HEY! THROW ME SOMETHING MR.!!!

About to enjoy some King Cake! Brennan's friend Lauren is helping us eat it up!

My favorite.....moon pies!

Ivey and Mylah caught huge stuffed animals!

We had a great time celebrating Mardi Gras this year! We watched some day parades and had a picnic in the park! The girls caught TONS of throws!!! My favorite catch ever is the moon pies! Yummy! The girls all caught big stuffed animals, beads, cups, coins, small toys, and lots of junk! LOL It was a beautiful, warm day here on the Gulf Coast with temps in the 70's! The kids enjoyed throwing balls in the park and watching the floats roll by!

As you can see, some of the pics I posted are in our home. This is what goes on in my house for days after they catch lots of beads! Everyone has to wear them according to the girls.....including the pets! I am so sick of picking up beads! They will begin to slowly disappear now....and only a basket full will get to stay! We just have way too many!

Happy Mardi Gras!

Amber

Mylah's Surgery

Okay so I am back-tracking a little! Mylah had surgery on Jan. 4th. She has never had any ear infections, but she got one at the end of October. The doctor tried 5 different antibiotics over the course of about 9 weeks and the ears would not get better. She went to see an EENT and had sinus x-rays done. The Dr. decided she needed her adnoids removed and tubes placed in her ears! Her Dr. was so nice and even gave her a small stuffed animal right before they took her back to surgery. He also had his nurse take a polaroid pic of us with him (who knew there were still Polaroids around?!). He gave us the photo as a keep-sake! Mylah did not like when they took her away from us to take her back to the OR. She fought the nurse and was screaming and reaching for us. She does not like strangers anyway....especially ones with surgical gear on! It was sad and I felt bad for her because she was so scared!

Danny and I were allowed to go back to the recovery room as soon as they woke her up and pulled her ET tube (breathing tube). She woke up basically the same way she went down....scared and mad! She did not open her eyes much for a while, but thrashed around like crazy while screaming! Danny and I had to hold her together because she was so strong! She was hitting us and the nurse, along with pulling my hair, kicking, and hitting! Basically fighting like it was life or death! She left scratch marks all over Dannys face and neck! She was trying to pull her oxygen cannula out of her nose, and trying to pull out her IV too. It was not fun! There were 2 other sets of parents and their children in the same small recovery room that we were in. Those 2 kids were crying and acting confused and scared a little, but not going completely bonkers like Mylah! Those other parents kept looking at us like "poor you!" , but they were also laughing at us a little too! I'm sure it was a sight to see!

She did well after the surgery and was back to her old self in about 4 days.

We left for Disney World 6 days after her surgery (on the 10th)! Thankfully she was all healed and ready for her first trip to see Mickey and friends! We had a blast and I took tons of pics! Not sure if I'll ever post any on the blog though because I cannot narrow it down to just a few! I'm afraid I would end up posting waaayyyy toooooo many!

~Amber

African Tribal Music~Imagine It (Atlanta)

Playing In The Sand!

MYLAH VISITS BIRTHFAMILY! Feb.21-2011

We were so excited to see Mylah's birth family! It's been 12 months....way too long, since we have seen them. We would love to see them more often, but the reality of all of our insanely busy lives keeps that from happening. I just feel so blessed to see them...even if it is just once a year. Being in Atlanta is so magical for me. The second I get there so many emotions flood me all at once. I wonder if it will always be that way? Or if everything is still just "fresh" since Mylah is so young. The whole time I am there my thoughts drift constantly to meeting "T" the day of Mylah's birth. I think of watching Mylah take her first breath and being at "T's" side for days in the hospital helping her recover from childbirth. So many thoughts drifting in and out of my mind...like visiting "T's" apartment when we drove her home from the hospital on that rainy day, and thinking about Mylah's 3 siblings and wondering what kind of relationship they will grow to have, and reminiscing about our last visit with "T" and her 3 kids, and on and on! The first night we were in ATL I was talking to Brennan (11 yrs) about how awesome it is being there and the memories that come back to me. Then after I went on and on for a couple minutes she said something like "Yeah, I guess.......it's just a hospital mom"! I guess as I was talking about Mylah's birthplace Brennan thought the whole time I meant the hospital itself! LOL She didn't get that the whole city of ATL is special to me, and didn't see anything magical about it at all! Haha.....I guess most people wouldn't get it, especially a child! ***There is one person who totally gets it...from a mommy standpoint. That is Andreana (my Cali friend) who adopted her little girl from ATL just 3 weeks after Mylah was born!***Anyway, I'll stop going on and on...it's just hard to explain how strange and awesome it is visiting there now!

I was super excited and nervous about this visit. I found out a day or two before our visit that "S" (Mylah's birth father) was going to be there for sure! I had never met or even spoken to him prior to this meeting. I was happy that he decided he would like to meet Mylah and our family. "S" was really nice! I often saw him just staring at Mylah, watching her play. A few times I heard him say "Awww she's so cute"! He was amazed at how much she looks like their youngest daughter who is 4 years. I must say that Mylah and the 4 year old do look just alike! It is so cool to be able to look and see basically what Mylah will look like a few years down the road!

"T" and I had a few moments alone where we could just talk. We didn't get to spend as much time together as I would have liked. She is still in college and I am so proud of her! She should finish at the end of this year if all goes as planned! She and I talked about them trying to come to the Gulf Coast to see us sometime. She talked about really wanting to make the trip in the near future. I'm not sure if she would be able to come before she finishes school. I am very happy we had the conversation though, because at least now I know there is the possibility that they will come see us one day!

The kids had so much fun playing together! Right when I met them at the door of Imagine It Children's Museum the 2 girls ran up to me saying "Where's my sister, where's my sister"? It was so sweet to see how excited they were to see her! Then right after that the oldest one (7 yrs) started telling me about how she remembered us from last year and that we took them to the Aquarium! She is funny and talks almost as much as and as fast as Ivey! The little brother was very quiet but enjoyed playing! He is just 12 months older than Mylah, and will turn 3 in June when Mylah turns 2.

We had a wonderful time seeing all of them! Mylah didn't let any of them hold her this visit, and of course she doesn't know or remember any of them. But, as time goes on she will come to know them more and more through these visits. The photos I have taken of her birth family will become priceless to her, just as they are to me. Someday I dream of her having close relationships with her 3 ATL siblings. I picture them on face book just chatting away! Mylah is very blessed to have them in her life, and I am forever grateful for our open adoption.

P.S.~We did not plan for all the little ones to wear hot pink....but aren't they cute!

Blessings!

Amber

Imagine It Children's Museum~Atlanta

We had a really fun time at Imagine It Children's Museum! We spent a few hours there anxiously awaiting Mylah's birthfamily's arrival. The girls played all day! Mylah's favorite was the sand station! Ivey seemed to like it all and ran from station to station and we had trouble keeping up with her! Brennan enjoyed the station where you could paint. She was a good big sis and helped Mylah play on everything!

Love

Amber

Atlanta~Cenntenial Olympic Park

We had a great time on our trip to Atlanta! We arrived on Feb 18th and left on Feb. 21st. We wish we could have stayed longer! The weather was perfect while we were there! Brennan had a cheer competition. It is the largest cheer comp. in the entire world! Her team did awesome and placed 3rd in their division!!! We enjoyed playing in Cenntenial Olympic Park! Brennan and Ivey got to go back to the American Girl store...they LOVE that place! They each brought money to ATL so they were able to get new doll's (with the help of mom and dad pitching in)!
~Amber