What A Treasure!

We received such a blessing via e-mail today! I just had to share it!

One of the families we traveled with to Ethiopia was the McIlrath's. We had talked several times via e-mail before travel and we were so excited to get to meet them and thank them for all they had done! Dave traveled in October of 07 to help our agency find, set-up, and furnish the new Transitional Home! He also did all of the hiring of the staff, nannies, etc. They are an amazing family!!

During the week, Dave made mention a couple of times that he had held Myli on the bus when they were moving some of the children from Kids Care Orphanage to the new TH. I assured Mark that Dave must have been confusing Myli with another child because we were told that she was not moved to the TH until January of 08, when we received her referral so he couldn't have held her.

Well....today we received a couple of surprises! One was a picture of Myli IN DAVE'S ARMS on the bus riding to the new TH!!! The other was a picture of Myli on her first day at the new TH! We did not have any pictures of Myli as such a little baby, these pictures are true treasures for us! Look at those ears!! No mistaking it, it's her, our sweet baby girl!! She was about 3 months old!!

As adoptive parents, we miss out on so much of our children's lives before we can hold them and that leaves us to often wonder and dream about what they might have looked like when they were little.....Not this time!

THANK YOU THANK YOU THANK YOU!!!!

PLEASE VISIT: ethiopiaguesthome.com to see the work that the McIlrath's continue to do for the orphans and families in Ethiopia!!!

Braids

Leyla's hair is getting so long so in trying to figure out how to care and keep it, we decided to get it braided. She was a trooper!

BEFORE.......Miss Andrea put over 100+ braids in!! It took almost 4 hours!!!

AFTER

Izzy

Every morning, as soon as Daddy leaves for work, Myli runs to our sliding glass door yelling "IZZY" where she is met by her new BFF! Izzy is a lizard that appears each morning on the door to play with Myli! They talk and play awhile and then our day can start! She also has taken a liking to her big sissy's 6ft stuffed snake and carries it around! It's the cutest thing! Here they are in one of their in depth discusions (look very closely and you'll see Izzy).........

First Hair "DO"

Myli's hair is growing soooo fast now! When we went on vacation, we met a family that had a little girl who was a couple of months older than Myli. One night, we got on to the subject of hair and I told her dad that I couldn't wait for Myli's hair to grow so I could give her a "Do"! He told me that I needed to put it in "puffs" and that would make it grow. I was thinking to myself that she didn't have enough hair to put in puffs and that this may be an old wives tale, but it seems he knew what he was talking about! I took what little hair she had and put it in these puffs and her hair is growing like crazy! I am so excited to get to play with her hair now!!

Myli's Nursery

I never posted any pics of Myli's room! There are still some things to be done like making her bow and headband holders but for the most part, it's done for now!

Myli Update (5&6 month)

I know I say this each time I post an update about Myli but time is flying by so quickly! We are getting ready for our 6 month post placement visit which should be a breeze this time!
Myli is almost 14 months old and she is doing so well! We are excited to say she is now sleeping through the night with little to no night terrors in her own room!! Daddy puts her to bed each night and she wants her room pitched black! Crazy! If her door is cracked even the slightest, she will point to it until it is closed! She typically goes to bed around 8:30-8:45 and sleeps until 6:30 or so! With school starting back up, she now wakes along with everyone else. This makes for an early morning 3 hour nap and she seems to have given up her afternoon nap. Sleeping, check!Myli LOVES music! Anytime there is music, she sings at the top of her lungs and dances away! It's in her blood!! Over the Summer, Mark & I worked VBS and Myli tagged along every night to our music classes. She learned the chorus to one of the songs and it is now her fav. She will come up and start raising her hands and babbling wanting you to sing it. It goes, I won't stop never gonna stop praisin', everyday you'll be my number one, Jesus, Jesus, my numer one! She is so cute and raises her hands and does her little pointer finger for the number one part! So precious!! She is expanding her vocabulary each week. Her newest word is read. She will bring a book to you and say "read" and back up into your lap. The cutest! She is also picking up on more and more sign language! This is the coolest thing ever!! I always heard that babies could sign but for some reason, didn't really believe it! She signs, please, thank you, more, all gone, cracker, milk, nite-nite (sleepy)We are plugging along with the weight! She is so ready to sit in a front facing carseat so she can see out of the car! This is one of her least favorite things to do but I think when she is able to turn around, she will be much happier. Still loves her bath time and massage. So, I think that's about it, we are so in love with this little girl! She was made for our family!!!

Bath, Massage and Hairtime!

Myli

Upside Down Myli!

Myli stealing Mama's phone AGAIN!!!

Action Shot!

SuperGirl!!!

Mama's Angel Girl!

Tropical Storm Fay...The one who wouldn't go away!

We are so thankful that our home was spared this go around! I kept having flashbacks to 2004 when we lost our home to Hurricane Frances! That was one of the hardest things we have had to deal with! I don't know if I could do it again!
Not to mention.....we don't have flood insurance!!

TS Fay came in on Tuesday and didn't leave for days! No one was prepared for what we were in for! The storm kept stalling and we received more than 2 feet of rain. Our neighborhood was hit really hard and many families lost their homes all around us! After hours and hours of pounding rain, this is what we were left with..........

First Day Of School

I for one am soooo excited that school is starting! I admit it, by the time Summer is over, I am ready for everyone to go back to school! I love teachers and I thank God for them every day! We went to registration last week and found out what teachers we have this year and we are very pleased and can't wait for an exciting year!





Taylor is 12 and starting the 7th grade! It doesn't seem possible that she is in Junior High already! She had a great first day and was not nervous at all! Actually, this is the first year since Kindergarten that she hasn't cried the first day of school! She is growing up!


Blake is 11 and starting 5th grade! He is very bright and does very well in school. He loves a challenge! His favorite subject is Math! It is amazing to think that he has only been with us for 2.5 years! He is learning so much!

More School Pics

Leyla is 10 and starting the 4th grade. She loves school and is a good student!




Sophi is 5 and is starting Kindergarten! She attended First Friends Weekday Pre-School at our church for two years and has learned so much! She spoke no English when she came home just over two years ago and you would never know it now! It's really incredible!

******NOTE - NO, I didn't forget about Tommy but he was not really into having his picture taken for his first day of COLLEGE!!! We are so proud of him! He worked really hard to get good grades and he is now in the Early Admissions program at our local Community College and will graduate High School this year with an AA! He is taking 15 hours and so far he's loving it! He goes Monday -Thursday and is enjoying some freedom and getting a taste for adult life!