Home Sweet Home

So sorry we completely fell off the Blog Planet! We were doing so well keeping up and then we got home and have been in a jet-lag induced fog ever since! Not to mention having a precious PRECIOUS new baby girl that is right on track developmentally for an 8-month old but has the sleeping habits of a newborn! Or at least right now she does! So hard to know at this point if it is still the time change for her or if she is still really grieving her losses or even the difference in how her foster family slept compared with our customs, but we are hoping to see some good nighttime sleep real soon! Thankfully, the older kiddos are responding with love, hugs and helpfulness.

So back tracking a bit, last Saturday we said good-bye to an incredible, blessed week in Seoul, South Korea and began the long journey home! Because of the time difference we got to have another Saturday as we flew and tried to keep Emma Hope happy on the long flight to Chicago. Thankfully, she is truly characterized by being a very cheerful little girl but no matter who you are, she didn't know us yet and it is just plain long! Also thankfully, our travel agent had arranged for us to have the bulkhead seats where there is room to connect a bassinet to the wall, so Emma Hope did sleep some in there. If only Brad and I could have rested more while she did! But in the end we made it to Chicago and we would highly recommend Korean Airlines! They are all about customer service!

After quite a layover, we boarded our quick flight home to Northwest Arkansas! Emma Hope slept the whole flight and we landed 20 minutes early! Love that tailwind! We gathered up our carry-ons one last time and were greeted by SUCH AN INCREDIBLE WELCOMING COMMITTEE!! WOW! We could feel the love even in our zombie state! Thank you so much to everyone who was able to be there and all who wanted to be there : ) It was so great to hug our kids, family and friends! I think there are great pictures but not on our camera so maybe we can post those later.

Anyway, the last five days have been vacillating between foggy and fun, frustrating and fabulous! It is hard to describe how amazing it is to have Emma Hope home, part of our family and the wonderful bonding that is taking place! And then night comes again... it has been really hard to help her settle into deep sleep for any length of time. At the beginning, she was emphatically preferring Brad over me, physically pushing me away in fact. But I am so thankful we have turned the corner on that and Emma Hope and I are now tight too! We trust that as we figure out a schedule and long-term sleep solutions, everything and everyone will start falling into place!

Again we can never say enough THANK YOU's to the Lord for the GREAT things He has done! And THANK YOU's to the entire army of people He has gathered to pray for us, support the process, encourage us, bring us yummy dinners, hug us, shower our kids with extra attention, give us gifts of time, skill, $, and darling baby girl things! We will always stand amazed at the last year and a half and know that God in His sovereignty made all the pieces of this beautiful puzzle perfectly fit. Only He could do all He has done!!!