I know they are Mine

But they are cute!! One of Chris' coworkers gave these outfits to the girls as gifts. She also sent Adrian something as well. They look sooo adorable in these outfits.

Recap of the Arrival home

Adrian's soon-to-be friend Luke made him a precious
sign.

Precious Sydney

Finally, we make it home and our family and friends were waiting for us.

This was Adrian's signature grin that he flashed at the crowd right after we arrived. I think that he knew somehow that the whole party was just for him.

Adrian spent the next 20-30 minutes RUNNING in circles with Luke. He attached to Luke immediately. Maybe it's because he sort of looked liked Adrian--not Chinese but Guatemalan. Close enough for a two year old.

Adrian stripped the shoes so he could run faster and then he wanted MaiLin to help him put them back on.

Yep, he knew the party was for him and he showed off big-time.

When we arrived home on April 10, I didn't bother to get my camera out because I felt sure our friends would be taking pics. They did. Thanks guys. So here are some of the pics of the airport arrival. Adrian didn't seem to be overwhelmed at all. He quickly began running around like he owned the place.

Home for two weeks today

I love Barney. And, I don't mean the kids. Mommy and Barney became friends a long time ago. This is the only American show that ADrian will watch for a little while. At any time we might find Adrian cuddled up to one of his sisters. Or we might get kicked out of our bed at 6 a.m. when the three kiddos take it over.
































A queen size bed is NOT big enough when you have 3 kids.

















Adrian loves hanging with the neighborhood kiddos.
















And , he loves popsicles.

You might think the only thing worthy of a lick like this is something with sugar.

Nope, it's just ranch dressing. YUM!!!


















The shades may be pink but that doesn't make me any less cool!

















I promised myself that I wouldn't get this far behind in posting. As someone who is obsessed with reading other people's blogs, I promised that I wouldn't let my readers down and go so long between posts. Oh well, I did.

The first week home was so smooth. Maybe it was because I had help 24-7 or maybe it was
because I was still running on adrenaline. Not sure why but all I know is that this last week has been tough. The weather I think has really done me in and I started with a migraine/sinus headache last Sat and then it evolved in to a cold by this Sat. I'm thankful that the headache is better though.

This week was my first week with no help . Well, that is not entirely true. My sweet Sunday school class has brought us dinner three nights this week. What a blessing!!! I'm not sure what I would've done without it. I made the comment last week that I felt guilty for them bringing us dinner. However, when I woke up Monday morning feeling awful I was soooooo thankful I had dinner coming Monday night. AnnaLi went back to school on Tuesday and this was a week with our normal, full schedule. Adrian didn't handle her going back to school very well. He was fine when we left her in her preschool room but when we got to the car to leave, he was not liking that. He did not want to leave his LiLi behind. Poor little guy. I finally got him in the carseat and was able to drive away. After we drove off, he kept saying, "Baba be back. Jie Jie be back. LiLi be back." He just wanted to reassure himself that everyone was coming back.

He has really adjusted well. He sleeps through the night from 8:30 p.m. to 6:30 a.m. He takes a two hour nap in the afternoon. He eats well. His new American food that he loves is ranch dressing. Today at lunch I caught him licking it off of his plate like a dog. I know that I shouldn't encourage it but I had to get a picture. He loves to play with the neighborhood kids and doesn't miss a beat. He is right there in the middle of all of them. And, the neighborhood kids love him. They are so sweet to him and watch out for him. He knows that the routine is to go outside once MaiLin gets home from school. If we don't go immediately, he gets upset. His language is developing fast. His newest phrase is, "Mama hold me". Of course, I didn't love that at all. HOw could I resist that smile and those eyelashes. He amazes me that he is now basically translating from Chinese to English. He'll say , "Mama Chee cha, car". He does this with several things he will interchange the Chinese and English phrases. Amazing.

