We Officially Announce That Emma is Going to Be a Big Sister!

SOPHIA GRACE
(aka Yangxi Ziye)
Birthdate: 11/19/06
Currently Waiting for Us at Yangxi SWI in Guangdong Provence China

I "found" Sophia's picture posted on ADOPTION ADVOCATES INTERNATIONAL's Waiting Child
web page the morning of November 8th, 2007. I emailed the agency to inquire about the precious little baby sitting in the red chair and they immediately emailed me information about her, I was in love! The first time that I laid eyes on Sophie's picture I felt the same way that I did when I saw Emma's referral picture. It is difficult to put into words; it is simply "Oh there you finally are"! I KNEW that Sophie was MY DAUGHTER the same way that I did when I saw Emma's picture. :) Sophie's referral picture is very similar to Emma's, the moment that I saw the back round I knew that Sophia's SWI had to be in southern Guangdong Provence like Emma's was, and I was right! I was very surprised though to learn that Sophie's SWI is just 30 miles west of Emma's. Emma & Sophie already share a bond in that.



After learning last week that we are officially pre approved by the CCAA to adopt Sophia Grace; we are proud to FINALLY post her referral picture on our blog! We are almost finished putting together our dossier for China and to make a long story short for those not familar with International Adoption Lingo we plan to travel to China to bring Sophie home late summer or early fall. I still can not believe that Emma ("my baby") is going to be a big sister sometime with in the next 9 months! I know that Emma will be an amazing big sister to Sophie, Emma is intrigued by babies & is very loving with her baby dolls....additionally she already appears to have the "big sister bossy trait" thing down pat. : ) We have been explaining to her that the 3 of us will be going to China to bring her new Mei Mei (little sister) home although I don't think that she quite understands. BUT, when I show Emma the picture of Sophie posted above and ask her "Who is this?" she will respond "Baby Soapy!"-so that is a start! : )

Still Christmas??!! ; )

HAPPY NEW YEAR 2008 EVERYBODY!

Today is Emma's first day back to school after Winter Break meaning that I FINALLY have the time to update her blog. :) We have had a very fun-albeit busy last two weeks. I think that Emma was just as happy as I was to get back on a regular schedule this morning! :)

Greg and I attended Emma's FIRST Holiday Concert at school last month and we had a GREAT time! Since we both work full time we don't get the opportunity to attend every little school function, but there was NO WAY that we were going to miss this one! Of course, being the "new parents" Greg worked the camcorder while I snapped shots with the digital camera. Emma was more into dancing than singing as you can see in the above left picture, Greg observed that she posed a strong resemblance to Stevie Wonder. The above right picture is of Emma with her teachers; Ms. Michelle, Ms. Marilyn and Ms. Susan. Unfortunately, Emma was not in the mood to pose for pictures that morning....the next day she came down with the flu.....so that explained why! Luckily she recovered by Christmastime! :)

Impromptu Christmas Photo Shoot

Emma had been sick for the past week with some sort of nasty winter bug. Finally last Sunday she was feeling much better, so I decided to try to take a picture for our Christmas card. Emma was really excited to get dressed up and pose for pictures, in fact she ran right over to the tree and stood there saying "CHEESE!" before I had even turned on my camera. :) I took 5 or 6 adorable shots in less than 5 minutes. One of the pictures posted will be our Christmas card...can you guess which one? ; )

Feeling Nostalgic!

We are approaching our Two Year Forever Family Day with Emma in just 2 short months. Greg and I can't believe how quickly the last 22 months have passed by! It seems like just yesterday Emma was a baby and now she is a little girl! Posted above are pictures taken from the first week that we met Emma through the first year! I thought that it would be neat to post these to her blog since I did not manage a blog for her way back then. I know that the formatting is horrible in this post, the pictures are not going where I am trying to put them, nor are they in chronological order...so call it "an abstract collage"! Enjoy! : )

Thanksgiving

We celebrated Thanksgiving this year with Greg's family & had a very nice time! Emma enjoyed getting dressed up on Thanksgiving day and had a wonderful time hanging out with her Pa Pa (Greg's Dad) all weekend! :)





I have a lot to be thankful for, but I am especially thankful for my beautiful daughter! :)

Emma's New Bed!

Two weeks ago we decided that it was finally time to break down & buy Emma a "Big Girl Bed".

Emma was protesting against sleeping in her crib & it had gotten to the point where she was falling asleep in our bed and then we were moving her into the crib once she was asleep.

We had to wait 1 week before the bedroom set could be delivered. During that time we talked up the new bed and Emma was thrilled when it finally arrived! She still refers to it not as her "bed" BUT as her "new bed". :) The day that it was delivered she played by herself in her room for 40 minutes!

From the very first night Emma has slept in her bed with very few issues. She LOVES her new bed and LIKES to go to sleep in it! However, nap times are basically over as you can see by the picture posted! : ( Last week I heard wild giggling in her room; I went to investigate what was going on with the camera in my hand and I found out what REALLY was going on behind closed doors at naptime!

Emma Met Santa Claus Today!

This year I am trying to explain to Emma who Santa Claus is and how he brings toys to good (key word!) little girls and boys at Christmas time. Emma seems to be listening to me and she likes to scream "HO-HO-HO"!!!

Today I took Emma to the flower nursery down the street where Santa Claus was visiting! There was no line (after all, who goes to see Santa Claus before Thanksgiving?!) and we were able to walk right up to him and say hello. Emma was a little bit nervous and was only able to whisper a few answers to Santa Claus' questions with my coaching. But she took her mini candy cane from Santa Claus and she agreed to sit on his lap for a quick picture. As you can see Emma really was not interested in posing for the picture, & Santa Claus' elves were not very patient. So, this is the picture that we came home with! : )

I am keeping my fingers crossed that Emma might get to see Santa Claus again this year and maybe the next time she will be more comfortable & smile for a picture!