Happy Autumn Moon Festival

Sunday afternoon we had our first “Red Couch Group” event. We met with another family at the Village Park in Kannapolis to celebrate the Chinese Autumn Moon Festival. We had hot dogs and other yummy treats and got to ride the train. We also enjoyed Moon Cakes (thanks Kim) in flavors like Lotus, Black Bean, Nut & Melon. The kids enjoyed the Moon Pies more. It was a great time of fun and I look forward to more events and hope our group continues to grow in size = )

Happy Birthday Emma Grace Min

This weekend we celebrated Emma Grace’s Third Birthday. She started her day off with Hailey and Issy. Hailey had spent the night at our house and the girls curled up on the couch Saturday morning to watch Mickey Mouse Playhouse. After that we took Emma Grace to Build a Bear. She picked out a soft grey cat that she named Princess. To celebrate we had a small get together at my mom’s house. Because of my Dad’s health we didn’t have a big party. Emma Grace wanted a Minnie Mouse birthday cake. She had such a wonderful time. She loved opening presents and wanted to tell everyone thank you. This year her China gift was a set of stacking Pandas. Her “China” gift was bought for her while we were in China to get her. Aaron and I bought 20 gifts for her to be given to her each year until she turns 21. The first gifts are small, toys, dolls etc. As she gets older the value of the gift and the meaning increases. Thank you to all the aunts, uncles and grandparents that made today so special for her. We are so blessed by all of you = )

Thanks Mickey D's

We went to McDonald's for lunch today and the girls got a sticker book with stickers in their happy meal. Elisabeth was thrilled to have a sticker book and quickly started putting the stickers in the book. Emma Grace on the other hand found a much better place for her stickers & who said that they had to go in the "STICKER BOOK" anyway. Thanks McDonalds for a great laugh!!

Beach Trip

Last week we traveled to our families vacation home on the Outer Banks on NC. When we were last at the beach in April to clean the houses for the rental season Emma Grace didn't like the sand. She wanted us to pick her up. It was yucky is what she kept telling us. Well it took her all of 6 seconds to become a beach bum. She loved the water and the sand. She spent most of her time playing in the water and pouring it on me, her daddy and big sissy. Elisabeth is the best big sister and made sure that Emma Grace was well taken care of. It is amazing to see how close the two of them have became. We had a wonderful week and I am so thankful for the rest and time we had together as a family. On Thurday our friends joined us at the beach and Emma Grace had a friend to play with. Her and Hailey are close in age only 5 weeks apart and they are double trouble together:) They had a blast and none of us wanted to come home. As you can tell from the pictures it was so much fun!

Happy "Gotcha Day"

It is so amazing to sit here and type this note. For me it is so hard to believe that Emma Grace has been with us for one year today. I can remember so well sitting in that hot room in Hangzhou China and seeing her for the first time. She was such a tiny little thing and boy she could cry = ) I remember all of the emotions of fear and love that were inside of me and how the fear just melted the moment she was placed in my arms. She was so scared that first day and cried so much. I remember her first smile and the first time we saw her begin to open up and play. She has changed so much in such a short time. She is the most loving little girl who wants to be held and hugged. She is talking up a storm now with 3 & 4 word sentences. Just last week on June 2nd she grabbed me for the first time and said “I love you my mommy”. This is the first time she has said it without me saying it first & my heart just melted. When she became ours last year she was so far behind developmentally and I was very worried about her. She was not crawling at 21 months old. Today she is running, climbing and jumping and is your typical 2 year old. She is right on target developmentally and for me it has been amazing to see the power of love. We are so blessed by this amazing little girl. I can remember so many times during the adoption questioning the path that we were on. Was this really God’s will for our lives? We were trying so hard to follow his will in our lives and we felt this was the direction we were being lead, but if that were the case then why the long wait. I admit that I never struggled so hard in my life with my faith. I spent a lot of time in my bible reading the words of Isaiah 40:31 and trying to draw my strength as I waited upon the Lord, & Jeremiah 29:11 believing that He knew the plan he had for us and there was a purpose. I had to really learn what Paul was talking about in Hebrews when he talked about Faith being the belief in what we hope for and being certain of what we do not see. I held on to that Faith for 36 months as we waited and waited and waited. How easy it would have been many times to just throw our hands into the air and say I am done with this. I can’t take any more heartache and waiting and there just has to be a better way. That would have been My way and not Yours God. Praise you God and Thank You for being patient with me and loving me through my doubts and fears. Your plan was amazing and I know that now. I hold her every day and THANK YOU THANK YOU THANK YOU for pushing my heart towards hers. There is an ancient Chinese belief of the “Red Thread” that connects us "An invisible red thread connects those who are destined to meet, regardless of time, place, or circumstance. The thread may stretch or tangle, but never breaks." I add to that belief now that the Red Thread is there perfectly sewn by God weaving together his children. I know that Emma Grace is my daughter just as God planned because something so wonderful could only be the handiwork of God. Happy “Gotcha Day” my sweet baby girl and thank you God for letting her be mine.

