Home 1 week today!!!

Can you believe it's already been a week since we've been home? We've been so busy settling in to our new "normal" that time has just flown by! I believe that I'm finally caught up with my sleep and Brian is too!

Emalee is adjusting really well now! She's sleeping in her crib instead of in our bed! : ) She sleeps through the night only waking once for a bottle and then goes right back to sleep! She's such a happy and sweet baby. We are very blessed! She still has some grieving time every day, but it it's slowly diminishing. She does seem to still get upset when we've had too much stimulation, so we're still limiting certain things for her. She's still fragile and needs to learn who her caregivers are and build a bond and trust with us. We're also not introducing very many new toys/rattles to her so that she has something consistent every day.

The boys are doing well with her too! They both love her very much and talk and play with her daily. They've told their classes about her and one of them has requested that I bring her for "show 'n' tell"! Isn't that funny! Maybe in a few weeks!

Brian and I look at Emalee every day and still cry! We're just so happy to have her home with us! We've notice that Emalee has my bow tie lips and Brian's crooked pinkie finger! She's a perfect fit! We're amazed that we've been praying for this child since before she was formed in the womb of her birth mother! That just goes to show that the Lord does have a perfect plan for us...a plan for a hope and a future! We're just blessed that her future includes us!

Here's a poem I found a few months ago:

A Half A World Away~

A half a world away

Sometimes it seems we're so far apart.

but a half a world away,

Is not too far for a journey of the heart.

My little one, my precious joy,

I'm waiting for you.

My precious daughter, my little girl,

I know you're waiting too.

A half a world away,

A child waits for a family of her own.

While a half a world away,

A family waits to come bring her home.

My little one, my precious joy,

I'm whispering a prayer,

My precious daughter, my little girl,

I hope to soon be there.

A half a world away,

So many months of waiting are past.

A half a world away,

So many miles to bring you home at last.

My little one, my precious joy,

You're finally home to stay.

My precious daughter, my little girl,

We celebrate this day.

Knowing we

will no longer be

a half a world away.

~Jill Work

Our 3rd day as a family of FIVE!!!

We had a good start to our day because we actually got to sleep through the night! Emalee slept from 9 p.m. until 7 a.m. We were very pleased to get some sleep. She did cry a lot yesterday and hardly napped in the day time. There's a certain cry that's called the "grieving" cry. I had been told about it from other adoption friends of mine, but didn't know what it would be like until Emalee started grieving yesterday. It's a heart breaking and very sad cry. There's a distinct difference in that cry compared to her "I'm hungry" cry, etc. Like I said yesterday there's nothing to soothe her except to hold her and let her get it out. She does seem to be very comforted by being in my baby carrier so I wound up carrying her for about 4-5 hours yesterday. We're trying to limit her company to help her transition. Thank you to all my friends & family that understand this! We really appreciate it!

If you scroll all the way down to the bottom of this page I posted two pictures today. The first one is Brian holding Emalee in Korea for the first time and the next one is a picture I took of her on the jet smiling at Brian...she loves her daddy! Psalm 112 should be happy to see some pics! Whoever you are would you please identify yourself???

David and Jacob are doing really well today. Yesterday was a little rough on one of them because I was very occupied with Emalee. Today she has been really good and content, so that has helped me to have more time to spend with the boys today. Brian also took the boys out today for some Daddy time. They love their daddy too!

We're Home!

I finally have a little time to write today. Brian is playing with Emalee right now. The boys are at Chuck E. Cheese with a friend of mine.

We're getting some sleep. Not much at a time, but some. Emalee slept in her crib last night from 9-11 then got up for a bottle and stayed awake until 12:30 a.m. She's doing most of her grieving cry around this time. She'll wake up on and off and just do this sad little cry. There's nothing that can console her...she just has to cry it out for a few minutes then she'll fall asleep again. She had another bottle at 4 a.m. and then slept until 9 a.m. She's been awake since then. I'm sure another nap is around the corner.

She's a little bitty thing. I actually have her in a size 1 diaper right now! She weighs about 14 pounds and only has 4 oz. of formula about every 3 hours. Her personality is so precious. She likes to laugh and talk to us. I think that she'll adjust rather quickly. Probably a few weeks and she'll be settled in well.

