Easter

Emma in her Easter outfit! :)

Again my pictures are downloaded vertically and are posting horizontally?! UGH! :(

Emma had a nice Easter. She was excited to discover her Easter basket and enjoyed all of the Easter treats-especially the stickers (which we continue to find all over the house) and of course the candy.

She loves to get dressed up and was happy to pose for a picture before leaving to attend brunch at Aunt Marilyn's house! She was a very good girl, albeit having a horrible cold/cough.

Buchos!

Aunt Karen and Uncle Dean

Megan, Greg and Emma
Katie and J.C.

My cousin J.C. lives in Downers Grove. On Friday my Aunt Karen, Uncle Dean and cousin Katie came to visit from East Tawas. We all met at The Montieth's favorite restaurant~ Buchos! We drank margarita's, visited and laughed-it was a great time! Emma was an angel! She smiled and talked to everybody at the table. She also chair danced the entire 2 hours! :)

I posted pictures but for some reason Aunt Karen and Uncle Dean will not rotate clockwise! After 5 attempts to save the rotation I gave up. :(

Note to J.C.: Emma LOVES The Hokey Pokey Elmo! :) She played with him for the rest of the evening and we awoke to him dancing in our bedroom at 7:00 am the next morning...we ALMOST called you so that you could enjoy him singing too! The we remembered that you were in class anyway.

Emma's Playdate Last Month

Emma met her friend Kamryn for a play date at the Aurora Park District one Saturday last month. Kamryn's Mommy Julie e-mailed it to me and I am finally now posting it. Aren't they adorable?! : )

I was "Blog-TAGGED"!!!!

This journal entry has nothing to do with Emma or Sophie. My friend Beth "tagged" me a couple of weeks ago meaning that I have to list 7 things that she and other people might not know about me. After listing my "7 things" I get to tag seven other people...fair is fair! ; )

#1)
I am a vegetarian! I don't eat beef, chicken, and certain dairy products.
(I will answer WHY I am a vegetarian at another time, my reason(s) might not be what you think that they are)! ; )

#2)
I am afraid of birds and mice. : (

#3)
I am obsessive about cleaning my house, washing my hands, and making lists. I also have a "baggie compulsion"-everything has to be organized via baggie! : O

#4)
I like Eminem. Of course I don't play the CD with Emma in the car! I guess it is sort of like my "alter ego" when I drive alone! HaHa! ; D

#5)
Greg and I met on an online matchmaking site. : )

#6)
I can not wait until Emma is old enough to play with Barbie dolls so that I can play with her!! : )

#7)
When I was in my early 20's I worked a variety of jobs (usually 2 at a time) to pay my bills. A few of my second jobs were: cocktail waitress, maid (that only lasted a week!!!), clerk at a White Hen (I sliced lunch meat-GROSS!!) and sales associate at a Hallmark store.

Update on Emma's Little Sister, Sophie!

SOPHIA GRACE

A couple of weeks ago we had the pleasant surprise to receive two new pictures of Sophie along with a short written update! Sophie is now 20 pounds and 2&1/2 feet tall. She has 5 teeth and can sit and walk all by herself now! : )

We will be able to send our dossier to China as soon as we receive our fingerprints back from the FBI! We are on "day 18" of the agonizing wait-ack! : O We are *GUESSING* that we MIGHT be traveling around September????

Emma Just LOVES Snacks!

Do you think that Emma looks a bit nervous that she was caught in the act?! :)
Camera or not, those Panera Bagels and Bunny Cookies were too good not to eat! : D
I think that Emma taste tested each one just to make sure that they were the same. ; P Like most toddlers Emma LOVES to snack! We try to help Emma make healthy choices, but she has a mind of her own! She has a terrible sweet tooth (like Mommy) and I am surprised that she still weight just 33 pounds! ; )

We normally do not have a lot of goodies in the house, but last Sunday morning we happened to have both Easter cookies and Panera Bagels on the counter. Greg was upstairs (3rd level) working in his den while Emma was with me in the basement. She asked for a snack and I sent her upstairs alone to "Ask Daddy".

About 5 minutes later I had finished my project in the basement and headed upstairs to find Emma sitting ALONE on a stool at the counter happily gorging on bagels and cookies. She had pulled the stool up all by herself and opened up the Ziploc bags. : ) Obviously she did NOT ask Daddy for help, she was probably worried that he would offer her yogurt or a banana.

Emma Has Been Home Over Two Years!

GOTCHA DAY ANNIVERSARY #2! :)

On Tuesday February 26th we celebrated our two year Gotcha Day with Emma. (Yeah, I know that I am behind on posts...again....). I can't believe that it has been two years already that Emma was placed in our arms, it seems like she has always been our little girl.

Greg and I enjoyed reminiscing about our time in China (we can laugh about certain things now!! ;P) and I think that on a certain level Emma is starting to understand the very special way that we became a family. We did not watch our video this year, but we looked at pictures and told Emma all about the day that we met her for the very first time. In the morning we gave Emma a special gift that her Daddy bought for her in China-a small (& LOUD) monkey drum. She loved it. We had Chinese food from our favorite local Chinese restaurant for dinner that evening.

Below I posted a few pictures from China to show everybody how much Emma has grown! I wanted to include a picture of her on Gotcha Day this year, but I can't find it. (Dang new computer!!!).

Emma's Referral Picture :)
We saw Emma's face for the 1st time on January 4th, 2006....FINALLY!!!!

Gotcha Day!
February 26th, 2006.
Greg and I look obliviously happy~Emma was not sure of us just yet! ; )
Around day 5 Emma began to smile at us. : )
Of course she insisted on staying in her crib!

Greg and I in Beijing a day or two before meeting Emma!