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

So many reasons to give thanks.......................

Hello friends. I am sorry that I haven't been able to post much lately (or since we have been home). Bella doesn't go to bed until we do, so I have very little free time. I am not complaining; I can't think of a better way to be busy.

As you can see from the pictures, Arabella likes to cheese for the camera. She is very photogenic. She did very well for the lady who took her Christmas pictures. It was hard to pick our favorites because there were so many good ones to choose from.

Since the last post, Bella has celebrated her first Thanksgiving with both sides of our family. Everyone loved her and kept making over her; she was definitely the star of the show. She has been walking for a little while, but has done so independently now for about the past 4 weeks. She loves to play with her daddy when he gets home from work in the evenings and on Friday's (Daddy Day). She now has a FAVORITE book that we have to read over and over and over...... We can "read" it without looking now. She loves her baths, she loves to eat, she loves to dance and sing.

The only thing she doesn't love is sleeping in her bed and/or in her room. So for now, she is in between hubby and me. She loves to snuggle. She rubs my face and holds my hand when she is going to sleep; I will actually miss all that when she does sleep in her own bed. We are redoing her room now with a toddler bed since it was more than obvious that she absolutely hated her crib and was never going to sleep in it.

Since Thanksgiving, I have spent a lot of time reflecting over the past year. I have so many reasons to be thankful that it is hard to put it all into words. Yesterday was the one year anniversary of the day we found out about Bella. We were told there was a 4 month old baby girl that we could adopt. Wednesday is Happy Referral Day. That is the day a year ago that we first saw Bella's pictures and read all about her. The past year has been a roller coaster, but I would do it all over again a thousand times to have Bella in my life. She brings such joy to our lives; I can't remember what my life was like before her and don't know what I would do without her now. I love being a mom and so thankful God saw fit for us to be Bella's parents.

I don't take for granted how easy our adoption process was compared to others whose road has been much bumpier and longer than ours (although when you are going through it feels like eternity). We were told when we started that the process to bring Arabella home would likely take 8 - 10 months or longer. My heart's longing and specific prayer was to have Bella home by her first birthday. I asked everyone I knew to pray for that (to be home before her birthday) and to pray for no previos from PGN. People who didn't even understand what PGN was and the process prayed for that specifically and diligently. After 15 years of marriage and 10 years of "waiting" for a baby, the Lord answered our prayers specifically. I am unworthy to be loved so much by my Heavenly Father; thank you dear Jesus for having perfect timing and a perfect answer to our prayers. Please keep praying, there are still a lot of babies in Guatemala that aren't home with their forever families yet.

Christmas will be more fun than ever this year. I love this time of year, but it will be extra special to see how Bella's face lights up on Christmas morning. Having Bella home with us this year at Christmas is the perfect gift. I don't need anything else.

I hope that you all have a wonderful Christmas with your families. I am thankful for all your encouragement and prayers over the past year. I hope that you can feel Christ's love for you and celebrate His birth with us at this time of year!

Love and blessings,

The Boster family

Little Red Riding Hood

Ok, I am the worst blogger in the world. Sorry, Lauren and all my other blogger friends who keep checking for updates.............. My only excuse is working full time, chasing a toddler in the evenings, and going to bed when she does. Here's a quick post with a very late Halloween picture. We took Bella by all her grandparents' houses and then she went trick-or-treating with 2 of her cousins. She had a blast. It got very cold that evening, but we bundled her up and kept going. She just kept grinning when she got candy from the nice people in the neighborhood. Afterwards, we went to my sister's friends' house and Bella attended her first bonfire/marshmallow and weeny roast. We also had chili; it was very good! Bella seemed to enjoy it. Unfortunately her momma has eaten most of her Halloween candy. I gave her the healthier stuff. I will try to do better and post some more pictures soon.

Blessings,

Tonya

Updates from the past month

I'm tired of smiling for the camera!

Our church had a welcome home party/baby shower for Bella a couple of weeks ago. We got lots of nice stuff and bigger clothes for Bella to wear this winter and next spring. It was fun to celebrate with many of the people who had been praying Bella home since the beginning. We had asked them to pray specifically that our paperwork would be perfect and that PGN would issue us no kickouts. God answered our specific prayers; He is so good to us!

Since the last post, almost a month ago, I have gone back to work. It was terrible at first. The whole week before I went back I kept crying every time I thought about it. I am happy to say after the first couple of days, it went better. Bella is staying at my grandma's on Mon. - Thurs. I have to drop her off at 7 a.m. to get to school on time. That is the part that neither Bella nor I like; we are not early morning people. My mom goes over and helps for a few hours when she gets off work. My grandparents live on a farm, and Bella loves to go outside with them and sit on the porch or to play. Several family members usually go in and out of the farm every day, so there are plenty of people to hold Bella and to love on her. She is so happy to see me every afternoon when I get there; it is the highlight of my day. She is being taken very good care of and has lots of fun at Grandma's. On Friday, Daddy is off, so Bella stays at home with him. Bella loves her daddy and they do all kinds of fun stuff together on Fridays.

Work is hectic, but it is easier for me to go to work knowing that Bella is loved so much where she is while I am work. I will update with more pictures as soon as I get a chance.

Blessings,

Tonya

2nd Baby Shower/Welcome Home Party

This is a picture of Arabella and me with my sister

and 2 of my nieces at the shower.

My mom had a baby shower/welcome home party for us at her church a couple of weeks after we were home with Bella. We had lots of good food and there was a large group of people there to celebrate with us! We were showered with so many nice gifts for Bella that is was almost overwhelming. We have been so blessed, and everyone has been so loving and supportive during our journey. Thanks to everyone who helped in any way at the shower and who gave us gifts!

Love and blessings,

Tonya