Happy Birthday, China Sisters

Happy 7th Birthday to Hannah and her China sisters!!!

150 days!!!!!

It is so hard to believe that Emily has been with us for 150 days. On one hand it seems like it has been longer because she fits in with our family so well-on the other hand, it seems like just yesterday I was feeding her with that bottle of thick Chinese formula and congee. We had our follow along appointment for our homestudy last weekend, which got me to looking at the pictures we took while in China. I was amazed at how Emily has changed in this 150 days. She has so quickly changed from a "baby":

to a "toddler":

to a "little "big" girl".

What a gift God has given us with this child.

Summer Days

I know this is not my best picture but I had to show off this picture as it is the very FIRST time Emily snuggled up and fell asleep in my arms. Boy-did I soak up that moment!!!

So let me ask you-What do you do when it is 98 degrees outside? We decided to stay in the air conditioning and can 52 quarts of green beans!!! Thanks to Mom and Bob (my big brother) for picking and bringing us the nice beans-we will think of you whenever we "pop" a jar open this winter. And thanks to Marie (my wonderful neighbor friend) for helping me snap the beans and teaching me to use her pressure canner to get the beans done this weekend. All I have to say is-BRING ON THE TOMATOS!!!

Hannah was helping snap beans while watching the Hannah Montana marathon on Disney channel. She snapped a couple, ate a couple, snapped a couple, ate a couple.... You get the idea. No lunch for Hannah that day.

Emily also was "helping" by sorting out the jar rings.

Emily saw the stack of jars and said "ewwwwwwwwww" !!!! I think we may be a future canner.

Our tribute to Elvis!!! Actually this is how Emily woke up after her nap. I think this may be a picture to show her boyfrriend when she is 16!!!

More Updates

*It has been 2300 days since we held Hannah for the first time!!!

-HANNAH finished her first session of pre-team (gymnastics). She continues to really love it so we signed her up for another session. Her coaches say she is doing very well and should be ready to compete next summer if she continues to work hard.

-We started an email address for her to help with her reading and spelling. I am not sure that was such a great idea as now she wants a mini-laptop for her birthday!!! But she is really loving reading the emails coming to her-it just takes a long time to answer and return them, so be patient, she is getting to you!!!

-She is getting one of her permanent teeth in-and she has not lost one of her baby teeth yet. We were waiting to see if the permanent tooth loosens the baby tooth, but it does not look good.

-She starts school August 12 so she is enjoying what is left of summer. She did find out her best friend, Sydney, is in her class this year so she is very excited about that. 2nd grade, can you believe it?

Hannah wanted her pictures taken of her in her bedroom to show off her comforter she bought from saving up her allowance. At least it was not another Nintendo DS game or Barbie doll!!!

It has been 130 days since we held Emily the first time!!!

-EMILY has learned a couple words this week. "Why" and "Hey". What fun the week has been with these words!!!

-She is holding still with her weight at this time. We think she is cutting some new teeth as she has been having a low fever, diarhea, and not eating much. Oh yeah, and drooling. So this is not helping with gaining weight. We are not real sure how many pounds the doctor wants her to gain for her surgery but we are sure we are not close yet.

-We all went to the Firefighters' Blues Festival and I wish I had taken the camera because Emily was so dog-gone cute. She was dancing to every song there was. She was really enjoying herself. Snuffy held her up on his shoulders and she just danced away up there for everyone to see. Words can not describe how totally adorable she was. Next time I will have a camera, I promise!!!

-We took Emily to the beauty shop for her first official haircut but she had an absolute 2-year old fit. I do not know how else to put it, really. She was screaming and refused to sit down. She was crying so hard she hair was wet. So, we gave up on that. I did manage to get her bangs trimmed at home after her bath tonight. I do not guarantee that they are straight but the hair is out of her eyes. It seems like all of a sudden I am cutting her fingernails and toenails every week and her hair is growing very fast as well. It must be from the good food/nutrition she is eating instead of the bottle she was receiving in China.

This next picture is for those of you who are amazed by Hannah's triple jointed body. The picture looks like she is just holding herself up on the couch and keeping her behind off the floor, but after looking at it closer, Hannah's arms/elbows are backwards with her bottom in the air.

Take a look at this next picture