A birthday....remembering

Nikki turned 14!! Nikki was our first EVER foster baby. She came on October 8, 1998 -- a full 8 days before we even had a fostercare license! lol. She came with a brother, Shawn. He was 3.5yrs old and Nikki was 20mos. I remember how excited I was, driving down to the children's shelter - the only thing we had for them was carseats - picking up the two little kids who needed us - and ready to make them part of our family. For 2mos, just like the fostercare workers told us. lol....2mos - or forever. Turned out to be the latter. So cute, Nikki was pudgy, didn't walk or talk even a bit, wore glasses, had a broken arm, smiled all the time like she had some secret that we didn't know, and came right to me every time I reached f or her. (I thought that was really sweet - because, like I said, she was my first ever foster child and I'd never heard of Reactive Attachment Disorder....which, oh boy, did she have - along with autism, mild cerebral palsy, and moderate mental retardation. We were in a for a ride of which size we couldn't have even imagined to prepare for!) It's been a ride, but parts of it sure have been a lot of fun with her. She's STILL usually in a good mood. She loves to write and draw and make pictures and notes for people. She LOVES school. And she was very excited about this chocolate roses on chocolate frosting on chocolate cake that she picked out for her birthday! (And.....she asked for makeup for her birthday.....they allll grow up. :-)