answers with her eyes. She picked the purple case twice in a row. She then had to push the button to turn the music on. She did this numerous amounts of times. She seemed to like Party in the USA song. I know she is so trapped in that body. She is so aware and bright. It is my goal to somehow unlock her from the tight grip the body has on her. We will somehow get her to be able to communicate better. After she was finished and Josie still had more time, Teresa and I laird on the mat and watched Josie. She seemed so content. I love being with that little angel. She is such a joy. Josie adores her more than anything. Love to you all, Jenny and Josie