Catching Up

It’s March already! Spring is almost Sprung here in the Deep South. To me, Alabama is just beautiful! On a perfect Spring Day we have no need for shoes! The bright, soft, moist green grass feels soooo good under our feet. A baby blue sky is our television on warm days, as we lay in the grass and make pictures out of the puffy white clouds that float by. Mystic Dandelions grant our Summer wishes as we blow the fuzzy puffs into the air and watch them ride the soft cool breeze out of sight. Thick velvety aroma of Honeysuckle flows like molasses with every breath we take, perfuming our hair, clothes, and encircles the sunbeams as they dance on our skin, embracing us with the warmest of hugs….

Then I scream as Olivia steps on my hair to get to her sister Rachel Lian that has taken OLIVIA’S SECERT DIARY WITH THE VOICE RECOGNITION LOCK! Olivia yells, ”My whole life is in that diary –LIAN!” Lian giggling so hard that it’s difficult for her little knees not to buckle, yet she finds the strength to power on across the front yard and out to the field, Olivia pounces (secret linebacker) she is, and powers her diary, with the voice recognition lock, that contains her entire life in it out of her sister’s tight grip.

Both girls return to my tranquil spot, dripping with sweat, panting exhausting puffs of (I’m gonna kill my sister) breaths, and cheeks redder than anything you will find in the cosmetics’ department. I decided to remain quiet and still, hoping that the peace would return, if I did not flame the fires between these two ticked off Southern Belles. However, as I lay there I started hearing Olivia screaming, “My entire life is in that diary” over and over…

Soon I started to wonder myself, like Rachel Lian had, what is in that diary with the voice recognition lock? I can’t just sneak it one night and take a fast read. That would be wrong…No, I’m her Mama, what if there is something I NEED TO KNOW in that hot pink and orange book of Olivia’s life?

What can a seven and a half year old have to say about her life? SHE MAY HAVE SECRET FEELINGS ABOUT HER NEW SISTER! I WILL STEAL THE DIARY TONIGHT AND READ IT….IT’S FOR THE GOOD OF THE FAMILY!

I had forgotten the entire event until after dinner and the sun started to go down for the night. Just two fast baths, several short DVDS, prayers, numerous “DON’T MAKE ME COME UP THOSE STAIRS GIRLS!”

Three hours and thirty two minutes later the coast was clear…both girls were asleep. My heart was pounding as if I were robbing a bank or working for the FBI. I tiptoed in Olivia’s bedroom, kicked over, Paris, the cat’s litter box, grabbed OLIVIA’S BOOK OF LIFE and ran downstairs to the quest bathroom to have a good read.

IT IS FOR THE GOOD OF OUR FAMILY…with that thought I commanded the voice recognition diary to, “OPEN DIARY” nothing happened, still locked. I changed my voice to sound just like Olivia, nothing happened…again and again I tried to sound just like Olivia and got really good at it; however the DIARY KNEW, I was not Olivia!

I tried to pick the lock with every sharp, pointy item in the bathroom and no luck, the lock would not turn or click in the least! Just my luck, I jumped out of my skin when I looked up and saw Rachel Lian standing at the door watching me. “WHAT ARE YOU DOING OUT OF BED?”

She smiled with her button nose all wrinkled and said,”Bolivia ook no open, broke” It seemed that Olivia’s OOK had been broken for some time and I was caught red handed. Rachel lian asked me to, “bove peese” (move please) so that she could use the bathroom! Then she looked back at me with a chuckle and took the diary saying, “NO, NO BOLIVIA’S OOK, NO MAMA’S OOK.” She was correct it is Oliva’s book and not mine.

The next day started with the same frenzy of a tornado on steroids, find socks that match, shirts that don’t scratch, bows that go, sign all the school papers, put lunch money in backpacks…GO BACK IN THE HOUSE AND GET THE GIRLS SNACKS! On the drive to school I glanced in the rearview mirror to check for glasses, we forget them a lot, when I caught a ping of guilt, as Rachel Lian smiled at me with her button nose wrinkled up as to say, I KNOW WHAT YOU DID…BOLIVIA’S OOK , NO OPEN…

Lian had not told Olivia, however, this was not a good thing, we have discovered that Rachel Lian loves to hold on to moments that humor her and tease you about it for LONG PERIODS of time in many creative ways. I would tell Olivia about my violation of her privacy after dinner tonight in between the bath time and DVDs, that way she will be so into Scooby Doo, that my crime won’t catch too much attention.

That night after dinner I called for Olivia to take her bath and she sent down the stairs a loud aggravated ”IN A MINUTE!” I knew by her sound something was wrong, so up the stairs I go to find her and her big brother Joshua with Dad’s tools working on THE BOOK.

Olivia said, “thanks MAMA, Lian told me you tried to fix my diary last night, It’s alright, Joshua knows how to use Dad’s tools, just don’t tell Dad, OK?” Rachel Lian replied, “Bolivia ook no work, broke. Hoshey fix, MaMa no fix…tee heee heee” (Olivia book no work, broke, Joshey fix, MaMa no fix…..giggle giggle) She added with a twinkle in her eye, Mama MAD last night…TEEE HEEEEE!

To add to the insult Rachel Lian went on and on showing how I had tried to sound like Olivia over and over, Open Diary! Then it happened! Joshua opened it and OLIVIA’S LIFE PASSED BEFORE MY EYES! As Olivia turned the pages I could not help but to cry…Page after page of pictures she had drawn of our family members and our home with Paris, the cat. Pictures that showed her holding Rachel Lian’s hand, Kissing her Granny Good Bye, Playing on the swing set with the neighbor friends, cooking squash in the kitchen in her apron, and running in the backyard with Brinks and Bear our Bull Mastiff and Black Lab. It was the way Olivia had captured the expressions and inner person of each one of us. A family that the seven members all came from different beginnings, places, put together by God, and now made into one family where we all belong. She, in her creative way put our families love on paper with one sentence in the entire book…. I love, love, love, love my family, my home, and Paris, my cat.

Rachel replied with, “ I nove you Bolivia, cat NO! I NOVE HOME AND COBB TOO” (She loves Olivia, No love for the cat, however Rachel Lian Loves her School Teacher Ms. Cobb!) This leads us up to my next post concerning how Rachel Lian has adjusted to her School Setting and where do we go from here…

Thanks for going on this journey with our family. If ANYONE out there is thinking about adopting a special needs child from China let me encourage you to first pray about it. AND GET GOING WITH IT! Our family cannot describe the LOVE, LAUGHTER, and TOGETHERNESS our special needs daughter Rachel Lian has brought to our family.

She was found under a bridge on a stormy day in the middle of China only two hours old. We adopted her 5 years later in April…..April Showers Bring May Flowers! It was raining on the day our airplane touched ground in China to pick her up!

We are thinking about going back one more time! Olivia and Rachel Lian are both on board with the idea as long as she is a younger sister. Neither one want to move DOWN the chain of command! Our sons Blake and CJ had the NERVE TO GROW UP AND MOVE OUT! Joshua is off to college next year. We will have a house with three Drama Queens, four if you count Mama.

I think it will be good for my husband to have FOUR GIRLS in the house. I LIVED EIGHT YEARS WITH FOUR GUYS before Olivia was born. If you are reading this and you were in our group last April, ask yourself, do I want to go back and adopt another child?

If the answer is yes, LET ME KNOW, I can use it as leverage to encourage my husband, Coy, to GET THE PAPERS MOVING- You know you want to go! -Joy 