Emma Victoria: 3 years old

 

I can't believe our precious girl is three years old.  Just three years ago, I was awakened in the middle of the night with a phone call saying that Emma's birth mother was at the hospital!  I was in Minnesota visiting my grandma and my sister.  I quickly took a shower, packed up all my things, and shook my grandma awake to tell her that the baby was on the way!  My sister and brother-in-law drove me to Missouri where we met this precious baby girl later that morning.    

Dave had a bit of a longer drive from Texas than we did from Minnesota, so he arrived a few hours after we did.  We have been in love with our girl ever since!  

At 3 years old, Emma loves....

~her brother

~her babies

~helping, cleaning, and scrubbing...with a wipe in her hand, she can't be stopped.  She will wipe down anything and everything!  (We met Dave for lunch today at Chick Fil A for Emma's birthday, and we gave her a wipe to clean her hands before we ate.  Soon, she was wiping down the walls by the booth.) :)

~snuggling, especially when she wakes up in the morning and after her nap each day

~going to Bible Study Fellowship on Wednesdays

~being independent: "I do it myself"

~cooking and baking in the kitchen

I started interviewing Isaac on his third birthday, and we continued the tradition with Emma.  

1.  What is your favorite color?  pink

2.  What is your favorite toy?  babies

3.  What is your favorite fruit?   I don't know.

4.  What is your favorite thing to eat for breakfast?  eating cupcakes 

5.  What is your favorite thing to eat for lunch?  eat dinner

6.  What is your favorite thing to eat for supper?  cupcakes

(yes, this girl LOVES sweets)

7.  What is your favorite thing to drink?  water

8.  What is your favorite snack?  ??

9.  What is your favorite show?  a tiger show (Daniel Tiger)

10.  What are your favorite clothes to wear?   wear clothes to church

11. What is your favorite animal?  Lambie

12.  What is your favorite song?  "Jesus Loves Me"

13.  What is your favorite book?   It's in my room.  (I'm pretty sure it's The Wheels on the Bus)

14. What is your favorite thing to do with Daddy? do wrestling 

15.  What is your favorite thing to do with Mommy?  dishes

16.  What is your favorite thing to do outside?  I don't play outside.

17.  What is your favorite holiday?  ??

18.  What is your favorite thing to take to bed with you each night? the one baby

19.  Where is your favorite place to go?  go on a drive

20.  What do you want to be when you grow up?  like you (pointing at me....so I think she wants to be a mommy!  I don't think there's anything she would love more.)  

And, since this blog is my scrapbook, here are a few more things I don't ever want to forget about Emma at this age.

ti-ti--Emma's word for "tutu"

shortcut--Emma's word for a haircut (and, considering I trimmed her hair a little too short last week, I think it's an appropriate term)

fridger--Emma's word for the refrigerator

cape--Emma's word for an apron

tangle--Emma's word for hair binders

Emma does not like being called anything but her name.  If I call her "princess," she says, "I am not a princess.  I Emma."  I asked if I could call her "Princess Emma," and she said, "No.  I Emma."

Emma is also in an adorable stage where she mixes up her prepositions, especially "to" and "for."  I remember when Isaac did this, and I thought it was the cutest thing.  For example, she'll say, "Isaac, give the baby for me."

A few days ago, I parked in someone's driveway, & I couldn't get the Tahoe out of park when it was time to leave.  I tried over and over and then called Dave.  He talked me through a few things to do, but I still couldn't get out of park.  Emma and I entertained ourselves in the car for a half hour while we waited for Dave to come and help us.  Of course, Dave got the Tahoe out of park on his first try.  :)  When we were driving away, Emma said, "He's a good daddy.  He's a prince!  He saved us."

Whenever Emma looks at my belly bump, she says, "The baby is hiding deep down inside you."  :)

  

~~~~~~

When Isaac was just over a year old, we knew God was leading our family to adopt again.  We were matched with a birth mother expecting a baby boy in North Carolina, and we were also working on a private adoption for a baby girl who was due in the same month as the baby boy.  We ended up losing both adoptions within a week of each other.  Then, we didn't have any leads or matches for 9 months.  While 9 months isn't too long of a time, it felt like a very long time as my heart was broken.  Friends all around me were having babies, and we so longed for Isaac to have a sibling.  Some moments during those months were even harder for me than my initial infertility journey.

All of a sudden, God surprised us with a call on Valentine's Day 2012 that a birth mother in Missouri had chosen us for her daughter who was due very soon.  Emma Victoria was in our arms just six days later.  

We couldn't love this adorable three year old any more, and we are so thankful that both God and her birth family have entrusted her to us.  

"Hope deferred makes the heart sick, but a longing fulfilled is a tree of life."

Proverbs 13:12