Braces!

Well, today was the day. Max got some braces and a bite plate this morning. I asked him if I could take before and after pictures; but, that was a big "no-no". :) Get this...they took a picture of him mid procedure!!!! His poor little mouth was spread so wide open. They had him give two thumbs up for the picture. He told Ron when we got home "They made me do the thumbs up." which they had. Honestly, I do not know too many people who would be extremely happy while their mouths are being spread from one coast to the next. He did a great job and we are so proud of him. His bite plate is cool (as cool as they can be) as he had them put Captain Rex from Star Wars: The Clone Wars on it. He was so happy!

Update on Emerson

We are seeing many new and exciting (and honestly some less than exciting behaviors) from our newest addition. Here are some of the things happening in little Emerson's life...


- He loves a book called I Love Colors and is really trying to pronounce the color words.

- He is getting into EVERYTHING just as we would expect a toddler to be doing.


- Everything is going into the mouth these days...even an itty-bitty hoof that had fallen off of one of Veronica's little horses. Ugg!

- Emerson screams as loud as he can, laughs, and then looks around to see if anyone else thinks it is as funny as he does. Sorry, Little Guy, we do not!

- He loves experimenting with drinking out of a regular cup vs. a sippy. Of course, we try this only with water. :)


- He is doing a great job learning how to do the Sign of the Cross and he knows that we say prayer before meals.

- He is not sure what you are supposed to do with play-doh; but, finger painting is kind of cool.

- He is now enjoying baths and loves to help shampoo his hair.

- He really likes to wash his hands now. Quite an improvement from the child who would scream when he even saw something that resembled a restroom.

- He has had his first official cold here in America.

- He now comes to Ma-Ma for kisses and hugs when he gets boo-boos! He really does not cry very much when he does get hurt; but, he rubs the spot and looks to Ma-Ma for comforting. Yippee!!!!

- He is a fan of Formula 1. (Guess who added that one!)


- He likes to go upside down now.

- He does great transitioning from room to room, upstairs to downstairs, etc. On his Gotcha Day, we were told he does not do well with these types of transitions.

- He is so proud of himself when he climbs up and down the stairs. (Don't worry- we hold his hand.)

- He does somersaults occasionally...much to Ma-Ma's dismay!

- He is very interested in Enzo the Kitty...much to Enzo's dismay!

- He is a bottomless pit, but has hardly gained any weight.

- At times, he acts as if we just fed him a bowl of sugar. He becomes such a wild man.

- He can throw a serious temper tantrum if he does not get his way; but, we have not seen one of his famous seat drops in awhile though.

- He loves to be tickled.

- He waves to say "thank you".

- We think he may be part Italian as much as he uses his hands. :) He even raises his hand up as if he is saying, "What the hell?!" (He gets his temper from his daddy.)

- He still covers his face with his sleeve and arm; but, he no longer rocks himself to sleep.

- He no longer raises his arms to be lifted up by every other person walking by him.

- He has adjusted very well to the schedule that we call life here in our home.

- Sometimes, it sounds like he is singing.

- He has learned to pull a stool over to the basement door (play room) to reach the door knob. Thank God, he has not realized the stool cannot be up against the door when he tries to open it. Time for gates?!

First (and second) cloth squares for the quilt

We received our first two pieces for the quilt and they are adorable! A great big thank you and hugs to our friends, Andrea, Dave, and their kiddos!!!! Keep them coming everyone. Only 98 more to go! :) Click on the link in the column on the right to see how you can contribute a square or two! Thank you in advance!!!!

Veronica's 1st day of Preschool

Oh, she was just so excited! Mommy...not so much! It was VERY difficult to watch yet one more go off to school. We were/are so very proud of her though. We really do want them to be independent. Isn't that one of our goals of parenthood? She did it and she loved it. Her favorite thing was having chocolate milk for snack. She told us how the teachers explained where to put the milk containers when they were finished. This made a huge impact for some reason. :) She is just so cute and so sweet. She told me things like "You will still have Emerson." and "I still love you." Ron got a kick out of all of us moms hanging outside the classroom looking in the windows. We decided that the kiddos were doing better than we were. Anyways, look how cute she is...

Love that little girl!!!!

All good things must come to an end...

Well, he did it. Emerson woke up during the night. We are surprised that this was the first time since we have been home that we have heard him wake up. It was so sad. As with any of the children when they wake at night, I wondered if he had had a nightmare. With the older three, I wondered what they had to fear at such a young age. With Emerson, I worry about what nightmares he has lived already and that may actually cause the nightmares as he sleeps. Does he still grieve about being taken from the only "home" he knew, aka the orphanage? Does he miss his caretakers? Are there other things that we just do not even want to know about? I guess we will never know. In time, he will learn that he is safe, is loved, and is right where God intended him to be.

On a side note, we thank God that Emerson usually sleeps so well. Ron and I are not cut out for the nightly wake ups anymore. Feeling it today!!!! :)

Thank God it was not pinkeye!

The other night Veronica ended up sleeping on the floor in our bedroom. The next morning she woke up and said, "Mommy, when I woke up there was something in my eye." Of course, being a parent and teacher my first thought was "Please God don't let it be pinkeye!" Veronica then proceeded to say, "It was the light." She is so cute! :)