ATLANTA~ DAY # 4...AQUARIUM!!!

On the last day we were in Atlanta, we went with "T" and the kids to the Aquarium! We all had a blast! It was "T's" first time to go, and her kids had never been either. Brennan had been to the New Orleans Aquarium once, and Ivey had never been to one at all. The kids all thought it was awesome and I got lots of cool pics of them. Ivey slept some in Mylah's stroller, because she had been so sick the night before. I felt so bad dragging her out since she had the stomach bug the night before, but it was our last chance to see "T".
Again, we spent most of our time chasing all the kids around! I really don't have alot more to say about our visit. Some of my observations and thoughts are to be kept private, to be shared with Mylah when she is older. I am glad I could share some of this experience with you all though! Especially the pics of Mylah's two families united as one, even if only for a few moments! I have tons of pics from our weekend, and I know Mylah will treasure them one day! I can't wait to make "T" an album for her keeping as well!

BLESSINGS~

Amber

ATLANTA~ DAY # 3

Well, sorry guys....but day # 3 was not very exciting! Brennan's team cheered again this day. They did an awesome job both Sat. and Sun. All of the teams were excellent though! This competition was the largest in the whole WORLD! Yes, world! There were 859 cheer teams there. It is also the 4th largest event held in Atlanta each year. It was insane! Brennan's team came in 9th place for her division...which is actually pretty good for a competition this size.

Ivey and Mylah were also both sick this day. Mylah had a fever Sat., Sun., and Monday. She acted fine other than that though. I took her to the Pediatrician when we got back in town on Tues. She also ended up with some blood in her urine on Tues and a rash all over her body. She ended up having a UTI and Roseola! Poor baby! Ivey had a stomach bug while we were still at the hotel. She vomited in the bed Sun. night! Ugggg! Gotta love dealing with a stomach bug in a hotel room! It seems like every single time we go out of town, one of the kids gets a puke virus! She was sick pretty much all night! I just prefer to forget this night altogether! We did not see "T" on the 3rd day.

~Amber

ATLANTA DAY # 2~MEETING BIRTH-FAMILY!

Ivey and Mylah cheering Brennan's team on!
Brennan and some of her cheer friends (Bren is in the middle)

The second day we were in Atlanta, Brennan had to cheer at a competition for a little while. We later met "T" and her 3 children at a place called Monkey Joe's. It is a play place for kids. There are lots of inflatables there (bouncers, AKA moon walks, and slides) and also video games. We all stayed there a few hours playing and ate dinner together there. It was a pretty rowdy place to be at on a Sat. afternoon! There were lots of kids there, so it was a little hectic! We enjoyed playing with Mylah's birth siblings. We spent the most time with "Baby T" since he is only 18 months old and wasn't running off to play with the rest of the kids. He was sooo much fun and always had a gorgeous smile on his face! He warmed up to us very quickly, and hung out with me and Danny alot! "Za" and "Ze" were thrilled to meet their sister...they just hugged and loved on her! It was sooo sweet to see them all together. Mylah is at that age where she has a little stranger anxiety. She wouldn't let "T" or any of the siblings hold her but just a few seconds at a time. She just kept reaching for me or Danny. This made me a little sad. I guess I had this fairy tale sort of dream in my head of how our meeting would go. I thought maybe Mylah would somehow, deep down in her little soul somewhere, recognize these people as part of herself. Nothing like that happened though, and that's okay. I just didn't want our meeting to cause any pain to "T". I guess I thought that if Mylah somehow recognized her voice or something, that there would be special bonding between the two of them. "T" seemed okay with the fact that Mylah was not that warm toward them. She just said "She has really bonded with you all". Most of the time we were busy keeping up with all the kiddos (6 total), so there wasn't alot of talking time.

"S" (birth-father) never came to either of our meetings. Maybe next time we visit, he will decide to join us. I would like to meet him, but at this point I am not sure if or when that will happen. "T" kept telling me that Mylah looks just like him...so of course I am very curious about him.

