Equal Time

Going through an adoption is extremely exhausting and emotionally consuming. We spent over two years preparing for Josie’s arrival and then once we got home from China, we were dealing with all kinds of heart specialists and her open-heart surgery/recovery. For the last three months, it’s been a rollercoaster of emotions in our house. As much as I’ve tried to provide equal time for both girls, it just isn’t perfect. God bless my friends who have multiple children and can find a way to make every child feel special.

Today was an Emma and Mommy day. Josie stayed home with Chris and the two of us attended the new American Girl movie and then did a bit of shopping at the mall. Seeing the smile on Emma’s face and hearing her thank me for the alone time, reminds me that I need to do this more often. I especially need to remember this once I return to full-time work and the pace gets even more insane.

Loving the part-time schedule

To help ease the transition for Josie, I'm working 20 hours during the month of June and July. I can't say it enough...I LOVE this reduced schedule. Chris has always had his summer's off from the school system and he's always been willing to take Emma on all kinds of day trips while I worked. Today we took advantage of my day off and took a quick trip to the zoo before the rain hit.

Our local zoo has really grown and our favorite exhibits are the ones in which you can interact with the animals. Today we got to feed the birds as well as the stingrays. Emma wasn't too sure about touching the stingrays and Josie wasn't too keen on the birds, but the Mom totally enjoyed everything.

Independence Day Highlights

Josie enjoyed her first 4th of July holiday with her West Michigan cousins. It was a low-key day with a family BBQ and dip in our chilly pool. In the evening, we took Josie to our local fireworks where we promptly killed our van battery (we were watching a DVD in our van while waiting for the fireworks to start). Oops. Thank goodness AAA wasn't too busy to jump our van on a busy holiday evening (hee hee). I've included a few of our favorite pictures from yesterday. Enjoy.

Happy 4th

Happy Fourth of July friends and family.

It finally happened...

Josie can now say Emma's name!! It brings tears to my eyes listening to her say her sister's name. Emma worked all day with Josie practicing her name over and over again. For the last three months, Josie has called Emma "Mommy". When I came home from work today, the girls had something special to show me. I quickly grabbed the digital camera to record the moment to share with my friends and family. Thanks for all your hard work Emma. You are such a great sister.