One month home…almost

Ok so we've been home almost a month.  I have barely been able to keep my head above water and fall into bed exhausted every night.  The boys are doing WONDERFUL!!! REALLY they are! But having 4 little ones under 5 is SO FULL ON!!!  we have gotten into a good schedule, the boys are sleeping through the night (praise the Lord), and my 3 at home all day are napping at the same time (also a huge praise).  They are adjusting to our family life really well and bonding with the girls well.  Of course their are sharing issues and wanting attention from mommy and daddy, but that is from all of them not just the boys.  Everyone is readjusting and getting into the groove of our new life.  since we've been home both boys really seem to "know"this place is different.  We have had no problems with bedtime or nap time like we did in China.  There has been NO meltdowns putting them in bed.  Both are attaching well to us.  Elijah finally decided he liked me and wanted to be a mommas boy although he loves his daddy still.  Isaiah realized matt really isn't scary and will typically calm down quicker with Matt than with me now.  He loves to laugh and play and usually is just running around singing and laughing.  Yes he has his moments where his 2 year old self and still trying to sort us out will come out and he will have a meltdown.  Thankfully those are getting less and less.  As language develops and he can express his needs clearer the whining will be less and less too.  He adores his sisters, especially Adelynn.  

Adelynn has been an AMAZING BIG sister.  She loves on them, shares with them, cares for them and looks after them.  When we bring them to pick her up from school her face just lights up and she wants to tell all her friends and teachers about them.  

Abygail really loves them both too and is happy they are here, she just wishes they "would talk to her".  She has had a bit harder time adjusting but every day is better.  She is still excited to see them everyday and is always saying how cute and sweet they are.  having an older sister that constantly wants to play with her has been confusing as to why her little brothers don't play with her.  This is of course mainly because they are just 1 & 2 and don't know yet how to play "with" someone.  It will come! 

Elijah just loves to be with people and make people laugh.  He goes and gets his shoes all the time and just wants to "go", doesn't matter where.  If he thinks he's going to stay home with one of us, he gets upset that he's not included.  He is learning parts of his body and also loves to sing! This little guy loves to be loved! Well they both do really.  But man he gets such a kick out of getting cuddles and kisses! We have scheduled his surgery for Nov 29.  Much sooner than we expected but it's going to be ok.  He is doing so well.  Praying the surgeon will be able to do all of his palate (not just hard palate) at the same time as his lip and we wont' have to have another surgery in 3 months.  

This is just a quick update with LOTS of pictures.  I"m about to fall asleep now.  Will try to write more about what the last month has looked like soon!

Thank you all for praying for us and for the boys! So happy to all be together as a family!

 first hellos, first cuddles, & seeing room

first meal as a family of 6

Little Pips (first toddler group)

tea party

 this is how we roll with 3 in a buggy!

 bonfire night at adelynn's school

shopping with mom

cooking with dad

    

picking up adelynn from school

feeding her brother

playing in his room with his toys!

pops is fun!

i like cake!!

                           first outing together                                                                      scooters are fun!

                                                                         I like the swing!

muddy puddles

Princess Abygail's Birthday

Oh My goodness we're so glad to be home together as a family.  It is so crazy as soon as we got to the house both the boys seemed to be at ease.  Maybe it's because Matt and I were relieved to be home and they felt that, but there was more of a peace settle over them.  They have done FANTASTIC since being home.  I'll tell you more about that in another post but now I wanted to share about our little 3 year old princess.

Abygail turned 3 while we were in China.  I refused to acknowledge it or let anyone celebrate her birthday till we got home.  Good thing Adelynn doesn't know how to read a calendar yet.  Mimi and Pop took the girls to the aquarium while we were gone for "all their birthdays".  So the day after we got back we had a party for her.  Thankfully Matt's mom brought some party decorations and some boxed cake mix for me.  I am a bit embarrassed by my cake, not up to my standards but hey at least I made one huh?  In the two weeks we were gone both my girls decided they were ready to be princesses.  Good thing I was starting to get this feeling because she got 3 princess dressing up outfits, play slippers, "make up", & hair dressing kit.  We decorated her cake with bright pink and purple icing and had pink and purple balloons.   Didn't want to have too many people over so we just had Finn, Giselle, and Katherine over.  It was good to see her too!

They kids had a great time together and the boys played wonderfully with everyone.  It was so great to see how they will fit right into our family.  Finn and Giselle were excited to meet the boys and did a good job of including them on their play.

Abygail really enjoyed the attention and I enjoyed getting to see her so dramatically open her presents. Her line was "this is the best present ever" or "I've always wanted this".  Such a great person to buy gifts for.

My little firecracker's world is being rocked.  She is doing good but really adjusting to not being the  baby is difficult.  Most of the time she is really happy to have the boys around, but she is needing extra attention from mommy and daddy.  I don't think she realized how much she missed us till we got home, as she did't want Pop or Mimi to do anything for her at all.  She has needed extra cuddles and love from us, which is fine and I'm grateful that Isaiah and Elijah are letting us do this without feeling too threatened.  She is full of life and joy.  God is going to use her for some amazing things in her life.  Her headstrong and independent personality will keep her from needing to follow the crowd and allow her to follow strong after Him.  She is loving and kind and sensitive,  all qualities that are wonderful and make her a treasure to us and to her Father.  She is a little princess for sure!!