P.S.~As you can see from the pics, Mylah has a beautiful birth-mom and siblings! She is a blessed girl because they all love her! :)

PEACE~

Amber

AMERICAN GIRL STORE~ATLANTA DAY #1

I know it's taken me a while to post about our visit. I've been really busy since we got back. Mylah and Ivey both got sick in Atlanta! Uggg! Mylah has also just been diagnosed with asthma (as if her exzema wasn't enough)! She saw a pulmonologist a few days ago, and finally got her nebulizer today. She will get her first breathing treatment tonight. I'm afraid the mask is going to scare her to death! The pulmonary doc said she may have reflux, but I don't really think she does. Anyway, she's on a new med for that too. The child now has 5 prescription meds and also takes Zyrtec every day! I hate that my 8 month old needs that many meds! I can't stand giving kids medication unless they really, really need them. My hope is that she will outgrow some of these things as she gets older.

So, back to Atlanta! The day we arrived, we took the girls to eat at the American Girl Store/Cafe! Brennan and Ivey LOVE those dolls and they collect them. We met some of Brennan's friends that are on her cheer team there. We all ate lunch together and had a great time! Of course, Brennan and Ivey talked me into getting them both a new doll. I agreed to pay for half if they paid for half. They each paid $50 out of their own piggy banks...the dolls are $100 each! I also told them that was their Valentine gift early. They were thrilled!

Almost Time!!!

MYLAH LOVES HER PRINCESS TIANA DOLL!

NEW YEAR'S NIGHT...IVEY DOESN'T LIKE LOUD FIREWORKS!

It's almost here! Our 1st visit with "T"! It's been 8 months since we left the hospital in Atlanta with the beautiful baby girl she gave birth to. I have so many mixed feelings about this visit that's about to take place. I am happy, sad, nervous, excited, along with many others! I told "T" before we even left the hospital in June that we would be coming back to Atlanta in February, and that we wanted to see her. I'm not sure that she really believed me then. I'm sure she didn't fully trust me, and didn't think I would keep my promise. She even said her friends kept telling her that she would never see the baby again. I simply told her "Your friends don't know me".

Just about every time we have talked, I have mentioned to her that we are planning on coming in Feb. She always sounded interested in seeing us. Lately I became very worried about whether or not this meeting would really take place. I've had our hotel room booked for months, and have been anxiously awaiting the date. I last talked to "T" on Jan. 1st...New Year's Day. I brought our visit up to her again then. She still seemed on board. She even asked if "S" (Mylah's birth-father) could meet us then. I told her that would be fine. (More on this later!). Since we had contact on Jan. 1st, there's been nothing more since then. I started panicking a little more as Jan. began to come to an end. I tried texting "T" and calling her numerous times during the past 2 weeks....Nothing! I wasn't sure if she was getting the texts. Her phone always had the same message each time I called. It was a pre-recorded message from her service provider. There was no way to leave a message or anything. I figured that her phone had been disconnected. I was right. "T" moves quite a bit, and her phone also gets cut off often. I thought there would be no way to contact her in time for our visit. Finally, on Jan. 28th she sent me a text! It was from someone else's phone. It simply said that she and the kids are fine, that her phone was cut off, and she asked if we were still coming. I sent her a text back telling her that I was relieved to hear from her, yes we are still coming, and to call me when she can. I didn't hear anything back, but I'm sure she got my message. She knows our arrival date and I'm sure now that I will be hearing from her around that time! In about a week, I will get to see my daughter reunited with her sweet birthmom. I can't help but wonder how Mylah will act. Will she have stranger anxiety? Will she still somehow recognize "T's" voice and be completely at ease with her? Will she cry for me or Danny when "T" is holding her, or will she give "T" her biggest smile ever? I have high expectations of Mylah! I want her to show her sweet personality to "T". I want her to play with "T" and love on her. I am hoping she doesn't shy away from her or act scared of her!

