5 Weeks Since Gotcha and 3 Weeks Home

Five weeks ago today, we were in a very warm province in southern China to meet an extremely scared and shy little girl. With no clue as to what was going on, I can't even imagine what her thoughts were as the orphanage director kept nudging her towards us and telling her that's mama and baba. To be fearful and sad was all she knew to do. Five weeks later, I can say that my girl rocks! She has adjusted so well and adapted to change unbelievably. We still have moments of fear, especially when meeting new people and places, but overall she has fit into our family like a piece to a puzzle. She's eating well, sleeping great, sitting quietly through church and is a very happy girl. She's learned that it's okay to go play a while in another room and that mommy will still be here. Her favorite thing of all is bath time! In China, she wouldn't even sit down in the tub. Now, she can't wait to get in the water and doesn't want to get out until its all down the drain. She will be a mermaid in the pool this summer.

As for the rest of us, life is good. I'm finally getting a routine down for 4 children (my biggest challenge) and we just don't know what life was like before she came along :-) Maggie is constant entertainment and likewise, the other 3 constantly entertain her. I dare say she doesn't miss her old life at all. I have to say our older three rock as well! They have been nothing but loving and helpful with Maggie since coming home. That's not to say everyone hasn't had their moments of adjustment as well, because we all have. But everything has gone so much better than I expected. I shouldn't be surprised....that's exactly what we prayed for. Maggie is learning at least one new word everyday. It's been amazing to watch her pick up and learn all that she has. Her eating has slowed down a little as well. At first, she wanted to eat EVERYTHING ALL the time. Almost like she wouldn't get anything else. Now, she is confident that food is here when she needs it. Oh yeah, her other favorite thing is shoes. That's my girl! Her shoes are all in a basket under her crib and several times a day she pulls out the basket and tries them all on. She loves to discover that things belong to her. She is sharing a closet with me for now and she looks through all her little things hanging there and points to herself with a smile. I could go on and on with little sweet things that she does, but I'd be blogging from now until the Lord comes back! She's brought so much joy in just the little time she's been with us.

Home life is good. Going out sometimes presents a challenge. Especially if I'm in a hurry to get in and out somewhere. Not gonna happen! Being in a small town like this and most likely being the first family here to adopt from China, we get a lot of attention! I have to say I really wasn't prepared for that. I knew we'd get a lot of stares (which does not bother me in the least), but I didn't really think about people wanting to stop us to talk so much. Bailey said the other day, "Mom, it's like Maggie's a celebrity. I think everyone loves her". And I suppose they do. Unless someone gets too close for her comfort, she's pretty friendly. Waving and blowing kisses is her specialty.

I am still planning to get our pics uploaded from China to share with you all about the places we were and the sights we saw. Lord willing, I can get started this week. Thank you all who continue to still pray for us. Keep it up! It's working! Love to you all.

"For this child I prayed and the Lord has granted me what I asked of him."
1 Samuel 1:27

Home Sweet Home

There's definitely no place like home or America! While I'm up and have a little sense, I figured I'd post about our trip home. The time change has been rough. It's worse when you come home than when you go over there. I'm sitting here awake and exhausted. Does that even make sense? Maggie has done pretty good with the time change. She's just waking up earlier than me in the mornings. I'm sure it won't take long to be on a good sleep pattern. So everything went as it should. We were taken to Hong Kong by car. Actually a very pretty drive. A few stops for toll booths and customs, though. We spent the night there and flew out the next morning for Detroit. The flight was long, 15 hours long! We left in daylight, flew into dark and flew into daylight again. Kinda strange. We left Hong Kong at 10:45 Friday morning and arrived in Nashville at 6:30 Friday evening. Thirteen hour time change plus 15 hour flight plus 3 hour layover plus 1 hour and 15 minute flight plus a 2 hour drive home. All in a day! By the time Kevin and I got ready to go to bed, we had been up almost 36 hours. Talk about running on empty!

As soon as our plane touched down on American soil in Detroit, Maggie officially became an American citizen. I don't know if I've mentioned this or not, but she was a real trooper when it came to travel. Whether on foot, a bus, taxi, subway or plane she was happy the majority of the time. As for the car seat, she did cry at first, but it didn't take long for her to fall asleep. She's done better each time we've buckled her in. Thanks for the prayers ;)

So getting to the airport and seeing our family was priceless. I've never been so glad to see the 3 faces of our children. There were cameras flashing, balloons and flowers for us. Maggie was a little shy at first, but before we even left the airport she was offering kisses to her new brother and sisters. She LOVES having them as a constant audience. She loves for them to chase her and push her on the swing. I can't imagine her not being a part of us.


Have I mentioned how much this girl LOVES to eat? Oh my goodness, I don't know where this tiny thing puts it all! She likes pretty much anything and wants to eat all of it. It's kinda pitiful. I'm guessing her food was always rationed out. She holds out her hand for cheerios and either tries to put all of them in her mouth or she holds on to them for a long time. In the mornings she goes to the kitchen, points to the fridge and then points to her open mouth. Bless her heart! We love her so much!

One of the neat things the kids has said is that God picked the perfect 2 year old for our family. They are all so fun to watch together! Even though Maggie's probably never heard English until a couple of weeks ago, she seems to understand what we say. It's amazing that we can say or ask her something and she will give us a nod of yes or no. She actually picked up a few English words while we were in China.

We are so happy to be home! As a mother, I am so blessed with 4 children. Stay tuned to our blog. There's more to come with pics of our trip and everything is going now that we are home. If you notice at the top of our page, our little caterpillar time ticker has come to a stop. From the time we got her referral until the day we brought her home was 9 months, 3 weeks and 6 days. About the length of a pregnancy. Love to you all! Thank you from the bottom of our hearts for all the prayers.

".....He who began a good work in you will carry it on to completion....". Philippians 1:6