Home Safely

We made it home late last night. Praise the Lord!

It was a very long day. Up at 4:30am (which was 3:30pm on Wednesday here in FL) to get our luggage into the hallway. Finally reached our front door last night at about 10:30pm Thursday pm Florida time (which was 11:30am Friday morning in China). So roughly 31 total hours of travel/awake time for us all.

The kids ALL did really well on the long journey. The big kids slept for a good chunk of the long flight, and Lilly slept in little bits here and there. She never did settle in for a good sleep, so Tom and I took turns holding her, walking with her, feeding her, and taking her potty.

We had issues getting checked in at every transfer point...for whatever reason we could not get boarding passes all the way through, so in Seoul and in Atlanta we had to check in again to get fresh boarding passes printed. Our flight out of Atlanta was delayed for several hours, so we had plenty of time to get through immigration, customs, and get some food for these hungry kiddos (Jared and Anna have decided that it's the airplane food that makes them sick when they get airsick, so they don' each much on board the flights). Lilly was happy to eat anything we gave her-she polished off 2 hot dogs in the Atlanta airport (her first meal as an American citizen!).

My good friend Rebecca picked us up at the airport, and had flowers in hand for me, and presents for each of the kids. When we arrived home, what a lovely surprise we had waiting for us: neighbors and colleagues and friends had worked together to stock our pantry and our fridge and our freezers with staples as well as complete meals so that I won't have to worry about getting to the commissary or cooking for a good long time! There were also fun decorations that the kids' friends had made to decorate everyone's bedrooms to welcome home big brother, big sister, and Lilly, as well as a birthday present for Lilly from the Callenders! We are truly spoiled and I am completely overwhelmed at his awesome and practical gesture of love and support.

We had a rough night with Lilly. I had told her repeatedly yesterday that we are "going home," and we were all excited to bring her into the house, let her learn her way around, show her her bedroom and toys, etc. She did great when we first got home, checked things out a bit, played with her new birthday presents, ate a good chunk of the rotisserie chicken that was waiting in our fridge, and had a nice bath with Anna. She seemed to be feeling comfortable and safe. Since we don't have a baby monitor yet, we decided I would sleep in Lilly's room with her in case she had to go potty (she gets up several times each night to potty, and with jet lag, who knows if we would hear her or if she would even sleep well). So Tom said goodnight to us both and went to bed in our big, soft, comfy bed (which I cannot wait to sleep in at some point again!!). Well, Lilly was upset that baba was not nearby, and rather than her whining "I'm not getting my way" cry, she was crying a sad, mournful, pitiful whimper and saying "baba" over and over. It was breaking my heart. I told her Daddy was sleeping and Mommy was right there, but she was still very sad. So I had Tom join us in her room with me, thinking that would solve the problem.

But it didn't. It became apparent that she was not so much upset that Tom wasn't nearby, but that she was now mourning in a deep, grieving way, her foster family. I suspect that when I kept telling her we were "going home," she thought I meant back to her foster family. She insisted on keeping her shoes on in bed (what she did when we first got her, but had since stopped doing), and repeatedly called out "let's go, let's go" and "baba, mama" and another name I didn't know (I'm guessing her foster brother). It broke my heart. She slept fitfully from about 1:30am (when we finally crawled into bed) until 4:30am. I was just about to get up with her at 4:30 (she was crying again), but she suddenly stopped and seems to have fallen into a deep sleep.

I was awakened at 6:30 by sounds of the big kids making breakfast in the kitchen, so I'm up with them now, unpacking. Tom and Lilly are still sleeping. Please pray for her that she will quickly feel comfortable and safe here in her new home, and that we will be sensitive to what she needs and is feeling. At the same time, pray that we will be discerning and diligent in establishing the ground rules here at home so that she will soon learn what is and is not ok. (e.g., I want her to eat at the table, not walking around the living room).

Praise God with us that we are home safely, that we now have a week of spring break to get our body clocks adjusted and settle back in at home, and that we have good friends who have met our every need.

Now that we're home, I'll try to continue to post frequently, but I suspect my days will be full taking care of the kiddos and getting settled, so posts may be irregular. Later today we will post some photos and video of the fun housewarming decorations and Lilly checking out her new home.