Hello!

Hey everybody - it's me Emma! It's been a really long time since my momma posted anything and so I'm helping her out today. I really like computer time - and want to do it myself without mom's help - so here we go! We had a really fun Christmas - I got a new baby and a dressing table with all the fixings. I also got a new CD player complete with two microphones so my momma and I have been practicing my singing and I'm getting pretty good. My favorite song is Up On The Housetop. We sing it everyday and I like it alot.

I still go to my Grandma's house two days a week but now I go to my new school 3 days. I have made a lot of friends and I have fun at music time and making arts and crafts. I was a little scared at first, but now I just run in every morning ready to play. I think that makes it alot easier for my momma to leave me in the mornings. At the end of the day my daddy comes and gets me and I am super excited everyday when he gets there!

We had a really big snow storm this weekend, so I'm hoping my daddy will take me out later today to play in the snow. If he does, I will post those pictures so you can see my first snow day!

My New CD Player


Happy Girl!


Not so happy!

A Month of 1st

Wow! November was a busy, busy month and now December is here. We made a road trip to visit our travel buddies a few weeks ago. We took the girls by our agency to say thanks for all their hardwork in getting these babies home to their forever families. They seemed happy to watch the girls interact and here about our trip and how things are going at home. It's been 5 months since our trip and the girls seem to be doing really well. Of course, we were a little sad to be missing half our group. I hope we will be able to have a true reunion with all 6 babies this summer!

The next morning Rusty and I took Emma in for her 1st haircut. She was a little unsure, but she did great and got a sucker for being such a big girl!

After getting home, we decided to start putting out some of our Christmas decorations and get our tree up. Emma oooohed and ahhhhed over all our goodies and was ALOT of help! LOL! Let's just say we definately have to be on our toes because she is into everything she can get her hands on. I ordered her 1st Christmas ornament from a woman who is headed to China for her dollbaby on the 13th. It is super cute and I was happy to give my dollars to someone who is using it to get her own China girl home!

We celebrated Russman's birthday on the 25th and then headed home on Thursday morning for Emma's 1st Thanksgiving. Emma made her presence known and was so cute! She even learned the proper way to eat black olives - one on each finger! After a good nights sleep, we got up Friday morning and got ready for Bake Day! Every year the women in my family try to have a bake day to make all the cakes, cookies and candies for the holiday season. I'm not sure about the other families - but our treats barely last the week, much less till Christmas. Emma helped make some sugar cookies and once again she was a really good helper! She's almost more help than we can handle. It was fun watching her as I remembered a holiday season not so long ago when I longed for this child with all my heart. Now she is here and I am just sitting back in awe of her and how she has turned our world upside-down! We wouldn't have it any other way!!

Our 1st Mini-Reunion with J & D:



My 1st haircut:


Putting up our tree:




My 1st Thanksgiving and Bake Day!!

New Pics of our Girl

Our little girl is growing and changing so much these days. I'm amazed how each day brings something new - a new trick, a new word, a new animal noise. Our favorite is when she does the flamingo and stands on one leg! Too cute!

She also has become quite the girlie girl. She loves to put on new clothes and she will immediately go to the mirror to admire herself. She also got a new coat last week from her Grandma. It is plush white, extra soft, and Emma loves it. How I'll manage to keep it cleans remains to be seen - especially since she gets so mad when we make her take it off! She would stay in it all day if we let her!!

My first balloon!


I love my Daddy!!


Rain, rain go away!


Baa Baa Black Sheep


Trick or Treating will wear a girl out!

Happy Halloween!

Happy Halloween!!! This weekend we got our pumpkins carved and ready to go. Emma was a little unsure - but after checking things out, she dug right in and started pulling the pumpkin guts out. She really likes to light our jack-o-lantern with Daddy! We are going home for trick-or-treating on Friday. I'm sure Emma won't have a clue what we're doing - but mom and dad are extra excited. We've waited a long time for this and its lots of fun watching Emma experience it all for the 1st time! Enjoy the pics and have a safe and happy halloween!!

Oh my gosh....an update at last!

I title it that because some of you will be pleasantly surprised to see an update! Life with Emma has made it a little more difficult to blog, which is sad because there is so much to tell. We went to the doctor a few weeks ago and dispite getting four more shots (this time she knew what was going on) - she got an A+ and all seems to be well. She is changing so much and we are just trying to keep up. This week alone, she is starting to try and say a few words. She wants to really bad - but it's just not quite there yet. And just today, she has decided to start climbing on anything and everything. Tonight she was standing on her push car and then we turned around and she was climbing over the baby gate. So it's pretty obvious those are becoming obsolete real soon!

Here's what we know for sure - she is alot of fun! Our girl is a little onry, but we love it. I think we may have our hands full in the coming months - but oh well, we will just power through!

Enjoy the pics - you've waited long enough!