Happy Thanksgiving!

We had a wonderful day on Thursday. Emma Rose woke with a cough but we still were able to celebrate with family. She wore a new pink dress and charmed them all of course. We are sooo thankful this year for this little bundle of love we traveled halfway around the world to get. She has already captured our hearts and we can't imagine life without her in it.
The bad news is that Thanksgiving night- she woke up with a raging fever, had to go to the doctor Friday morning, and she has been really sick ever since. We had to skip church today because she just was not well enough to go. We are hoping by tomorrow she will be a little better. Parent lesson number 1002--- Sick babies get sicker at night!!

1 Week Later

Well, we've been home for 1 week now and everyone is settling in. After a few days of NO SLEEP AT ALL, little Emma Rose is finally sleeping through the night. That means her Mom and Dad are sleeping as well- thank goodness. We went to church Sunday morning for the first time and then spent the afternoon at Nannie Rose's house. We can definitely see improvement in Emma's attachment and motor develepment. She now hesitates to go to anyone else and latches onto our necks when a stranger is near. She is definitely improving on her pulling up and cruising skills. I think she will be walking very soon. My cats don't quite know what to think of this new little person in their domain. They just stare at her until she sees them and starts crawling furiously toward them screaming her happy cry. Then they dissappear, after giving me a hateful look. Emma Rose has been shopping 3 times and seems to like her stroller (as long as it is moving). I think that after a week of family bonding time- we are all doing great!

Home and Adjusting

Home and Adjusting Part 2

WE made it home, finally, after 12 hours over the Pacific to LA, 5 hours over the US to Atlanta, and 1 hour to Nashville. WE were met at the airport with signs and cheers as we came out of the terminal. What good friends we have. Little Emma was a bit overwhelmed by all of the new faces but did not cry. ( I cried of course!) She was not so pleased to being strapped into that car seat but eventually went to sleep on the way home. In my yard I had signs welcoming ER home- made by my nephews Michael and Nicholas and by Lilli Berry- Emma's new "older sister". Our parents were there waiting to see their new granddaughter. ER woke up to smiling, happy, but unfamiliar faces and again was a bit overwhelmed. After a little bit of time she was smiling her gummy smile and melting everyone's heart.
We have now been home for 3 full days. WE are slowly adjusting to US time again. Emma is not sleeping well at all. She wakes up several time during the night crying. So- we are all still very tired but I feel it is slowly getting better. She is loving all her new toys and has discovered that watching TV/ videos is great. She watched Seseme Street this morning. (got to start working on that brain- right?) She is training her new parents to follow her every command. haha. We will just be glad to get back on a schedule. Hopefully that will happen soon!

A Final Word From China

Our bags are checked at the front desk, our carry-ons are packed, and as you can see, Emma Rose is ready to say goodbye to her birth place and hello to her home. We have mixed feelings about leaving. We are so ready to go home and get back to Kentucky, but we know we are leaving the place that has given us more than we could imagine and hope for in Emma Rose. We think she knows. She woke up fussy this morning for the first time. We were packing and we think she recognized a change is coming. But after a nap and bottle, she knows we are not leaving her behind. She knows she is coming home with us forever.
We have a great respect for the pride, culture, hard work, and honor we found here in the people of China. We have a heart felt sympathy for their needs in terms of economics, water, environment, and freedoms we tend to take for granted. We found a book at one of the local shops that made us both cry and realize just how much someone here in China, nine and a half months ago, sacrificed and showed so much love for this little girl we now have as our daughter. For that woman, we are and will be eternally grateful for the joy she left on a Chinese orphanage step for us.
We would also like to say thank you to all who have followed our journey, whether in prayer or in comments made. We feel we are bringing our daughter back to a home and community of love. We will continue to share the next few months with you as Emma Rose adjusts to American life. US....here we come...a family!

Last Night at Guangzhou!

So today was our last day in this city. It has been a great trip but we are sooooo ready to come home. Today we finished up our shopping for Emma Rose, ate at Lucy's one last time, started packing, and are fixing to go to bed early, since we all know I WILL NOT sleep on the plane. We check out in the morning by 12:00 and our bus leaves at 5:00 pm for the airport. Our flight takes off at 9:00 pm China time ( which is about 7:00 am US time). Before supper, all of the families in our group got together for a group photo in front of the waterfall in the White Swan. I will miss these new friends a lot. We have become pretty close during the last 2 weeks. But----- Miss Emma Rose Brown is ready to hit that Kentucky border and join the crowd in good ole Scottsville!!!! We are coming home-- finally--- as a family of 3. Just like I have wanted for a long time. See ya folks!!!

It's Final- She is ours!

After a good breakfast at the White Swan buffet, we spent the afternoon at the US Consulate. We loaded a bus with a bunch of other families and headed downtown. After some initial paperwork, we raised our right hand, and took an oath that all our paperwork was real and we would love and care for Emma Rose forever. Then they handed us her passport with her Visa stamp inside that allows us to BRING HER HOME to the US. (and we are so ready to come home.) So China has said she is ours, and now the US has said that we can bring her home. It's over- finally. Now we wait for Friday to come so we can catch that plane. Emma Rose was full of herself today. She has eaten everything- she loves carrots- and has laughed, and clapped, and waved at everyone. So tonight she is zonked out on her favorite pillow- snoozing away. Aren't they cute!!!