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.

Gotcha Day, home, and sleeping

This has been an amazing 48 hours!!! From the last minute call to the airport. Emma arrived at 1:19 EST at the Detroit Michigan airport. She spent almost 2 hours in customs but finally we were united with her. She is perfect. We are madly in love with her. She came right to me and then to Daddy. After a few minutes, she started to cry. I walked her and bounced her and she fell asleep. It was a long day of traveling for her as she flew 4,700 miles yesterday. She doesn't like her car seat, but did sleep in it quite a bit. She loves toys and music. Her foster family sent along 2 Korean children song CD's and they calmed her during the ride. It was a very long trip home. Seven hours in a car is a long time for anyone. We did make several stops. She wanted to get down and play. As expected she would cry off and on but would quickly calm when we soothed her. You can tell she is grieving. It completely breaks my heart to see her cry, but it comforts me to know she was well attached. Her foster family sent lots of items home with her. One being a Hanbok, her first birthday outfit. They also sent two photo albums of her stay with them. I am forever thankful to them for capturing a part of her life we couldn't be there to experience. They also sent two pairs of shoes for when she gets older and a Korean flag. The card they sent was so sweet and just confirmed that they loved her very much. We will be forever thankful to them.

When we finally arrived home around 12:30 am, Emma was ready to get down and play. She is sitting up and scooting around. Her little personality is so sweet and she enjoyed exploring her new home. She fell asleep around 3 am and is still sleeping. Traveling is hard work! Here are some picture of our amazing day... We love you all and are looking forward to getting out soon.

Waiting...

I wanted to check in and let you know that we are waiting for little Emma to arrive. She is currently on her flight from Tokyo. We are tracking her flight online and she is in Canada just west of Winnipeg. She is scheduled to arrive 30 minutes early at 12:15 CST. Once she lands, she will go through customs and be united with us. I can't even begin to explain the way I am feeling right now. This sweet little girl that God has chosen for our family will be here in less that 2 hours. From the beginning He placed the longing for her in our hearts. We want everyone to see how God has continued to work through this entire process.

I can't wait to see her, hold her, and show her the love that God has given me for her. Only God could be in control of this journey. He alone knows the desires of our hearts and I can't wait to share her with our family and friends. I better go for now, I need to finish her welcome home poster, get the car seat installed, and wait for my sweet little girl. The next time I post, you get to see some pictures of our little gift from God.