Told our story today

Here's a picture of Bella when we took her to the zoo recently. It doesn't have anything to do with today's post, but I wanted to show you how big and more beautiful Bella is getting..

Today Bella and I had the opportunity to go to our agency's adoption preparation class to tell our adoption story to parents who want to adopt. Bella was very well-behaved and it felt great to share some hope with others who are where we were 2 years ago. I am feeling very blessed today. 2 years ago we were finishing up our paperwork and dossier to send to Guatemala and we didn't even know about Bella yet. Life has changed dramatically since then for the better. I can't imagine life without her now.

Arabella Turned 2 Yesterday!

Here Bella is showing her pull ups to her daddy. She wanted him to open them right then. Bella had lots of family and friends over at our house last night for her Dora birthday party. The funny thing is out of all her awesome presents she was most excited about her Dora pull-ups, Elmo big girl panties, and bubbles! She also got all kinds of cute clothes, shoes, books, toys, a toddler swing and slide! She is growing up way too fast!

Fun with our foster family in Guatemala

We have been very blessed to be able to come to Guatemala to spend time with Arabella's foster family. Bella and I arrived on Wed., July 24th, and will be going home on Thursday, July 2nd. I wanted to come before Bella was 2 so I would only have to buy her a lap ticket, which is about 10% plus taxes of the adult ticket price. She did pretty well on the plane. We did have to go into the tiny bathroom for a leaky diaper change. It was fun. I had to stand Bella up on the toilet seat and change her standing up - good thing it wasn't a poopy diaper! She only slept for about 45 minutes of the entire 4 hours we flew, but she played and wasn't very fussy at all.

She was shy for about 10 minutes when we met Karen and her family at the airport, but she remembered them right away. They invited us to stay with them and it has been a very special time. They bought a pool to put on the front patio for the kids to swim. Bella loves the water; we're having trouble keeping Bella out ot if. They swam 2 days so far. We went to the city and the kids had horseback rides in the park on another afternoon. Bella had a goat cart ride. Margie and Joshua rode with Bella in a little cart pulled by a goat. It was so cute! She made Mami Karen hold her hand and we sang all the way around the path.

We went to church, to lunch at Karen's parent's house, and to the mall yesterday. Bella calls Karen Momma and likes her to hold her. She is having so much fun with the children. I am thankful for this special time with the angels who took care of Bella from the time she was 15 days old until she was 91/2 months old (when I picked her up last summer). They are truly beautiful people and love Bella with all their hearts. Bella loves them all, too. They have a special bond.

Above are some of my favoite pictures from the past few days.

Way Overdue Updates and Pictures

This set of pics is from Easter. I told you this was way overdue! The last month and a half of school are crazy for me, so I got a little behind. Bella went to church in her lovely Easter dress and the lady in charge of the nursery let her have chocolate and she had it all over her dress when I went to pick her up afterwards. I was not a happy camper. She had a pink shrug sweater that she wore over her dress that was too chocolate covered to wear when we got to Grandma's. It took us 20 minutes and half a Tide stick to get the chocolate mostly out of her dress before we could take pictures. Then we couldn't go outside for picture with her dress in front of Grandma's flowers because it was too cold without her sweater. She changed into her play clothes for the egg hunt and she was so funny. She would find one egg at a time and would turn around and wait for everyone to clap for her. Then she would smile really big and want to open every egg to see what was inside. We had to keep encouraging her to keep finding the eggs first. She had a blast with the egg hunt and we had a lovely time with our family at Grandma's.

Spring Break Smoky Mountain Fun

This is the cabin we stayed in with our friends in Pigeon Forge on "Top of the World Drive." Bella is hanging out on the front deck looking at the beautiful view from the rocking chair.

Bella being silly with Tonya and Lyndsey on the porch of the cabin.

Wow! Check out that view!

Bella found a fun place to hide and play under the stairs in the cabin. She is in her swimsuit here after she took her first dip in a hottub out on the deck. Bella loves water!

Here is our attempt to get all the kids (minus Mason who went to town to have fun his daddy) to sit still long enough for us to get a picture. The top row is Lyndsey and Lori's daughters Vivian and Serena. The bottom row is all of our Guatetots: Bethany (Lori's daughter), Maria Jade (Valerie's daughter), Isabelle (Lauren's daughter) and Bella.

Here is Isabella sporting a Krispy Kreme hat with her mom, Lauren,

in the living room of the gorgeous cabin we stayed in.

