Many Faces of Emma!

 

 Oh! the depth of those beautiful dark brown eyes!

Fun-loving cutie! 

 

 

 Emma loves to hang out under her blanket.  She is being silly here...when she gets really excited that eye crosses!  Goofy girl!

Being silly again! 

 

Getting tired!

Emma is getting so good at pulling up and has discovered the railing on the stairway!  Yay!

 

None of the other kids ever fell asleep in the high chair...but Emma is really good at it!

Smiles....

 

and also some tears at times, with the biggest pouty lip you've ever seen!



Still figuring out what to do when the camera is in her face, but I think she is doing pretty good!

 

My Handsome Scholar!

 

We're so proud of Mark!  His fourth grade class all received medals today for academic excellence on their third grade MSP testing!  Good incentive to strive for more excellence this May as they retake it for 4th grade! 

Although Mark is very scholarly, already asking for help on math I don't get, we couldn't be more proud of the excellent young man he is.  It is easy to be biased since he is our child, but even others can tell stories of his kind hearted actions, responsibility, and maturity.  At times I wish he wasn't so grown up already, but I am so proud to be his Momma and can't wait to see what the Lord has planned for Mark's future! 

Thankful in the hard!

This is hard.  Wow!   I have spent the last few moments scouring the list of adoption blogs I have bookmarked...looking for a shred of evidence that other families have had super tough days.  I haven't found any.  For the most part, not a one.  There are all kinds of beautiful pictures, cute anecdotes, epic stories...but no nitty-gritty, nail-biting, fear-inducing, heart-wrenching, terrible-no-good-very-bad-day stories.  Am I the only one?  I must be...right?  Surely not.  Is it that we don't want to remember the bad stuff?  Don't want anyone to see our weaknesses?  I don't know.  What I do know...is that life isn't bad, my kid isn't hopeless, I am not a failure...but life is hard.  I breathe in the happy moments but sometimes on the exhale, I choke the tears back (or let them fall) at the tense, unhappy, uncomfortable, I-don't-know-what-to-do moments.  It has been a month today since we got home from China.  I need to stop and remember what has happened in the span of a month.  How far we've come, how far I've come, how far Emma has come...far...far...far!  There is so much progress..but the progress is in the miniscule details that are hard to see when she is screaming for hours on end, when there isn't an end to her peculiar behaviors, when the other kids just need one more thing and one more reminder and one more reprimand, when the breakfast dishes are still sitting and it is time to start lunch.  I don't know what the Lord has planned for me, maybe these struggles are more about me than they are about Emma, but what I do know is I have a future and a hope.  That what He has started He will see through and it will be good, that it is good!  That He is here with me in my mothering and He never leaves me.  That He forgives when I ask. That He redeems and His mercies are new every morning.  Phew..I need all that and more.  I have been reading a book about thankfulness and how I forget that God is here even now in this difficult day and thanking Him and finding the reasons to be thankful gives me clearer vision to approach the day with joy rather than dread.  If God isn't in the details of my day, who is?  I shudder to think.  If the challenges aren't ways to teach me...then what are they?  So I want to choose thankfulness.  Thankfulness for the big and obvious things...but also for the miniscule, easily looked over things too.   And even, gulp, thankfulness for the hard moments, struggles, and endless energy it takes to love a little one into our family.  Because as I empty myself out, that is when He fills me up.  Thankful.  Yes.  Thank you Jesus! 

Easter 2013

 

We had a beautiful Easter Sunday!  It was a great day of worship, fellowship, food, fun, and outdoors!   I took dozens of pictures but have spent several days trying to upload with no success..I guess I am not meant to have a blog with pictures.  Suffering from speedy internet envy over here in the country-side!  But here is one to document the day!

So thankful that we serve the Risen Lord! 

One Month!

It is so hard for me to believe we have had Emma in our arms for a whole month!  Where does the time go?  The month passed in a blur...there have been a lot of changes and adjustments for all of us in the last month.  By far, Emma has had the most drastic changes and the most dramatic progress!  I can't believe the stone faced little girl from last month, that was handed to me in a crowded and noisy room, is the same girl.  It hasn't all been perfect, in fact, just this week I really struggled finding peace in the midst of all the unknowns and unfamiliar territory.  This is hard!  But with the hard comes so much joy!  We are forever thankful for the way God has equipped us each day to handle what comes up.  Emma is an intricate puzzle.  Justin and I are struggling with some of the same pieces over and over and over...other pieces have just flown together and are stuck like glue to each other.  We are still getting to know our girl, getting to know her likes and dislikes, her body language, her fears, what makes her happy, her personality, how she prefers things, the way she plays, her use of language, all those things that became apparent slowly over time with the other kids.  Here are a few things about Emma.

She smiles when she hears her Daddy speak when he comes in the door at night.

She touches everything new to her face or forehead.

She could barely crawl a month ago, but is crawling and exploring the whole upstairs now.

She can pull herself to standing and scoot along the coffee table, couch, tub, etc.

She is slowly learning to like cold food and drink, sort of.

She loves texture, puts her face flat on the carpet to feel it and also likes to pull up carpet and eat it...not my favorite trick!

She is sweet natured...always offering her forehead as a love.

She is learning to take and give a kiss on the lips.

She loves, loves, loves bath time...in fact, it is at least a 45 minute event. 

She is still passionate about her bottle, but is slowly realizing it will come again, so it isn't worth freaking out about and chewing on for a long time afterwards.

She is getting very comfortable with her siblings, wanting to join in on the shenanigans, but not sure how...so she just crawls up and gets close.

She can sign for more food...still working on the 'all done' sign...it is a work in progress

She came to us not accepting a spoon or knowing how to chew...now she can definitely chew, takes a spoon, and is almost cleaning it with her lips now instead of her teeth.

She is comfortable and feels secure to explore the entire upstairs of our house, not too sure about what happens in the basement yet.

She desires a tidy high chair tray, so everything she can reach goes to the floor!  Also not my favorite trick!

She enjoys car rides and feels secure in her car seat, falls asleep everytime we leave the house for town.

So many things about her are still emerging and this list could go on and on.  It is fun to see her silly little personality rears its head once in a while as she lets down her guard and learns to be a child.  I am so blessed and thankful for the challenges and joys that each day brings!  Can't wait to see the progress another month brings!