Home Sweet HOME!

Oh, how sweet it is to be on American soil...

China was a constant reminder of how very, VERY blessed we are in America. Not a day passed where we did not think about how very, very good we have it here. Even on the worst days here...we still have the basic necessities. I have a very comfortable home, with a small yard, a garage, cars in the garage, a fridge, food in the fridge a washer and dryer, beds, heating and cooling, lights, computers, and most importantly, freedom. The people there are lost. They haven't the freedoms we have. Not even close. We in America are so abundantly blessed.

God certainly blessed our travels home. We left the hotel in Guangzhou at 5:40am. We hopped our plane to Beijing at 8am. Despite us not having tickets together, they were smart enough to put Evan with one of us. Craig had a really good seat, and the Lord provided a single traveler willing to trade up, so that we could all sit near one another.

Once in Beijing, we had a 4.5 hour layover, which seemed to go fast. We made sure to run our precious new ball of energy ragged so that he'd sleep well on the long flight home. He did. Evan slept great, and for HOURS. People didn't even realize there was a child sitting there with us. Not even ONE temper-tantrum!!! Evan hopped into the seat, fastened his seat belt and all was well. The in flight movies were great, and the food was edible. The only problem we had was the immigration portion at O'hare. What a total joke. China was streamlined and efficient. Chicago was a whole 'nother story. Heaven forbid we put up a sign designating the visitors from the citizens! To curb my bitterness and be a tad optimistic, maybe the sign 'putter upper' was sick yesterday. Once through that ordeal, with a now very cranky 3 year old, (I wasn't so giddy myself) we hopped the bus for home. *sigh*

From the off ramp, we could see my family, armed with balloon and banners in the distance. As we neared, they cheered. All eyes on the bus turned to us. Oh, yeah, they were looking at us, the grubby people with the Chinese kid with the bright green and blue bandages on this forehead.

My sisters and their husbands were there, along with Liv and Jack, my sister in law, and niece and nephew, my aunt and mom were there with balloons and welcome home signs. It was really cool. (I'll post pics later) Evan was SO EXCITED. He was all smiles, free with kisses and hugs and laughter. It was really heartwarming. It's hard to imagine this child was just a few days, perhaps even hours till death in January of last year.

After all of our hugs and kisses hello, we headed over to my mom's for pizza, salad & pop & cake! Yum. Evan had a good time getting acquainted with his new brother and sister, and family.

Evan also slept well last night. He was exhausted, as we all were! I did find him up at 4am, so I bathed him and put him back to bed. I knew he was too tired to stay up, and there was no way I was going to be able to stay up with him! (Craig and I slept maybe 2 hours on the flight)

He did very well on his first day home. He is adored by his brother and sister, and he really adores them. He is very affectionate towards them, and always wants to be a part of what they're doing. I think the kids were shocked by his outgoing attitude

Today we got his stitches out. Our family doc pulled them out and saved them for me for his special book. He was pleasantly surprised at how loving and happy Evan is. Evan did not like his stitches taken out, but seemed more comfortable without the giant bandages on his head. Now, he's just sporting some steri-stripes.

After his stitches we went to Culvers for 'slunch' (you know...supper/lunch) He at a portion of a hotdog and some of a hamburger. It is definitely hard for him to chew new things. He said no to chocolate and vanilla custard. (huh?!) We were not sure if he'd eat anything at all.

After our very fine fast food slunch we headed to walmart for, what else, but some rice and a rice cooker. Since noodles/rice are a staple for him, we wanted to be sure we had what he was used to. After all, Craig and I were thrown into the Chinese culture's food choices. ICK. I'd like to ease him into American food.

He is doing well. Much better than I ever imagined, that's for sure! I know that he was well prepared for our arrival, and his new family. I'm sure we'll have our difficult times soon, especially with sibling jealousy, but for now, we'll enjoy this while it lasts. :0)