One Year Ago: Emalyn's Refferal Day

One year ago today, we saw this precious face for the first time.  We opened an email that would forever change our lives, because we saw our daughter starring back at us. 

Emalyn at about 12 months

Emalyn at about 15 months

Mommy's Birthday

Last year, two days before my 30th birthday, we found out Myla Grant was coming.  This year, I got to celebrate my 31st with all three of my girls.  Hank and the girls made this birthday very special and so much fun.  I am looking forward to a great year...and hopefully my 31st year will be a little less eventful than the 30th was.

Emalyn: Six Months in our Arms

SIX MONTHS! I can hardly believe we made it; we survived! When we headed to China, being home six months was the point in the adoption process that I looked forward to reaching. Most other people's experiences showed that six months as a family was a huge milestone, so I longed to get there with our family in one piece. In a lot of ways, we have had our heads above the water for some time now, but I have looked forward to Emalyn being in our arms for six months in spite of that.

I am not sure when it happened, but at some unknown point during the last six months, our family solidified.  At some point, we started to feel normal again.  At some point, our hearts merged. 

Emalyn is an unbelievable little girl.  She loves people, she loves attention, she loves her sisters, she loves going places, she loves learning, she loves helping, and she really loves eating!  We are smitten by her and she truly fills in the gap we didn't even know our family had. 

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Myla Grant is Four Months Old

This month was one of tremendous growth and development for Myla Grant! At birth she weighed 7 pounds and 5 ounces, at two months she weighed 11 pounds and 4 ounces, and at four months she is 16 pounds 4 ounces! We affectionately call her our "chunky monkey" because she is so round and covered in precious little rolls.

Over the last month she started reaching for and grasping toys. She quickly figured out which ones make noise when she pulls on them and enjoys making them sing over and over again.

She is also enjoying being upright a lot more. Her favorite new place to sit is in the bumbo seat. (I think she really likes being able to see what her wild and crazy older sisters are doing to make so much noise.

She has to be the easiest and sweetest baby on the planet. She rarely gets upset if she isn't hungry or sleepy. She loves to go places and enjoys being held or sitting in her stroller, swing, bumbo, or bouncy seat. She is so laid back and tends to go with the flow almost always. We are definitely thankful for her sweet disposition and easy personality. It has made these last months of transition much easier than they could have been.

Our sweet girl is finally sleeping through the night! For weeks, her biological clock was stuck at 3:30 am, but after a little "sleep training" we have turned a corner. Now, she is on a great schedule and loves to sleep! She wakes up about 7:00 am, naps from 9:00-11:00 am, naps again from 1:00-4:00 pm and goes to bed at 7:30 pm.

She is loving playing on her play mat or the bed when she is awake and loves to kick her chubby little legs. She has recently discovered that screaming gets our attention, so she will scream at us if she thinks we haven't paid her enough attention...and I don't mean crying screams, I mean happy, loud, piercing screams.

On August 20, 2011 Hank and I got the surprise of a lifetime when we found out Myla Grant was coming. As we recently passed that "anniversary", it's amazing to evaluate our life "then" and "now". Despite the long days, moments of chaos, and more limited flexibility, we wouldn't change a thing!!!

Myla Grant grasping her monkey ring

Sweet little chunky monkey

As I was snapping a few pictures of Myla Grant, Emalyn decided to pull up a stool to "help".

Joe pa and his girls

Loving the Bumbo seat...

Myla Grant is loving this rocking horse toy...it was also one of Adair's favorites as baby.

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Loving the Olympics

One of the highlights of our summer has been cheering on America and China during the Olympics.  Adair and Emalyn both loved the opening ceremony, swimming and gymnastics.  They loved mimicking the athletes and pretending to swim in the Olympics.

The week before they started, we did several Olympic-related crafts which was a fun opportunity to explain many of the Olympic traditions to Adair.  We made flags, medals, rings and torches.  The girls ran around for weeks carrying their torches and wearing their medals.

Ready and waiting for the opening ceremony to start.

Proud artists.

Adair and Emalyn's versions of the Chinese and American flags.

Transformation Challenge: Weeks Three and Four

Despite my lack of blogging, we have not fallen off of the Paleo bandwagon.  I found time last week to plan our meals and grocery shop, but never to share our menu.  Here is week three with a few notes.  Let's just say, we tried a few new recipes and, sadly, two were complete failures.

Note...alot of these menu items are links to recipes, but sometimes it's hard to see that on the blog.  Mouse over to see if it's a link so you don't miss out on these great recipes.

WEEK THREE:

Dinner.

Chicken “parmesan” / green beans

Asparagus stuffed chicken / grilled cabbage with bacon / sweet potato hash

Peach chicken* / roasted Brussels sprouts with avocado and pecans / fried okra

Beef fajitas with onions & peppers / guacamole / salsa / lettuce / tomato

Coconut mango chicken* / green beans / sweet potato rounds

*Unfortunately, I wouldn't recommend either of these recipes.  In theory they sounded really good, but they were not.  I would love to find a Paleo crock pot meal that we love for busy nights and had hoped the coconut mango chicken would be the one, but it was not.

WEEK FOUR:

Dinner.

Eggplant with turkey sausage marinara

Beef stir fry / broccoli / mushrooms / red peppers / onions

Coconut shrimp / grilled okra / sweet potato hash

Orange chicken with pineapple, green peppers / broccoli

Steak / sweet potato rounds / green beans

TREATS & SPECIAL RECIPES:

Chocolate Cake.

We discovered this amazing Paleo chocolate cake this week.  It's actually hard to believe it is Paleo!  Top it with this Paleo chocolate frosting and a sprinkling of sea salt and it's a wonderful treat. 

Apple cinnamon muffins.

These apple cinnamon muffins are delicious.  They contain no sweeteners other than fruit and were wonderful for breakfast and snacks.

Pineapple popsicles.

These pineapple popsicles are delicious.  Adair enjoyed them so much and heard me say so often that they are healthy that she asked Hank if she and Emalyn could eat them for breakfast.  I did use two bananas and two cans of pineapple in mine for more flavor.  I think next time I will use one of each and just half of a can of coconut milk, as it made a huge recipe. 

Blend and freeze the following ingredients:

1 can pineapple chunks, in juice

1 banana

1 can coconut milk

1/2 tsp vanilla