HAIRCARE!

I am passionate about learning to do Mylah's hair! People are always looking at her styles and asking me if I fixed her hair! LOL Sometimes I get compliments and sometimes I get tips on how I can improve my technique! I appreciate both! People often ask me how I learned to do her hair...I always tell them that I watched youtube videos! Then they laugh!!! I am serious though....everything I have learned came from 2 places. One is the youtube videos done by Katelynlyn (look her up there....she is AMAZING!). You can go to this GREAT site www.keepmecurly.com and find a link to the youtube videos by Katie. The other place I learn from is a Yahoo group about AA skin and haircare. It is called adoptionhair_skincare. I have ordered some cute beads and snaps from www.snapaholics.com .
I am all about natural haircare! I like to use organic, natural products in Mylah's hair, and these sites help me learn how to do just that! Some of the chemicals I try to avoid are: petroleum, mineral oil, parabens, silicone, and sulfates. There are others too that I am probably not thinking of right now! One of my favorite hair care products is virgin coconut oil! It smells divine and is sooo good for your hair and skin! Mylah's hair loves it! I also use Tate's conditioner at times. Tate's family makes a ton of natural, healthy products for hair and skin....including makeup and sunscreen! You can find their products here: www.trulypureandnatural.com . Some other good products for skin are cocoa butter and Shea butter. Mylah has eczema, so I have had alot to learn about caring for sensitive skin! Hope this article can help someone else!
Peace,
Amber

Cross Your Heart and Pray for Hope - Video

Cross Your Heart and Pray for Hope - Video (CLICK ON LINK HERE)

This is a beautiful song written by a friend of mine (David Hughes) and his band Mithril. This song was written in response to the oil spill here on the Gulf Coast. The oil spilled into God's wonderful creation for 85 days....polluting the ocean and beaches and killing so much wildlife. As of about 2 days ago, BP has finally placed a cap over the area that was leaking tremendous amounts of oil every day. Right now we continue to pray that the cap holds, so that focus can be placed on the cleanup and saving the wildlife. Please take a minute to enjoy this incredible song and video. The video has pictures of many cute kids playing on our beaches and in the ocean they love! There are pics of all 3 of my kids in the video, which makes it even more special for me! Enjoy!
P.S.~Thank you David and Mithril....you all did a wonderful job with this! So many Gulf Coast residents can really enjoy and appreciate your thoughtfulness when putting this together!
Blessings,
Amber

STRANGE CAT!

Ivey got in trouble when the baths first started happening b/c I kept thinking she was putting him in the tub! She would tell me he fell in or got in and I didn't believe her!

Then one day I found him bathing with our swimsuits that I was washing in the tub!

We have this really strange cat! His name is Jinx. He is a Bengal cat. It is a domestic cat, but they originally made this breed by mixing an Asian Leopard cat with a domestic cat. Therefore, it looks like a leopard, and acts like a regular house cat. Except....there are a few odd behaviors! The main thing is that many of them love water. Ours happens to be one of them! They also have a very odd sounding "meow". I can't explain it, you would just have to hear it! Our cat sortof acts like a dog. He is more dog-like than cat-like! He loves to be around people. He is always underfoot! He will greet you at the door. He is very vocal...too vocal! He likes alot of attention, and does not prefer to just lie somewhere and be left alone like many cats do. He loves to bathe with anyone he can jump in the tub with! There have been days where he has had 3 baths in 1 day! I must admit that it is getting very old having to get him out of the tub and dry him off! It's like having another kid! There are many youtube videos about this breed of cat. They are hilarious and if you have children you should let them watch! They will be very entertained! Here are some pics of our cat taking his baths! I have some funny pics of him taking a bath with the kids! They love to take a bath with him!

~Amber

4th of July!

This post is a little late! This year we didn't do much for the 4th. We went to the swim club for a while. They were cooking out so we ate there. There were lots of pool games for the kids and music too! When we got home we had cold watermelon...how could we celebrate the 4th without it?!

