1st Christmas in America

What mom doesn't look forward to her first Christmas with a child? There is just a special wonder about Christmas lights and gifts when kids are around. Our first Christmas together was last year in Uganda. There were no presents. No lights. Just a quiet morning that came in like all the rest. We spent the morning at church reading about the birth of our Savior and singing carols. We enjoyed a simple lunch and just enjoyed each other all day while drinking lots of soda. There was something amazing about the simplicity of it all much like I imagine the first Christmas in the stable must have been. But I won't lie....this year was so much fun.

I have been the baby of the family for 36 years. I still beg to open presents early. I shake gifts to try to figure out what they are. Let's just say the apple doesn't fall far from the tree. It was so fun watching Daizy try to figure out gifts and beg day in and day out to open them. No one ever gave into my begging though. I let Daizy open gifts early at home. We ended up opening a gift the day we got to Alabama. And then instead of waiting until Christmas morning we opened gifts on Christmas Eve. Daizy's pop and auntie Teri are softies where she is concerned. Getting to sleep in on Christmas morning was a great gift to this sick momma!!

The baby of the family lost her title. I usually have the biggest stack of gifts but not this year. Daizy couldn't see over her mound of presents. My heart couldn't have been happier. She loved everything she opened and just when we thought she couldn't be anymore excited she would squeal with glee over the next box. Pops definitely won the prize as best gift giver with all the pop star purple clothes and especially with the cowboy boots. Who knew Pops was such a great shopper....good thing he had an elf helper.

Mom still racked up though. I got a new north face coat, a nice smoker and many other goodies.

After having Christmas with mom on the 19th and Christmas with Auntie Teri, Pops and Potter on the 24th she still wasn't done being spoiled. We still had Christmas at Grandmother's to look forward to.

After Daizy got over strep throat I stayed sick pretty much the whole Christmas break so I didn't take many pictures with her. This is one of the only ones I managed to get and you can tell I am not at my best. Oh well....still love making memories with this kiddo.

make over

We have been blessed that Daizy has had very minimal health concerns. We had to catch up on immunizations before she could start school. And of course she has had some allergy issues that everyone who lives in Pineville has to deal with. But for the most part this girl is healthy, happy and growing like crazy. The one concern we needed to look into was her teeth. There was some obvious discoloration of her teeth that I feared were cavities. Her baby teeth were perfectly straight and glowing white but when her permanent teeth came in there were some issues. Fortunately after her first dental visit I was told that she had no cavities. Daizy has an enamel deficiency as a result of being very sick as an infant. Doctor Matthews said that once all of her permanent teeth are in and she is a bit older we could look into some more permanent fixes but for now he wanted to seal those teeth so that they didn't continue to chip away. Luckily the appearance of her teeth didn't keep her from smiling but I do remember the day she ever eluded to the fact that her smile bothered her.

In the Lord's sovereignty the time worked out that Daizy got her three front teeth fixed the day before her first presentation at school. I cannot even begin to explain the confidence boost I saw in her when she saw her smile for the first time. She couldn't stop smiling, looking in the mirror and asking me if these were forever. She was a rock star in the chair while Dr. Matthews worked his magic. And the next day she looked like a seasoned professional presenting on the Wampanoag Indians.

BEFORE

in the dentist chair

AFTER

dressed and ready for her presentation

My girl was beautiful before but it was so good to see that smile grow even bigger. I love her newly found confidence. Between the new teeth and her long hair she has turned into quite the performer and has decided she wants to be a pop star. Watch out world.

Gotcha Day Anniversary

December 19th was our official "Gotcha Day" when I was granted legal guardianship of Daizy by the court of Uganda. It's crazy that a year has already gone by. I wasn't really sure how we would celebrate our day since it was a school day. It couldn't have been more of a perfect disaster.

On Wednesday evening Daizy began complaining of a sore throat. On Thursday morning she woke up with a fever but begged to go to school because it was the day of her school Christmas program and she was so excited. She had worked long and hard to learn the words and motions to Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer. Side note: we just take for granted that our kids come out of the womb knowing Christmas carols. This girl had to work hard this Christmas to keep up. End side note. So off to school she went full drugged with motrin to break her fever. At that moment I became "THAT MOM" who knowingly sent her kid to school sick but I just didn't have the heart to tell her she couldn't sing in the musical. They had a performance at 9am and another at 1:30pm. I had plans to attend both and we had several friends coming to each to see her. At 9am she was smiling and had a grand time. I didn't get to speak to her to see if she was feeling okay. Fast forward to about 12:00pm when I was at a work Christmas luncheon and got a call that she was running fever and didn't feel good so I need to come pick her up. Not shocked at all. So off I went. She wanted to stay for the musical but I couldn't get her in to the see the doctor that afternoon and do the musical so I had to break her little heart.