To Emma Grace’s Birth Mother:

As I write this letter I know that you will never read I want you to know that my heart is filled with love for you. I think of you often and wonder if she is like you. Thirty one months ago you gave birth to a tiny little girl in Linhai China. You held her as her first cries filled the air. You comforted her and offered her your warmth. What did you feel when you realized she was a girl. Did your heart break knowing you would have to let her go? I often wonder does she look like you? Does she have your smile, your eyes, your sense of humor? She is the most amazing little girl in the world and I just want you to know she is safe and loved! I can only imagine the sacrifices you made to give her life. As I hold her and kiss her goodnight I think of you holding her those first two months knowing you would have to let her go. It took incredible courage to risk so much to protect her and want her to have life. She is such a blessing in our lives. Her spirit is so beautiful. Her smile is so contagious, and she is so happy. Everyday she changes and is growing so fast. She is talking a lot, and is very demanding when she wants something. She completes our family in a perfect way. This weekend is Mother’s Day and I have had you on my heart a lot this week. Do you think of her often? I pray that you know she is where she belongs and is happy. I pray that you are at peace with the choices you have made for her. I promise you that we will let her know how much you loved her and wanted her to have a good life. She will only hear us talk about you with love and she will grow to love you as well. I can never tell you, but you have allowed me to be “Mommy” to her and I am forever grateful to you. You gave my daughter what I could not, her first breath of life and for that my lips will always praise you and I will lift you to our God in joy! I will protect her with my life and will always treasure her as the amazing gift she is.

God Bless you this Mother’s Day and Thank You!
Emma Grace’s Mommy

Emma Grace's First Snow

Today we had a little bit of snow. Emma Grace wasn't sure what to think of the snow at first. She kept saying "I no like it". After we got all bundled up and went outside it didn't take her long to have fun. She loved being on the sled with Jordan. All of the kids had a wonderful time. I will remind them of how much fun it was when they have to make up the school day : )

Home, But Not for long..

We came home after lunch today because there was not medical reason for her to stay. We are able to give her the antibiotics at home & she is a lot happier here. However we have to return to the hospital tomorrow morning for outpatient surgery. They are going to drain Emma Grace's "Bad Bad Boo Boo". She will be put to sleep for procedure. If it drains of then we will get to come home. IF not the they will put her back into the hospital. It doesn't help that she started running a fever again tonight. Please keep us in your prayers....

