Staying at Home, Emma is Walking!

This is probably one of the most difficult posts to write. The past couple of weeks have been challenging to say the least. I went back to school, teaching, after being home with Emma for 14 weeks. Initially I thought the transition would be manageable. Emma had a very difficult time being with a sitter and after consulting with an adoption therapist, we decided it would be best for Emma if I stayed home with her. I am so blessed to be able to do this and also very thrilled to be with her during the day every day. As I told my teaching family, my hearts also breaks that I won't be able to fulfill my obligations to my students and see friends that I have grown close to as often. I know that God has a plan and he can see the entire picture of our life. With that said, I know He has something great in store for our family. We have been prayerfully considering an amazing opportunity within the adoption community and hope to proceed with it now that I have some spare time. More about that as things progress. So as I left school Friday afternoon, it was a bittersweet ending to a wonderful experience at a school where everyone loves and welcomes each other.

I am also in the process of planning Emma Tol party, her first birthday celebration. I've been researching traditional Korean customs and hope to incorporate those into a Korean American celebration. It's hard to believe she will be a year old in a few weeks. She is constantly changing and I think it safe to say she is officially walking as of yesterday! She's still wobbly and falls down, but it doesn't keep her from going where she wants to go!

Here's our little girl standing up on her own and taking a few steps...

She loves her sippy cup. It only took her a few minutes to learn to drink from a straw.

One of her favorite things to do is to pull everything out of the drawers in the kitchen. She does it very well!