Welcome Home Party.

My other half (Jill) and Michael's other half (Mitchell or Jason - same person) threw a welcome home party for Stella this past weekend. It was at the park and we had TONS of fun!!! we had homemade ice cream, strawberries, brownie cookies and jones soda. the perfect day.

time for a party.

spending some aunt jess time.girl gabbing.

playing croquet.
enjoying the lovely weather.

getting some aunt jilli and big jer time.
lovin on bella. this is my friend angel's daughter. they were here visiting from south carolina. WE MISS THEM ALREADY!!!

uncle jason playing with the kids.
lovin on angel.

stella and bella. yes, she is crying because we put her on the ground.
daddy cheering stella up.

saying bye to marti. stella LOVES her marti visits.
spending quality time with nona.

we love ya'll for throwing stella a party! it was LOTS of fun!!!

stella swinging for the first time. i think she was too exhausted to enjoy it!

THANK YOU to everyone who joined us in body and for those of you who were there with us in spirit :) We love having you in our lives and hope those of you who haven't met stella get to very VERY soon!

yesterday was our official 1 month HOME anniversary. April 24 was our official 1 month GOTCHA anniversary. we can not believe it's been a month already! we really can't remember what our lives were like before we had stella. this girl has got some SPUNK and amazes us every single day. WE LOVE YOU STELLA LU!

quick catch up post.

WOW. tomorrow ended up being a LOOOOOOONG time :)

yes. it's true. i am the WORST blogger ever. i SWORE to myself that when we came home i would not stop posting :) yet here i am . . . i'm not even sure anyone is still checking this thing?!?!?! so if you are, please leave me a comment!

we are doing really REALLY well. stella is perfect. she has adjusted SO well & already knows who michael & i are. she is COMPLETELY laid back and handles every situation amazingly.

she LOVES her bath, LOVES to eat, LOVES to play. she is ADDICTED to her bottle. we have cut down the # of bottles per day and have just started mixing her formula with milk so that we can EVENTUALLY get her off the formula :) she is having NO PART of the milk alone :) she isn't walking yet or crawling. she is just starting to get a little mobile. we call her a crab because she will only move backwards. she LOVES her jumper (which is a good thing because we are putting her in there every day to get her legs stronger). she sleeps all night in her crib. occasionally she will wake around 5am for a bottle, and other times she will sleep until morning.

meeting nana and papaw for the first time
(michael's parents) : 3/28/08

meeting nona & popa d for the first time

(my parents) : 3/28/08

waking up at HOME for the first time

3/29/08 : momma and stella were SICK

my first birthday party

3/30/08 : my actual birthday was on 4/1/08 but we wanted to celebrate while everyone was here.

those are just a few photos to tide you over. blogger is being a PAIN and won't let me load any more photos . . . so i shall try again later . . . there are LOTS more . . .

home sweet home.

we made it home on friday. safely. stella didn't mind her carseat at all! i was totally shocked! the grandparents were here all weekend and are OF COURSE totally in love with stella already! stella and i are both SICK SICK SICK. we are both going to the dr tomorrow.

stella's first birthday is tomorrow. but we had a little party for her yesterday while the grandparents were still here. i have some AMAZING friends who took care of making cupcakes and organizing everything for us! THANK YOU MICHAEL & JESS!!!

and my Jilli has been here with us cleaning and doing dishes and keeping me SANE. i wouldn't have made it this weekend without you and there is NOONE else who could EVER take your place!!! stella will ALWAYS know and love her aunt jilli!!!

and i also have to say a HUGE thank you to uncle jason :) he has been here through all the tears and tough waiting and anxiousness. he is always here to do whatever we need and we LOVE LOVE LOVE you uncle jason :) he is also stella's paparazzi. he was CRAZY with the camera this weekend - which we LOVE :)

i have tons of photos to post from this past weekend. will try to do that tomorrow.

