Emma's Summer

4th of July

First Camping Trip

Watching fireworks with Grandma and Grandpa.

Splashing in the pool.

Pigtails!

Working on her 'fro and her core muscles.

Just hanging out.

Catching up on some reading.

Giggling at the mirror. =)

YUMMY!

Taking My Time

So I know I'm taking my own sweet time posting, but here are a few pictures from the last month.

This is after a nap. She's always so excited to see us after she wakes up.

Recently, Emma has taken to eating her foot. But she's very choosy. She'll only eat her right foot.

On Mother's Day, we put a blanket down under the tree in our front yard and took a nap. Is there anything better?

This is our happy girl!

Little Diva

I was recently lucky enough to find a fantastic sale for Emma...sunglasses! And of course I had to buy two, it was a 2fer deal! They're still a little big, but Matt and I chuckled when we put them on her.

Which ones do you like best?

Pardon my Rant

I'm a little frustrated. Well, more than a little.

Almost three years ago, Matt and I started on this little adventure we call adoption. We filled out more paperwork than is necessary to buy ten houses, let people inspect our home, impose on friends and family to write reference letters, submit to medical examinations, wrote autobiographies with very personal information, shelled out cash, and basically put our lives on display in an adoption profile that anyone and their dog could view.

We were willing to do all of this.

And then we waited. And waited. And waited.

Finally, Emma came along in a whirlwind of plane tickets and last minute documents and agency swapping. We were so excited (and we'd absolutely do it again!) that we didn't take time to really see what switching agencies meant.

We lost our amazing case worker, Rachel, who had been with us since the beginning. And we lost most of the paperwork because it doesn't transfer between agencies. Boo!

We didn't realize this until after we'd had Emma for about a month and the new agency started calling and requesting documents that we thought we had already taken care of. At one point, we had three different people from the agency calling for different reasons. It was a bit confusing, to say the least. In the end, we've had to redo every piece of paper known to man, and more that were just invented. We've had to redo doctor visits, ask friends for more reference letters ("Pretend we don't already have a baby and write about our potential as parents."), take CPR classes, redo financial forms and resend tax statements, pay for more in-home visits (can you say "nerve-wracking?"), complete packets that say that we realize we're switching agencies, and retake adoption classes. Double boo!

Not that Emma isn't worth every bit of it. I'm not saying that at all. I just think it is absolutely RIDICULOUS that we have to complete so much paperwork that is supposedly required by the state, but doesn't transfer. Why don't medical forms and tax statements transfer? Someone needs to rethink that!

Plus, I have to get my house ready for a home visit by tomorrow night. Maybe that's why I could hold out until this moment to rant. My house is definitely not visit worthy right now. Keep your fingers crossed that our post-placement coordinator is blind!

New Family Pictures

A while ago I wrote about the sad timing of our last family photo session. After waiting more than 7 years, we ended up getting pictures taken just 3 weeks before Emma joined our family. So I begged my sister-in-law, Gretchen, to take some pictures of the New and Improved Holgate Family.

"Mom and Dad, this is just cheesy."

The pictures are definitely improved with Emma in them. Even when she's had enough and just wants to take a nap. I giggle every time I see this picture. (I really was trying to get a picture of the Easter dress I made Emma. My mom always made us an Easter dress, so I wanted to carry on that tradition. I'm pretty proud of myself.)

Ta-da! A picture with ALL THREE of us smiling. It's hard enough to get both me and Matt smiling, let alone a 2-month old!

We also wanted a picture of Emma with the sweater and blanket that Matt's Mom made for her. Too cute!

Talking

The last week or so, Emma has decided that she likes to talk. She's always been an attentive listener, but now she wants her part in the conversation.

I love her little baby voice and can't wait to hear more! If only I could find that blasted video camera.

So Far, So Good

Today Emma is 2 months old! She's very good natured and easy going, and we LOVE having her around. She's pretty much an angel baby! She slept through the night for the first time ( 9 hours!) the night she turned 6 weeks old. She doesn't always last 9 hours, but it's at least 6 or 7 hours. But then she'll eat and go back to sleep for a couple hours longer. She's so considerate!

