Life as a family of six...

We all continue to transition.  Transitions are easier for some of us than they are for others although I would say that we are all a bit stressed with the transition.  Eli's figuring out how to be a big brother and how not to be the youngest anymore.  Noah's figuring out how to homeschool with a fun, busy little sister around.  Grace is figuring out how to do her normal life when she'd rather hang out with her sister all the time.  I'm remembering how to parent a three year old and what normal three year old behavior is and I'm learning more and more "Emmy Chinese" everyday and how to juggle homeschooling and Emmy without neglecting either.  Tricky!  Steve is bonding with our girl and juggling work and being a daddy to a little one again…he missed a lot of the 3 year old years with the big three because he traveled a lot for work then.  It's nice to have him home! :)
And Miss Emmy?…Emmy is still not in love with the dogs.  But now she will check their whereabouts and sprint to her destination as quickly as her little legs can carry her before they can move.  Her independence is more valuable to her than her (perceived) safety, I guess.  She's funny, funny, funny!  She will say, "Mama, bye-bye." and point at me and head off for the upstairs on her own.  Today she put on chapstick in the car and said, "Mama, Ni ka! (You look! -- like Look at me!)  So pretty!" and made a smoochy face and looked into the mirror.  Every morning I am greeted with a demand for pigtails and each evening before bath she must remove them before she gets in the tub.  She can clearly say "more," "up, please," "bye-bye," "thank you," "Hi, Ella," "I go, please," and probably other things I'm not thinking of.  She frequently does a list of people she knows…Baba, Mama, Jie Jie, Ge Ge, Eli, Nai Nai, Ye Ye, Gigi, Tay-tay, etc.  As I mentioned, homeschooling is tricky!  Emmy has a difficult time attending to any particular task or toy for more than a couple of minutes.  She spends a lot of homeschooling time attempting to figure out (by trial and error) what is hers and what is everyone else's.  Mostly, she would like the computers to be hers…and the pens.  Because washable markers are lame.  But each day is better than the last and, somehow, we are still completing our work.  It is important to Emmy that we're all "together."  She's still a bit fearful of me leaving her.  The car is especially scary and she feels better if I'm in my seat while she gets in hers…then she knows I'm going too.  The big kids are getting very good at strapping her in!  If I go outside, even to let the dogs out, she has to come with me.  But tonight Steve gave her a bath and I wasn't even in the bathroom and she did fine.  And she let him pick her up and gallop around the kitchen with her.  And Gigi came over to play today and, while Emmy tried to boss Gigi around about where to go and when, she eventually adjusted to Gigi being there and playing with her.  Nai Nai and Ye Ye came over tonight and both got to hold her (even though it was in a very fast game of "pass the Emmy" which she created and directed).  So I think things are moving in a good direction and am encouraged…and tired.  Sleep is still somewhat elusive though it is much better.  Only up twice last night!
Thanks for your continued prayers!

Noticings and Home Happenings...

Here are some things I've noticed since we've been home...

• Noah is amazingly persistent and patient.  While Emmy immediately took to Grace, looks for her constantly and allows Grace to carry her all over the place (and even asks her to), Noah and Eli are still working on connecting with Emmy.  Noah had a picture in his mind of what it would look like to have a little sister.  He imagined himself carrying her where she needed to go, playing with her, laughing with her, etc.  And many of those things are happening.  Noah is funny and Emmy often notices it.  Sometimes Emmy will play a bit with Noah.  But when Noah tries to pick her up or hold her hand, she often pushes him away.  He's trying so hard.  We're so proud of him.  He patiently waits for an opportunity to serve her and meet her needs (get her juice, bring her a toy, help with her shoes, etc) and dutifully does so.  It's emotional to watch as a parent of both of them.  I feel defensive for Noah and wish I could tell Emmy how great he is and make her bond with him right now.  And I tell Noah that I know they will be best buddies in time...of course they will!...and that he's doing all of the right things and he'll have to be patient.  And I feel sad for Emmy that she's nervous around boys and men in particular and wish that I could heal her little heart.  But I know that time and God will do that and I, too, must be patient and keep doing the right things.
• Eli also had a picture in his mind of what it might look like to be a big brother.  He can't articulate what that image was but he knows that the reality is different than his dream.  He's also really trying but in his own way.  This changing your family stuff is good stuff but sometimes hard stuff too.  Everyone has to figure out their new role. 
• We've always known that Grace is phenomenal with little kids.  She is truly gifted.  And Emmy is no exception to the rule that little guys are charmed by Grace.  She really loves her new sister and spending time with her.  Grace's challenge (and she's handling it nobly) is helping Emmy also see that her brothers are helpful and fun, too.  She has Emmy hold one of her brother's hands, too, when they walk.  She allows Emmy to sit between the boys at meals even though she really wants to sit there.  They are great kids, the big three.  We're so grateful!
• Sleep is really helpful when parenting a three year old who is grieving and busy.  I would like to have some of that.
• Emmy is super outgoing and also seems to love an audience.  At church today, the kids were practicing to lead in worship next week.  Emmy went right up there with them and was singing and dancing and smiling and charming everyone.  
• Emmy likes high heels.  And making noises.  Preferably together.  (Good thing the Cinderella high heels live at Grammy and Papa Joe's house!)
• Emmy likes helping.  She sets the table and clears it.  She sweeps.  She picks up toys and books.  She's awesome like that. 
• Although she is still very afraid of the dogs, she is significantly less so.  She even tells Ella to sit and lay down, claps for her and gives her a treat.  She has patted both of them as well.  She still does not like it when they do anything unexpected like walk around or look at her but we're making progress.
• I really, really, really like my family.  I love them, too, but I really, really, really like them.  Each one of them.  A lot.

