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.