WOW where did the time go? OH I know... spending it with my 6
children! That is where it went! I cannot believe it has been 3 months
since we landed in America with Emma and Elias. Our two beautiful
treasures. Emma with almost no language and Elias fluent in Chinese
languages... Well 3 amazing months later and Emma is signing away like
no one would believe. She understands just about anything you say to
her. I love love love watching her have conversations with her brothers
and sister, it is outstanding to watch the communication grow daily in
the house! Emma is one smart cookie and a sweet cookie too! Her
transition thus far has been pretty flawless. She is pretty much a go
with the flow kiddo. It has been so incredible to watch her be able to
start to become her "own" person. Since she had no language she tends to
be a follower.. and I mean of everything.. If her sister sits, Emma
sits.. her sister stands on her head.. Emma must attempt to stand on her
head hahah. She is finally starting to emerge as her own person.. we
are not fully there, but she is starting to. Her grasp of American Sign
Language continues to grow at a very rapid rate and she is impressing us
daily! Emma and Paige have a relationship that is just beyond incredible! They love each other so much! (of course they have moments of annoying each other.. they are sisters after all :) truly they enjoy playing for hours and hours and hours together! I love looking in their room and seeing them sitting there signing away to each other and playing so beautifully together! They have a bond that will carry them far in life! Emma gets along with everyone in the house and is just very easy to get along with. She is friendly, outgoing, smart and funny! She is a love bug and loved by all!
Do you want to see what 3 months and the love of a family did for Emma? Let me show you! :
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| Our last picture of our sweet Emma before we left to bring her home.. So sad... |
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| Our sweetie pie waiting for her family! |
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| Me signing papers saying we were taking Emma with us and Emma playing with her toys! |
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| That sweet little face and those eyes that scream "I am so brilliant.. I just dont have the language to show you yet" just sucked me in! |
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| Just took a few minutes to see a smile emerge |
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| Our first family picture (can you imagine how stressful it must be to be put in the arms of strangers?) |
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| The smiles started to emerge quickly when we got to our room |
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| She is just so beautiful |
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| Asking daddy to show her some sign language |
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| The first of MANY goofy Emma faces |
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| Oh yea baby! |
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| This is how she handled her first flight of her life just 24 hours after meeting her parents! (yup this is how Emma rolls!) |
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| Her sweetness just keeps on keeping on |
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| The little Diva emerges |
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| Exhausted after MANY hours of travel but the Two newest American Citizens! :) |
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| Paige and Emma just seconds after meeting each other |
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| Their first night together! |
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| Their second night together!! :)) ahh SISTERS! |
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| 5 of my babies together! |
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| ALL 6 of my gorgeous babies! |
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| Paige and Emma in their dresses from China |
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| The gang! All very happy to be together! |
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| Yup still happy bed partners! |
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| Sister kisses! There is nothing like them! |
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| Typical Emma |
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| The girls playing dress up together |
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| Photos Aaron took of the kiddos after they came home |
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| Trying on my brother Tommys football equipment! |
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| My beautiful girls |
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| Paige and Emma |
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| My gorgeous princess! |
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| I took this to prove to her that her hair really is growing! |
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| Love that little face |
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| My silly girls pretending to be babies |
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| Me and my girl |
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| My and my girls having our nightly reading time together! |
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| YUP they are STILL bedtime pals! :) Love these girls |
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| Paige showing off her lack of teeth to Emma |
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| They were cracking each other up |
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| They still love having "sleepovers" in each others beds.. (they beds are probably only 5 feet apart but there is nothing like snuggling with your sister!) |
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| What can I say.. Long awaited for SISTERS! |
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| Our precious Emma has changed SO much in 3 months!!!! | | | | |
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And now for our Elias! Whew there is SO much to say about Elias I dont know where to start. Elias is one of the sweetest boys ever. He is truly a great and amazing kid! He is so easy to be with and just a joy to be around! Elias gets along with everyone! He is fun, funny, sweet, silly, his laugh is SO contagious and he is ALWAYS laughing! I can barely play sports with him because he laughs so hard the whole time that I get so caught up in his laughing that I cant beat him hahah ( I think it is his secret weapon hahah) Elias was fluent in Chinese sign language when we met him and he could read and write very well in Chinese. Within about a 5 week span Elias stopped using Chinese sign language and has been signing completely in American Sign language. We personally think it is crazy that he picked up ASL so fast and dropped his native language so quickly. One looking from the outside in on our family today would not be able to pick out the new signer in the house.. Elias already looks like a native ASL user.. Geesh he has only been home 3 months today.. I could NEVER become fluent in another language in 3 months time....One thing that Elias has shown us over and over again is that he is just brilliant! He is so smart that Tom and I just cannot believe it. Elias had no language until he was 7 years old and only had 2 years at the school for the Deaf. He had just started 3rd grade when we brought him home and he is currently not in school. YET he is now starting read in English, is doing math on a solid 4th grade and some 5th grade level, he learns things faster than Tom and I can teach him. Elias is inquisitive and a work horse. The boy LOVES to learn! Elias is also naturally very athletic! He is a blast to play sports with and learns so fast, and not just sorta of how to play he picks up the rules and all the nuances of a game very fast. We spend hours outside playing basketball, soccer and football. He is going to be on some sports teams in the future for sure!
