WE ARE HOME and SETTLING IN!

Well, we have been home a little over a week now and are slowly settling in and adjusting to our new addition that has now made us a family of six! Wow, are we so glad to be home, but oh boy did we not expect it to take this long to adjust to the time change and jet lag. Last week was a very difficult week for all of us. I suppose much like it would be if one had given birth to a baby, with the waves of emotions from happiness to tears, frustration, doubt, etc. Of course, being tired always makes everything seem worse. You name the emotion, one of us including our three children we came home to, have felt it at some point this past week. We have to remind ourselves that adoption is a journey and not a race; it is going to take many months, quite possibly even a year, for us to adjust to this amazing toddler and for Jaida to completely bond and adjust to her new mommy, daddy, and three incredible siblings. We are looking forward to the journey!

Well, Jaida is down for her afternoon nap and I thought I would take this very limited chance to post to our blog to let you know how we are doing! How quickly we had forgotten what it was like to have a toddler in the house. They sure do remind you of all the safety aspects that need to be taken care of in the home, so we have installed a stair gate, cabinet locks, outlet plugs, and door knob covers! She is a very busy little girl! She is not used to playing on her own, so playing in her room with her toys by herself is not something she is comfortable in doing yet, but is surely having fun playing with Mikayla, Ty, and Josh when they are around! The kids have been amazing and are transitioning as one would expect with a new sister in the house. I compare Jaida to a new puppy; I suppose the "newness" will wear off eventually and she may become more "annoying" than "fun!" As we all know, all toddlers can be annoying at times, especially to their siblings.

Jaida is adjusting very well. I think she has finally adjusted to the 13 hour time change. She is now sleeping through the night, which is a blessing for sure, especially for Mom. She is bonding little by little each day with Shon. He was able to spend last week home with us, so he spent a lot of the days taking care of Jaida, playing with her, and meeting her needs so that she will begin to trust him and love him unconditionally as her Daddy. It sure would be nice to get into her little mind to know what she is thinking!

Jaida is truly our gift from God (as are our other three children)! It is amazing to think that over a year ago, God planned for this little girl to become a part of our family and His handiwork has brought her home! God surely knew what he was doing as Jaida is a truly great fit into our family! She can be such a hoot! She has a face for everything! She is definitely not an introvert like her paperwork said she was! She is happy the majority of the time and is definitely a normal "testing, manipulating" toddler! We wouldn't expect anything less from her. She is very bright and very imitative. I have to tell you a story from today...This morning her and I were getting ready to run an errand to Wal-Mart and I was getting my purse ready to go. All of a sudden, Jaida goes running into her room, grabs a basket she has that is full of play food, dumps all the play food out of the basket and onto the floor, and places the handles of that little basket right up on her arm like a purse. Too cute! So I went to her closet and got her Hello Kitty purse out for her to bring to the store. She was watching me so intently as I placed my purse onto my shoulder and followed along with her purse in just the same way-it was neat to see that!

Today was my first real day on the job as a stay-at-home Mom to a 2-year-old as Shon went back to work and I had to get up and take 3 children to school by 7:30am. That was interesting! Well, I am sure she will be up soon from her nap so I better close up for now. Thank you to everyone who has flourished us with food, gifts, support, prayers, and love during the nearly 3 weeks we were out of the country and this past week of us being home! We can't tell you enough how much this has meant and encouraged us! We hope you will continue to keep up with our blog as this will probably be the easiest way for us to keep you updated on the happenings in our family! Take care and I will be posting some pictures of our first week at home with Jaida just as soon as I find our camera battery charger!