How we celebrated Easter

Emma and her neice, Hayley, enjoying their first egg hunt!!! They sure cleaned up too!!

Hello all, I thought I would post some photos of EAster this year. We had a sunny but cool day which still allowed for Emma's frist egg hunt. Our daughter, Melissa, and our granddaughter, Hayley, joined us in celebrating Easter as well as my DH's 60th birthday!!!

Enjoy the photos!!

The Blizzard of 2008

Well, as the title states, we have just come through a two day snow storm, labeled a blizzard, by Ohio standards! While it is the most snow we have seen in almost three years, about 14", this is a common snow storm back in Ct. Way back in 1978, when by first child was only 7 months old, we had a huge blizzard. We were living in Ma. at the time and we were shut down for five days!! Try shouvling 4 feet of snow! It's was a good thing we were young and thought it was a great adventure. Then in the year 2000 my oldest daughter was getting married. Her wedding date was Dec. 31st and guess what, we had a blizzard!!!! We had to cancel the limo and call up everyone who had 4-wheel drive! In the end, almost everyone came out and it was the most beautiful wedding ever. But, I have warned the other five ladies in my home that there will be no more winter weddings!! Photos to come!!

Ready for spring!

These are photos of our girls from Uganda and Philippines. Reyna is on the left and Phoihna is on the right. They were both sweethearts!

Well, today is Tuesday and Ohio's primary and it is pouring outside! Yesterday was a tease with the temps being 70 degrees! Emma enjoyed a walk with her da looking around the neighborhood. :) Life has been busy this past week. Nadya was sick over the weekend with a sinus infection among other things. Today I am sick with the "other things". I have had this same cold/cough 4X this winter!!! I am so ready for some sun and warm breezes and green grass and pretty flowers.

LOOK FOR THE GIRL WITH THE RED DRESS ON!

If you look closely you can see Emma weaving in and out of the kids as she follows

the Chinese dance instructor. She was so mezmorized by her. I think Emma was the smallest on the stage.

photos Chinese New Year FCC group 2008

Emma just watching the puppet lady!

Emma enjoying her plate of yummy Chinese food provided to the familes for the Chinese New Year celebration with our FCC group. There were aboaut 600 people celebrating and Emma had a blast dancing and eating and just playing!

One Year Ago

Hello all,

EMMA'S GOTTCHA DAY!!!

Well, it was a year ago that Larry and I traveled to China to bring home our little daughter Emma. It is hard to believe that a year has past and harder to believe that she has not always been with us. :) Emma is the most adoreable sweet child and we love her so much!

Since it has been so long since I last posted, I decided that I would just recap things by telling you some little things about our Emmi. So here goes.

1. She has a sparkly personality
2. She is strong willed at times
3. She has gained 8lbs. and grown 6 inches
4. She has a dimple on her left cheek that I love
5. She adores her sisters
6. She adores the two little dogs, but they do no adore her!
7. Last summer she learned to put her little head under the water in the pool much to our surprise and she loves to swim!
8. She can count to 10 and say her abc's
9. She is potty trained as of the first week of Feb. 08 and is potty training her stuffed animals right now.
10. She loves to sing songs about Jesus and pray
11. The guitar is her favorite intrument and she wants her own!
12. Seth is her first male crush!!
13. She loves to mosh! (dance)
14. She is a social butterfly and the official greeter at church
15. She HATES all bugs!
16. She wants to eat all the time!
17. She has her daddy wrapped around her little finger, just like her sister Melissa!
18. She adores her neice, Hayley, who is 2 and talks about her all the time.
19. She considers her sister, Aimee, her other mom.
20. She is a joy to all of us!

So, with all that said, I will try to journal this next year with some regularity. I'd like to figure this blogging out.

HAPPY 4TH OF JULY 2007

HAPPY FOURTH OF JULY FROM OUR NEWEST US CITIZEN, EMMA-LIA GRACE!!!

It's the 4th of July today and we began our day with a parade just up the street from us. It was nice to be with a large number of families giving honor to this special day in the US. May we always remember that our freedom comes with a cost. My prayers are that we will not lose site of this freedom.

Well, it has been too long since my last post. Life with Emma is busy as with any two year old! :) The most remarkable changes in her are her growth! She came to us wearing a size 3 shoe and is now in a size 6W!!! That growing must have been painful. She is also out of her 12 month sizes and wearing 18-24 months. She weighs a whopping 25 lbs. at 29 months old!! Our little granddaughter, Hayley, who is 17 months, is the same size! Too bad we live so far apart. :(

Emma had her heart echo done in early June. We were hoping that the results would show us that the hole had closed, but it has not. She is scheduled for a second heart echo in Dec. 08 and surgery will follow. Please pray for healing as Emma is really traumatized by any medical care she has. The results of some of the simple tests take weeks for her to recover from emotionally.

May 10, 2007 ...LIFE IS FULL :)

Hello all, Emma is really blooming like the pretty red flowers she has her little nose in! What a blessing she is!

