Our First Photo Shoot

Kirk and I had our pictures made Wednesday by Phil Ramsey. I have to admit, I was dreading this. Knowing how Ema naps and how her happiness depends on how long she naps made me nervous. We had a low key day and at 1:00 I put her down. At 1:45 she was awake and ready to go. I washoping for a 2 hour nap at least but that was what I got. We started to get ready and Ema was so happy becasue she thought she was going somewhere. We get to Phil's and she was a little shy at first but soon opened up. I will let Phil's blog tell the rest of the story.

Please go to http://philramsey.wordpress.com/

I am so proud of Ema. She was her normal self.....EVERYWHERE, INTO EVERYTHING!!! Is it just me or is she not the most beautiful little girl you have ever seen. I cannot stop looking at these pictures. I still find myself looking at her in amazement that God blessed us with this awesome child. We are the luckiest parents in the world!

Looking Back

I have been blessed to be able to stay home with Ema and really get to know her and learn so much about her and her curious personality. These last couple of months have been trying but in the same sense have been WONDERFUL. Kirk and I look back at our life before and say "What life before ?" What did we do before Ema. She is the light of our life now. I find myself looking at her everyday and saying, Oh my gosh, I cannot believe I am holding Ema. The child that I waited for over 2 years to get is now here. Then that brings me to how awesome God is. Kirk and I thank God everyday for allowing us to get Ema. All of you know the ups and downs that we went through to get her. Not knowing if it was really going to happen. It come to me getting on my knees before God and giving up. Showing God that I realize that I am NOT in control and that he is and trusting him that it WAS going to happen. My wonderful neighbor gave me scriptures to read and I filled my head and Kirk's head with these and I truely gave the whole adoption process to him. I felt weight lifted from me and we got the call. God is so good. All he wants from us is to TRUST him. Sometimes I find this to be really hard because I am a control freak but I am learning. There is a song on my blog that speaks of this. I have said that it is my song to Ema but really I think of it as God's song to me because it speaks to me so heavily. While I was in Vietnam I prayed that Ema would just trust me. I knew that I could care for her and that we would be fine if she would stop fighting me and just trust me. I think that is what God is saying to us. Stop fighting me and TRUST me. Stop trying to do it on your on, you don't have to solve problems on your own anymore. I am not sure why I felt the need to post this but it has been weighing on me to talk about how greatful Kirk and I are that Ema is now a part of our lives. We feel so blessed to have her and raise her to know our wonderful Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ!

Pudding Head

Ema had her first taste of chocolate pudding. Let's let the pictures talk.



Ema loved it and it was even better because we let her have fun and feed herself. Once she could not get it with a spoon she ate it with her fingers. She is such a little lady!

The Missing Link

For all of you who know there is another special little girl in mine and Kirk's life. Her name is Camille Grace. We have known Camille since she was born and fell in love with her instantly. Her mom and dad have always been some of our closest friends. They now live in Baltimore but we still feel just as close as if they were next door. We miss seeing them so much and hope that they get to plan a trip to meet our newest addition to our family. Camille is no longer a baby anymore and will be such a big help to Kirk and I when she does get to come. So Camille, if you are reading this, we love you so much and cannot wait to see you. You will ALWAYS hold a very special place in our hearts and no one will ever take your place there. :) We cannot wait to see you! Ema always has a picture of you in her hands (probably because your pictures are everywhere) and we are working on pronouncing your name. : It may take a while but we are trying. We love you!
(Oh Yeah...We know that you will be cheering for the Titan's this weendend! You will always have a little bit of Tennessee redneck in ya! :)





Raygen cannot wait to see you!

Funny Faces

Ema has the funniest expressions! She always acts so silly at the dinner table and I always have my camera beside me just in case it is a blog moment. Kirk and I usually laugh the entire time while eating because she has the funniest personality. It seems like she is learning something new everyday. I thought these pictures were to cute not to post. (I am sure she will hate them when she is older!) Hope these make you smile today!

Our first Memphis Game

Last night we tackled our first Memphis game with Ema. She loved it. Kirk and I have figured out that the more people and noise there is the happier Ema is. We got to the game early because we wanted to take her down to the bottom and let her see pouncer and the cheerleaders. She was more amazed by the team practicing. Her expression says it all.
The cheerleaders came by and talked to her and oooh'ed and ahhh'ed over her.



We were so afraid that the intro of the game may be a little frightening to her because it is so loud! Ema's eyes were the size of dinner plates and she rolled em up, rolled em up and yelled "ooooo Di Di's" (thats Gooooo Tigers!!!) (Ema loves the roll em up roll em up part of patty cake!!)

She had a great time!

After Dinner Snack

What child doesn't want to eat ice cream with her Ba? Ema will not eat ice cream out of a bowl with a spoon. No, she has to eat it out of a cone so that she gets it all over the place. She has not quite figured out how to lick the ice cream, she sucks on it like she is drinking from her sippy cup!

Happy New Year!

New Years Eve is always a little sad for me. I guess taking down the Christmas tree and looking back on all the happy times that you had that year just gets to me. Kirk and I have definitely had an exciting year. Getting the opportunity to run all of our races and being named road warriors was a huge accomplishment for us. Getting to follow the TIGERS to the National Championship game was also a lot of fun. (until we lost) While all of that is GREAT, the biggest event of 2008 for the Richardson's was getting to travel to Vietnam to get our long awaited baby girl, Ema Li Richardson. She has definitely put a little life into our home. We must have been the most boring two people on the face of the earth. Ema is on the go all of the time. She never stops! Not even to sleep. This is our New Years resolution for her - Ema to sleep for at least 5 hours. Oh how I miss my sleep. I think I need to go back to work to get some rest. :) Here are some cute pictures that have not been posted! Enjoy!

Ema and Uncle Sam!




Ema loves to swiffer. I wonder where she learned how to do this? I hope she likes a clean house like I do!

Road Warriors!

Well everyone who knows Kirk and I, know that one of our hobbies is running. I run daily and we LOVE to run in road races. Beginning in July, we entered the Memphis Runners Club summer Road Race series. This series of races is a huge challenge. It consist of 2 races a month: 2- 5K's, 2- 5 milers, 2- 10K's, 2- 10 milers, and 2- half marathons. For two years Kirk and I have been chasing after this trophy but in order to get it you have to run every race. Every year something always happens, schedule conflict, illness, etc. This year we did not let anything stand in our way. Today we officially became road warriors! We will have to go to a banquet in January and will be presents with our awards. I know that it sounds like I am tooting my on horn, but I am very proud of both of us!

Blogging...

I am feeling a little under the weather today so I have spent may hours on my laptop blogging. (Laura said that it wouldn't take long and you were right) I have been very productive. I figured that if everyone else was going to have a blog showing what their family was up to then we should have one too. You will see that we are pretty boring people. Hopefully, once we get Ema she will liven our lives up a little.