We've spent many 4th of July holidays at the beach, which is my favorite way to spend it! This year it is just too depressing on our beaches. Oil and tar balls are in the sand and water. The Gulf of Mexico is not safe to swim in now! The marine life has been devastated. It's very sad. Here is one blog about the oil spil if you are interested in learning more. http://www.gulfblog.uga.edu/

This will not impact just the Gulf Coast...but much of the country! You can also go to youtube to see some video footage.

Anyway, I just wanted to post a few pics. I also want to send out a HUGE THANK YOU to all the men and women who have fought, and are fighting for our freedom!!!

Peace,

Amber

THE PARTY!

I made Mylah's cake! It is the 1st cake I have made for one of the kids birthday's, and probably the last! LOL

Ivey was wise and choose a store bought cake!

The girls got sooo many nice gifts!

Ivey being sassy, showing off one of her new birthday outfits!

Ivey loves her kitty "Jinx" (Bengal breed)

Me and Mylah before the party started!

Mylah hanging out with daddy at her b-day party!

Brennan sliding on the water slide we rented for the party!

Our "other daughter" Kendall loves her lil' sis!

Ivey's BFF Amanda!

Ivey loves her friend Shane!

Cousin Meagan and Mylah!

BeBe and Mylah!

Ivey and Mylah celebrated their birthdays together with a big party! Their birthdays are only about a week apart. It is much easier for everyone to get together for one celebration, rather than trying to party for 2 weekends in a row! This year we decided to be brave and have the party at our home! We made it a water theme of course, because here on the coast it is in the 90's each day. We rented a giant inflatable water slide and the kids loved it! We had hot dogs, chips, baked beans, and pasta salad! Yum! But, most of all, we enjoyed hanging out with our family and friends as we celebrated the life of both Ivey and Mylah! Ivey turned the big "6"! I can't believe how fast they grow, Mylah is already 1...unreal!

Danny and I just knew it would rain the day of the party. We have had 3 outdoor birthday parties so far, and it has rained at every one! At Ivey's 1st birthday party there was a Tropical Storm that day! We had outdoor party plans and the weather was really bad! Most people couldn't even make it to the party. On Ivey's 3rd birthday, we rented the swim club out. There were thunderstorms the whole time and bad lightning. No one even got to put a toe in the water! LOL We all stayed under the picnic covered area. On Ivey's 5th birthday party it rained. We had that party at The Fountain, which is a cool place where lots of water shoots out of the ground in various fountains. The kids love it there! They did get to play in the water some, because it did not rain and lightning the whole time. That's the thing about coastal summer storms. We're not just talking about rain, but massive lightning bolts and loud thunder! So, we decided to try another outdoor party, even though we felt like it would be doomed like all the rest! LOL Thankfully, this time we were wrong! It was a beautiful day with plenty of sunshine and temps in the 90's! HOT! The water slide came in good use!

Ivey picked out a Barbie cake that she wanted from Target. She had this exact same cake for a past birthday (her 4th I think)! I could not talk her out of it though, so barbie it was! I have never made any of my girls a birthday cake before....ever! I for some reason decided to make Mylah's 1st b-day cake though! I am not a good cook, let alone a baker! LOL I borrowed the cutest cake pan from my friend Sandi. (Thanks Sandi!) I made 1 "practice" cake which I learned from! LOL Mylah's turned out pretty cute, but I think that will be my first and last birthday cake to make! Now I can understand why cakes cost so much though!

The pile of gifts between the two of them was unbelievable! Our girls are way too spoiled by our great friends and family! They both got some really cute clothes, toys, books, movies, pool gear, ect...Danny and I got Mylah several adoption books which I think she'll love when she gets a little older. They both got some really cute monogrammed clothing, and towels. Monogrammed clothing, or anything is HUGE here in the South! Little girls in the South own tons of monogrammed clothing, and almost anything else us moms can put names or initials on!

Our girls have so many people who care about them and love them! We had a house full of some of our favorite people. We were also missing a few people that we wish could have came, and hope they make it next year! Thanks to all who shared this special day with Ivey and Mylah...hope I don't leave anyone out!

