Cold Weather in KY

It's been a chilly few days here. The cold weather hasn't slowed Emma down. She is crawling everywhere and pulling to the couch and other objects. Even more, she is teething!!! Not just one tooth, but all four of her top front teeth! The left front one is already in as she has been working on it for over a week, but the other three have now broken the skin and are working there way through. This might explain why we were up all night on Thursday! She slept much better last night after I gave her some Oragel and Tylenol. She didn't even wake up for a bottle last night! Did I mention she didn't go to sleep until midnight?!! She's turning into quite the night owl. We are staying home today to try and get her nap schedule and sleep schedule situated.

We went to our small town's annual homecoming parade for our high school football team. If you're not from here (and even if you are) you might not understand the importance of this event. The square is shut down, our schools stop instruction and all students attend. Each of our high school grades decorate a float and our homecoming candidates ride on them. This is big town celebrate in a small town atmosphere!!! Since it was so cold and rainy...Emma and I sat in the car with some friends.

Two ladies sent Emma this bunny and some other adorable things!!! Emma loves snuggling with her bunny! Thanks girls, you are so sweet!

Where's the Pictures?

Well, it's been 5 days since I last posted and I've heard about it!!! So for those who asked, here are some of the things we have been up to:

-Saturday we spent the day running errands and stocking up on baby items that we needed. I can't seem to get much done during the day by myself!!!

-Sunday we went to church again and enjoyed seeing our church family. That afternoon was Chase's 8th birthday party and decided to celebrate with family since Emma is still adjusting. She did well and didn't mind the company. She and her little cousin Max are still getting used to each other. Christmas will be interesting to say the least! Chase had a Boston Red Sox birthday and got lots of neat gifts and money to buy some new basketball shoes.

-Monday was Chase's actual birthday so we couldn't not celebrate since he was out of school. We went to Chucky Cheese...not completely alone, Ryan joined me for fun and games. Chase wanted to eat at Shogun so we went there for lunch and Emma was captivated by the entertainment. Chase, Emma, and I went back to Chucky Cheese to use the rest of his tokens. We then gandered the mall and then went to Target. We finished by stopping by Barnes and Noble to pick up the newest Diary of a Wimpy Kid book. We finished the day of excitement by having dinner with Ryan's dad who shares a birthday with Chase. I don't know exactly how I managed to do all that!!!

-Tuesday was a "stay at home" day. I tried to get some things accomplished and did managed to make it to Wal-Mart! I still can't figured out how to clean the house and wash clothes during the day!!! Little Miss Emma was teething and wanted Mommy close so we played and forgot about the mess. I'm sure it will still be there when I get around to it!

-Today we had lunch with a college friend of mine. It was nice to spend time with her and I was thankful that our schedules allowed us to catch up. After that I dropped by to see Nana and her friends at her work so that could meet Emma. After picking up Chase, we went to the local boutique store to get another pink bow since Emma has discovered that she can pull them out and when she does, she shreds the end of it. I left with 4 different pink bows. Who knew there were so many shades??? :o)

-Tomorrow I am going to see my family at school and check in with my sweet students. I have missed them and I can't wait to see how they are doing.

Here's some photos of the past few days. I will try to stay caught up... I love that you all enjoy reading it!!! We enjoy sharing our life with you!

This is Emma in her 'jumper." She loves to jump up and down, but only for a few minutes as it confines her....

Emma has been teething. She already had her two bottom teeth when we got her, but her top right tooth has come through since she has been home. Today I noticed another tooth working its way through on top... These teething biscuits are great....but extremely messy. We needed a bath after this one.

Our sweet girl in her pumpkin outfit.

Did I mention she was teething?

She started crawling a few days ago, but today she really put it into practice and managed to get stuck behind the couch. She hasn't learned reverse yet.

Our pastor and his family got Emma this sock monkey. She was working him over tonight. I love that face...

So "Dog"gone Cute

Emma is doing well at night. She went to sleep last night around 10:00, woke up for a bottle at 2:45 and then slept till 8 this morning. Good girl!!! Here's some pictures taken of our sweet girl today. Isn't she beautiful?

Showered with Love...

Yesterday afternoon Ryan's work hosted a baby shower for Emma. It was so nice and as you can see from the pictures, Emma enjoyed opening her presents and playing with Ryan's work family. Emma is still working on getting her top tooth through so she has been chewing on everything. I can tell she is a little fussy but I'm not sure if it's the formula, the teeth, or a combination of the two...either way, she's still our sweet little smiley girl!

Working on that top tooth...

Doctor's Visit

Emma had her first well baby visit this morning. She has been spitting up with the American formula, so our doctor changed her to soy based formula. Hopefully that will help with the spit up. The doctor said the composition of soy formula is close to the Korean formula she was taking. She also received 3 shots today in order to begin her revaccinations. We decided to go ahead with revaccinating to be sure all of her immunizations take. On top of that she had to have blood drawn to check her thyroid, but she only cried for a minute. Miss Emma was such a big girl today. She took everything they were doing to her so well. Let's just say Mommy probably took it harder than she did. We continue to be so blessed by her sweet personality. She is such an easy going baby. She also has a new tooth! It's the top left one. We thought she might be teething but she wasn't fussy. I kept hearing a grinding sound yesterday and told Ryan about it. Sure enough, it was her bottom tooth rubbing against her top one. Here she is at the doctor before the shots...