She is doing great and we can hardly believe she has been ours for over 2 months! We love her to pieces and we believe she is feeling the same. :)

Emma is a very energetic child with a creative mind. She loves music in any form and will move to the rythym. We were at Bekki's piano recital and Emma was bopping her little head to the music as each student played their piano piece. I see a future conductor for some symphony!

Larry is in Co. for an adoption summit at Focus On The Family. He has run into some old NE friends and some new Oh. freinds. This is his first time away from Emma so we were interested to see if Emma would notice. Hmmm..so far no notice. I sure that doesn't mean she doesn't love him anymore. :)

SMILE........ I AM SO CUTE......................

April showers bring May flowers!!

Hello, it's the middle of April and we have had Emma for 50 days! It seems like just yesterday that she was put into our arms. PTL she is home safe and sound.

Emma is a very vivacious little two year old! We were told that she was kept quiet because of her heart, but I see no stopping this little one! She loves any physical activity...swinging both in the swing and from someones arms, climbing...she is a little mountain goat, dancing...any music starts her body swaying and finding her way up the stairs! We have grown those eyes in the back of our heads in order to keep track of her as well as gated every possible opening much to the furry friends and humans dismay.

She had her evaluation at Cincinnati Children Adoption Center and it is a wonderful place! The people were great and they tried to make Emma feel comfortable. She had several vials of blood drawn as well as a TB test and various developmental observations. Health wise she is in great shape except for her heart. No parasites or TB. Developmentally she is a bit delayed and who wouldn't be if you were kept from doing any physical activity! :) She is catching up fast!! She loves to try new words and seems to understand many of the words I say. She is strong willed, but not overly so. Emma loves to be hugged and kissed and will give them out as well. She has a favorite toy, a stuffed pink pig! I guess she knew it was the year of the PIG in China! LOL :)

Daddy is her favorite, besides me. She loves it when he comes into the room or comes in from work. Her squeals or joy are so sweet!! He even gets called DADA! We are still waiting for her to call me mommy or some variation. I think she gets confused with EMMA and MAMA. I may have to come up with a new name for myself. :)

Her first Easter was spent with her whole family! Yes, the crew from Ct. came out for a week to meet their new baby sister. It was a full house and we had some wonderful times together. My grandbabies got to meet their Auntie Emma. :)

Spring has sprung here in Cincinnati!

What wonderful weather we have been having and Emma is enjoying her nice outdoor time. This morning it was so funny to put her in a sweet little green sundress and barefeet! She was just adoreable!!!! My older girls are eager to open our pool, but I am sure that this weather is just a tease!

Life with Emma is certainly different. We just love her so much! Her days are filled with the busyness of a two year old which warms my heart. :) She has two furry friends that follow her and sometimes run from her during the day. Sam and Hallie our ShiTzus. Sam thinks he is her appointed guardian. In fact last week she managed to sneak out the back door into the garage while I turned my back. Sam started whining and I just sushed him. When I looked for Emma she was gone and Sam was still whining at the backdoor! I opened it and there she was decending the steps! PTL I caught her before she fell onto the concret. Thanks Sam!!

We are trying to bring our Ct. children out to Ohio for Easter. This is a large task since it involves six people. I think five of them will drive out in a rented van and our son, Nate, will fly out. We are excited to have them meet their new little sister, Emma.

I am still waiting to post photos. DH has not been available to help me. In time! Sorry to all who are looking for them. :)

We are home now!

We have arrived home and are glad to get life back on track to some degree. Emma was a great traveler! She slept most of the flight from China to L.A. and then again at the hotel that night. It was so nice to be in a hotel with nice soft beds! I wanted to sleep forever!!! Thank you Hampton Inn. :) Our flight from L.A. to Cincinnati was long. Emma did not want to sleep and although she was quite good, I ran out of steam keeping up with her. The jet-lag is really tough! When we arrived at our final destination we were greeted by Aimee, Bekki and Nadya holding a Welcome Home Emma sign that Nadya made. :) We also had friends there that video taped our homecoming. Thank you Bennetts! We were very thankful for that since we did not have a video camera for the trip. In fact our good old digital camera died on us while we were in China and we had to buy another one. You would think they would cost less, but they don't.

We have been home for six days now. The jet-lag is less, but still hits us in the early evening. Emma is slowly adjusting to life at home with the girls and dogs. She was a bit timid with the dogs at first and now they run from her! Sam tries to stay out of her way and Hallie is just a nice little girl dog that Emma bops over the head if she is in her way. :) I think Emma is letting them know who is in charge! She is still very clingy to me. There are times when she feels confortable playing near me, but always needs me in her view. She enjoys going outside to play and that is my only break. She will go with the girls then. As far as food goes, Emma will eat anything so far. She fed herself for the first time last night and was so proud of herself. It was cute to see her working so hard with her little fork and getting it to her mouth. :) When Emma joined us on Feb. 25th she was drinking formula from a bottle several times a day and eating a rice congee and steamed eggs. That is about it. We have gotten her to eat almost everything! Fruit is still her least favorite, but she is coming along.

