Lazy days before Christmas!

We have been enjoying all of the Christmas preparations and watching Emma Rose bloom. She has really learned a lot in the past few weeks. She can now say "CAT" very plainly and is feeding herself sooooo much better. She has learned to give Daddy kisses and hug her Dolly. We got all dressed up for Christmas 2 times lately. So Daddy made our pictures in front of the Christmas tree both times. Isn't Emma the cutest thing ever? And one pretty day that wasn't too cold- we put her in the hiking backpack and took the dogs for a long walk. Emma loved it and did not want to come out of the pack. We will definitely do that again soon! We are anxiously waiting for Christmas Eve when my family gets together. We will take lots of pictures of family and of what Santa brings to little Emma Rose this year. She has been very good and I expect her to get LOTS of stuff! Merry Christmas to all!!!!!

Home and Loving It!

We are all still doing great and loving our bonding time at home. Vanous and I do nothing other than interact with Emma Rose. She is really learning fast. We had pictures made at a local photographer and they are beautiful. ( See link to pictures- Jacksons). We have been to church several times for different events and ER has loved all the attention. This last Sunday, it was our job to light the Advent candles as a family. While I read the scripture, Emma kicked her shoes off and pulled her bow out of her hair to the delight of the congregation. She is a funny girl and is usually all smiles and giggles. Christmas is almost here and we are trying to do some shopping, something I used to find easy to do. Now with a stroller, baby, bottles, diaper bag, etc., it gets a little difficult. Vanous is off until after Christmas and I don't go back to school until end of January so we still have lots of time to bond. I just LOVE this little girl. We can't imagine what we did before she came along?

3 weeks at home!

We have had a interesting 3 weeks. The first week we spent getting over jet lag. The second we spent fighting Emma Rose's sinus infection. And this last week, both Vanous and I have had colds. We are so hoping that this week will be the week we are all well. Emma Rose is really starting to bloom. Her personality is shining and there are more smiles than tears lately. We have just been staying at the house getting to know each other better. We have been to church and to some small social events.
She seems to handle it just fine. We are still very cautious about "passing the baby around" due to our worry about attachment but that is hard to not do when everyone is soo happy to see her. She is saying mamamamama, dadadadada, and bababababa right now. She imitates well and is learning fast to do whatever Mommy shows her. Daddy is soooo much fun for Emma Rose. They play and laugh and do exactly what father/daughters are supposed to do. I love watching them. Vanous is such a good daddy and he is a natural. I think our homecoming has been a success. Enjoy the new pictures!

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!