10 & 11 months

Whew...it's been a while since I've posted anything. I don't imagine I'll post after 1 yr., but if anyone is still interested in following along, "friend" me on Facebook. :) SO...since I last posted we took our first family vacation to Florida. First of many, I'm sure. We spent time with Grandma & Grandpa Cox and Aunt Shanny & Uncle Ron (& dogs!). Emmy did very well on the flights. Although, it was probably due to the fact she had ear tubes put in the week prior. Those have been wonderful. Emmy has been growing so fast & trying new things constantly. Her favorite toys are salad tongs & a big silver bowl. You know...for banging on and making lots of NOISE. :) She likes anything that plays music, some days we chill out in the living room and put the music channel on ("Party Favorites" is her favorite!) and dance. I sure hope she has rhythm when she gets older. She is eating more & more finger foods and almost prefers that to being fed by mom or dad. Em's 1st b'day will be here before we know it and I think we are counting down the days until we don't have to buy formula anymore!!! We are hearing what sound like her first words, but maybe it's still babbling. She is understanding simple phrases like, "where's the dogs?", "where's daddy?", "uh-oh", "Emmy do it". It's so much fun watching her learn. She finally (at 10.5 months) got her first tooth coming in. And in the last 3 weeks, 3 more poked through. A full month of a teething baby is not so much fun. I guess that's why they make Tylenol & Motrin. This first year with Em has just flown by. I hope the next 17 yrs (or 25!) go by just a little slower.

S,T & E

Not quite one yet, but close enough!

Finalization

We have finally, after 9 months of waiting, finalized the adoption of Miss Emmy K!! The judge was not sick and it took all of 10 minutes in the courtroom answering general questions and that was it. There were several families there to finalize and it was great to see them all so happy too. A local group called the "Linas Club" makes blankets for children and the court had some in the courtroom for all the children who were adopted on that day. We got to pick out a Strawberry Shortcake blanket for our little girl. We did get a few pictures, but the computer has died again...if it ever awakens again, I'll post some pics from our court-day.

Love,
S,T&E

9 months (& Happy Easter!)

Emmy K is 9 months old today! Emmy celebrated Easter today with mommy, daddy, Uncle Q, Aunt Jamie, and cousins Jayden & Jarek. We hunted Easter eggs, ate candy, went to the park and had a nice nap in the afternoon. What fun!! Em is still getting icky ear infections, so we are seeing the ENT doc tomorrow to talk about tubes. Poor baby....but I'm sure it'll be much better for her to get them. Emmy is not crawling quite yet, but after seeing how mobile her cousin is, maybe she'll start thinking about it. After WE saw how mobile her cousin is....I'm thinking "hold off a little bit longer!" HA! Emmy continues to babble up a storm, who knows what she is talking about...one of these days I'm sure we'll find out. She is such a joy and such a blessing, we can't remember life without her. See more cute pictures below.

Love,
S,T&E

8 months

Emmy turned 8 months old yesterday, and it was supposed to be marked with the finalization of her adoption. As it is...the one & only judge in our small KY town called in sick. What are the odds, really??! Since she only hears adoption cases once a month, we now have to wait until April.
Em has been doing well the last month. She really jabbers up a storm at us and loves to watch the dogs. We have introduced her to Mickey, Minnie, Donald & Goofy on Mickey's Playhouse Disney and she loves watching them on Saturday morning. It's fun to watch her shake her little body when the music comes on. We have been having some sleeping issues, but we keep trying different things to see what will work in helping her sleep better at night. She's had lots of visitors this month - Granny P from Illinois & G'ma & G'pa C from FL, and Aunt Sheryl have all come to see her (and us!). More friends & family are coming in the next few weeks. Emmy does well with the "new" people and doesn't seem to mind other people besides mom & dad taking care of her. Emmy & Daddy will have a fun weekend together soon so I can go to IL and have a fun girls weekend.
Our computer at home took a nose dive, so more pictures will have to wait.

Love,
S,T & E

7 Months!

Emmy is 7 months old today! Time is sure flying by these days. Since 6 mo. we have explored lots of new foods and gotten over yet another ear infection. So far she will eat anything we give her, but her favorites seem to be sweet potatoes, green beans & bananas. We have learned that her body just does not react well to carrots & pears. We'll have the allergist check on those next time we go, I guess! Developmentally she is doing good - right on track. She has rolled only a few times, but the doctor says that bigger babies have a harder time rolling (especially ones with broad shoulders like our little Em). He was not at all concerned about it, and said a greater indicator of development was sitting on her own. She gets better at that every day. We now feel comfortable setting her on the floor and letting her play by herself. Of course, we are always within view to keep an eye on our two 4-legged creatures!! She has started mimicking what we are doing with our mouths - whether it be spitting, sticking her tongue out or making a "pop" sound with her lips and her favorite game right now is "peek-a-boo". Emmy is easily distracted from whatever she is doing when the dogs walk by. She loves to look at them and I'm sure she's thinking, "man, I want to crawl all over them and pull their ears and that tail!".
Emmy continues to be a good natured baby, despite her ability to squeal at the top of her lungs. :) We think she is going to be quite the talker when she is older. She is constantly babbling, "hiiii da da da da...."...we're working on "not da da ... MA MA MA". She'll get there.... :)
Truman and I are doing well. Very, very thankful we are both still working despite the poor ecomony. We have been very blessed!
I have posted more pics below!

Love,
S,T&E

Who put this goofy hat on me??

Can I tell you a secret??

Talking to the Venus-dog!

Playing with her favorite ABC toy!

Pretty in Pink!

6 MONTHS!

OK, so I'm a day late in the 6 month update, but who really noticed, right? Emmy has found her feet & toes and loves to take hold of them any time she is on her back. We are still working on the rolling over, but she has started to sit up for a few minutes on her own. Once she reaches for something though, over she goes :) We have found some ticklish armpits on our little one. It's so funny when we occassionally get a giggle out of her. Emmy continues to be a good eater - she has now mastered cereal and we have moved on to Sweet Potatoes with no allergic reaction. Next is carrots. mmm..mmm...good stuff.

Normally when the 3 of us are out somewhere and people comment on Emmy, they will say she looks more like Truman. Little do they know, right? :) Anyway, it doesn't bother us at all. But the other day we got an original, honest comment. Someone said, "Is this your little girl?". We said, "Yes" and he says, "Well, she doesn't look anything like either of you". It cracked us up! Nope, she doesn't :)
I have posted a few pictures below of our last month with Emmy. She's growing like a weed and we love it!
Love,
S,T & E

I'm 6 months old today!!
Chewing on daddy's hat (yes, imagine the germs!!) But all that slobber is from Emmy!!
Emmy & Venus - check out the wild hair!! When we first put her in this exersaucer, we had to put a towel in front of her to keep her up. Not anymore!!

Christmas fun!

We had a wonderful Christmas this year! It was great fun to get up with our little one on Christmas morning and see what Santa had brought for her :) We went to Christmas Eve services and Emmy enjoyed listening to all the music. She woke us up bright & early Christmas morning around 6am (not for presents, but to EAT!). After all the presents were unwrapped and the dogs were fed, we hopped in the car for our 6 hr. drive to Indiana to spend the rest of the weekend with Truman's family. Em was held by everyone, and was a real tropper about it all. We even kept her out past her bedtime Saturday night for Grandpa Butch's retirement party. She was out like a light as soon as we left the party! This Christmas is the first of many memorable ones I'm sure. Hope you all had a great Christmas & have a Happy New Year! Enjoy the few pictures below.
Love,
S,T & E