Fun at Chuck E Cheese

Happy Birthday Mom!

Brother & Sister

Happy Monday

Emily is really coming out of her shell. Everyday she lets us see more of her personality & smiles. She is jabbering away and will carry a conversation on with you....and you better pay attention to her while she's talking to you! She is even starting to enjoy Koda. When Koda is next to her, she will close her eyes and lean in so the dog can kiss her. She'll let the dog do this several times. She's even getting a little smarter when it comes to protecting her food when the dog is around. Eric & Emily continue to bond. She was happy to see Daddy when he came home from the dentist this morning.

Catching Up

We've now been home just over a week and I still feel like I'm running in circles. My mom was sweet enough to clean our house while we were gone and its been trashed ever since we walked in the door and I can't seem to get it clean again. We are able to sleep through the night again... jet lag is so brutal. It took pretty much an entire week both times to get our days and nights sorted out. One of my friends mentioned that I have a lot of people upset with me because I didn't let everyone know we were home. I'm sorry if anyone feels that way....its definitely nothing personal.

Emily and Daddy are starting to have a relationship, but its still very distant. She doesn't cry as long when he holds her. I know this has been a very difficult time for Eric. Please keep them in your thoughts. I keep hoping that one day when we wake up, Emily will just shower her Daddy with all the hugs & kisses that he has been missing out on.

Nathan has been having some major jealousy issues. I know he loves his sister. He is constantly trying to carry her all over the place and do everything for her, but she's not diggin' his constant attention. She likes her space. Which is turn is upsetting Nathan and he just starts being mean. We were driving home from Grandma's the other day and Nathan told me that I am being over-protective of Emily. I asked him where he heard that and he said he just thought of that. I assured Nathan that I was just as protective of him when he was that age and still am. Nathan has been crying a lot lately and saying we don't have time for him anymore. It just kills me to see my baby boy so upset. We have been trying to spend one on one time with him and I've heard a couple of his friends with younger siblings trying to console him. Hopefully with time he will get back to his old self!

A little about Miss Emily........she doesn't smile that much. Even when I look back at the photos we got from the orphanage director, no smiles. She's so serious. She's not into getting her picture taken either, but she does enjoy to look at her own picture or even look at herself in the mirror. She puffs out her upper lip. She will definitely let ya know when she doesn't want to be touched or if your in her space. She is content to play by herself. She is grumpy when she first wakes up. She is happy to lay in her crib and play with her toys. She likes flipping the pages of anything. When she is playing with her kitchen set, he is always pretending to feed herself. She loves to get dressed and change clothes and shoes. She's not crazy about the pool, but would rather play in the tub. She doesn't drink much and we've had problems finding something that she will drink out of. We've settled with a cup with a lid and straw. When Emily tries a new food she usually spits it out the first time. She loves the slide. She's even starting to warm up to the dog!

Well, that's a short glimpse about what's been going on the past week. I'll leave you with a few pictures from the day we got home.

Home Sweet Home

We safely made it home on Friday, July 17th. It is so nice to sleep in your own bed after being gone for so long. Nathan has spent the weekend with Grandma & Grandpa. Poor Emily has been running a fever. So far she's not too crazy about the dog, but Koda sure loves her. Koda has realized that Emily is an easy target to steal her food!

Once life returns to normal I'll post more....

Hong Kong

We took the train from Guangzhou to Hong Kong tonight. We are at the Novotel Citygate. The hotel is so modern looking. The beds are even wayyy soft & when you are served a drink there is ice in your glass!! The beverages are cold for a change. Those were probably the 2 hardest things we had to adapt to. I really wish we were going to be here for more than one night! I think I could dig Hong Kong!

Emily & Eric are still working on their relationship. While on the train she let him hold her and rock her to sleep. Nathan seems to be very jealous of Emily. He likes to pick on her just to upset her. She doesn't like Nathan picking her up like he did the first few days and that is upsetting to Nathan. I think his reaction is to just be mean. I know deep down he loves his little sister!

I better get some sleep since morning will be here before we know it! This will be my last post until we are Home Sweet Home!