Do you want to see what 3 months and the love of a family did for Elias? I will show you! :
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| Our very first glimpse of our sweet sweet boy starting his journey |
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| Trying to show him some things in his backpack since he was crying, sad and scared beyond words |
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| His face clearly shows you the stress and emotions that an older child goes through during this process |
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| Elias being handed over by the orphanage worker |
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| Our first picture together as a family |
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| Emma is so smart she got out the DS and handed it to him.. it helped a ton! |
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| Brother and Sister playing their games together |
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| snuggled up and ready for his first night of sleep with his new family |
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| back to the adoption center to fill out paperworl |
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| Elias and Daddy |
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| Me and Emma and Elias |
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| Daddy playing puzzles with his kiddos |
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| Daddy took Elias out to play some football! |
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| I think the football helped with bonding.. what do you think? ;) |
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| Getting ready to feed the lions some raw meat! |
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| Elias and the Pandas |
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| sneaking a hug with my boy (he wasnt too fond of hugging just yet) |
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| all tired out from HOURS of travel but now American Citizens |
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| Elias with his new brothers and sisters! |
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| All 6 of the kiddos together |
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| Elias and his daddy! |
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| Tommy and Elias became fast buds! |
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| Elias is sooo funny and goofy.. he cracks Paige up! |
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| Elias and Luke have an amazing bond! |
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| Tommy helping Elias try on his football equipment! |
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| I think he liked trying it on.. maybe.. hahah HE LOVED IT! |
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| oh my this stuff is SO not comfortable hahah |
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| Joe cool! |
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| Brothers!!!! |
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| Tommy and Elias spend HOURS playing basketball together |
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| as you can see they enjoy themselves |
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| Look at that smile |
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| Me and my goofy boys smooshed in my bed |
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| My handsome Elias.. he is growing and changing daily |
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| just gorgeous inside and out |
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| yup I am a goofball.. ;) |
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| but look at that face |
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| Me and my newest mommas boy! |
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| Tommy and Elias "twins" playing B. Ball |
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| I love this one |
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| JUMP |
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| Tommy and Elias.. buddies through and through |
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| Elias decided to teach himself how to ride a bike without training wheels |
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| Love that smile |
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| He loves to snuggle with his momma |
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| and he loves to wrestle with his daddy |
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| Elias and Luke love playing together | | | | | |
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As you can see we have had an amazing 3 months and God has been so good to us! We have brought home two beautiful children that have melded into our family seamlessly! We were ready for the worst and ready for some crazy rocky roads.. so far this has been a dream! We would never imagine we could add two older children, out of birth order, one with no language and one with a different language into our family and all would just gel.. but it did! We are blessed with 6 beautiful children. We must say that our 4 kiddos really embraced their new brother and sister in a way we didnt expect, our 4 kiddos have such huge hearts and are so giving and loving. We could not ask for more from them. They have welcomed Emma and Elias into our home and have just all clicked together like they were made for each other! We know that we are blessed! Thank you Lord for our beautiful family! :))))))))))))))))))))))))
