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! :)