Arabella decided that she liked the music that Lyndsey had on her ipod

and she listened for a while on the way down.

Another picture of our view of the mountains

Tammy and Lyndsey posing on the deck in front of the great view of the mountains.

Bella loves her Lyndsey (Lou Lou)!

Arabella, Isabelle, and Bethany posing on a bench in front of the Apple Barn.

Bella cheesing as usual.

Bella and I had the opportunity to take a trip to Pigeon Forge, TN over spring break. My sister, Tammy, and one of her daughters, Lyndsey, went with us. We stayed in a beautiful cabin on " Top of the World Drive" and it felt like that's where we were by the time you got to the top of the long winding road you drive up to get there. It had beautiful scenic views. To make things even more special, we were able to spend some time with our friends and their children who we met last April at Casa de Luna in Guatemala. We were all there visiting our daughters who we were in the process of adopting last year. All our girls have grown so much in the past year. This week also marked one year since we first met and spent our first fabulous week with our daughter. You have heard me mention Lori (Bethany's mom), Valerie (Maria Jade's mom), and Lauren (Isabelle's Mom) when we were all in the adoption process last year. Many of you helped us pray all our babies home last year year; thanks again for all your love!

Then and Now.... Same dress (different size) different country...

Look how big Arabella has gotten! I loved this dress so much when I saw it last winter when I was waiting to meet Arabella for the first time, that I bought it off the clearance rack at Old Navy in two sizes. The first picture is last April in Guatemala and the bottom picture is last month at my sister's. She looks awesome in this coral color. Every time she wears it people compliment how good she looks and that it is her "color". I agree but also think she looks good in every color. When she wore this dress to church I had a case of nostalgia remembering when we first met Bella and spent the week with her. I thought you would enjoy this "then and now" post to see how much she has grown. I am playing blog catch up. Read below to see 2 more posts from today.

Weekend at Aunt Tammy's

All dressed up and ready for church! Bella and Lyndsey

I love lettuce!

Last month, Bella and I spent a weekend at my sister's house. Arabella loves to play with her cousins and they love her. We had a great time hanging out, eating, shopping, and going to church! Above are a few pictures from our fun weekend. Keep reading below for another post from today.

Fun With Friends!

Maria Jade and Arabella take turns pushing Elmo in the stroller.

Mason showing us his new toy.

Bella even let Maria Jade hold her favorite stuffed animal, Mr. Penguin.

Long time, no blog.........Lots of good things have happened over the last 2 months since I posted, so I will attempt to share a few pics and fill you in a little. We have been doing great, we just stay busy. In February, our friends (Valerie and Ray with their children Maria Jade and Mason) came to visit from Berea. We first met them last spring when we were both waiting to bring our daughters home from Guatemala. Valerie flew with Bob and I to Guatemala last April on our visit trip to meet Arabella. We had a great time bonding with our girls and getting to know each other as well.

We don't get to see each other as often as we might like, but we will always be friends. Going through the adoption process at the same time has a way of bonding you together. The support I got from Val helped me stay sane; she knew exactly how I felt because she was going through the same thing at the same time.

The kids had fun playing together while Val and I had some time to talk and catch up.

Happy Valentine's Day and Bella is 18 months old today!

Happy Valentine's Day everyone! Our baby (big) girl is 18 months old today! Time is flying by; Arabella has been home for over 6 months now. The past month has been very busy. We had a huge ice storm, didn't have power for 4 days (some of our family didn't have power for 2 weeks), basement got very wet due to no electricity and sump pump not working...... We are blessed that we didn't have it worse, though. We have a new found appreciation for electricity and the everyday comforts we take for granted. Arabella got to meet her Uncle Jody for the first time while he was here visiting over the past couple of weeks. She had lots of fun getting to know him. One of the new things Bella likes to do is have tea parties. She especially likes for her daddy to sit at her little table with her and she pretends to pour tea in his glass; it is so cute! She has invited me to have tea with her a few times, but it is usually her daddy who she wants to do this with. Bella has transitioned to sleeping beside our bed instead of in the bed with us. She still doesn't like to sleep in her room down the hall; I think she is afraid to be by herself. We want her to feel safe first and foremost. She will be in her own room one of these days. Then she will be big and we will wish she were still little, so I am not rushing it. I love each new holiday we get to celebrate with Bella. I am so thankful to have her in my life. I am more thankful that she is home this year to celebrate them all with us. She is doing so well and is so beautiful, smart, and happy. We can't remember what our life was like without her, nor do we ever want to. I think about how blessed I am and the tears flow. Thank you Lord for all the love you have showered on me! Love and blessings to you all, Tonya

