Thursday, May 21, 2009

A birthday to remember...

When we were in the process of adopting, we really, really wanted to have our sweet pea home by the her 1st birthday. God really blessed us when we brought her home at 9months! We are so thankful to have her. I wasn't able to load all the video from the party but I got some of it.



We had so much fun on Ayana's birthday. Jessica, Rickey and Abby were in town to help us celebrate. In addition to having fun in the pool, she got gifts and have her very own cake! She loved squishing the cake and icing between her fingers.
Jess and Rickey got her two pairs of the cutest shoes ever! They are called Mooshu trainers. They have a squeeky thing inside them so they make noise when they walk which is totally amusing. There is a way to pull the squeeker out if you want.




Thank you Lord for such a precious gift! Happy Birthday sweet pea or as your dad would say, Happy Birthday scooter! We love you!

Monday, May 18, 2009

Ayana the fish...

Ayana had a big birthday over the weekend. She turned one! Can you believe it? Anyway, we had a great party but I still need to sift through all the photos. I will post them in the next day or two.

Rickey, Jess and Abby were in town over the weekend. We had such a good time. The boys played a whoppin 3 rounds of gulf and we just chilled int he pool and got our nails done. They left this morning and we miss them already.

I am sharing photos of Ayana in the pool from Saturday. She LOVES, loves, loves the water! She is not scared at all. I had to watch her closely because she wanted to take a nose dive right into the water. Savannah was at six flags with a school group so she is not in the pictures. Ayana has become such a cute chub bucket. I love the fat rolls on the legs, wait, and the arms, oh, don't forget the one on the neck. Delicious!












Stay tuned for birthday video and photos!


Wednesday, May 13, 2009

Surprise!

A surprise to remember....

So my surprise started last Friday. My assistant and I were so excited to treat ourselves to a lunch at one of our favorite places on break at the end of a hard week at work. We pulled into the parking lot of the restaurant and I was practically drooling because I was so hungry. Just then, my cell phone rang and it was my nanny. She has never called me at work before, so I immediately answered. She doesn't speak good English so she handed the phone to Olivia. Olivia comes over every 2 weeks to clean. Olivia sounded a little panicked so I was really getting concerned. She began to tell me the best she could in English, "snake snake!" I said, "Inside or outside?"
She said, "in Ayana's room!" What!!!!!!!?????? Oh my gosh, get out of there and I am on my way. So we left the parking lot of the restaurant and immediately headed to my house. We live only 3 miles form my work. When we got there, they showed me where the snake was. It was in Ayana's window, between the screen and the window. On the outside, thank God. The cleaner opened the shutters in Ayana's room to dust and discovered the snake. She was terrified, of course.

It was coiled up so I couldn't see all of it. My assistant and I went to the garage with our high heels on and grabbed a nine iron out of the golf bag, we knew what needed to be done. lol, can you imagine? What were we thinking!

So we are in our work suits and heels in my front yard with a nine iron and we begin to hit the screen lightly to get the snake to pull out of the screen. Mr. snake did not like that we were disturbing him. he came out of the cracks for us to see him. Just then his head popped out and I freaked out! My daddy taught me if it has a triangular head, it is probably poisonous. This snake definitely had a triangular head and was no gardner snake. So we stopped hitting the screen. It started attacking the window trying to get to us and you could see venom on the window! OMG!!!! So we called animal control and they came and got him out. Did they pull him out from the outside of the house? No, they came into Ayana's room and opened the window and pulled it out with a snake pole/catcher. Ughh!!!!

Turns out, it was a poisonous snake, it was a Trans-Pecos Copperhead Snake.
I captured a picture on my phone before animal control came out. Enjoy!


Actual snake in our window:
Look on the right hand side of the picture where the tail to get an idea
of how long it is. Some of it was up in the window seal.

I found the next picture on the Internet. This is the same kind of snake. UGHH!!!



Good times!!!!!!

Monday, May 11, 2009

Mother's Day recap...

