Emsley's First Christmas

It's weird to think that it has been over a year since we knew about our little girl. On Dec. 15th of 2010, we met with Miss Amy and it was the first time we were that close to our baby. Then on Dec. 21st, we found out that we were chosen to be the parents of a sweet baby. And here we are just over 1 year later and we celebrated the day with our sweet pea. It was a great day full of precious memories. We have such a desire to make Christmas more than about gifts but about praising God for sending his son to be born into our world. So our morning started with a prayer from daddy thanking God for blessing us with Jesus and then we sang "Joy to the World" because today is a day we are especially joyful for the birth of our Savior. And even though we want Emsley to be joyful in this great news everyday, we want to be very intentional about this day especially. So the gifts waited while we focused of Jesus for a bit. It was a beautiful start to wonderful family tradition.

This week a friend did a post on our adoption groups blog about how thankful we should also be toward Joseph. So often he can get forgotten in this birth story but in truth he played such an important role. Joseph, after finding out Mary would be pregnant as a virgin, CHOSE to adopt Jesus as his own and love and raise him. He was the one who gave us an earthly example of adoption. Today as I was holding my own adopted child, I looked at her and told her that Jesus was adopted just like her. And I hope that it is that fact that she shares with joy and pride each Christmastime to her friends and family! I want her to know that Jesus loves her, loves adoption, and that He desires for her to share this amazing news with others.

I'm not sure what next Christmas will look like. But I know that this Christmas will hold a special place in my heart because of where God has brought us over the last few years. He has given us a daughter to raise to be a child of His and we do so willingly, lovingly, and with complete joy in our hearts. We are so grateful for the birth of our Savior and for getting to share this with our child.

We hope that this Christmas is a time that we all can be joyful in this amazing story!

8 months old

Seriously...has it really been 8 months already! Our little girl is just growing up and learning so much everyday. We absolutely love watching her learn and be a little more independent. And this month is also a big month for us...since it's Emsley's first Christmas! We are so excited to have this little blessing. We are really trying to already be very intentional with what she learns about Christmas. Gifts will not be the biggest part of the day but knowing that we celebrate Jesus being born and coming to this world to save us will be key. Anyways...this month Emsley has eaten real food. She first had pasta and then crackers, puffs, and some freeze dried fruit. She is such a great eater, sleeper, and is as sweet as can be!

Here are some stats as she turns 8 months:

-Weighs approximately 24 pounds (appt next month)
-Is approximately 28 or 29 inches now
-Wears size 4 diapers
-We just transitioned her to 12 and 18 month clothes
-Eats 5 bottles a day still
-Also eats breakfast, lunch, and dinner (fruits, yellow and green veggies, meat, & rice)
-Sleeping through the night but teething wakes her up and she wimpers a little (sad!)
-Seriously...this girl loves her baths!
-Wants to crawl but I think she will just get up and walk soon
-Is trying to pull up on everything and loves to just stand
-She makes friends everywhere we go because she is cute and friendly...I love it!
-She now has her 2 bottom teeth (they are so cute) and I'm sure she will have more soon!
-Loves to wave at people and claps all the time (especially when she is excited)
-Says mama, gaga, and papa. We hope she says dada very soon...we are working on it!

Love this little girl and we love how absolutely intelligent she is. She loves to observe her world and we love to observe her doing it! Family time is our favorite and we love just playing and talking together. There is nothing to complain about...with each stage and new thing she does, we love it. Being a parent is something we don't take for granted. God blessed us and we will never stop thanking him for her!