E.B.E. ~ home for a month now!

Emily Belle has been home for a month today!! Wow, have these weeks flown by. She is doing very well and we are happy to see how she seems to be bonding with all of us. She is definitely finding her place here. She is so funny and so brave, and of course so beautiful. She has grown a bit bigger, not sure about those pounds yet, we see the pediatrician again this week. She will have to have all her shots done over! Poor thing. She arrived with a full record of immunizations and now that we have had the titers done, it seems that none of them were good, the record was false,(no surprise there), or the shots were not good. Either way, this is just so irresponsible of those in charge of her medical care. How sad this is for her and any other children in Guatemala who are left vulnerable to these terrible, and fatal childhood diseases. Thank God we have the ability to check this for her and be sure she is now covered with all that she needs. The immunizations alone are scary to me, but the thought of her getting sick is far worse. It will take a full year to be sure she is caught up on all of this. She is eating well and sleeping pretty well. She loves to play in her room and loves her bunnies the most. She is all about things that are pink and soft. She has a definite line of defence when she is unhappy...you just scream and throw yourself backwards on the floor... no matter what... someone will pick you up and love on you!! It works every time! She loves her brothers and sisters, and they all adore her. Though I will admit, Matthew has had a hard time sharing the throne. He even told our dentist that she was going back to Guatemala soon. hahaha... sorry Matt she's staying forever! At least he is no longer interested in trying to drink her bottles like he was the first week! That was rough! He really does love her and gets upset if she cries, but just can't help trying to control her every move like a baby doll. We are staying right on top of this until the newness of 'her' wears off or until he figures out that she isn't leaving... period! The sweetest thing to see is him singing to her through her door if she wakes up crying from a nap. "Itsy bitsy spider" is belted through out the upstairs and she stops crying to listen. He is very proud that she likes his songs. She has done great getting use to a car seat and she loves all of our pets. The horses are a little intimidating, but she reaches out for them every time she can. She loves our old lab Chrissy and thankfully Chrissy doesn't not mind her crawling all over her. She squeals at the cats and tries to grab their tails. They wear themselves out trying to avoid her. She loves music and comes alive when she hears anything Hispanic sounding. Over all, she has just done SO well for her first few weeks home. We all LOVE her even deeper than we could have imagined and we can't think of a day with out her now! Her little personality is such a perfect match for our family....just perfect! Jack is our main entertainment guy, making her laugh all day long. Bo is the best 'watchful eye for safety' we have on staff here! haha... Burt thinks she's cute and likes her baby smell. Hannah is my mother hen and wants all the mommy jobs like bottle making and diaper changing, which is sometimes great help for me. Lee thinks she is just about the sweetest baby she has ever seen, and drops by between classes just to play and sing with her. Jill is still so in love with her and so glad she was able to get to know her before anyone else. Emily finds a lot of comfort in Jill and it is sweet to watch them together. Leslie just watches her in total awe and can't believe she is really here after all this time. Matt will get use to her soon enough and I bet they will be the best of buddies in just a few months. We are just showing him a lot of consistency and extra love for now. All families endure adjustments when a new baby arrives, and we are no different!! But, this is fun!! a lot of work and a lot of fun for sure!! Emily Belle is a blessing beyond words. As we see what a good baby she is, so full of love and willing to give us a place in her heart.. we are ever thankful for her wonderful foster mom and family. They must have shown her what a real family feels like and we are very grateful for them. We pray for them now and can't help but wonder how this month has been for them getting use to life with out her. We just pray that they will always keep the blessing of her close to their hearts. She is truly a gift.
These photos are from the first day or two home and you'll see in the next few how much she has changed already. The first day was a little shocking for her I think, but she did find a nice cookie Matt left on the floor.. she thought that was great!
She had her first walk in the yard with Jack and Hannah and her first look at a big horse... she cried. That has all changed now of course... more cute photos to come!