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!

Emma's Surgery

On November 9th Emma had surgery. After eight ear infections (YES-8!) in 20 months we made the unanimous decision to have tubes put into both of Emma's ears. Emma was such a GOOD GIRL, I think that only our daughter would actually ENJOY being at the hospital! (For the most part anyway...). Emma was friendly with all of the nurses who helped check us in and she loved having her own room to wait in before surgery. It was a very nice room with a play station and anything that a child could want. (No, I did not let Greg play video games)! ; ) Emma happily sat in bed and watched a couple of cartoons. About 1/2 hour before we had to go downstairs for surgery the nurse brought in a little drink to help Emma relax, it was suppose to take effect in 5 minutes-however it took about 25 minutes! Just in time for another nurse to arrive with Emma's gurney. I told Emma that she was going to take a "ride" and that was ALL that Emma had to hear, she very willingly climbed on with Daddy's help. :) The picture posted was taken in the Post Op Room-as you can see Emma was feeling a bit loopy by that time. I have to say that ALL of the nurses and the anesthesiologist LOVED Emma! They were gushing over her pajamas and her doll ("Baby") that she brought with her. They were arguing over who was going to carry Emma into the OR, although as it turned out Emma preferred to ride on the gurney instead of being carried. We were told that Emma was quite the hit in the OR as well...she tends to leave an impression where ever she goes! : ) Emma surgery took 5 minutes and she was only out of our sight for 1/2 hour. Her surgeon, Dr. Bulger explained that he removed quite a bit of fluid out of both her ears before putting in the tubes. All went well and we were relived Dr. Bulger guided both of us into the recovery room. Unfortunately Emma had woken up before we were able to get there and she was very upset. We were able to calm her down after a little while and after the nurse checked her vital signs & etc, then we took another "ride" back up to Emma's room. Emma enjoyed riding in the wheelchair with Mommy almost as much as the gurney & she was mad when we arrived at her room and we had to get up! : ) Emma was SO HAPPY to eat snacks out of her diaper bag & drink, of course she had not had anything to eat or drink since about 9 PM the night before! We stayed at the hospital about another hour before Emma was discharged.

By that evening Greg and I noticed that Emma was talking more and pronouncing words much more clearly than before! I later learned at her post op appointment the following week that the fluid in Emma's ears was muffling everything that she was hearing. If you put your fingers over both of your ears and speak-that is exactly how everything had sounded to Emma BEFORE surgery! :( Emma is doing VERY WELL now and as my friend Sarah said: "Emma has New Ears"!!!

Halloween was a Huge Success!

Emma had a wonderful Halloween this year! :) It was fun for all three of us because Emma caught onto the concept of it much more clearly than she did last year. Her Daddy came home from work early to take her out Trick or Treating. As you can see in the pictures posted Emma practiced Trick or Treating with Jack & Mikey (the dogs) before she went out herself. She was amused that they were locked up for the evening & that Jack kept poking his head between the spindles. :)



We assumed that she would last Trick or Treating anywhere from 20 to 60 minutes-but once again Emma surprised us & had to be dragged home after 90 minutes! :) After Emma & Greg had been gone for about 40 minutes I saw them

walking across the street & I assumed that they were heading home, but Greg called me 20 minutes later & informed me that when he asked her if she was finished Emma replied "NO HOME"!!! As he was telling me this I could hear Emma's soft voice in the back round shouting "NO HOME"!!! Emma walked (slowly) the entire way and they continued to Trick or Treat for 50 more minutes! Emma & I practiced saying "Trick or Treat" before she headed out. Greg told me that he made her say "Trick or Treat & Thank You" at every house. Emma carried her little bucket & Greg carried a larger bag. Greg told me that they had a system down; once Emma received a piece of candy in her bucket she would take it out and put it into the big bag. :)

When they finally came home we allowed Emma to have 2 pieces of candy. She gobbled up the Nestle Crunch Bar and a Licorice stick-then she said "Want More". I told her no and she ran to the counter where all of her candy from both trick or treating & school was. She cried "Piece of Candy"!! Again I told her no and tried to explain that eating too much candy would give her a tummy ache. I promised her that she could have more tomorrow. My answer did not go over well and a BIG "candy meltdown" followed; that was our cue to take her upstairs and get Emma ready for bed! ; ) I wised up after that and hid the candy in the laundry room where it can be secretly rationed out.