My Dreams For You, Arabella

Dear Arabella, Yesterday was Martin Luther King Jr.'s Birthday and I was at home all day with you from school. When you grow up you will hear about his important speech which is entitled "I Have a Dream." It made me think of my dreams for your future. I look at you everyday and am amazed that I am lucky enough to be your momma. I loved you from the first minute I knew you existed. No, you didn't grow inside my womb, but my love for you has grown everyday in my heart and soul. God knew you and loved you even before you were born. Your birthparents were part of God's plan, too. They gave you life and gave you many special characteristics that make you unique and beautiful. I am forever grateful to them for that. God knew that we would be your forever family, and I am eternally thankful for that. I pray that as you grow up you will be happy and will always feel loved. I hope you have fun and make wonderful friends. I hope you fall in love with the Lord and will let him guide your future. I pray that you will fall in love with a man who will treat you like a princess and will serve the Lord with you. I pray that the Lord will bless you with children, so you can find the joy I have found in motherhood. I pray that you will find something you are passionate about doing and that you will give it your all. My dreams for you include all these things and so much more, Bella. One day when you read this, I hope you will realize how important you are to me and how I pray that all your dreams come true. Love you forever, Momma

Christmas, A New Year, and Catch Up ...........

This is sweet Bella in between her 2 illnesses when she was actually feeling well. She was looking really cute and was getting ready to go to her Grandpa Larry's retirement party.

This is Bella on Christmas Eve with my sister, my niece, and my cousin before we had to change her clothes. As you can see, she isn't her usual smiley self. This is Bella with her new baby doll and carrier in the first set of pajamas we had her in that night. She tried to play and have some fun, but she was just having a rough night.

This is what Bella looked like right after we opened presents on Christmas Day. She loved her new Elmo and she fell asleep right on him laying on the couch. Poor thing!

We have had a busy couple few weeks. Since my last post, Bella has been sick 2 different times. First she had a fever, was lethargic, and had a rash a didn't feel well for several days. That turned out to be rosiola (not sure of the spelling). That was the week before Christmas. She got over that and the week of Christmas she started running a fever and not being her energetic self again. You can see from the few Christmas pictures we got that she wasn't her smiley self. On Christmas Eve she was running a fever, then she got diarrhea, so we changed her out of her fancy dress. Then we put on her new Christmas Eve pajamas and the same thing happened again. Finally we put on another set of new pajamas and she threw up curdled milk all over them about 11:30 p.m. on Christmas Eve night. Sorry for the yucky details. She slept until about 10 a.m. on Christmas morning, then we opened presents and tried to video her first Christmas with us, but she just didn't feel well and wasn't into it. Santa brought her a new red wagon and a big teddy bear and she got lots of clothes, toys, and books from Momma and Daddy as well.

For the next few days, she kept having diarrhea and didn't have an appetite. I called the doctor and he said it sounded like rotovirus and that if she wasn't running a fever anymore and keeping her food down that she would be OK. He told me to keep giving her liquids and to call and come in if she got worse. Oh, what fun! For the next few days after Christmas we didn't do much, just mainly stuck around here and forced liquids down her as often as possible so she wouldn't get dehydrated. Then I got it and felt awful for a few days. Bella lost some weight and I was getting worried, but finally after about 5 days or so she got her appetite back and started having more energy. She is doing much better now except that now she has a cold and has a runny nose. I guess our poor girl is going to get everything coming and going this winter until her immune system gets built up.

Do you know when you are old? When you can hardly stay awake to watch the ball drop at Times Square on t.v. on New Year's Eve. We decided to just stay home and we watched some movies and snuggled on the couch. About 11:00 I kept falling asleep and Bella was already asleep in my lap. Bobby had to wake me up to kiss me and wish me a Happy New Year. It was a happy new year, though. Especially for us all 3 to be together to celebrate, even if we couldn't stay awake. Ha! Ha!

I have enjoyed my 2 weeks off with Arabella although she has been sick for a lot of it. I will miss her alot when I go back to work in the morning. She has been extra clingy to me since she has been sick, so it will be hard on her to transition back to not being with me during the day on weekdays again. I am thankful for my time off, but I wish I could stay home with her. It is not possible right now, but that where is where my heart is.

I hope that you and your family are blessed and find joy and strength in the Lord Jesus Christ in 2009!

Take care,

The Boster family