Molly's First Photo Shoot

We got our pictures in from our friend Matt and these were some of my favorites.

Friends and Family

Molly has been able to spend time with some friends and family this weekend (although she was sad to miss her dinner date with her Donahue buddies who are a little under the weather!)

We had dinner with our friends Nicole, Michael, and baby Cooper who has gotten SO big since we last saw him before Vietnam. Molly had her first Qdoba dinner! We also had cheesecake to celebrate Nicole's birthday Friday. (Happy birthday, Nicole!)

Don't they make a cute little couple? :-)

Nicole and Molly at Starbucks

Molly also got to meet her cousin Lexie for the first time. Chris, Ashley, and Lexi came over and Mom made some of her good Chili which was perfect for the fall weather we've been having. At the risk of sounding like an obnoxious old aunt, I'm going to also comment on how much Lexi has grown since we last saw her. She's talking up a storm and has such a little personality!
Molly has been spending some alone time with Nana who will be watching her when I return to work. I snapped this cute picture before we left for the doctor's office. Molly stayed with my mom while I saw the doctor and did great--no tears at all! Then Brian and I ran some errands today and Nana came to watch Molly at our house for the first time. I missed Molly the whole time! I thought we had been gone several hours and Brian informed me that we only left her for an hour and a half. Fortunately, Molly took the separation a lot better than I did and had a great time with Nana!
This picture was from last week, but I just got it off of my friend Tara's page and thought it was SO super cute! I love how you can get a glimpse of Molly's personality in this picture! :-)

11 Months Old!

Today our baby girl is 11 months old! This time next month, we'll be celebrating Molly's first birthday! :-)

Family Pictures

Our friend Matt is a photographer and he came to our house Friday to take pictures of Molly. I haven't gotten the individual pictures of Molly yet, but I did get our family pictures. Molly was not happy about the big camera, but Matt still did a great job and got some great pictures! I can't wait to get the rest of them!

Check out Matt's webpage at http://gallery.mattcase.info/

Some other cute Molly picture from this week:

Remembering Zeke

There is nothing special about today. Today isn't Zeke's birthday or the anniversary of the day he met Jesus. I just wanted to write about him today. We still think about him and miss him everyday. Having Molly home has made me think about Zeke a lot. I so wish that Zeke could be here to meet his little sister.

Zeke at 10 1/2 months

Molly at 10 1/2 months"Oh yes, you shaped me first inside, then out;

you formed me in my mother's womb.
I thank you, High God—you're breathtaking!
Body and soul, I am marvelously made!
I worship in adoration—what a creation!
You know me inside and out,
you know every bone in my body;
You know exactly how I was made, bit by bit,
how I was sculpted from nothing into something.
Like an open book, you watched me grow from conception to birth;
all the stages of my life were spread out before you,
The days of my life all prepared
before I'd even lived one day. "
--Psalm 139:13-16

First Doctor's Appointment

Molly had her first doctor's appointment since returning to the United States. Dr. Twerdi was our pediatrician with Zeke and we LOVE her. She's no longer in Monroe, but we decided for the first little while it was worth the drive to see her. It looks like Molly's rash is eczema. Dr. Twerdi gave us a prescription cream so hopefully it will continue to get better. Molly weighed 17lbs yesterday! She's gained a whole pound since she was weighed in Vietnam! So far, she's been a very healthy girl! We're very blessed!

First Week Home

It's hard to believe that we've been home a little over a week! Molly is doing well and adjusting very nicely. She's gotten into a nice little routine and has been a very happy baby. She's eating and sleeping very well. She got a bad rash when we got home, but that's slowly cleared up. It made me feel better to learn that rashes when arriving home are common with internationally adopted children. Her face and back looked pretty bad for the first couple of days, but are looking a lot better now.

Molly and I stayed home this week, but several people came to visit and she liked meeting new people. Yesterday, we took her out for the first time to run errands. We were out at lunch time so we even ate lunch out and she did great! So far, she doesn't seem to mind the carseat too much which I was really concerned about. Then we took her to church today and she got to meet all of her new church friends. Of course, we've taken A TON of pictures Molly's first week home. I think Brian's pretty tired of me saying, "Honey? Can you bring me the camera?" She smiles all of the time, but not for the camera. Either she smiles and I miss it or she's smiling and I get out the camera and she gets serious. Our friend Matt who is a photographer is doing some pictures of her this week. Hopefully he'll have better luck than I do! For now, here are some of the many pictures Mommy has taken this week:

Alright, Daddy--I'm dressed! Now where are you taking me?

I guess the carseat isn't too bad if I have my binky.

Toy box? No! It's a Molly box!