I can't wait to see Mylah with her 3 birth-siblings! I can't wait to take pictures of her with her first family. We will also have Brennan and Ivey with us. I am hoping we can go somewhere and just let all of Mylah's siblings play and get to know one another! Brennan can't wait to meet the three kids! She has been dying to meet them for months and has always asked about them alot. Danny is the only one that has met them. When I was staying in the hospital with "T", he went to their apartment and gave them gifts and watched them play. I have always been a little jealous of that! I so wanted to meet them, but it just didn't work out that way. Ivey doesn't really have a clue about what is going on. I will talk to her about it on the way to Atlanta, but I'm not sure how she will comprehend what is about to take place. I just hope she acts right! LOL She loves to have Mylah to herself and is very greedy and possessive of her. I will have to talk to her about letting everyone else see Mylah, since we get to love on her everyday, and they don't.

I am hoping that this will be the first of many visits! I am hoping that it doesn't break "T's" heart to see the precious baby that she had to let go of due to life's circumstances. "T" tells me she has no regrets about placing Mylah with us, but I have to wonder if this will change when she sees her. I just don't want our joy to be someone else's pain. I just want "T" to have a good life and to be happy. I also want her to know that we love her very much and that we always want her to be a part of our family. I hope that some day we can all spend some holidays together. Our family, with Mylah's first family. I know, I have high expectations of us all! Who knows though, it could happen!

I don't have much to say about "S" (Mylah's birth father). I will say that I've never met him, nor even talked to him. I'm trying to stay open minded about him. I am curious about him, and do think that meeting him will be the right thing to do. But I also have reservations, doubts, and nervousness about his involvement. This journey has always been about what "T", and Danny and I thought was best for Mylah. "S" stepped out of "T's" life before Mylah was born. I do believe that I should meet him and form my own opinion. I also know he has had a health issue in the past few months that may have caused him to do a little soul searching. I do want to give him a chance. I also hear that Mylah looks ALOT like him, so I am naturally curious about seeing him. Who knows if he will really even show up? So many questions, and only a few more days until I have some of the answers I seek. Please pray for all of us as our lives come together for the sake of one child. It is my hope that we all always do what is best for my sweet girl! She is so sweet and innocent, and has no clue about the importance of the days to come.

Blessings and Love--Amber

Poem by Joyce Maquire Pavao

The Family of Adoption-A Poem by Joyce Maquire Pavao

You cannot change the truth-These are your children-But they came from somewhere else-And they are the children of those places-And of those people as well-Help them to know all about their past-And all about their present-Help them to know that they are from extended families-But they have more than mothers and fathers-They have grandmothers, godmothers, birth mothers, mother countries, mother earth-They have grandfathers, godfathers, birth fathers, and fatherlands-They have family by birth and by adoption-They have family by choice and by chance-Childhood is short-These are our children to raise-These are our children to love-And then they are citizens of the world-What we do to them creates the world that we live in-Give them life-Give them their truth-Give them love-Give them all that they came with-Give them all that they grow with-Your children do not belong to you-But they belong with you-You can not keep them from what is theirs-But you can keep loving them-You do not own your children-But they are your own.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY BRENNAN!!!

First let me start this post by saying HAPPY BIRTHDAY BRENNAN! I can't believe my oldest daughter turned 10 today! I have been a mom for 10 years! It has been the best 10 years of my life! I LOVE being a mom and am so thankful that God has given me the honor to raise these 3 girls. It is very tough at times, and I stay exhausted...but I wouldn't trade it for anything! And yes, I would do it all over again in a heartbeat! Brennan is such a sweet girl! She loves to help me with Mylah by playing with her and feeding her bottles. She is also good a putting her to sleep! Mylah sometimes falls asleep in Brennan's arms at night while Brennan is watching TV. This helps Danny and I do story time with Ivey and get her into bed!

Brennan has already had her birthday bash with her friends. She had a sleepover and we took them all to Paint that Pottery! It was alot of fun! I baked cupcakes for her to take to school today. Tonight we are going to eat pizza, then take our 3 girls to see PRINCESS AND THE FROG!!! I can't wait to see that movie! We are also going to pig out on popcorn & candy and pray that no one gets a belly ache! LOL