Together Under One Roof

We have been meaning to let you know how things are going at home. It has however, taken us 3 days to get this blog update ready. It is a bit more difficult to do this at home with four children rather than in a hotel room with one child. To sum it up, we are amazed. After a very long flight home, we arrived at the airport to a welcoming committee of family and friends. To say that it was wonderful for us to see everyone and to hug our big kids again is a huge understatement. I could not contain my emotions seeing our three kids there at the front of the group with huge smiles on their faces as we walked toward them with their new sister. Fifteen days and thousands of miles and finally we were home !!! We have already been forced to promise we will never, ever, ever go away for that long again.
Hadley handled the crowd graciously with only a few moments of crying. A sucker, some balloons and lots of smiles from family and friends helped. There was no way she could quantify the love of the people she had just met. So many of you have prayed, cried and labored through this process with us. It was amazing to bring her to be greeted by everyone. Thank you for such a warm welcome home. For those who couldn't make it, thank you for the cards, emails, birthday gifts and prayers. We had people praying for us in Africa, Australia, China, CA, TN, NC, VA, FL, and of course AL. We are very thankful.

With lots of help from our family, we arrived from the airport to our home at 10:30 pm and by 11:00, Hadley was running through the house, laughing with Gracie, Cole and Sam. We couldn't believe it. She jumped right in and began playing. The kids had to be reminded to contain their enthusiasm so they wouldn't overwhelm her, but she handled it great.

After a little bit of crying she collapsed into the bed and so did her travel weary parents. Pat got up with the big kids, but Hadley and I slept until 2:30pm the next day. Since we didn't sleep on the plane coming home, it worked out quite well. We adjusted to Alabama time within a few days. Hadley still had some middle of the night wake-up cries for the first week or so, but we have adapted to Central Time much better than attempting to adapt to China Time. She now sleeps soundly, once she gets to sleep. Her process of getting to sleep has changed to being pretty restless and lenghty.

She also continues to wake up crying in the morning or after her nap. I hope this will stop soon. I am sure it is still part of her adjustment, but it is sad to think that her first waking moment is one of sadness. She is easily comforted as soon as we pick her up.

Since being home, we have completed our appointment at the International Adoption Clinic and they were amazed at how well she is doing. Coming from such a great orphanage and having a loving caretaker has made our adoption experience "out of the norm." We will forever be grateful to the beautiful lady, "Joa", that took care of Hadley from 9 days until 18 months old and then continued to see her as she moved to her older preschool class. This woman paved the way for our little girl's smooth transition into our family. What a difference just one consistent loving person can make in the life of a child. Joa's position at the orphanage was funded by an extraordinary charity, the Half The Sky Foundation. Half The Sky's mission is to provide additional care takers in Chinese orphanages so that more children have the opportunity to have one primary care taker from birth to 18 months. I really want to learn more about this organization and its founders.

Hadley is continuing to astound us with how well she handles being on the go with the family, meeting new people, going to church, swimming, etc. She enjoys playing at home, too. She plays well with her siblings and is a great independent player also. Her favorite play activity is to take a few toys and sit on the steps by the front door. She lines up blocks, books, beads, whatever; and enjoys her own little quiet world for a while.

We are still working to carefully monitor her stimulation during the day. On nights when we have done too many new things, her sleep is very restless. It's a funny thing. We don't know how she handled the day until bedtime. She can be all smiles and sunshine during the day and then when it is time for sleep, all the negative emotion can come out. I am sure we will make a million mistakes, but so far she is guiding us through this process quite well.

She is beginning to learn some sign language that is bridging our communication gap. She can now say "hello, banana, sock, shoe,Cole, Lulu (our dog), bye-bye, rain, noodles and thank you". Pretty good for less than two weeks of total English immersion. We are working on "I Love You". It seems that she most likes to learn, giggle and talk when it is time to go to bed- hmmmm....but this is sweet time together. She is even laying down and putting her hands together showing me that she is ready to say her prayers. That is priceless.

We couldn't wait to have all of our children together, under one roof, and how wonderful it is. It feels like all is right in the world. Our first dinner at home, I looked at Pat and said, "all of our chairs are full, we are actually all here together." She continues to be a joyful child, full of laughter, smiles and energy (at least around home). She is unnerved by strangers and large crowds and wants Ma-Ma and Ba-Ba close. We are thoroughly enjoying this time, although we get overwhelmed at times with the dishes, laundry and noise (just like before). Most days are great and we are so thankful that we are finally all together at home.

We celebrated Hadley's 2nd birthday at a small park with adopted twin sisters Lily and Kate. Their Mom and I laughed as we introduced Hadley to the girls at the airport and said "meet your new best friends". It is our prayer that these girls will love each other and will find comfort in having similar stories. Lily and Kate are 8 months older than Hadley. They were very excited about making her cupcakes for her birthday. We enjoyed this "low key" celebration. We pray that this is the beginning of a special relationship between these three precious girls.

Thank you for your prayers for us. It was so evident that we were being lifted up before our Father while we were gone. We ask that you continue to pray for Hadley's emotional connection with us and comfort for her heart as she has moments of remembering the orphanage. We would also ask for prayer as we seek to continue to connect with our three older kids. Going from three to four is one thing but when it is a fourth that needs so much extra attention, it is a heavy addition. We pray that our kids will remember this time as an opportunity to see beyond themselves and really learn what it means to serve each other. It is such a huge priviledge to have this little girl as our own. We are thankful to our Lord for providing such a perfect addition to our family.