Today marks day ten of being home- together as a family. What a blessing! The past ten days have been wonderful... of course filled with some changes, a little adjusting here and there but mostly sweet moments watching our family become glued and fused together. Kaleb has excelled in taking on his new big brother role. His is great about seeing what she needs, telling her its ok and making sure she never cries :) Elsie gets more and more comfortable each day. Yesterday, was the first day she really ran around the house and played for big chunks of time without needing me to carry her, lift her, be holding her, etc. all day long. I love cuddling and holding her however, doing so for 2 1/2 weeks solid- your arms are tired and your feet are bored ;) Together, the two already are siblings at heart. We can see it in how they interact and tease each other. Many fun times ahead for our little family!!
Thank you so much for everyone's love and prayers these past weeks and really months. Our transition has went really well so far. From the beginning, she attached (quite literally it felt) to me and not as strongly to Wes. However, in these last few days- she is reaching for him, seeking him out, teasing him and definitely watching his every move. It has been fun seeing her settle in with her dad. I think she's already figured out that he's the softie around here... if you want to count on someone to smuggle you chocolate chips or Cheetos, Dad's the Man :) Kaleb really hasn't had too much struggle with Elsie however, we've discovered that if he has to share Elsie, then we have some struggles. Such as sharing Elsie with the grandparents, or extended family or church family.... he's been kind of turning into a little stinker when others are getting a little bit of Elsie's attention. However, once she is all his... he goes straight back into rock-star big brother mode.
Elsie gained 1.4lbs in 4 days last week and I'm pretty sure she has gained another pound or two! She is starting to gain some chunky legs, has learned to sign 'more', can go up stairs easily, down stairs kind-of, starting to practice her dance moves and already loves popcorn. She's spunky kid and doesn't have a lot fear! Yesterday, we went to the park and the only slide she went down was the big huge twisty one that starts about 25 feet in the air. Of course, I was right behind her but she scrambled her way up the steps, then we sat down together and down the slide she went. She sleeps through the night unless she wants a bottle. She isn't convinced yet that bathes are such a good idea and is a little skeptical of peanut butter. We'll work on those however :)
We blessed and incredibly thankful that God has blessed us with these two incredible kids. To GOD be the glory for He has done GREAT things! Our trip to Elsie's homeland was uneventful for the most part- nothing too crazy, which is always good :) The flight home was long, painful and we'll try to forget most the 12 hours spent holding a fussy, overly tired, 20lb. 19 month old. Let's just say the guy across the aisle kept ordering Jack Daniels.
China in a nutshell can be described as fog filled and crammed people everywhere. There were indeed some beautiful parts and of course literally centuries of history everywhere. I am so grateful however, for the clean air we breathe here, the wide open spaces and the beautiful sunsets that are so astounding in good old western South Dakota!
With that, I'll leave you with a few precious snapshots our dear friend (and INCREDIBLE) photographer captured from our arrival at the airport. It was incredible and precious to introduce Elsie to her proud big brother!
Thank you so much for everyone's love and prayers these past weeks and really months. Our transition has went really well so far. From the beginning, she attached (quite literally it felt) to me and not as strongly to Wes. However, in these last few days- she is reaching for him, seeking him out, teasing him and definitely watching his every move. It has been fun seeing her settle in with her dad. I think she's already figured out that he's the softie around here... if you want to count on someone to smuggle you chocolate chips or Cheetos, Dad's the Man :) Kaleb really hasn't had too much struggle with Elsie however, we've discovered that if he has to share Elsie, then we have some struggles. Such as sharing Elsie with the grandparents, or extended family or church family.... he's been kind of turning into a little stinker when others are getting a little bit of Elsie's attention. However, once she is all his... he goes straight back into rock-star big brother mode.
Elsie gained 1.4lbs in 4 days last week and I'm pretty sure she has gained another pound or two! She is starting to gain some chunky legs, has learned to sign 'more', can go up stairs easily, down stairs kind-of, starting to practice her dance moves and already loves popcorn. She's spunky kid and doesn't have a lot fear! Yesterday, we went to the park and the only slide she went down was the big huge twisty one that starts about 25 feet in the air. Of course, I was right behind her but she scrambled her way up the steps, then we sat down together and down the slide she went. She sleeps through the night unless she wants a bottle. She isn't convinced yet that bathes are such a good idea and is a little skeptical of peanut butter. We'll work on those however :)
We blessed and incredibly thankful that God has blessed us with these two incredible kids. To GOD be the glory for He has done GREAT things! Our trip to Elsie's homeland was uneventful for the most part- nothing too crazy, which is always good :) The flight home was long, painful and we'll try to forget most the 12 hours spent holding a fussy, overly tired, 20lb. 19 month old. Let's just say the guy across the aisle kept ordering Jack Daniels.
China in a nutshell can be described as fog filled and crammed people everywhere. There were indeed some beautiful parts and of course literally centuries of history everywhere. I am so grateful however, for the clean air we breathe here, the wide open spaces and the beautiful sunsets that are so astounding in good old western South Dakota!
With that, I'll leave you with a few precious snapshots our dear friend (and INCREDIBLE) photographer captured from our arrival at the airport. It was incredible and precious to introduce Elsie to her proud big brother!
The big introduction we've been praying for :)
Our attempt at our first family photo together...
Real life people, this is how we roll :)
Our little family- assembled by God!
P.S. Check out hH Photography... http://www.hhphotodesign.com/