Passports, family, & leaving the US

We got into Dallas at 5am.  Mom & dad stayed at a hotel in the airport so we went back & showered & printed off the tickets for us to take yo the passport agency.  This was the one piece of the puzzle I had been most nervous about.  We had to make sure all our paperwork was in & correct.  We were praying they would issue our passports same day.  If not we'd have to change our plane tickets.  It was a leap of faith but felt that we could trust God to provide! Left at 730 to get to the building in downtown Dallas.  Never know with rush hour traffic if a 20 min ride is going to take 20 mins or 2 hours, but thankful we made it & were parked be 815.  Was able yo call the girls then go in. When all prayed before we left the car that the agent would be gracious & everything would go smoothly!  We checked in & were #5.  I looked at Matt & said I hope this one guy helps us,  he just had this gracious look about him.  Thankfully he did! He must have seem the anxious look on my face because he told me several times not to worry it would get done today! It took 2 hours of waiting & going through paperwork but at 11 we signed the paperwork & were told to come at 2pm to get the passports! Praise The Lord! We could get home!! So grateful that He went before us to prepare everything & work it all out! Now we could enjoy some family time before leaving Sunday!

Well jet lag hit us hard! I hadn't really slept in 3 days & was emotionally, physically. & mentally exhausted.  The boys were so tired & confused as well.  I just tried to stay awake.  Relaxing at David & Kay's with mom & dad was so special though! No one slept on Friday night though & Isaiah had multiple meltdowns, screaming for an hour in the middle of the night! Not fun! Needless to say I had a meltdown on Saturday morning! Mom & Kay told me I had to sleep & not to get up till we left for lunch. Reset was needed! The rest of the day was better, Mexican for lunch, good naps for the boys, & a target trip for me. 

I realized that there might be an issue with the boys tickets.  We had them issued in their Chinese names because we didn't know we could get their US names in their passports.  We ended them to travel on their US passports though.  I talked to our agent & he said we couldn't change them without loosing the tickets.  Then I found out there was a big storm coming to London & flights would likely be delayed or cancelled. Needless to say I did not need anything getting us home or adding extra stress.  I just kept praying for peace & that a God would orchestrate the details despite the barriers for us to be home Monday morning.  Sunday afternoon got word that long haul flights to the UK would nit be delayed! First praise! We get to the airport in plenty of time to check in.  The agent said we couldn't travel on the boys US passorts because their names were not the same & they couldn't check us in on their Chinese passports because they didn't have visas to the UK.  Is was exactly what I was afraid of! Not only that but they couldn't change them because the tickets had been issued by British airways & it was an American Airlines flight we were on.  We had to go down to the BA desk & ask them if they would change them.  It took them an hour! We still hadn't checked in for our flight.  Finally at 630 we got back to the AA counter to check in for our 730 flight.  The agent who helped us was wonderful.  We got up there & she said that our tickets were no longer in the computer & she couldn't check us in,  she called her supervisor over & she just said sorry can't do anything until they show up in the system & we'd miss our flight because it was already 645.  I started crying & praying.  The lady was on 2 phones & the computer  trying everything she could.  It was 7 & we still couldn't get checked in.  She called another supervisor over & they both started working on it together.  She called the gate & told them to open up the system again so she could check us in.  At 720 she took our bags back & rushed us over to security.  We got on the plane at 725.  I just started crying as we went down the jet way.  So thankful that despite all the obsticals that God continued to go before us & work all the details out.  London & my girls here we come!!!

Last day in GZ

Wow we're ready to get home!!  Today we met with one of the small world caws workers to do our one month ps adoption report.  So thankful to get this out of the way! We stayed in & packed because we had to be out of the room at 2pm.  The boys must have been nervous because neither would take a nap & were both grumpy.  After we checked out we did some essential nappy/diaper shopping.  Gosh these boys are Iike new borns running through dirty nappies.  Not sure if it's normal for them, food related or nervous stomachs, but not my favorite thing!  Then we went to let the boys play for a bit before we left.  At 4, our guide Miko shows up at the hotel with the boys passports! Praising God nothing was delayed! They have their visas to enter the US & let them be US citizens! Let's do this thing!  Miko took us to the airport & helped us get all checked in.  Thankfully the attended was able to give us a row of four seats so we could have one for Elijah.  Our way through security was NOT fun.  The guards decided they needed to hand wand all 4 of us.  They made me put Isaiah down & this guy walked up to him.  He was Histerical & terrified. They wouldn't let me puck him up till they finished me. Then they still tried to go after him.  Elijah was equally scared.  I felt so bad for The boys. The flight was long but mainly easy.  Both  Boys slept almost the whole flight! Matt & I slept for half.  We got to LA & had no issues with immigration.  There were 4 other families on our plane so it took awhile, but all was seamless. This was a big answer to prayer as sometimes the immigration officer can be difficult.  The LA airport is not the easiest to figure out though.  We had to ask so many people how yo get to the domestic terminal.  We were glad to have plenty of time.  The boys were happy & enjoyed seeing the planes at the terminal. The 3 hour flight to Dallas was a bit more challenging & both boys cried a lot!  We made it though & seeing mom & dad at the airport in Dallas was the best thing ever! Glad to be on US soil with 2more US citizens