Still loving bath time!

All clean and ready for bed!

A couple of cute pictures from Molly and Mommy's photo session!
We bought these dresses in Vietnam.

Our friend Tara took this picture and I LOVE it! This is Molly's first time in the grass in our backyard. She isn't quite sure what she thinks of grass yet.

If you can't tell, we are just loving our little girl. I was thinking in church this morning about how grateful I am that God lead us to Vietnam. Even though it was a bumpy road, I know that Molly was the little girl that God had planned for our family.

Sweet Baby Molly

These are a couple of great pictures from the airport. They were taken by my friend Annie Beth. What a sweet baby!

Home Sweet Home

While we had a great trip to Vietnam, there is no place like home! It has been so nice to settle in and have Molly at home. So far, she is doing very well. She's been clingy since we've been home, but that's getting better. She's venturing farther and farther away from me and has even let me leave the room a couple of times today while she's been playing with Daddy. So far, she's sleeping well. She's sleeping the same amount that she was sleeping in Vietnam which has really suprised me. She's gone to bed and gotten up very early both days (we've all had breakfast at around 4:30AM both days) but is only getting up once at night. She's also been sleeping in her crib!! Brian and I were fine with her sleeping with us, but I feel like she has to sleep better in her crib so I've been very excited that she's taken to it so well. This morning she even played with her aquirum for a little while (maybe 5 mintues) before calling me to come get her.

We're very slowly getting the house back into order. Lots of unpacking and laundry--but we're finally able to see the floor again! We haven't brought Ruthie home yet because we wanted to give Molly some time to settle in before we introduce another family member, but we'll probably bring her home in the next day or so.

Brian goes back to work tomorrow--very sad! I've so enjoyed having him home the last few days--I'm really going to miss him! Molly and I aren't planning on leaving the house this week just so that Molly can get into a routine and start to feel secure here. We're planning on going to church Sunday for our first outing!

Here are a few pictures from the airport and from our first couple of days at home. We fall in love with our little girl more and more every day. It feels like she's always been a part of our family. :-)

Welcome home, Molly!

Maia and Molly together again!
(I think Dana and I were a little more excited about this than the babies were!)

Playing with toys in her room

First breakfast in her highchair (at 4AM)

We're Home!

Just a quick note to let everyone know that we made it home safely. The trip home was rough (not because of Molly, but because I got sick) but God is good! We are home and so far Molly is doing very well. Praise God!

"Your unfailing love, O Lord, is as vast as the heavens;
your faithfulness reaches beyond the clouds."
--Psalm 36:5

Our Last Full Day in Vietnam

It is unreal to think that today was our last full day in Vietnam. While we are very ready to get home, I'm kind of sad to leave. We've settled into a nice little routine here and I'm going to miss our walks around the lake and Highlands Coffee freezes (very similar to Starbucks Frappuchino but CHEAPER!) And I'm really going to miss the people. I LOVE how the people stop to talk to us and to Molly. But it's time for us to leave, and we're excited about seeing our friends and family and sleeping in our own bed.

There were a few things on our to-do list for our last day in Vietnam. I wanted to buy Molly a quilt at Vietnam Quilts and we were able to get her the one I loved in pink to match her room! It's really beautiful. I attempted to get a picture of Molly WITH her quilt--but after several outtakes, we decided the picture of the quilt itself would have to suffice.
We also wanted to get some good video of the streets of Hanoi. We took the "Molly Cam" and captured the crazy Hanoi streets as well as some of our favorite places.

Brian and Molly had their first daddy-daughter date today. Brian took Molly for a walk around the lake while I worked on getting things packed to leave. It was the first time Molly had been away from me and it was a little rough--for me, that is! As you can tell by the pictures, Molly didn't mind. :-)

We have been so blessed with a good trip including good health for all of us. Thank you all for your thoughts and prayers--they've been felt on the other side of the world! :-)

Message from Daddy

Melissa is currently occupied with the baby, so this is a message from Daddy. We had Molly's visa medical appointment today. She weighs 16.2 lbs! Molly appears to be very healthy! It looks like we will be leaving as scheduled on Friday. We have spent the last few days walking around our section of Hanoi and exploring (and shopping). Molly has also discovered she is a big fan of baby cookies!
Below are a couple of cute Molly pics!

Molly's Passport!

Lots of good news! Molly got her passport today! Woo-hoo! The other good news is that we will be able to leave on Friday! We will be home Saturday morning! We've really enjoyed our time in Vietnam, but we're ready to get Molly home. If you'd like our specific return flight information, please email us.

And today's cute Molly pictures: Molly first thing in the morning!