Threads for Mia Hope

Emma is modeling one of the sweetest outfits sewn by Robin from Redthreadstitches. She has been sewing away for some time now in order to raise funds to bring her daughter, Mia Hope, home from China. She is nearing the end of that process and waiting on her LOA. Please check out her blog. www.redthreadstiches.blogspot.com

A little video of Emma having fun with the modeling. :)

MERRY CHRISTMAS 2008

Dear husband got his new coffee maker curtesy of his two sweet daughters, Aimee & Bekki

Bekki examines the gift from Nadya, two of the scented oil decanters! Nice!

Playing Apples to Apples on Christmas Eve!

This stocking is almost as big as little Emma! She was so thrilled with her stocking full of stuff! Notice the tutu I managed to add. :)

Emma's auntie VJ gave her the cutest little backpack full of animals!! She was very pleased!

Aimee's treasured gift. She savored this one since good things come in small packages!!

Twas the night before Christmas and all thru the house....the stocking they hung by the chimney with care....

Well, hope you all had a very Merry Christmas! It's hard to believe that several days have past since that distinct day and once again we are getting ready to begin a new year. I don't know what 2009 hold for us, but 2008 had a lot of twist and turns!

We celebrated Christmas Eve at home with my sister driving up from Kentucky with two of her kids, Ashleigh and Sidney who are 12 & 13. I set out a simple buffet and we relaxed and played Apples to Apples as well as chatted about life. It was good to spend a simple evening together. The girls went to the 11:00PM candlelite service at a local church. :) Christmas day was very layed back. Everyone slept in and then had a lite breakfast while the girls and I prepared brunch for all. The stocking were the first thing to be opened and enjoyed. Little Emma was so excited to open that stocking with her name on it. This is the first time she has fully enjoyed Christmas as far as the gift thing is concerned. We are working on the reason we celebrate Christmas with hopes of her fully embracing that next Christmas. :) The afternoon was relaxing as we slowly made our way through the gift opening. We had some very genereous "Secret Santa's" this winter. Thank you for making our Christmas more special. I decided not to prepare a big dinner since we were all enjoying just relaxing so we put out all our left-overs from the night before and munched on those until we were very full. Larry and the older two girls went to the movies that night to see the movie about Hitler, can't remember the name. Evidentally it was a very powerful movie. So, that was Christmas for us this 2008. No large crowds so we could keep Emma healthy for her surgery that is taking place on the 30th. Enjoy the photos!

Emma's tutu dress

Emma loves to wear her tutu-dress as she calls it. As you can see she is embellishing the tutu-dress with her precious jewels and other assorted accessories. She is such a girly girl and so much fun watching her. Her daily request is to wear a dress to which I, her mom, try to indulge her in most days, even with jeans under if if necessary to make my sweet girl happy. :) I know all too well that one day she will not want to even look at a dress so I will sit back and enjoy this time in her little life.

Photos of Emma's Big Day!!

Hello again! I thought I would show you in pictures how our day went. This first photo is the device Emma had placed in her heart. The one she has is 22mm in size. This is before it goes into the catheter, see the photo where it is attached.

This photo shows the device up close. It is made ot titanium and mesh. As you can see it has a mushroom shape on both ends. The middle is called the waist and is what is plugging the hole in Emma's heart. Over time her tissue will grow over this device and it will become part of her heart permanately. Praise God!! I am in awe of just how miraculus this surgery is!! Not long ago Emma would have had open heart surgery. Technology is amazing!

Here is Emma and her primary care nurse, Sara, preparing for the surgery. Emma had lots of questions, like how to work the T.V. :)

Getting impatient with the waiting. We were scheduled to have the surgery at 11:00AM so we arrived at the hospital at 9:00AM and the surgery did not happen until noon. She was very hungry and let us all know it!! Poor baby.

On our way to surgery. As you can see, even with the sedation given to her in the room to help her along she was still awake and ready to drive to her surgery! :)

Surgery is over and she is in recovery with her best buddies!! Doggie and Pinkie! :) She has the oxygen mask close by because we found that she would drop too low when she was sleeping.

Thursday morning and ready to role!! What a difference a day makes! Emma loved traveling the halls in her little sports car!

All cleaned up, new pj's and lunch in bed!! We were waiting to be discharged on Thursday afternoon.

Emma and her other nurse, Sara. I cannot say enough about the day nurses at Children's Hospital in Cincinnati. Thank you!!!
So, that is it in pictures in a nutshell. Hope the visual helped. :)

No surgery today...

As many of you know, Emma was scheduled to have her heart surgery today. Well, typical of many kids this time of year she got sick. Yes, I tried my best to keep her healthy, but someone else picked up this tummy bug and brought it home!! So, the surgery has been post-poned until next Wednesday. Tuesday she will have all her pre-op done at Cincinnati Children's Hospital and then the surgery on Wednesday morning at 10:00 AM. Please keep her in your prayers and we will keep you up to date on the happenings. Here is a photo of her yesterday, poor sick child.

THANKSGIVING

This year we decided to spend Thanksgiving in Boston with some of our family members. This was quite a feat since we live in OHIO! Packing up 6 people and flying is no simple task! I agreed to bear the brunt of this task since my husband is in the early recouperating stages from a double hernia surgery. He could offer no physical assistance which made the process of moving all our luggage somewhat challenging!! But...I did it...we did it...and had a great time once we arrived at Larry's sister's home. We spend Monday the 24th to Sat. the 30th enjoying an extended visit with family we rearely see. The matriach, Grandma B, joined us and observed all of her adult children, 5 of them, their spouses, children and grandchildren!! We filled this house that is typically a quiet place with joy and laughter. Thank you Jeanne & Tim for allowing us to move in!! The newest family member, Emma, whom we adopted from China in the spring of 07 had a great time getting to know her beloved grandma and other family members. She will have some wonderful memories. :)Here we are cooking away in preperation of the delicious meal

Chowing down and conversation!

This photo should have come first, the table before chowing down all that food!!! I looked so nice.

Emma with one of her favorite cousins!! Ginny she enjoyed your attentions all week!!