We are Home - Yippee
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February 25th, 2005

The fact that the website has not been updated tells you a little about our week.  It is really hard to believe we have almost been home a week.  It feels like
we stepped off the plane yesterday.  Most likely this is due to the overall lack of sleep we have had.  It has not been an easy week, but I wouldn't trade it for
the world.

We got home on time Saturday the 19th, and we were greeted by the most wonderful "Mommy and Daddy" from Andrew, and the wonderfully familiar
faces of my parents.  It was great to see Andrew.  It seemed like we had been away from him for months.  He wasn't very interested in his little brother at
first, but he is increasingly curious.  The one thing Andrew likes to do is 'go check on Adam' while Adam is sleeping.  I have learned to be quick to catch
Andrew before this good-hearted 'check' happens, because it inevitably ends with 2 very awake kids.  Andrew may be a little disappointed that Adam is not
quite able to play trucks yet. Yesterday, Andrew asked Adam "Do you want to play with me?", and then Adam was commanded to "play with me", but
Adam just stared at his big brother.   All in all the brothers are doing well together, and we can't wait for the day when they really can play trucks together.

Adam gets better and better each day.  He is clearly very stressed by the changes in his life.  There are many habits he developed in the orphanage that
remind us of how poorly he was treated - this breaks our heart.  Hopefully, time will heal these wounds.  In addition to all the changes, he seems to be getting
his 12 month molars, he has a hernia, and he is using muscles he has never used before.  The hernia will have to be operated on in a few weeks, and
hopefully he will quickly get used to playing, sitting and crawling as opposed to just laying in a crib all day.  He is slowly starting to eat more, although he
clearly prefers the bottle.  We try to hold off on the bottle as much as possible, and we even tried a few cheerios yesterday which was met with a face of
pure disgust.  This made Andrew very happy because he quickly gobbled up all of Adam's cheerios.  I am sure it won't be too long before Adam is enjoying
all sorts of treats with his big brother.

Andrew is eagerly waiting for his favorite treat - Saturday pancakes with Daddy.  Unfortunately, Meric had to leave town about 36 hours after we got home,
so Andrew did not get to see much of his Daddy.  Andrew will be thrilled to see Daddy when he comes home, and we are curious to see if Adam remembers
him.  I was very lucky to have my parents in town to help with the transition to 2 kids.  Although they headed home to Arizona a few days ago, it was a
great help for the first few days.  Without them, there would be no pictures of these first few days - pictures that will be posted sometime in the future when
both boys are sleeping.

Thanks again to everyone for your support and prayers.  This was not an easy adventure, but the outcome was wonderful.
A very welcome homecoming from Blainey & Papa.
The Joys of Traveling with
Kids - Stuff Everywhere
Mom and her 2 boys.
Is Daddy Asleep?
It would be great to have Blainey
around for bedtime every night.
A very important lesson - how the
fishes work