Last Day.

today we went to antigua. we saw some of guatemala's beautiful countryside and were excited to get out of the hotel! we are exhausted! it's tough toting around a 25 pounder . . . especially when you haven't slowly worked up to it! stella was amazing all day, despite missing a nap AND lunch! we have some good photos from today, but have WAY too much to do for that tonight! we have LOTS of packing to do! TOMORROW we will be HOME :) we have enjoyed our time here and definately have plans on returning, but next trip we want to stay in antigua! it's such a quaint little town! our tour guide today was Victor (www.getaroundguatemala.blogspot.com). he was AWESOME. i highly recommend him. he does tours, errands, WHATEVER! he has very high knowledge of guatemalan culture too! we learned a TON from him! but HOME is all that is on our minds right now! we can NOT wait for our family (and when i say family, that means our close friends too - cause ya'll ARE family too!) to meet this girl! she is unbelievable in every way :) we LOVE you all!!!! we will see you TOMORROW!!!!

today in photos.

our breakfast picnic.














































clapping.



































poolside lunch.

ready for the pool.

playing.

swimming.

dinner.

mashed potato head.

happiness.

we are having so much fun.
stella had a rough night on monday night. she screamed for 2 1/2 hours straight. she woke her self up coughing and that's what started it. luckily we have a very sweet adoptive mom right next door who heard her screaming and came to see if we needed anything. luckily, she had gone to the parmacy the day before to get cough syrup for her daughter who had the same cough and gave us some for the night. she FINALLY went back to sleep. despite the long night, she STILL woke up in a good mood! she was all smiles and ready to play. we had to rise at 530 am on tuesday for our 715 am embassy appt. we were there for 3 hours and stella handled it like a rock star :) i, on the other hand started getting sick on monday night - TERRIBLE sore throat - and by the time we got back from the embassy felt like TOTAL crap. so i was in bed down for the night by 8 pm. HA! so not like me! michael knew i didn't feel good! he went to the pharmacy and got me throat spray and cough syrup for stella. we are all MUCH better today though! she did wonderful last night! only woke once. we gave her a bit of a bottle and she was right back out. she slept until about 830 am. we've had a lazy morning. we ordered fruit and yogurt for breakfast and all had a picnic on the floor :) stella pooped a little on her daddy and we had to throw her in the tub this morning :) we just put her down for a nap. when she wakes we will have some lunch and then maybe go play in the baby room. the sun just came out so we might go to the pool too! we get stella's visa and passport today. we are EXCITED to have those because it means we can come HOME. it's fun to be here & have this time together, but we are ready to come HOME. pictures later today.

POOP!!!

well, michael has had his FIRST traumatic diaper experience :) i changed the first one so he could watch, but this time was supposed to be him . . . that was UNTIL he SAW IT!!! wow. how is it POSSIBLE that someone SO TINY can produce SO MUCH POOP that is SO severely STINKY?!?!?! i watched michael gag, and stare, and ask me how he should proceed with attempting to clean THAT up?!?!?!?! HAHAHAHAHA!!!! in his defense - it was REALLY bad :) so i helped him . . . being the good wife and mommy that i am. we even had to change her clothes. luckily though, it didn't get on us or on the bed. i quite enjoyed watching him though. maybe a little too much. this girl HATES, i repeat HATES getting her diaper changed. she must have enjoyed watching daddy gag and mommy laugh though, because this was the first and only diaper change that she didn't cry the entire time :)

our first day as a forever family just came to an end. we fixed stella her bedtime bottle according to her usual routine with her foster mother, but she only drank about half. then she was OUT like a light. hopefully she will sleep until 6 am, which is her usual schedule. it will work out perfect if that is the case because we need to get her up at that time anyways. we have to be downstairs for our ride to the Embassy at 7 am.

our first day was perfect. her transition has been smooth so far. we haven't had a total meltdown yet. i know LOTS of people have been praying for her transition and we hope you all will continue the prayers : for stella, for us, for the foster family, and for her birth mother. adoption is such a blessing, but there are many people affected by the life of miss stella who will not be fortunate enough to spend her life with her. we are so thankful for the opportunity to be her parents. i was honestly nervous that i didn't have a motherly bone in my body, but it turns out I DO! as i sit here watching her sleep, i know that i love her. i know that she is ours. i know that she was always meant to be my daughter. it's such an odd feeling. knowing that this little person was made for you a world away. but in my heart i know it's right. she is ours. we are hers. family.