Thanks to all of you that showed up at the airport. It made a very special day even more special for us. We feel very loved by all of you. Also, thanks to those that got gifts for Emalee, David and Jacob. The boys liked all their presents and I think they felt special too!

I'm getting spoiled by all the great dinners we receiving. I may never want to cook again!

Thanks for taking care of our family during this transition. We really appreciate your kindness and generosity. We're very blessed!

Have a wonderful day!

Email From Heather

Hi! This is Laura, Heather's sister! I got this email from Heather tonight and thought I would post it on here. Isn't God Awesome? Please remember to Pray for the Nothnagel's as they travel home. Heather, I will add my own prayer on here for you all. Thanks for letting me blog for you! I enjoyed it. After my prayer, I'll turn your blog back over to you and your password is now erased from my mind! LOL!

Laura,

It's 8:27 a.m. and just thought I'd tell some family member that we're leaving our hotel and going to get Emalee now!

Love you! Heather

Heavenly Father, I lift my sister and her family up to you as they start their journey home. Thank you God for giving them Emalee and for weaving this family together like only You could do. Thank you Father that You call them Yours. I thank You for giving Emalee a foster mother that loves her so much. Please be with her and fill her heart with Your love as Emalee leaves her to be with the family that you have chosen for her. I also pray Father that you fill the emptiness in Emalee's birth mother's heart and that somehow she would know God that Emalee is loved so very much. Thank You for this birth mother and the gift that she has given us. Thank you God for giving all of us a new joy and this wonderful new life to share with Heather and Brian. Please, God, just wrap your loving arms around this family as they begin bonding with eachother and growing in Your love. I ask that You just gently carry them in your hands as you bring them back to us. I also ask Lord, that you be with David and Jacob and help them to grow close to Emalee. Father, please be with Emalee as she travels and adjusts to her new life and family.
In Jesus name I pray, Amen

We Met Emalee!!!!!!

Emalee and her foster mother

Brian giving Emalee her first daddy kiss

Heather giving Emalee her first mommy kiss

Heather finally getting to gaze in Emalee's face and wiping up some baby drool!

Hello Everyone! What a wonderful day today has been! We went to Eastern at 9:45 this morning and met with the intake worker, Mrs. Park and received Emalee's passport and visa.
At 10:00 we met with the two Dr. Kim's (Jr. and Sr.) Our meeting with them was very nice. The meeting with Dr. Kim Sr. was very touching. He kept telling us thank you. He was pleased that we came to Korea to experience some of the culture here. We could tell that it was very important to him that we did that. He got teary during our meeting and we could tell that he truly has a heart for the orphan. He's a wonderful man of God. He told us that 45,000 orphans have found homes through Eastern since it was founded.
After our meeting with the Dr. Kims we walked down the hall to another room to meet Emalee. As we walked down the hall we spotted her! Our social worker lead us into the meeting room and then Emalee and her foster mother came in. Emalee was in a carrier on her foster mother's back. She was wearing the sweater that I sent her in January and a knitted white hat that her foster mother had made for her.
After we were introduced the foster mother handed her to me (Heather). I cried and kissed and hugged and told her how pretty she was and how much we all love her. I couldn't be happier! She is so cute and such a sweet and easy going baby. She never fussed the whole time we were with her. I held her up in the air and she smiled at me. Such a sweet smile! She seems very happy and content. Her foster mother said that she really only cries when she's hungry and said she thought she'd do well on the flight home.
Brian held her next. Emalee seems to really like Brian a lot. She smiled and laughed with him quite a bit. Her foster mother said that she seems to take to men better. Brian said that she's won his heart forever. She sucks on her hand a lot...she even chewed on Heather's finger a bit. She's a drooler! The foster mother said that Emalee will probably like David and Jacob a lot too!
After Brian held her I took her again and Emalee's foster mother, Mrs. Kim, started crying. She loves Emalee so much and it really showed. She's had seven foster babies, but Emalee is the first girl that she's ever had, so Emalee was very special to her. We're just amazed at the love she's shown Emalee and so grateful for it. We could never thank her enough. She will be in our hearts always!
We gave gifts to Mrs. Kim and then she gave us a hanbok for Emalee and a photo album of pictures that have been taken since she's had her. The photos are priceless since they are all we have of Emalee since she's been born other than the 3 we got from our agency. We also got a necklace for Emalee. It has the Korean flag on one side and on the other side Emalee's birthdate and her Korean name inscribed in hangul. This will be something to always treasure!
It was very hard to give her back when our visit ended. I had to give her more kisses and more hugs! Emalee was strapped to Mrs. Kim's back and then they left the building. It was a beautiful day and a wonderful meeting with our precious baby!
After our meeting with Emalee we had a traditional Korean lunch with Dr. Kim Sr. and other staff at Eastern. We sat at a table with Tricia and Charlie Morgan who are from TX. to adopt their daughter. There was a couple from Australia adopting a baby that we sat with too. There was an adult adoptee who was back visiting and a Dad with his 2 adopted children from Massachusetts here doing a home land tour. It was nice to sit and visit with all these other families and share in eachothers joy.
We will go to Eastern again at 8:40 in the morning. Dr. Kim Sr. will pray over Emalee and us and then we'll get her and go to the airport! Our flight leaves Korea at noon, we land in Chicago and have a layover there for awhile and should be home around 4:45 Tuesday evening.
We ask that you please keep Emalee's foster mother in your prayers. She's going to have a very difficult time tomorrow! She's a very sweet and wonderful woman. Also, please pray that our flights are not cancelled! And of course please pray that Emalee does well on the flight.
We love you all and will see you Tuesday!
Love,
Brian and Heather