Emma is a Horse!

Neighhhhh-Neighhhhhhh!!

Today is Emma's Halloween Party at school! Her school divides the celebration into two days because there are so many children that attend the school; I suppose that it would be complete chaos having the parade with ALL of those 3 & 4 year olds wearing their costumes at once! Speaking of wearing costumes, don't let this picture of Emma fool you! She was clearly confused & not very happy that I made her wear her costume today. She LIKES her "Horsey" very much, but she is not too keen about actually wearing him for more than 2 minutes. :) After this picture was taken she immediately started to try to take her costume off and proceeded to tell me "All Done & No & Mommy"! (In no particular order). :) When we walked outside to the bus she ripped one of the stirrups off! And, as the bus pulled away I could see Emma through the window trying to remove any part of her costume that she could! *lol*! At least this is good practice for Emma wearing her costume today, hopefully tomorrow she will be ready for Halloween and Trick or Treating with her Daddy!




PS: Does anybody notice anything different about Emma? (Aside from the fact that she is dressed as a horse)? Emma got a haircut last weekend and now she has bangs! I was resistant at first, I just did not want her to have bangs...but, she has SO much hair and it was always in her eyes. I love her new look, I think that she looks just adorable! :)

Big Bird in China

Ni' Hao, We're Back! :)

I'm sorry that I have not posted to Emma's blog in a couple of weeks. Emma had been very sick with an ear infection and therefore I had nothing "happy" to post! (Trust me)!! ;)

Emma newest obsession is watching the video "Big Bird in China". One day while she was not feeling well her Daddy played it hoping to cheer her up-& it worked! We bought the DVD for Emma last Christmas & she was not interested in watching even 5 minutes of it. It is amazing what a difference 10 months makes because now she absolutely LOVES it! "Big Bird in China"? have been the first words out of her mouth every morning for the past week and she would watch it ALL DAY LONG if we allowed her to! As it is she watches it at least twice a day. The video is actually pretty cute and I'd much rather watch it -vs- The creepy Teletubbies any day! By watching this DVD we think that Emma has slowly begun to make some type of connection that she looks like the Chinese people in the video. She watches it SO intently while smiling, laughing and singing along. While it is playing she goes and gathers up all of her ASIAN dolls and brings them over to play with. It is cute that she only plays with the Asian dolls while this paticular video is on.

Daddy's Girl

Emma TRULY is her Daddy's girl! : )

For those of you who know Greg, there is no question that the man is a football fanatic! He lives & breathes the sport. On Sunday afternoons Emma often hangs around Greg while he is glued to the TV for 10+ hours. She really gets a kick out of his yelling and clapping, in fact she often joins in with a "WHOOOO" or a "Touchdown"!

I should NOT have been surprised when she spotted a football at the store and had to have it...

Getting Into the Halloween Spirit

Emma was really getting into the Halloween spirit last week.











We (okay- I) baked a Halloween cake and on that very same day Emma recieved a Halloween card in the mail from her favorite people, Lao Lao and Yeh Yeh! Emma is looking forward to spending her "treat money" from Lao Lao at Target soon! ; )

Trip to the Pumpkin Patch

We took Emma to the Pumpkin Patch to choose a pumpkin last Saturday. All three of us had a fun time!

Emma has learned how to smile for pictures and keep her eyes open at the same time. Now, if we could
just get her to look at the camera too....

Emma had a Playdate!

Emma's friend Ella came to visit us today! :)

I kind of considered this Emma's first "real" play date!

We have known Ella's family for a very long time. Both Ella and her older brother Dane used to attend my daycare, they are both great kids!

The girls got along really well and had a great time together! We applied tattoos, colored Halloween pictures, and played with dolls. We also chewed gum, a staple involved in any 3 year old's play date! ; )

Emma loves the pictures posted. She keeps saying "Ella-Emma-sit down"!

Lao Lao & Yeh Yeh Were BACK!!!!!

Dancing With Lao Lao!






Watching Football with Yeh Yeh & Daddy!


Emma had another very busy weekend!

Late yesterday afternoon her beloved Lao Lao & Yeh Yeh arrived en route to Michigan from Idaho. They were anxious to get home after traveling for a week visiting family, so they were only able to stay for one night. Emma was heartbroken that they had to leave this morning and kept saying: "No Lao Lao, ALL DONE! Lao Lao SIT"! : ) As you can see from the pictures posted, she made the most of her visit!



