What we appreciate Emily the most are: she is always ready to share her favorite stuff (food, toys, etc.) with others; she is much more obedient than we expected her to; she puts things back most of the time after she finishes using or playing with them. She brings plates to the kitchen; puts diapers in the trash can; throws clothes in the washing machine; ... After I told David how Emily gave her toys back after I asked her to at ToysRus, David told me that at Walmart, Emily wanted to see the balloons. She held on her favorite balloon to the checkout line. Just when David was ready to pay for it, Emily said, "Daddy, put the balloon back ..." Our little girl shows her sweet nature all the time. We are truly thankful for her!
For Emily's birthday, we invited the people who loved her and took care of her during the summer: Gayla and David, Weiting, Andrea, and Mary Ellen. She had a wonderful time. The theme of the party was Noah's Ark (2x2). David made the cake and I drew an ark that looked like from a preschooler's hand. Emily was so talkative and she made everyone laughing all the time. We made the animal shaped sandwiches, letters icecubes, etc. She said many times:" Emily is sooo happy!" We also took Emily to the zoo by the light rail train for the first time. She enjoyed everything although a lion tried to attack her twice (luckily she didn't see the loin; otherwise she would have scared to crying).
"Yeah, birthday cake is coming!"
"This is zebra." (she named all the animals)
Noah's ark - We're flooded with excitement!
Animal shaped chicken salad sandwiches
Our guests who showered the love on her during the summer
Open the gifts (she said, "NICE!!!" after she opened it)
We got her the doodle and the panda pillow
Gayla got her a tea set and other gifts
She thought the cake was for real to eat
"How old are you?" "I'm TWO!"
Sharing her puffs with the elephants in the zoo
Hi, flamingo!
Her favorite things to do in the zoo: running around
Her favorite thing: climbing
Her favorite thing: pat the pumpkin
Andy turned six months old in November. His height was in 97-100 percentile; His weight was in 75-90 percentile; He is such a happy baby that he giggles all the time. He was happy even after he was waken up from deep sleep a couple of times. He can sit up briefly without support now. We started rice cereal and the vegetable for him. He seemed to take them in very well although he didn't care much about the carrots. The monkey head blankie is his favorite teething object. He loves playing Peekaboo, staying in the jumperoo, and watching the baby videos. His hands love to pat and grab on things. His grips are very tight. Oh, he was complimented on his bright eyes all the time. Look at these sweet smiles:
Our missionary friends Andrew and Jaime visited us right before Thanksgiving. Emily loved them. They came to the International Thanksgiving Dinner and performed in the party. Since it was the first time in a long time for Andy to stay up that late; plus that he didn't take good naps during the day because we were cutting the tree down in the backyard due to the foundation problem it caused; he had a hard time falling asleep that night. Luckily he bounced right back the next day.
My mom enjoyed the dinner too
We took Emily and Andy to the train exhibition in the Northpark mall. We all enjoyed it.
Amy's family and Dad came for Thanksgiving on Wednesday. On Thanksgiving day, we had the traditional Thanksgiving meal with my mom, Grandpa Jack and our Friendspeak friends Weiting and Andrea. Then we had turkey dinner with Amy and Kendall. Unfortunately Emily got sick on Friday. David and I got sick also. We are still trying to protect Andy (Luckily my mom is here. Sigh!!). Talking about the Thanksgiving tradition, we started the "I'm Thankful For" book to jot down the blessings each year. We also started the morning devotion on Thanksgiving. Emily had four books to read: I'm Thankful Each Day; Thanks for Thanksgiving; Thank You Prayer; and Thankful Together. They are all excellent books to teach kids to be thankful for little things and everyday things in their life. Before the Thanksgiving meal, David put the things and people that Emily was thankful for on the flash cards to let her say them. In the future, she'll have to say them without the reminder from the flash cards.
A Word of Thanksgiving:
The Bible told us: "Be joyful always; pray continually; give thanks in all circumstances, for this is God's will for you in Christ Jesus." I Thessalonians 5:16-18 But I have to admit that it's so hard to do this, especially under stress or when hurting. Being thankful was on the bottom of my mind when things didn't go right. So this is a time for me to stop and reflect for what I've neglected.
What am I thankful this year? I like what Debbie Przybylski said:
"I believe it is the thanks that comes from taking an inventory of our lives and seeing with fresh eyes how all the events have brought us to this moment in time.
Being grateful for the people and the lessons that have taught us so much and seeing God's hand at work through those who have crossed our paths.
Learning to live in the present and recognizing the good that surrounds us even when we are experiencing a momentary setback.
Looking back on the most difficult times in our lives and seeing the positive results of our rising above those painful circumstances.
And I believe that sometimes, the "best" thanks of all is the confident assurance through faith and hope, that life holds many more blessings yet to be discovered."
So this Thanksgiving, before we gathered around our tables to share turkey, dressing and cranberry sauce; let me take time to give thanks for so many things and people that impacted us in the past, is impacting us at present, and will impact us in the future. Let me lift up a prayer for them: "I'm thankful for you!"
Emily said, "Hi, how are you? I'm doing good! I'm just playing in the backyard." (Funny!)
Emily stole a bit of icecream when she helped David to make the milk shake
Emily picked up the colorful leaves and use them as stencils to cut out the paper leaves later on.
Emily had fun with the finger paint
Emily and daddy
Hanging out with grandma
Emily's first dental visit
Helping out with gardening
Christmas is around the corner. Cleaning, setting up the tree, shopping for the gifts, sending out the Christmas cards, baking, ... I made a resolution last year to pull my thoughts back on the true meaning of Christmas. So this year we already started our family tradition: the advent calendar; the advent devotional; the advent Bible verse chain; 25 names of Jesus ... I'm so enjoying doing this with Emily and I can't wait to give you an update next month. Merry Christmas to you all and Happy giving!!!