HOwever, some of the English things that we have tried to teach him have not exactly translated as we thought. For instance, we kept telling him that Baba was going to work. Well, he heard it as "quack". So, he would go to the door and say, "Baba Quack". Then we were trying to explain to him that we were going to stay home. He came to me and said, "Mama (insert hyperventilating noises)." I asked Chris, "What is wrong with him?". Chris was trying to emphasize the "H" sound in home I guess and it came out as a hyperventilating sound for the word "Home". We will get there even though we may miss a few things along the way :).

Botanical Gardens

My three little monkeys .
Just a swingin'.

How exactly does this thing work ?


Sand, sand, and more sand

Home Sweet Home

We touched down at around 7:35 p.m. Saturday night. We stopped in the airport before we greeted our group and said a prayer of thanksgiving. What a surreal moment to come full circle and have our little guy home--so many prayers answered, so many miracles observed, a family changed forever.

Our flights home were easy as far as 14 hour flights go. The kids were awesome. They slept a good part of the way but not too much that they didn't want to sleep Sat. night. We breezed through customs and immigration and made it to our connecting flight in Chicago with a couple of hours to spare. I will have to say that we were all a little on edge in the airport because we were all tired and ready to be home. Adrian had a complete screaming meltdown fit and people were staring but when I explained that we had been traveling almost 24 hours from HOng Kong , we received a lot of sympathy. We all boarded our short flight from Chicago and then crashed again. Adrian was asleep before we got off the ground. He is not that happy when waked up so I was expecting the airport entrance to be a little fussy. NOt so. He came walking off the plane like he owned the place pulling a backpack. He gave everyone his signature smile and then hopped down and began playing and running with all the kids just like he had been here forever. According to our Heavenly Father, he has been forever. God has been preparing his little heart and life to merge with ours at just the right time. WE put him in the carseat and he rode home with a giant smile on his face. We arrived home to neighbors outside. Of course MaiLin and AnnaLi were ecstatic to see friends and so they all ran around in the yard in the dark until we made them come in. ADrian didn't miss a beat. He was right there with them the whole time. We got the munchkins bathed and in bed by around 11 and then we got ourselves in bed by midnight then we all slept till about 6:30 Sunday a.m. That was huge for the first night home. We can definitely tell people are praying for an easy adjustment because we have definitely had a much easier time with sleeping and jetlag than the other two times. ON Sunday (yesterday) we stayed on a normal schedule with ADrian taking his normal nap. Then we spent the rest of the afternoon outside playing. MaiLin and AnnaLi played in the sunshine for about 4-5 hours. WE are so glad to see sun. In Chi*a, even if the sun is shining it looks cloudy because of the smog. WE definitely take for granted the blue clear skies and green grass that we get to enjoy here. AnnaLi was EXHAUSTED and fell asleep at the dinner table at 6 p.m. The other two went to bed around 8. ADrian continues to go to bed easily. I'm hoping it continues. Everyone woke up around 12:30 hungry because they were too tired to eat their supper. So everyone got crackers and water in bed followed by a little "night-night" medicine (Melatonin). Then we all slept until 6:30-7:30 this a.m. I can definitely handle this. So much eaiser than before.

Forgot to Mention

Please , please, please keep us in your pryers as we travel home. The first flight is 14 1/2 hours. Please pry that we all stay well, that the kids will sleep the right amount (whatever that is) as we will be adjusting to US time, that Chris and I will have strength to get all the luggage and three kids through security check points, customs, immigration. WE've done it several other times but I'm sure we need extra pryer. Also pry that the immigration process is speedy and all flights are on time. And that I will have peace as we fly. After our rocky Hohhot landing I've been a little more anxious than normal. I just close my eyes and pry a LOT--just like I did in the taxi tonight :).Also pry for Adrian that he will feel secure as we move and pack and make yet another journey. He has really handled the chaos well. Answered Pryer!! Thanks so much for standing in the gap for us.

Homeward Bound

Tomorrow at around 12:30 our flight leaves Hong Kong and we are homeward bound. Tonight we are getting the last bath/shower we will have for about 36 hours. We are packing every last thing (well, there's a little more to do in the a.m.) and we are going to be on our way.