Bad Bad Boo Boo

Just a quick post to let you all know that we are in the hospital with Emma Grace. After a wonderful Thanksgiving,she got a "bad bad boo boo" as she calls it. She had what we think was an infected hair at the base of her neck. After we pulled the hair Tuesday the place seemed to get worse. We went the doctor on Wed. and he gave us cream to put on it. By Thanksgiving day she was running a low grade temp and had red streaks coming out of the bump. We went to the doctor early Friday morning and they took one look and sent us directly to the hospital. They believe that she has a staff infection and that it has spread down her neck. At this point this morning we are waiting for the doctor to make rounds to decide if she will need to have the spot cut open. They are telling us that she "may" get to come home Mon. or Tues. Please pray for her this has been a very difficult time for her. She doesn't trust doctors and nurses due to bad experiences in China. She is doing better, but still has a lot of fear. I have stayed with her the entire time, with other family helping out. We are ready to have her home....

A Bug, A Cat & A Mouse...Trick or Treat

This past weekend we had a wonderful time for Halloween. Emma Grace dressed as a ladybug and Elisabeth was a Cheetah cat. We took the girls to Mt. Pleasant UMC fall festival. Alice and Hailey also went with us. Hailey was Minnie Mouse and was to cute. It took Emma Grace all of two seconds before she realized that the cuter she was the more candy she got. She really enjoyed the games. We also carved pumpkins at Maw Maw Sylvia's. Emma Grace did not like the inside of the pumpkin at all. She cried when we tried to get her to touch it. We carved a dragon in her pumpkin for her while she spent her time getting Uncle Mike to throw her up in the air. I have decided that she is truly rotten and it is wonderful.

Fun in the Mountains

Last weekend we went to the mountains with our friends. We left on Friday morning and rented a cabin near Boone. On Saturday we went to Tweetsie Railroad. The girls had a wonderful time. Emma Grace loved playing with Hailey. They are so close in age. They had a wonderful time playing "lets chase Issy". As you can see from one of the pictures they loved piling on top of her. When she ran for her bedroom they followed behind and banged on the door. It is hard to believe how much Emma Grace has changed in just 4 months. She is growing like a weed and eating everything. She adjust to new places and people so quickly & this just lets us know how well she is bonding with us. She really took to Hailey's dad Mike. She loved playing with him and would scream "MIKE" when she wanted him. On Sunday we went to Grandfather Mountain before we came home. I had to post the picture of Aaron on the swinging bridge. Aaron doesn't do heights at all, this is the first time he has ever crossed the bridge. I took the picture as his proof. Our car ride home was a lot of fun. Emma Grace was acting silly in the back seat with Hailey and Issy. I had to post the picture of her screaming. We had a wonderful time and our weekend went by way to fast.

Emma Grace Is "2" Let's Celebrate!

Last weekend we celebrated Emma Grace's 2nd Birthday. I am sorry it took me so long to post but this week has been crazy. If you are reading this as an email update you'll have to visit the blog to see the slide show of pictures. We took way to many to put in the post.

Emma Grace's B-Day was Fri. Oct. 3rd. We kept her to ourselves on Friday. She spent the day home with Daddy and then when I got off work we took Emma Grace to a store called Plaster Creations. We wanted to make something special to remember her first special day with us. We painted her hand print on a heart and let Elisabeth make her a plate for her room. Emma Grace loved the painting. She did really well when we put the paint on her hand. Next we took her to Build A Bear to make her first Bear. She has a really cute panda that Aunt Heidi made for her on her Gotcha Day she loves to carry it around so I couldn't wait to see what she would pick out. She ended up with a large orange cat. We had a wonderful day. On Saturday we had a birthday party with our families. It was a Hello Kitty party & the day was beautiful. Emma Grace loved her yummy cake & ate way to much icing. It didn't take her long to figure our how to open the presents and that there was fun stuff inside. She has spent the week enjoying all of her new toys and games. As I held her in my arms Friday night I was in tears. I can't imagine how different this year was compared to her birthday last year. I thought a lot of her mother and wondered if she thinks of Emma Grace as often as I think of her birth mother. Did she think of her on her birthday? I wish I would talk with her. Let her know how happy and loved Emma Grace is. How well she has adjusted to her family and how thankful we are for her. I just want to tell her "thank you". Thank you for loving her enough to give her a chance. Thank you for making a choice as her mother that let me become her mommy!! Yes we have so much to Celebrate!