I had a wonderful Mother's day. We went to lunch and then had a stroll outdoors at the Harbor by the lake. It was my first Mother's day with Ayana and another great mothers day with Savannah. Rick was sweet watch Ayana so I could sleep in. That was the best present, I love to sleep!

Me and my girls!


Ayana looks so amused. lol!

Love me some Savvy!




The Harbor


We also went to the Rocky Mountain Chocolate factory. Yumm! Rick watched Ayana while Savvy and I picked out a yummy! Rick paid and I was handing him his credit card back and you will see from the picture below...Ayana is catching on at a young age when she is trying to take daddies credit card. I am glad I had my camera out. So funny!


I really appreciate all that I have. It was a great day!

Sunday, May 10, 2009

Happy Mother's Day, Mom!



I wish I could tell you, Mom
how much you mean to me....
But there are no words to say
how much I admire you...
how much I appreciate you...
how proud I am of you,
how much I thank you
for everything you've done in my life.
I love you! Happy Mother's day!


Saturday, May 9, 2009

Ayana's Birthmother...

I would like to say Happy Mother's day to Ayana's birthmother. I have been thinking about her a lot this week. I am going to try to get some of my feelings down in a letter. It might be random but I try to write uncensored with pure thoughts. Forgive me, if it turns out scattered.

Dear Y,

Words can't even do justice the joy I feel from having Ayana as my daughter . I will be eternally grateful for the gift that you have given to us. I pray for you and I think of you often. I wonder what you are feeling and where you are sleeping tonight.

I feel a permenant bond to you even though I have never met you. You will always be remembered. I promise to never let Ayana forget you and her beautiful mother country.

I want you to know that I will be there for Ayana in good and bad times. I will be there for her in her first steps taken to the steps she takes as she walk down the isle at her wedding and all the way, you will be with us, like footprints in the sand.

Happy Mother's day to the mother who made the ultimate sacrifice when Ayana was just 40 days old. Because I can't hug you myself, I pray that you can feel God's arms wrapped around you in the warmest embrace letting you know Ayana is loved and cared for. Happy Mother's day!

Love and gratitude,
Amber (Ayana's 2nd mom)


Thursday, May 7, 2009

Funny Video...

One of my agents sent this to me today. It's for Mother's day and Very funny!



To make your own video, Go HERE.

Thanks Sharon, very sweet! I have the best mom to learn from!

Wednesday, May 6, 2009

Daddy's girl.

Ayana has turned out to be a daddy's girl. Rick makes her laugh every day. He is so good with her and it's so fun to watch and of course...da da was her first words.



Side note: I would also like to add that it is very sexy to watch a man be a great dad. Don't you think that ladies?

Tuesday, May 5, 2009

Check it out and vote!

Hi all,

Ayana got her first professional photos taken and I am having trouble picking my favorites.
If you are interested in helping me pick, Go to http://www.getinfocusphotography.com/ click on "online ordering" and then click "Boyd". Side note, Some of the photos are of nose, ears, knees etc...they are using those for a collage.

Vote for your favorites in the comments section. Here is a preview:








Thanks for your help! :)

More guests...

Ayana had some special visitors this last weekend. She got to meet her Grandpa Jerry and Grandma Roxanne, my dad and step-mom, for the first time. They flew to Dallas right after Grandma's funeral. We had a great time even through the severe thunderstorms and tornado watches.






Thanks for coming to visit. Love you!

Sunday, May 3, 2009

Special friends...

The Internet can be a wonderful thing. Through the Internet I have met so many wonderful families who are or already have adopted. Some of the most wonderful relationships have blossomed from yahoo groups and blogs. One of these relationships is the Reeves family. Scott and Leah adopted Gabre from Ethiopia. She is so precious! They all came to visit again and we had the best time. You can find their blog, Hope, here.

You may remember that the Reeve's family has made an appearance on our blog before. Go here to see that post. Gabre has grown so much since that last visit.

They got to meet Ayana for the first time and Gabre ands her played so well together. Here are a few pic's.






Thank you to all the families who have been such great supporters! I am so blessed!