She's also growing like a weed! The first couple of 0-3 month-size outfits have been packed away because they're too small. This dress is a 3 month outfit, and I think today is the last day she gets to wear it. It's sad to me to watch such adorable clothes get packed away, but I'm excited to break out the next size up of equally adorable clothes!

Emma loves visiting Grandma and Grandpa. I don't think they mind much either. Especially because they can hand her back when she has a dirty diaper! Their house is very calm, and Grandma can always get a smile or two from her newest fan!

I finally caught a couple of good smiles on camera today. When we go in to her room to get her up each morning, she greets us with a huge grin--the kind that uses her whole body. I've thought about taking a camera in with me to get her up, but I haven't done it yet. So today she obliged me with a couple of whole-body smiles as I was taking a few pictures to document her 2 month day!

How can you help but smile back? We love our little Emma and are grateful to her birthmom for helping our Heavenly Father bring her to our family.

Family Photos

As luck would have it, Matt and I finally had family pictures taken three weeks before we got Emma. We have really good timing. (Actually, I think it's all Matt. His family also took family pictures about a week before we got engaged.) We wanted some good pictures of the two of us to update our adoption profile. I guess they worked. And we didn't even have to POST the pictures. Just getting them taken was enough.

Anyway, here are a few of the keepers. (Cassie, thanks for putting up with our shenanegans!)

I don't think this is what we were really going for, but it is SO US. I love it!

What?! A real picture with both Matt AND Andrea smiling? These don't come along very often.
Once again, thanks Cassie! We love the pictures. Now we just have to get some with Emma in them.

Grandma Outfit

Emma was the lucky recipient of an adorable outfit handmade by Nancy, her grandma. I can't even imagine having the patience to finish a project like this. The color is perfect for Emma and I'm sure it's something she'll always treasure.

Aren't the flowers so cute!
Of course, the model is also cute.
I think she loves the camera!

Life As We Know It Just Changed a WHOLE LOT!!

After a whirlwind ride, Matt and I are finally able to claim the title "Parents." That Thursday morning, we didn't know anything about little Emma. But our lives were about to change. Friday morning, a few phone calls and a couple of photos later, we were told that we were chosen to adopt a little girl that had been born late the previous night. Saturday morning we hopped a plane to Florida and Sunday morning we met our little miracle.

It all started in this hospital room in Titusville, Florida on January 14, 2010. Emma was born late Thursday night, weighing in at 6 pounds, 8 3/4 ounces and 18.5 inches long. We spent a few hours in the hospital with her Sunday and got to take her home (to the hotel) from the hospital that afternoon. We had to stay in Florida until we had clearance (12 Days!) to take her home, but we had our baby girl!!

This is Matt holding Emma in the hospital. Look at all that hair!! We love it!

Here is our caseworker and a nurse signing papers that released Emma into our custody.

Here we are about to leave the hospital for Emma's first ride in a car. She sure looks tiny in that car seat!

Since we had Emma with us, we really didn't get away from the hotel much. This is pretty much the only site-seeing we did while in Orlando. We passed this one day and I made Matt turn around to take a picture.

How tragic!

Emma at one week old. This proves to be a pattern. Emma always has her hands up by her face and often looks like she's posing for a photo. I guess she's just starting early.

While in Florida, Matt and I celebrated our 9th Anniversary by ordering take-out from Olive Garden and eating in the hotel. No complaints here. We loved having Emma with us and it didn't really matter where we were.

We arrived home to find that our friends and family had prepared our house for us. Matt's brother-in-law and sister gave us their crib and other essentials. They even took down the old bed and set up the crib in Emma's room for us! Matt's other sister made an adorable sign for Emma in her room and some of our friends decorated (mildly, thanks!) to welcome Emma to our house.

We soon settled into a sort of routine, which of course included a Sunday afternoon nap! Emma is an angel baby and doesn't fuss a lot, which makes for a happy mama and papa! She's a good eater, a good sleeper, and a great cuddler! Did I mention that she's SO ADORABLE?!!

Emma is 6 weeks old today and slept through the night last night. We are so spoiled. She's just barely big enough to sit in her Bumbo and likes being in it.