Emma Grace's Surgery

Emma Grace had tubes placed in her ears today. Also her ENT used a microscope to look into the sinus cavity to see how it was developed on the right side. She did very well this morning. It was so hard handing her over to the nurse. Elisabeth had two sets of tubes and the surgery wasn't as hard as today for me. The doctor said that she had lots of infection behind both ear drums & her sinuses looked very good. When she came out of recovery she was very upset. She would not be comforted. She was very angry and didn't want you to hold her, or put her down. She didn't want to be looked at or even spoken to. The ride home was a nightmare with her screaming at the top of her lungs angry at the world. When we arrived home and got her something to drink she calmed down a little. Then she wanted something to eat. She wanted goldfish and the really funny thing is she doesn't even like goldfish. Finally she took a long nap and when she woke up she was back to normal. I am thankful everything went as smoothly as it did. We will go back in two weeks for a checkup and hearing test. We hope by then the infection behind the ear drums has cleared.

Shhh!! I'll Share With You

Two post in one week! This was to cute to pass up.
Last night my mom kept the girls for me to go to a meeting at church. As I dropped them off Emma Grace disappered chasing the dog. A few minutes later things got to quite. When I found her she had pulled the mac-n-cheese crackers off the table and was cramming them in the dogs mouth as fast as she could. All I could do was laugh. Maw Maw thought quick enough to grab a camera, but the pictures aren't the best. The best part was Emma Grace could care less about the food for herself she was making sure her buddy was taken care of. What progress! She is sharing food: ) I also included two pictures from the week that I couldn't pass up sharing. We will call the first "Road Rage". She is going to be a driver like her mommy. Also she has began pretending with her playing. She found her baby and her bottle yesterday and began feeding the baby. Last week she was pretending to be a cat. This is so different from just a few weeks ago. We went for our 2nd check-up last Wednesday and our doctor told us that Emma Grace has made about 12 months of developmental growth in just 2 1/2 months Praise God! Tomorrow she has been ours for 3 months. It is so hard to believe that this amazing angel has only been ours such a short time. Thank you for all your continued prayers, and support. We are so blessed by all of you.

A Busy Weekend! Praise God!

Our weekend started off very crazy with me and Issy having to go to school. We had a make-up day due to a day that we were out last week due to flooding. Saturday evening we had family pictures made. I included those in the post. Emma Grace did wonderful and was a ham for the camera. Then we went to eat dinner at the Hibachi Grill and Emma Grace was a celebrity. The waitresses loved playing and talking with her and the owners had to carry her around the restaurant.
Sunday was a wonderful day. Today we baptized Emma Grace. She was full of herself during the entire service and when it came time to get baptized she through herself backwards as if to say bring it own. The service was beautiful, and her daddy sang her a beautiful song called "Find Your Wings". After the service some of the ladies of the church gave a Welcome Home Emma Grace party. She had a ball and really enjoyed opening presents. I will post photos from the party as soon as I download then. We have been so blessed today by wonderful friends and family. Thank you God for this busy weekend and all of it's blessings.

Yuck Work !

Today was a very sad day for me. It was my first day back at work and my first day away from Emma Grace. She got to spend the day with her Daddy, which did make it a little easier for me. She did wonderful & I got to come home around mid day for a quick visit. Then she,Daddy and Big Sissy came to school to meet the folks I work with. She did really well in the new environment & was laughing and playing around everywhere before she left.
Since last weekend was our last before me going back to work that Aaron was also off we took the girls camping. It was nice to have no phones, or TVs just family time. Emma Grace loved the outdoors and loved the deer that came walking up to our campsite. Elisabeth and Emma Grace spent almost an hour walking around picking up pine cones. Neither had any idea what they were going to do with them, but they had a ball.
We also had bible school at our church last week. It was amazing to see how well Emma Grace did with the other kids. She loved the music and would dance around. Also she even stood with the other kids during the program. It still amazes me that how much she has grown in such a short time. As of Sunday we have had her with us for two months, it seems like she has been here forever.