Sunday In Seoul

Hello Everyone!
It's Sunday evening at 8 p.m. right now. We've had a busy day being tourists. This morning we went to Seoul Station and Lotte Mart and Pizza Hut and a palace (can't remember the name right now.)
Seoul Station is comparable to Grand Central Station. There are a lot of people there coming and going. We saw quite few S. Korean military men there.
Lotte Mart is like a Target/Walmart Super Center. We got to observe Koreans in their every day lives. It's 2 stories tall and has an escalator w/o stairs, more like a ramp so shopping carts can go up and down. It was pretty neat.
At the palace we witnessed the changing of the guards ceremony. We really are not sure about much of this, but enjoyed the sightseeing of it.
This evening we went to Seoul Tower. It is a major tourist attraction in Seoul. We went to the top of it and could see the whole city. Unfortunately, it's very over cast here but it was neat too! The tower is the 3rd tallest tower in the world.
Have you every tried Bulgogi Pizza at Pizza Hut? We didn't risk it, but it looked good. We're trying not to eat too much of the ethnic foods here. Some of them look really yummy, but we're afraid of getting sick and don't want to be sick when we bring a new baby home. We did try Bipbimbap on the airplane. It's okay, but we're not crazy about eating seaweed.
We're calling it a day now! Our legs are sore from walking so much today.
Anyway, we'll meet Dr. Kim Sr. and Jr. at 10 a.m. tomorrow. They are the founders of Eastern. Then at 11 a.m. we'll meet Emalee and her foster parents. We can't wait! After meeting Emalee we think we'll be having lunch at Eastern. We hear that there are several other staff members that we'll meet during lunch. If there's enough time after that we may rock the babies again.
We both thank you so much for all the prayers. Tomorrow will be another emotional day for us. It's been such a blessing to experience the people and culture of our daughter's birth country. We're so glad that we'll be able to answer some of the many questions that she may be asking some day. This is a beautiful country with a rich culture.
We love you all!
Brian and Heather

This Is Not Heather, but as close to her as you can get right now!

Hi everyone! This is Laura, Heathers sister. She is unable to post to this blog so she is emailing her posts to me and I am maintaining her blog while she is away. I will try to check my mail as much as possible and get her next blog up quickly. She is unable to reply to your comments right now, but if you wish to leave her comments please do so as I have set this up for her to receive them via email. I know she would love to hear from you all! As you can tell, they are doing well and having a good time. The best time will be when they get to hold Emalee and take her home!