When A Child Is Born: First Road Trip and Baby Blessing

Emily is funny. She likes playing for a while in her crib after she wakes up. We have to listen very carefully to know that she is awake. Most of time we won't know until we walk in. She covers her face with the blanket as soon as she sees us. When we asked:" Where is Emily?" and took off the blanket "There she is!", she would break into a big giggle. She loves Peek and Boo and "Ten Little Indians". Of course, a smiling face never fails to win her smiles or laughters. She enjoys using her hands - grabbing, sweeping, touching everything. My favorite thing is when we change her diaper. If we ask, "Emily, could you please hold your legs for me?" She would grab both of her legs and help out as long as she could ... Isn't she precious?!!!

This past week was a busy week. Our missionary friend Eileen is in town. She stayed with us on Tuesday. Dad was on the way to Austin and stopped by too. On Wednesday, Jerry and his mom came to visit. David worked with Eileen and helped Jerry with his homework. He was exhausted by the end of the day. Thursday we packed up and went to Houston to apply for my passport (it's going to expire in July). We stayed with David's good friend Terry and his family. Hong made delicious Vietnamese dinner. Terry and Elizabeth played violin and piano for us. Emily was so tired that she fell asleep on her own in the PackNPlay when the rest of the crowd were visiting.

Friday we applied the passport in the morning and headed to Austin in the afternoon. We went to the hospital to see Amy and Sophia - our new niece who was born on April 22. Both of them looked great. When we went home in the evening, Emily was tired and fell asleep on her own in Chloe's crib again. We were amazed at how well she did in a strange environment! Chloe kept us entertained till everyone was ready for bed. Saturday we helped Amy to check out from the hospital. Amy did so well that we even stopped at a Mexican restaurant for lunch on our way home. I couldn't imagine to have that strength and energy on the third day after childbirth! David made a chocolate cake and baked sweet potato for Amy's birthday since we won't be there next Saturday. After the cake, we headed back to Dallas. Poor Emily - she was confined in the car seat for at least four hours for three days in a row! We really felt for her small body. But she did amazingly well. She went to bed as soon as we got home.

This Sunday was the baby blessing Sunday. We got up early for the early service. Then we stayed for the first ten minutes during the second service. Gordon prayed for all the new babies including Emily and asked each parent and every church member to make commitment to bring up these babies in Christ. After church we had a brunch with other babies and their parents. Emily was a little cranky in the end. We went home and found out she was having constipation. She's been through a lot this week!

Helping out during diaper changes