Joy comes in the morning...

It's been a much better week.  Emily has slept much better, and wakes up in her singsong voice saying "Good Morning, Mama" or "Good Morning, Daddy!"  She still often wakes up hungry in the middle of the night though.  She eats such a small amount throughout the day that it's not surprising that she would get hungry, but just like our bio sons, I'm never sure if it's true hunger, or just a longing to be with mama!!  Either way, it doesn't matter.  At this point, she just needs to know that she is LOVED, and at this stage, the traditional method of letting your child cry themselves back to sleep can not be used!  Emily loves the book, "The Hungry Caterpillar," and it is usually one of the books she asks for every night before bed. A few nights ago she woke up and was crying and once again I couldn't figure out what was wrong.  "Does your belly hurt?"  She shakes her head no.  "Do your ears hurt?"  No.  " Do you need to go to the potty?" No.  "Do you want mama to hold you?"  No.  And on and on.  I'm not really sure SHE knew what was wrong either at this point.  She just knew she was not going back to sleep.  During the day, Emily loves to pretend that she is an animal and will call herself a panda, or a kitty, etc.  So even though I had asked her several times before if she was hungry and wanted something to eat, I finally asked her, "Emily, are you a hungry caterpillar??!"  Her eyes got big, the tears stopped and she shook her head, "YES!!!"  So after eating yogurt and a quick rock/cuddle, she looked up and smiled and said,"Emily's a butterfly!!"  (For those who don't know the story, the caterpillar turns into a beautiful butterfly at the end of the book....her favorite part!)  She was asleep in minutes!  Ahh...melt this mama's heart.  Our Emily IS a beautiful butterfly, and the transitions and changes she's had to endure are beyond what I can imagine sometimes. 

Emily had her ear tube surgery last Friday.  It went very well.  Her surgery wasn't scheduled until 3 pm, so I was dreading the hours after midnight the night before when she wasn't allowed to eat anything.  She could have clear liquids up until noon, and then nothing after that.  We always give her something to suck on in the car to help prevent car sickness, so I knew the 1 hr and 45 minute trip there may not be pleasant.  She ended up doing just fine, and seemed to accept the fact that she had to wait until later to eat and drink without any fuss at all.  And, no car sickness!  Praise God!  She was mad when she came out of surgery as expected, but that was quickly remedied with her beloved M & M's!  By the last half hour of the trip home, she was actually singing!!  What a trooper!  The doctor said that her left ear had a lot of fluid and the right ear was mild.  Her eardrums weren't moving well at all previously which was why they suspected fluid.  Although her hearing loss was minimal when tested, ear infections are very common in kids with cleft palates. Even though Emily never had an ear infection that we know of (hmmm.....maybe a reason she wasn't sleeping well before....who knows??), they felt that she definitely needed the tubes.  The doctor told us after surgery that he was surprised she hadn't been in more discomfort.  And thinking back, our plane rides should have been a lot more difficult for her.  One more way to show how everyone's prayers and God's grace completely covered us on our trip to and back from China! 

This Sunday, we are traveling to see family and I'm really looking forward to seeing everyone!  My mom, dad and grandpa have been in Florida since Christmas, so I can't wait for them to see Emily!  We are praying everyone stays well.  We've all been fighting colds and coughs...except Emily so far!  She seems to have the strongest immune system of all of us! 

Emily is very excited about her upcoming birthday!  She will be 4 on Easter Sunday, March 31st!  How neat is that???!! Her birthday falls EXACTLY between Seth and Kyle's!  Seth turned 11 (wow!!!) on March 1st.....

We love you, Seth!!!

...and Kyle will be 15 (gulp!) on April 30th.   She told me she wants pink on her "Happy Birthday cake" and wants a book!  We often hear her singing Happy Birthday to herself!  I can't wait!  She will no longer have any birthdays or holidays without us!!  :) 

Here's some random photos!

Her big brothers taught her "thumbs up!" 

The many silly faces of Emily....

She loves to get dressed up!!

Just hangin' out with my brother

Playing with cousins

Enjoying her time with her cousin Eva

Mmm...noodles are the best!

Yay!  Someone who likes to do dishes!  :)

Trying S'mores for the first time at a campfire with friends!  We can't wait to go camping!