We will be so glad to get home to the normal food, normal smells, normal sounds, etc. Of course, the Chinese feel the same way I'm sure when they come to America. Normal is all relative. One of the other cute phrases from the trip was from AnnaLi. One day she said, "What's that smell?" Ummmm, let me see, it could be a number of unusual smells that we've smelled while here.

Tonight we took a taxi back to the hotel. MaiLin was asking about rules at a red light. Chris said it might be different here. I whispered to MaiLIn that I didn't think they had any rules and she said, "they have them, they just don't follow them." Sounds about like how they treat our rules sometimes. The taxi was going super fast back to the hotel and we said it was quicker than the bus we took this a.m. MaiLin said, "and it's faster than the train." The sad part is that she is right.

This has definitely been a trip to remember. Some things were great memories and others not so much. We always are ready to leave but we feel a sense of leaving a part of ourselves and a part of our children behind as we leave their homeland. We do know however that the L has ordained every part of their lives before they were born and ours as well. It is all part of his plan. This time I leave China with a peace that this may be the last adoption trip that we will make. However, man's ways are not G's ways. We will always hold loosely to our ideas of what our family should look like or be like. If he calls us back, he will equip us with what it takes to do it again. But, Chris is on his own next time :). However, I said that the last time too.

We can't wait to get home and let you meet this little bundle of joy, energy, life, happiness, friendly little guy. Of course, when you see him at the airport he is going to be more than overwhelmed. We may or may not let him down because we don't want him to feel insecure. Please know that we are not trying to be stingy with him but it is important that we keep strangers somewhat at a distance right now as not to confuse him. However, I think he is already pretty attached. Even in the midst of the Hong Kong crowds he would always come back to us. He finds security in us and being with us. That is such a G thing. He takes things as they come pretty well and he may be telling everyone hello just like a little politician. Sometimes he is outgoing and sometimes he acts like the stranger is not even there. All that to say, please be patient and understanding of all that in the beginning. Many of you who have traveled this road before know all about this.

We would love for anyone who wants to meet us at the airport to come on. The more the merrier. It is always such a comfort to get off that plane and see some home folks. Our flight is scheduled to arrive at around 8 p.m. Sat night. It is a United flight coming from Chicago. I will be talking with Kaye R. during this time
to give her updates. She will contact Leslie and Deanna and Karen. Any of you who want information should call her. Hopefully there will be no delays. Thank you all for your prayers and support. We definitely felt them!!!

So, we will see you all on Saturday.

We Survived Disneyland

Today we jumped into parenthood with 3 children with all we had :). We spent all day at Hong Kong Disneyland. I will have to say it was worth every penny, worth every step and worth the tiredness. We all had a blast.
Here are a few of our favorite things:
Chris : Jungle Cruise. He did this when he was 5 in Orlando and he remembers it. It was just as much fun today I think.

Shawna: It's a Small World. This was my favorite when I went to Disneyland when I was 7. Isn't it funny how we both relived our childhoods. I also LOVED the parade. And, I loved seeing the excitement on the kids faces and new things they were experiencing.

MaiLin: Space Mountain. Chris did this with her and he said she screamed the whole time. But, as soon as it stopped she said, "Let's do it again." Yep, that's MaiLin. Chris said he wasn't sure he could do it again.

AnnaLi: Her response earlier in the day was "everything".

Adrian: I'll have to speak for him but he loved the water play area. He wasn't so sure at first but then he loved it. He would've enjoyed more if he would have taken a nap. He just wouldn't give it up--too much going on. He and LiLi fell asleep in the taxi on the way back to the hotel.

In many of the pictures you can see Adrian sucking his thumb. Poor little guy--he was so sleepy but I think he thought Baba might leave. If Chris went to do something with the girls I would constantly have to say "Baba be back" and then he'd repeat it. Next week is going to be fun when Chris goes back to work.