Time for an update!

Now that we have been home for one month we are finally settling in to our "new normal" as a family of SIX! Yikes, that number is crazy. So here we are, at the one month home mark and feeling somewhat settled. Emma is doing amazingly well. Given how her life has changed so drastically in the last month, she is mostly happy, silly, affectionate, sleeps well and eats fairly well. She would be eating great if she could have Chinese cuisine every night. We are still figuring out what American foods she will eat/not eat. She would eat about 10lbs of fresh fruit daily if we would let her. She is not a fan of cereal, pancakes, waffles, breads, pasta (this could be a problem given we eat A LOT of Italian food), most vegetables, milk, apple juice, cheese. She will tolerate chicken, steak, homemade chicken soup, eggs, rice. She loves any fruit, yogurt, ramen noodles (yes, I am embarrassed to admit that I give my child ramen noodles), chicken nuggets, corn on the cob and lollipops. Yup, lollipops. Thank goodness for the fruit in her diet. Just last night she ate about 1/2 of a cantaloupe.

Overall our transition has been smooth with only a few bumps in the road. Our biggest hurdles so far have been sibling jealousy (some days I want to pull my hair out) and medical needs/appointments for Emma. Emma is starting to have some testing done to evaluate her Spina Bifida. She is scheduled for a sedated MRI, full Urodynamics (to evaluate her bladder function), VCUG, Xrays of her left foot/leg, tons of blood work (SB and adoption labs) to be draw and SB clinic appointments. Once we get the initial testing done I am hoping the appointments will be less frequent.

I start back to work next weekend and I am not looking forward to it (sorry to my coworkers who are reading this). Not because I don't like my job, but because I don't know how I am going to fit it in to my schedule right now. I am so tired and worn now, never mind throwing in two 12 hour night shift per week. Ugh. The thought of that makes my stomach feel a little queasy. I am not sure how Emma will do while I am gone also. Attachment/bonding is a tricking thing with adoption. I have worked so hard to gain her trust and I don't want her feeling abandoned again. Sigh.......

Gavin and Sophie are doing really well with the new changes. School is in full swing and both are happy and doing great so far. School, friends, lacrosse(Gavin) and cheer(Sophie) are keeping them super busy. Emma loves her sisters and brothers and is being carted around everywhere. The poor girl has car/motion sickness and needs to be given Dramamine frequently because of all the time we spend in the car. Before we figured out it was car/motion sickness it was not pretty. She screamed, had hot sweats then proceeded to vomit everywhere in her car seat. We seem to have that under control now. Fingers crossed.

Emma's English is amazing considering she has been with us less than six weeks. She speaks in 3-4 word sentences sometimes. She probably knows about 200+ English words right now. My favorite is "I lub you". Just melts my heart. I started to list all the words the other day but the list was getting way to long. You would think that communication would be difficult for a 3.5 yo who speaks fluent Mandarin while her new family doesn't. Honestly it hasn't been an issue. We seem to get our points across just fine. I have to admit it is quite comical when she stands there with her hand on her hip, shaking her finger at you and talking/yelling in Mandarin. I just know she is being so fresh! She has been known to be sassy even with the eye roll. I think we might be in for it.

Now for the best part. Pictures......

 Lily's first day of Kindergarten. She is getting so big and grown up!

September 14th marked Lily's 3rd Forever Family Day. Hard to believe it has been 3 years since she was placed in our arms. It seems just like yesterday. She is receiving her special yearly gift in remembrance of that magical day.

 Bobbing for apples at Uncle Peter's pig roast.

Gavin and Sophie's first day of school. Gavin started high school this year. Unbelievable that I have a child in 9th grade. It just doesn't seem possible. He is doing great and loves being in high School now. Sophie is in 8th grade and continues to do well also. Hard to believe she will be in high school next year too!

   Gavin with his "date" for the Home Coming dance. So cute!