By the time we got to the doctor and two doses of motrin later she was running 103.7 fever. This kiddo was sick. The nurse told me that flu, mono and strep had been going around and some kids were coming in with all three. At this point fingers crossed that we could come out with no mono or flu. Strep it was. Unfortunately Daize got a big ole shot in the booty which we had to hold her down for. I felt horrible and understood why some moms cry in the doctors office. I felt like such a bad mom but I knew it was for the best. Unfortunately you can't return to school until you're fever free for 24 hours which meant that Daizy would miss her school Christmas party and the last day of school. (enter sad face here)

So Friday rolls around and it's our "Gotcha Day" and though I had no plans to spend it at home with a sick baby it was perfect. We got to sleep late and then I decided to surprise her by having our Christmas together. We had plans to spend Christmas in Alabama with family so instead of getting all her gifts at once or me having to haul all of her gifts to AL we just had Christmas morning on the 19th. I didn't tell her we were doing Christmas that morning so while she brushed her teeth I rushed downstairs to sit her gifts out. It couldn't have been better. We spent the day snuggled on the couch enjoying her new movies and eating her favorite foods and I wouldn't trade it for the world.

This was just the start to what turned out to be a great Christmas with family and friends. Having a child around during the holidays brings infectious joy.

FIRSTS

This year has been filled with so many "firsts" for Daizy. Most of these will be old news if you follow my social media posts. But here goes my attempt at reviewing in chronological order....

first time to the fair and riding the ferris wheel

first homecoming hoedown at LC

first time carving a pumpkin and of course she wanted me to free hand Ariel from the Little Mermaid

first report card and this baby made the honor roll

first SEC football game...it wasn't Auburn but we had a blast with Uncle Blake cheering on the Ole Miss Rebels and Daizy got to meet all the cheerleaders and take a picture with them

first set of braids...man was this an experience

first Christmas gala at LC

and finally....putting up her first Christmas tree

This has been a year full of laughter and joy as we have made so many new memories as a family. This girl has changed my life and I look forward to a lifetime of firsts!

Daizy Mae Thomas

Well I suppose it's time to play catch up again. I now know why moms fall off the face of the blogging earth when they have kids. It's a full time job then you add on an actual paying full time job and forget blogging....when I have down time I am vegging out in front of the TV or sleeping.

First things first....

On October 6, 2014 Daisy Ayiorwoth forever and always became Daizy Mae Thomas. Her adoption is official by court decree and I am her legal mother as if I had birthed her myself. Praise Jesus for this sweet gift.

This is us with Judge Yeager. He was wonderful up to the point that he told Daizy to make her mom buy her an iphone and a puppy. Seriously though he made that day enjoyable. We were in an out in no time. It almost felt anti-climatic after the long process we went through in Uganda.

And this would be our circle of support that day. So thankful for our social worker and friend, Alicé. And incredibly thankful for my best friend and sister, Amy.

Now all we have left to do is jump through a few more hoops to officially become a US citizen!!

school girl

Yeah, yeah...I'm way behind. Chalk it up to motherhood. Work. Life....it is what it is so here's my attempt to catch us up a little bit.

Daizy has started school this year and she LOVES it. She is doing awesome. Her reading is improving every day it seems. She has made lots of new friends. I seriously couldn't ask for a better school or a better teacher. We love Peabody Montessori!!

Here are her school pictures from this year from the awesome and super talented Emmy Fuselier.

I know I am biased but how cute is she? And she loves wearing uniforms. She tells me all the time how smart she looks.

First day of school pictures. I love a kid in uniform myself. Adorable.

Not long into the school year she was selected as the star student in her class and got to make a poster all about her. It was a fun week for Daizy. Her she is with her poster.

#9

How in the world do I have a 9 year old? I blinked and she's so grown up. So I am partially joking and partially not. If you look back on pictures from December when I arrived in Uganda to get Daizy and pictures now it is unbelievable how much she has changed. My baby isn't a baby at all.

It seems like we have been celebrating her birthday for a month....because we pretty much have. We spent her actual birthday (July 3rd) at the lake in Alabama with my family. She had a big time. Because I am a weakling when it comes to gifts she got to open gifts all week and still had a ton of gifts to open on her birthday. Her two favorite gifts were her Elsa and DocMcstuffins costumes.

Auntie Teri made her birthday extra special with a Frozen cake made by our dear friend Kala. It was beautiful and tasted amazing. Daizy loved her cake!!

And because my little African loves her some Mexican food we took her out for dinner to have some "guacamelon" and this happened...they sang to her while she was wearing a big sombrero and then they smeared whip cream on her face. She wasn't really sure how she felt about this at first.

On Saturday my sister hosted a "Come Meet Daizy Party" which was not intended to be an extended birthday party but that is what it turned into. That kiddo got so much stuff. In fact we had to leave some things behind for Pops to bring on his next trip because we just couldn't get everything in the car. Her favorite gift from the party that has provided us all with entertainment was her karaoke machine. Oh my heavens...I wasn't sure if the Eckers hated me or were just investing in Daizy's future as a performer but we have had a blast with her karaoke machine.

When we finally made it back to Louisiana I had to buy a new shelf to organize all her new toys but she is loving them all and has given her momma a break by playing so well in her room by herself.

This past Sunday we had her birthday party with her friends here in Louisiana. It was nothing fancy. We had cake and ice cream and swam and she loved it. The greatest gift I could give my little social butterfly was time with her friends.

Happy Birthday Daizy Mae....we love you and are so glad you're here!!!