BRENNAN'S BIEBER BIRTHDAY BASH!

I can't believe that Brennan turned 11 in December! She is getting too old too fast! I am so thankful for her! She is the first child that gave me the most amazing, important job in the world...being a mom! She is super sweet, mature, and responsible. She has straight A's in school as a big 5th grader! She helps me so much with her little sister's! She loves helping take care of them, and bossing them! LOL She is a cheer freak, and practices 3 days a week! Her team is very good! Danny says she is ate up with cheerleading!
For Brennan's birthday I took her and Ivey to see Justin B. in concert! Lot's of their friends came too! There were 5 of us brave moms, and 8 hyper little girls! We all had so much fun! My girls have Bieber fever...Ugggg! Even Mylah is constantly busting out with "Baby, Baby, Baby Ohhh"! This post is done in purple b/c J.B.'s favorite color is....purple! Oh, the useless information you gain from pre-teens!
~Amber

ATLANTA 12-2010

In December we made a quick trip to Mylah's birthplace! Brennan's cheer team had a competition in Atlanta one weekend. We did not get to see Mylah's birthfamily on this visit, as we were only there a short time. We did get to show Brennan and Ivey the hospital that Mylah was born in. Here is a pic of all the girls in front of the hospital sign. Such sweet, awesome memories and emotions flooded me going back to this special place! We also got to eat at Glady's Knight Chicken and Waffles, which happens to be right across the street from the hospital! I love, love, love this restaurant and hope to eat there every single time I visit Atlanta! If you haven't tried it, you really must! I love fried chicken, and well....they have the very best! The waffles are an added bonus and are great too! I can't wait to go back! We will be making a trip in Feburary to visit Mylah's birthfamily and attend another cheer competition. I can't wait to see "T" and Mylah's 3 birth siblings! It has been almost a year since we have seen them. I bet the kids have grown soooo much!
Blessings and Peace,
Amber

HAPPY HALLOWEEN~BIRTHDAY! 2010

HAPPY 36TH BIRTHDAY TO MY AWESOME HUSBAND DANNY! (Of course his b-day has already past....since I am posting this blog post way late!) We had a great Halloween! We always seem to do the same thing every year on Danny's birthday! That is, eat cake and take the kids trick-or-treating! Thankfully he doesn't seem to mind! He knows that someday they will all be grown and too old to trick-or-treat. Kendall and Terry always come over on Halloween and enjoy our little celebration! Danny's mom "Freda" and his sister "Donna" also came over to visit! They always take time to come see Danny on his birthday, and it means alot to him! Brennan and Ivey picked out a Ghostbusters shirt from Target that they wanted dad to wear on his birthday! It was perfect for him since he likes to watch Ghost Adventures, Ghost Hunters, and other similar shows that air on A&E, History and Travel channels. Of course, the kids have never seen those shows...it would probably scare Brennan to death! Ivey on the other hand will probably love shows like that when she gets old enough to watch!

Mylah was so sick on Halloween. She started running fever late that afternoon, and just did not feel good at all! I did not even put on her costume. She rode in her stroller the whole time and just enjoyed watching all the people walking around! Hopefully next year she can join in the fun of collecting candy! Our neighborhood is super fun on Halloween! There are TONS of people roaming around! We have many neighbors who go all out with the decorations! We even have a few "haunted" houses! Brennan and Kendall were sooo chicken this year! Ivey was the only one of them who went through the scariest haunted house in the neighborhood to get some candy! That child will do anything for candy! LOL Danny wanted a cheesecake this year for his birthday, so we ate cake and took the girls door to door. I had to work that night, but one of my wonderful co-workers (Teresa M.) stayed late for me so I could spend time with my family!

~Amber

PUMPKIN PATCH~OCTOBER

It is a tradition of ours to go to the pumpkin patch each year to take pics of the kids in their costumes! We also pick out a few pumkins to bring home to carve and decorate with. Ivey and Mylah had fun picking out lots of baby pumpkins! Ivey was a Sparkle Witch this year and Mylah dressed as Tinkerbell! Brennan had some other plans this year and did not go to the patch with us. She was having a good time at a farm enjoying a bon fire, and haunted hay ride with lots of her great friends! Here are some pics of us enjoying the pumpkins!

Blessings~

Amber

MEETING OUR FRIENDS!

There is a lady named "CoCo" that I met on an online adoption support group long ago! We became online friends and were always sharing valuable adoption advice with one another. We "met" long before our babies (Mylah and Blake) joined our families. We were lucky enough to get to follow one anothers amazing adoption journey through our blogs and emails to one another. We always knew we would meet in person someday! That someday finally happened back in Sept.! Mylah and I drove to CoCo's house to meet up with her and Blake! The drive is only a little over an hour, so we are hoping to visit each other once or twice a year. I had a great time talking with CoCo and having coffee while the babies played! Here are some pics of them together! I love connecting and getting to meet other families like our own. I think it is important for Mylah to see that there are similar families out there! Sometimes, due to the stares we get, it starts to feel like we are few and far between. I know this is not true though, and it is great to meet these other families face to face! CoCo has 3 children, all boys. Her oldest son is biological, the middle son was adopted from China, and her youngest son was adopted from the U.S. Her family is even more "mixed" than mine, and I like being able to go to her for advice from time to time! I'm so glad she invited Mylah and I over for a visit!

~Amber

We've Come A LONG Way Baby!!!

When in doubt....stick a giant bow in it like we do here in the South! Or there is always the trusty Hannah Montana wig!

I was looking back at pictures recently. I have began scrap-booking again, because I am WAY behind! I am embarrassed to even say how far behind I am! LOL Anyway, I have been going through tons of pictures. I began looking at the different styles I have tried on Mylah's hair. Some of them make me laugh now, and some make me proud! :) Just thought that you might want to look at how much I have learned during this first year! I learned everything I know from the internet...youtube videos and adoption forums that I have become a member of. I did another post on haircare a few weeks ago where there are links to some of my favorite sites for haircare. The styles I typically do on Mylah take less than an hour. I could get them done much faster if she would cooperate and sit still! LOL I normally can leave the style in for 3-4 days.

I take Mylah's hair pretty serious. I can't just throw it in a pony-tail like I can Brennan and Ivey's. No one thinks anything negative of me if I just brush Bren and Ivey's hair out and do not bother to style it at all. Their hair can look a mess, and I just don't think anyone cares one way or the other! LOL Black hair and its care is deeply rooted in African American identity and culture. There is a sense of pride and art in black hair care that I never even knew existed before adopting Mylah. It is part of her culture, and I want to honor Mylah's birth heritage by learning all I can about black hair care. In the AA community, hair styling is also a time of bonding. Mylah doesn't appreciate this bonding time at her age! She would rather be romping around playing then spending 30 minutes-1 hour on her hair style! I have high hopes for us though. I can imagine us popping in a movie and chatting away for hours while I style her hair in beautiful braids, cornrows, twists, micro-braids, or whatever I can create! I am really enjoying trying new things on her hair. I can't wait till she gets longer hair so I can really experiment!

Peace~

Amber

BIRTHDAY PHOTOS

Here are pics I had taken of the girls in June. Ivey had her 6 year old pics done and Mylah had her 1 year old ones taken. Mylah did not enjoy it much at all....but here are the pics that she was smiling in! LOL

~Amber