Mandy

Home!

Sorry I didn't post after the marathon flight. I think it actually went as well as it possibly could have. I had this super genius plan to help her avoid getting overly worked up by pushing her in her stroller around the airport until it was time for our flight to leave. She, of course, did not go to sleep in the stroller but walking in circles for two hours made me tired!  Our flight left at 9:45...way past any princess' bedtime...so Emmy was pretty tired when we got on the flight. But I think her nervousness and excitement won out because she didn't fall asleep until after 11:00. She really was a trooper, though. Sure, we had some three year old tantrums over the picture going off the iPad while it was playing. Sure, we went to the bathroom more times than anyone else on the plane. But I think any three year old would have struggled with that long of a flight.
We were thrilled to land in Los Angeles!  When we went through immigrations, Emmy became a U.S. citizen. I cried. It's my job.
When we arrived at the hotel last night it was nap time in China and night time in LA.  Emmy's body decided China won and we spent most of the night doing puzzles, coloring and eating and spitting out food. She finally fell asleep again around 3:30 am and we had to wake her at 5:30 to go back to the airport. We thought for sure she'd fall asleep on the plane to Denver but, nope, wide awake and joking!  Then she used her considerable charms on all of the awesome people who met us at the airport.  Even tired that girl is pretty awesome.  Her siblings adore her and she is particularly a big fan of Grace so I was able to do a few things by myself today!  We went to chickfila for lunch and she played and held hands with her twin cousin, Abby.  So much cuteness I can hardly stand it.
My favorite part of the day (and it was an awesome day!) was when we all had dinner at our own table together as a family. We've prayed and dreamed of this day for a long time. When we were talking about where we saw God at work in the last week, Noah just pointed at Emmy.  That about sums it up.  Emmy, by the way, responded with calling Steve "Yeye" again and getting her big siblings to, too.  Love.
I'll try to get photos from folks of today...too busy living it to take a picture. :)

Update #11

So a little glimpse into the humor of Emmy. Tonight as she was doing her 45 minutes of talking and singing before she goes to sleep, she got a little gleam in her eye and said, "Ni shi Mama.  Wo shi Lu Xin.  Ta shi Yeye." (Meaning "you are mama.  I am Lu Xin.  He is grandpa.")  And then she giggled uncontrollably as Steve told her she was a banana.  

Today we saw a totally new Emmy. She smiled and laughed a lot more.  She did not attempt to give herself to anyone. She was fun and funny and delightful. I think she's finally feeling mostly better, which helps.  We went to the safari park today. While Emmy does not overly like animals, it was such a nice day and it was fun to be outside. For Steve and I, who do like animals, it was a really cool experience. The animals are right there.  We saw a baby orangutan who was within three feet of us. He wasn't caged and was just playing on ropes over our heads and eating bread a trainer threw to him. He was all sorts of cuteness. Emmy wasn't enamored with him but she wasn't afraid either. She was afraid, however, of the giant panda suit man who insisted on touching her even though she was clearly saying, "Bu yao!"   But, Grace, we saw lots of pandas and there were even baby panda triplets there (but we didn't see them).  

