Home Sweet Home

Mei Mei slept right through the excitement

of landing on American soil!

She actually traveled extraordinarily well

considering how ridiculously active and busy

this precious little one is!

Thank you all for praying for us

over this specific concern.

First sight out of the baggage claim gates!

The Gang is FINALLY All Here!!!!

We arrived home late on Friday evening, after a delightful dinner with my brother and all 6 of our kids together at a little Irish pub near the airport. Mei Mei was charming and pleasant through the whole meal, eating off of anyone's plate that would share with her. You know what they say, "Food is love!" And man, the love was abounding in that pub. The rest of the crowd was captivated with the news reports of the capture of the final suspect in the marathon bombing, but we were loopy with joy at being reunited with our kids and exhaustion from traveling for 24 straight hours.

Mei Mei and LadyBug formed an immediate

attachment, within minutes of our arrival and reunion.

Watching this boy of mine fall head over heels in love

with his new sister over the course of their first evening

together is probably one of the most precious memories

I will carry from our arrival.

We finally left the restaurant and drove 2 solid hours, The Boss fighting sleep all the way, through driving blinding rain. I prayed almost non-stop for that whole drive. Unfortunately, Mei Mei slept the whole way home, so The Boss and I took some time to unpack and settle in. Then he headed off to bed and Shaggy, Dr. D and I stayed up with Mei Mei while she wore herself down. I got both suitcases unpacked, a load of laundry started, and a space in the pantry cleared out for diapers and supplies. I was so exhausted but she was going strong and I knew I'd need her to sleep for more than a teensy 2 hour nap, so I pushed through.

Saturday was really low key, napping off and on, cleaning out the fridge, hanging with the kids, and enjoying the time together to re-connect. Mei Mei took some great naps, I think mostly because all the new toys and new games with her siblings were so overwhelming. But the kids are so great with her and it was so much fun to watch them all attach to her in their own unique ways.  Later in the day, my parents stopped by on the way to my brother's house to meet her, but she napped through the whole first visit. So they came back on their way to my sister's house and got a peek at her little impish smile and sweet nature.

We spent all day Sunday "on the go" as it was my brother's last Sunday to preach at the church here in town where he pastors. He was honored and commissioned off to their new church plant in Maryland and we really wanted to be there to honor what God is doing in their lives. I hate that they are moving so far away but so incredibly proud of the call on his life and the way that he and his wife walk that out. After the service and light snacks, we crashed at home for a couple hours and then joined the family again at my sister's for a family dinner. It was a really long, hard day for us and for Mei Mei but whatever wear and tear it took on our bodies, it must have been the "flip switch" that we needed. The three of us slept from 10-6 last night and she's just now waking up from a nice long 3 hour nap. She's regulating to the time change much more graciously than The Boss and I have so far, but it really feels like today was a good turning point.

In fact, I hear her stirring now, so I'm off! I'll post soon about some of the other stuff going on here. To remind myself, I had some interesting observations this morning as the family all slipped into regular weekday routines... hopefully in my jet-lagged state, that reminder will be enough to capture the thoughts that are swirling!