I would like to thank all of you who helped care for my girls while we were in China. They had more food than they could eat! :) Rausch's, thank you for taking Nadya into your home and seeing to her needs. She enjoyed you very much. I can't thank you enough! Cindi, thank you for driving Bekki everywhere! There are many more of you that have watched over the girls and we are very thankful. :)

Photos coming.

A View of Life in China

photo #1: bathroom in Chongqing photo#2 moms enjoying their new girls.

photo #3: Larry & Wendy in hotel Photo#4: Our Red Couch photo with Em
lobby with Emma

photo #5 dinner at local resturant photo#6: children at gym class

photo#7: out shopping with friends photo#8: Emma admiring statue

photo #9: shopping at shop under stairs photo#10&11: Emma in hotel room

photo#12: Emma in mirror avoiding us photo#13: finally sleeping!

The plane ride to Guangzhou was a first for this wee one. We did not know what to expect as she just had double ear infections. But the Amoxicillin worked (PTL).

We have been in Guangzhou now for a few days - climate is more humid than Chongqing and clearly a large city - always busy. Emma continues to cling to Wendy which is good. As far as she is concerned, I beleive Emma would prefer that I disappear. The China Hotel is ok but nothing great - we have had to have them fix a few things. As always, the Chinese people are very nice. They live the community life which Americans seem to busy to enjoy.

The medical clinic tests were interesting. The doctor seemed concerned about what he heard in Emma's heart so he consulted with another doctor. They wanted her original charts which we did not have. As it turns out, they think she is ok - the heart "noise" is not of concern to them. We have an appointment at Children's Hospital on April 4. Our prayer is that this little one will not need heart surgery -wouldn't be awesome?

So many children were being adopted by Americans that it was very impressive.

Greg and Maren Rausch have been just an awesome family that have assisted us with caring for Nadya while we are gone. In addition, they introduced us to Jordan. We brought things from them for Jordan and he was most thankful. After spending time in his store we decided that we needed a suitcase to carry our treasures home. At 140 yuan, this case was a bargain at $18

shopping at Jordan's Shop with friends, Jordan is in the middle.

notice the LARGE suitcases the men have, they are full of goodies

purchased at Jordan's. I bet he was happy!
Some of the people we have travelled with have taken ill - various issues. So far, all is well with the three of us though. Emma goes to bed at 8 PM and the room must be dark for her to settle down. She does not like the crib so Wendy gets her on the bed and tries to calm her down. In time, she falls asleep and we move her to the crib. We are most fortunate that she sleeps all night. This morning for example, she woke up at 8 AM and stood up in the crib just looking at us. She may still be wondering what happened! God is good

Small yet determined

I just love this place...fountains to get wet in...all the food I want and served right to me....

Emma-Lia Grace has a distinct personality. At 28" tall for a 2 year old, she has spunk wired into a strong will. She is no pushover. When I (Larry) come near her, she wimpers, she whines, her face becomes a frown. If I dare to pick her up, the wail peels the wallpaper off of the wall. Very effective technique (better than steaming it off).

She is standing next to my sneakers in this photo. She loves to play and run all the time. Very expressive - somewhat like her older sister Bekki. Bekki talked to her dolls and so does Emma!

We suspect that there were no men in her orphanage and so, men (like me) are strange. I have heard that before on occasion.

All of our notarized papers were delivered today - the adoption is final although I think that Emma wants to have a judge hear her case (as it relates to me as the father). She is fine with Wendy taking on the Mom role.

Walking the Streets of Chongqing

We had a fascinating journey today exploring the streets of the city. They are not wide but they are filled with people, small store fronts, dogs and opinions. The local people did not beleive we had Emma dressed warm enough and they politely (?) told us in Chinese. The variety of fruit and flowers was amazing. Rose buds were individually wrapped in netting to protect them before sale. Men carried bamboo poles and baskets - the baskets contained everything from boxes, bricks, food and gravel!

Small dogs were common - as pets - in they were in the food I did not know that. The variety of tiny store fronts was amazing. Everything was for sale, shoes could be fixed, clothes mended, motors repaired, etc. All on the sidewalk in front of the store which was often only 4 feet wide.

The Chinese people are very sociable and enjoy community life - each night they gather, walk, talk, eat and play games. The lights of the common area (like Times Square) were brilliant. The numbers of people contantly moving was fascinating. There was no pushing, yelling, fighting or rough stuff.

Countless thousands are on the street - many times using cell phones since land lines are too hard to install because of the terrain.

Electronic items are cheaper in the US. Buy there before you come (i.e. memory cards, cameras, etc). The DVDs are cheaper though but watch for the language on the DVD.

Truly these are a very special people, very hard working, skilled and community oriented