We got back from the park in time for a late (and long!) nap for Emmy. Her passport and visa arrived so we are set for tomorrow.  After her nap we walked in the park (lovely, full of people, graffiti free, safe, wonderful!), got Emmy a milk (I understood when she asked for it!) and came back for some curry from room service.

 We're talking about heading to Shamian Island (where the White Swan is) tomorrow morning to play and shop a little.  Then we'll have little miss take a late nap, check out at 5:00 and head to the airport around 5:30 for our 9:45 flight. Woo hoo!  I can't say I'm looking forward to 15 hours in the plane but it's totally worth it to get home!

Thanks for your continued prayers and thoughtful emails. I can't tell you how much it means to us to have your support!

Love,

Mandy and Yeye (hee hee)

Little Miss Hollywood

Not so sure about the safari train

What a difference a day makes!

Update #10

Today was our long-awaited consulate appointment.  Emmy took her last dose of antibiotics and we were off with Grace, the other Hand in Hand guide (who is also awesome).  Emmy's tuberculosis test came back negative so we are good to go on that, too.  Yay!  The consulate appointment went very quickly.  There were only four families there at the time. We all did the oath and then fingerprinting.  Tomorrow we will receive Emmy's passport and visa and we will have everything we need to go home Tuesday. 

After the consulate, we went to the jade market and bought each of the girls a jade pendant. Then we got some lunch and came back with a very tired, very crabby Emmy who was more than ready for a nap. 

This afternoon the sun came out again (!) and we were able to take a walk.  It was nice to be outside.  I love watching all of the kids heading home from school.  The little ones walk with their grandparents eating a snack and talking animatedly.  The middle schoolers walk with their friends, joking around and eating food they bought at the 7-11 or from a street vendor.  We bought hotdogs in rolls from a bakery (a kind lady talked with Emmy which threw her into a bit of a frenzy) and took them back to the hotel. Then we watched some soccer together and ate hot dogs and felt bummed for Noah that Ronaldo beat Messi for the Ballon D'Or.  Emmy seems much more interested in playing with Steve now!  Yay!  She was more teary today but also seemed more connected, too. And now there is one little princess who now answers most of the time to the name "Emmy" and says "please," and "more, please" and "no, no, no" who is sleeping in the pack-and-play next to me.  I think I will sleep too.  Have a great Tuesday, friends.  It was a good one here.

Pictures!!!

Update #9

First, sorry about the lack of posts.  I guess my emails weren't going through to Linds (who is posting for us). Hopefully this works. Emmy struggled to sleep last night...difficult to breathe I think...so we greeted the day at 5:00 am again.  Her cough had worsened so there was more vomiting...this time as we were walking through the very full and very fancy restaurant to our table.  I had to ask the hostess to wait a minutes while I pulled napkins off the empty table near us and cleaned it up.  Emmy just rolls with it, though.  She's all about yogurt for breakfast. We know about 10 complete three year old sentences in Chinese and "I want more yogurt!" is definitely one that we can understand.  

We were supposed to go to the safari park today but because of Emmy's cold and the significant rain we are staying in. Things were going pretty well...we colored, took the paper off the crayons from Caden, watched a little Frozen and played a bit. Cordelia, the gal from Hand in Hand, called to check on Emmy and came by.  We've discovered that being around some Chinese women can be confusing to Emmy.  She gets very agitated when they are around, gets snappy and fit throwy with me and angry acting. I think she's still not sure about this attachment and wonders if someone might take her home to see her nannies.  Please pray for a solid attachment with us. Anyway, Steve went with Cordelia to get an expectorant for Emmy from the pharmacy.  Emmy and I stayed in and she continued to be agitated and unsettled until Steve returned. So there!  She is attaching to Steve.  Speaking of Steve, can I just say how grateful I am to have him as a partner in this?  He keeps a sense of humor (for example: Emmy uses the term "jigga-jigga" indiscriminately for anything she wants or doesn't want...we aren't sure it's a real word but Steve has added it into his own vocabulary and it's hilarious!), she consistently is loving toward her and patient, even when she is not so loving toward him and he is supportive and helpful to me, too. He rocks!  

Emmy's napping now...here's hoping the expectorant does the trick. We are worried about her little premie lungs. 

Love you all!

Mandy