Getting Settled

We are home and settling in!  The trip home was long and exhausting, but the girls did amazing!  They slept and played and slept some more.  That 15 hour plane ride is just about unbearable for any adult and we are completely amazed at how well they both did on the flight!  As expected, after about 30 hours of travel, we could all barely hold our eyes open as we made that last flight into Birmingham.  It was so wonderful to see many of our family members and friends waiting for us at the airport as we returned home with our new addition!  Thank you to all those who were able to come celebrate with us and thank you for the sweet emails and texts from those that were not able to make it.  We truly appreciate it!  We would also like to thank those that helped make our return home much easier (the stocked fridge/freezer, welcome home gifts and decorations, bringing our car to the airport, dinner the night we returned,and much more that I am sure I am forgetting).  I would also like to thank my sweet mother for traveling with us on the long and amazing journey and providing such support, encouragement, and help!

We are slowly catching up on sleep!  We have been intentional this time to sleep when the girls are sleeping and the transition after this trip has been much easier.  I must say that so far, the transition from 1 child to 2 children has been easier than 0 to1, and I am so thankful!  Ask me again if I still think that when Nathan goes back to working the evening shift for seven days in a row in about a week ;).  Only time will tell!

Karlye is doing very well!  She has continued to be a very nurturing and helpful big sister!  She is playing very well with Lucy and they seem to be enjoying each other, at least most of the time.  They of course have their moments just like every pair of siblings does.  Karlye has even begun to play more independently with her toys since returning home from China!  She really has not regressed much in any area.  She actually made some gains with having dry diapers during nap and nighttime while in China.  She begged to drink out of a bottle and after she tasted one sip of Lucy's formula in a bottle, she QUICKLY decided that the bottle was not for her, as she gagged and spit out the formula and wiped her tongue with a wipe.  She initially wanted to try the baby food and congee, but has not interest in that now...she continues to have her huge appetite for big girl food!  We have all been sleeping together since returning home, but Karlye has been sleeping well in her bed for naps.  She is now fast asleep in her bed tonight for the first time since leaving for China and I think she is secretly loving it ;).  She went to gymnastics today and did wonderful and she is begging to go to school, so we will send her on Thursday.  We are so incredibly blessed and thankful for how well and quickly she has transitioned to life with a little sister!

Lucy is doing wonderful as well!  She seemed to regress a bit back into her shell after traveling and entering into her new home, but who can blame her.  Since returning home though, she has made huge gains developmentally and her personality just amazes us everyday!  She is now walking quickly around the house and exploring on her own, she loves the toy room and the many toys, she now likes to lean forward and give kisses, she can give a high five, she has learned how to feed her baby doll, she will now get in the car seat without screaming, she willingly opens her mouth for us to brush her teeth, she loves the bathtub (with the exception of rinsing her hair and water in her eyes), she is allowing Nathan to do more and more each day, she is eating a variety of foods (no more interest in the bottle), she actually stood in her crib to play today, and much more! These small gains are so huge for this precious little girl of ours!  Lucy is petrified of our dog Ryan, so they are separated for now.  She is full of smiles and laughs and it just melts our hearts!  She is having less meltdowns, but when she does...watch out.  She throws herself backwards and arches like I have never seen before, resulting in bumping her head on the ground.  She is a bright, beautiful little girl and we are so proud to have her home!

Lucy is having more difficulty sleeping right now, but this usually happens as they become more attached.  She takes quite a while to fall asleep and just seems very scared and fearful of nap time and bedtime, even though I am laying right next to her.  We know this may take some time for her to feel comfortable during these times.

I will post some pictures to follow this post another night, but for now, I am headed to bed.  If you would like to see a glimpse of some photos taken by Allison Lewis from Allison Lewis Photography of our airport homecoming check out her blog at http://www.allisonlewisphotography.com/blog and scroll down until you see the blog title "welcome home, lucy".  They are so much fun!

We love you all and thank you for following along!