Our high chair was delivered yesterday. Now we can eat lunch and supper without crawling all over the room...

Getting around...without the bow!

Emma has learned to growl this week. This is her sweet little face when she is making her grrr noise. It is so cute because she growls on command!

She had enough of the camera, so she decided to confiscate my camera strap...

Our Little Pumpkin...

We continue to be amazed at how well Emma is adjusting. She is sleeping better at night and her little personality is adorable. She started growling yesterday and it is so cute!!! Big brother is adjusting well also and he is such a big helper. She is napping now and he told me he wished she was awake so he could play with her. How sweet! I conquered Wal-Mart today and let's just say that was an adventure! I was even brave enough to take Chase out to lunch.... I had forgotten how much trouble it is to go somewhere with an 8 month old. Here a few pictures from the past day.

A Busy Weekend

We decided to take Emma to Sunday School Sunday. She was in such a good mood and smiled at everyone in the lobby. I was concerned about how she would do with so many people, but she didn't seemed bothered by it at all. After church we went out to eat and she really wants to eat what we are eating. I am beginning to wonder if her foster parents didn't feed her from their plates. The information we got said that she just ate formula and grapes and tomatoes. . . Yuck! I assume she ate more than that, just nothing that we would have here! We tried rice cereal and at first she didn't like it. She ate more of it the second time. We also tried squash for the first time last night and you can be the judge as to what she thought about it! She ate it much better today. She still does not like her car seat which is going to be very difficult since we are a busy family. She is okay until the car starts moving. Usually it is the opposite with babies. Here are some pictures of our sweet girl. We are so blessed to be her parents and know that God is abundantly awesome. She is such an easy going baby, full of smiles and wonder and curiosity. She is starting to crawl on her hands and knees. She is determined to get where she wants to go either by crawling, rolling, or doing the worm!

Open Up... Eating Squash for the first time

We slept last night!!!

Emma is enjoys playing with all her new toys. She is getting more and more comfortable at home. Nap time is getting better also. She is taking her bottle very good. We are going to start mixing it today in order to transition to the American formula. She tried cereal yesterday and didn't like it, but today she ate a few bites of rice cereal and enjoyed it. She also has this adorable yawn that she adds a sigh to as she does it. It's the cutest thing. One other thing mom and dad are very happy about it the fact that she slept from 7 pm last night to 3 am this morning!!! She then took a bottle and went back to sleep until 5. We can definitely handle that! I have been blessed by the way she has also bonded with Chase. He can get her to smile at anything. She loves big brother and he sure does love her... We hope to possibly get to church soon for Sunday School. It is too early to leave her in the nursery and I don't think Bro. Tim is looking for a preaching assistant. ;o) And yes, Bro. Tim, she will say Brother Tim in two languages!

Happy 8 Months Emma Yeirin

Our sweet Emma is 8 months today! These are 8 things that we love about you sweetheart:

1. Your sweet smile

2. Your 2 bottom teeth that shine when you smile

3. The way you cackle out loud when we blow on your tummy

4. Your ability to get anywhere you want in your walker

5. Your beautiful hair that looks so cute with bows in it

6. The way you give love on command

7. The way you rock on your hands and knees when you want to crawl

8. Your sweet almond eyes that sparkle when you look at us

Emma is continuing to adjust to being home with us. She is attaching to us well and is beginning to be more comfortable around other people. She makes sure that we are close and we assure her. We are following the recommendation of adoption therapists and are only letting daddy, mommy, and brother hold her for the first six weeks. This will help ensure that she attaches to us. She enjoyed her ride in the stroller yesterday. The car seat is still not her biggest fan.

Yesterday afternoon, we took her to a shower that some friends from school hosted. It was so nice to see everyone and I continue to feel so blessed by the love and support of my school family. To my school family: I love you all and am forever thankful for all the many ways you have supported us.

I also want to let all of my students who are reading this blog that I miss you all and will bring Emma by to see you after fall break. Continue to be the sweet boys and girls that you are! I love you all!

We went to the doctor today just to check on her runny nose. Emma weighed 21lbs and 29inches long. Our sweet girl is healthy! She goes back for her official check-up on Wednesday of next week. She will be having blood work, so please pray that she will do well.

First Day Home, Bath, and Playtime

Hello everyone! I thought you might need an Emma fix, so I am posting while she is napping. Her first day home was so special to us. We enjoyed loving on her and making sure she knows we are here to stay. Bottle time has been difficult for her. She started taking it without crying yesterday afternoon. Nighttime is also hard and we are doing our best to console her. She is still trying to get her sleep routine figured out. When she woke up yesterday around 11:30, she took a 30 minute nap in the carrier and then didn't go back down until last night. She was up and down last night but we are working on establishing a routine. Did I mention we just love her??? She is the sweetest little girl and has such a cute personality. She laughed out loud today for the first time as mommy was blowing on her tummy. She also liked her bath after she got used to it. She splashed and giggled. I will try to post a video later. Here are a few pictures from yesterday and today. She loves her toys.