"Hi Horsey"! Emma still LOVES horses! When ever we take a certain route home we pass a small farm where 2 horses often graze during the day. She gets SO excited to see the horses, she shouts "Hi Horsies"! And, waves a Miss. America worthy wave! : ) For about 3 months Emma would NOT ride on the horse pictures, for whatever reason she was really frightened of it. Out of the blue this weekend she climbed on it & now it is once again an obtrusive fixture in my great room...ugh! :/ At least Emma is happy though!! : )

Teletubbies, Slippers & Gum- Oh My!

Emma had a very busy weekend!!! : )


Her Daddy arrived home from London on Friday afternoon. She anticipated Greg's return since 6:30 AM that morning and was absolutely beside herself when his limo pulled in the driveway, it was very sweet! She flung open the door and ran outside with the dogs shouting "DADDY! DADDY"!!!!He had been gone for 10 days, which is a very, very, very long time when you are only 3 years old. Emma has been giving her Daddy many extra hugs & kisses the past couple of days.



On Saturday Emma's Lao Lao & Yeh Yeh arrived for a short visit, only staying until Sunday morning. They are on their way to Idaho to visit Yeh Yeh's daughter Carol Ann and her family, so we were just a pit stop along the way. : ) We had a great visit and they took us out to eat at The Sushi House, one of Emma's favorite restaurants. Emma adores her Lao Lao and hung on her the entire time that they were here-even stalking her while she tried to take a shower! When they left on Sunday morning Emma sobbed, she wanted to go with them I think! : (




We went out for our monthly breakfast on Sunday with Greg's side of the family. It is always fun to see everybody and play catch up. And, of course everybody LOVES to see Emma...she often recieves small gifts for no reason! : ) Yesterday she received cute books from both her Great Aunt Marilyn and Great Grandma Jo. We also celebrated Emma's Nona's birthday.Emma chose Nona's presents all by herself; a necklace & earring set and guitar socks- she was very proud to present her gift to Nona! ; )



Emma has added a couple of words to her growing vocabulary this week; "Sit Down"! She tells us when she is sitting down, when we are sitting down, when she wants us to sit down---you get the picture! : )


I forgot to take pictures of Emma over the weekend, as usual I had M.I.B. (Mommy Mush Brain)! So, I took 2 pictures of Emma last night as she was winding down before bedtime. The first picture is of Emma chewing gum, her new FAVORITE activity (Which could actually be a post in itself! : ) ....) & wearing her new Dora slippers. Emma loves wearing slippers and shoes almost as much as she enjoys chewing gum. The second pictures is three of her Teletubbies & a horse having a tea party. Greg & I thought that it was cute how she arranged the whole set up. : )

Mid Autumn Day/Moon Festival

The traditional Chinese festival, Mid-Autumn festival began today, September 25th. It is the second most important festival in China & I was told by a Chinese friend that it is comparable to our Christmas. When the moon is rising tonight families will put a table in the open yard covered with moon cakes and fruits, including watermelon. All members of the family will sit around the table, they will talk & eat while they are enjoying the moon. Some families will pray before they eat. The moon will be brighter and rounder than it normally is because tonight it is closest to the Earth. Eating moon cake is an important custom of the festival-moon cake means reunion. Families who live far apart try to travel to be together during this time, but if that is not possible they call each other.

To celebrate this special holiday Emma wore a traditional dress to school & I have to say that she looked absolutely GORGEOUS!!! : ) She also brought a story about The Moon Festival (Chang E Goes to the Moon) for her teacher to read to the class and moon cakes for everybody to eat at snack time! The "moon cakes" were actually Hostess' Ding Dongs...I figured that Emma's friends would enjoy them more than real moon cakes that have flavors such as bean paste & lotus! Tonight Emma and I went outside to look at the moon and think about all of our family and friends near and far-especially Emma's birth mother who was surely looking at the same moon. Unfortunately, it was overcast & we could not see the moon! None the less we stood outside and said our good wishes. : ) When Greg gets home we will celebrate together by going out for a Chinese dinner & we will eat REAL moon cakes... it is an acquired taste-but we like them!

~Megan