BeBe, Nanny, Aunt Christy, Aunt Donna, Cousin Meagan, Aunt Lindsey, Uncle Brandon, Aunt Julie, Cousin Carter, Jen and her 3 boys: Braxton, Bryson, and Brantley, Terri and Kendall, Stacy and Taylor, Cyndi, Ansleigh, and Cadyn, Shane, Betty, Lauren, and Baby Shane, Rosanna and Amanda, Liz, Trent and Felicity, Mandy, Avian and Nevaeh, then of course there was me, Danny, Brennan, Ivey, and Mylah!

Blessings!

Amber

HAPPY 1ST BIRTHDAY MYLAH!

This grass

feels yucky!

Love my wagon rides with my big sis!

Messing up Brennan's room....AGAIN!

My big sister is the sweetest ever!

Hey! Get this cat off my back!

HAPPY 1ST BIRTHDAY!

Today our baby girl turned ONE! She amazes us everyday with how much she has learned and how fast she is growing! She is crawling super fast and is always wanting someone to hold her fingers so she can practice walking. She is pulling up on things and cruising the furniture a little! She can say lots of words already. Here are the ones I can think of: Daddy, MaMa, Kitty Cat, Duke, Hey, Night Night, Ivey, No No, Uh Oh.

Mylah hasn't been to her one year check up yet, but a few weeks ago she weighed 20 pounds! She is sitting forward facing in the car and seems to like it much better. She is on whole milk now and loves it! She still insists on her milk being warm though...we are trying to work on that! She takes a bottle about twice a day now and drinks out of her sippy cups. She gets a bottle at bedtime, and around 5am. She is sleeping much better! She goes to bed around 8pm and gets up around 7-8am. She does get a 5am bottle from her daddy still though! Mylah has 4 teeth and is eating some table food. She likes pizza, home-made mashed potatoes, cheese, grits, toast, bannana's, ice cream, and spaghetti.

She is developing quite a little toddler temper, and has already mastered having a fit! She can scream really loud when she doesn't get her way! She will also kick and thrash around! It is not pleasant! She just started these fits and I think she is really enjoying them! LOL She has figured out that she has a mind of her own and she wants to use it! She doesn't want anyone else telling her what to do!

Mylah loves playing with Brennan and Ivey! She loves being outdoors and especially going for a ride in the wagon. She also likes going to the swim club and being in the water. She loves playing with our kitten....even though he sometimes scratches and bites! She goes to daycare twice a week and her teachers say she is the best one in the class! Ha! I'm still trying to figure out why she acts so good for them and throws fits with me! LOL

Today I am just really happy to have her in our lives! She is our dream come true...and I thank her birthmom for our precious daughter. I had a text conversation with "T" as we were about to give Mylah her cake tonight. I know "T" loves her and thinks of her all the time.

We just had a little cake for Mylah tonight with just me, Danny, Brennan, and Ivey. She did not like it and cried when she got it on her hands and arms! Then of course she rubbed it in her hair so she went straight to the tub! We took video of it and some pics. She has had a runny nose and has been really grumpy all day, so that may be why she wasn't liking the cake so much. We are having her birthday party in about 2 weeks, and I am hoping she digs into the cake more then. Mylah has tons of clothes and toys (many hand-me downs from Ivey), so I ordered her some adoption books for her birthday. I am so excited about them! They are ones that are written for children and I know she will really enjoy them when she is a little older. There are sooo many adoption books that I want for her and some grown up ones I'd like to have for myself. I'm sure she will get books for every holiday! LOL Ivey likes the adoption books right now too, so she will enjoy them as well. I also got her some more hair stuff: snaps, beads and a beader. I don't think Mylah enjoys me practicing with her hairstyles, but I have to learn! LOL I can't wait till she will sit still while I do her hair! It is very challenging at this age!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY MYLAH BROOKE! LOVE~ DADDY, MOMMY, BRENNAN, AND IVEY