Subscribe To Us

With so many people asking me about keeping our blog going so they can follow Emma Grace's progress I decided to add a new item. On the right side of the blog you can enter your email address to receive an update when I get around to posting on the blog. Don't worry your address is protected and you won't get a bunch of spam.

Yes We Are Still Here

Everyone has been asking are you ever going to update the blog. All I can say is yes at some point. The last 6 weeks has been amazing. Emma Grace is growing and changing every day. We stay so busy and mommy having computer time has not been a priority, but tonight everyone got quite early sooo.

Emma Grace is growing so much. She is now walking and into everything. Everyday is something new and exciting with her. Each day she seems to be picking up on language and talking that much more. Last week we went to the beach and had a wonderful time. Emma Grace wasn't to sure about the sand at first but it didn't take her long to become a regular beach bum. She loved the water and the sand. I included a slide show of our trip.

We have had several doctors appointments over the last few weeks. Emma Grace had an excellent appointment with our family doctor. She did really well & all of her blood work and test came back great. Then we visited her cleft specialist. The visit went well also. She got and excellent checkup and the doctor will monitor her progress over the next year before she has her gum surgery. She is eating well and nothing is slowing her down. Today she visited the ENT doctor to check her ears and sinuses. She had lots of wax and some fulid behind both ears. The doctor feels that she will need tubes but wants to monitor her progress for another month first. Other than that she is doing so well and is such a blessing in our lives.

Everyone ask us about our journey and our adoption. My response has been that no words can ever truly describe the incredible journey we have been on. It has been an amazing ride. We have been so blessed and our hearts overflow with the love that has been conceived through the adoption of our little girl. She has given us more joy in one moment than we can ever give her. Thank you God again and again for this amazing child. For both of our amazing daughters, we have been so blessed.....

Home At Last

We arrived back in Charlotte at 7:40p.m. Sat. June 21. What a wonderful feeling to finally be home. The flights were all good, but so long. Our first flight to Japan was 4 1/2 hours, then the flight to the US was 12 hours, then another hour and half to Charlotte. In Detroit we went through Immagrations and at that point Emma Grace became a US Citizen. As we arrived back in Charlotte we were surrounded by family and friends. It was an overwhelming feeling to step out of the elavator to everyone. Emma Grace did great, she was all smiles and giggles. She wouldn't let anyone hold her but she would smile and interact with everyone. She was so happy to meet all our her cousins, she loves other kids. As we got ready to leave the airport we received a real treat not just for us but all of the kids to. Paw Paw Roy had rented a long white Limo to bring us home in. We felt like celebreties! Everyone's love and complete acceptance of our new family is such a blessing. One day the pictures and memories will mean as much to Emma Grace. In the last airport there was a lady that was talking to me about Emma Grace. She commented to me how blessed Emma Grace was to be a part of our family and to have us as her parents. My response to her was "No we are the ones that are truly blessed by her". Standing in our "crowd" at the airport looking at the faces of our family that's all I could think of "Thank you God for all of these blessings!"!

One Last Beautiful Day

We spent one last beautiful day today in the city of Guangzhou. It has rained so much but today was beautiful almost "Carolina" blue skys. It is 10:30 Friday night here and we are all packed up and ready to go. We are surrounded by happiness and a little bit of sadness. China has been amazing and I will truly miss the sites and sounds and beauty of this country. I have learned to love and respect my daughter's birth county and my views and opinions have changed so much during this amazing trip. I thank God for being with us through out this trip and pray this we will arrive safely home tomorrow night. Thank you all for following along with us, but thank you mostly for sending us your love and prayers through the computer. You have truly been wonderful and we look forward to being home with all of you. So goodbye from China & God speed for us home.