Home Sweet Home

After 27 hours of traveling we arrived home around 9:30 pm on Wednesday night. Our friends, The Lowells were so sweet and picked us up at the airport. Camden was especially thrilled as he just adores Rob & Ted. But not only did they pick us up but they blessed us with a yummy meal of Lasagna, bread and Blueberry pie. Boy did that hit the spot (at about 11:00 that night) and we are still enjoying it a couple of days later (thanks friends)!

Unfortunately, the trip home was somewhat painful. Doug & I were already on Day 9 of very little sleep (Avery does not sleep well) before traveling so we were completely exhausted and were only able to grab about 2 hours sleep over our travel day. Doug is also sick (and I am fighting something as well). However, Avery did do very well which was such a blessing. She didn't cry even once as she was held almost the whole time which is her favorite thing. Camden on the other hand had a little bit rougher time as he got sick on the 12 hour flight from Hong Kong to San Francisco and threw up a few times. Our flight from San Francisco to Denver was canceled due to fog and we had to wait a few hours for the next flight which was also delayed due to an instrument problem. We arrived in Denver, missing our connecting flight to Tucson by a mere 20 minutes so we had to wait for a few hours for the next flight to Tucson. Upon arriving home, I had an an interesting mix of emotions. Our time in China went so fast and felt so busy. The traveler part of me wished we had had a little more time to take in and explore China...spend more time in Guangzhou and a few days in Hong Kong before flying home. But the other part of me knew that wasn't what this trip was all about. Hopefully we will return to China someday with Avery to explore her birth country and get a better grasp of the complexities of the people and the culture. But after an exhausting trip, emotionally and physically, and such a long travel day, I knew it was best to get our family home. Our transition as a family of four continues to be rougher than I had hoped and it is nice to be back in familiar territory. As I have mentioned, Avery continues to be quite happy and content as long as we (mostly me) is holding her. She will play a bit with toys on her own next to me, but if I move away from her (even when she can still see me) she will cry. I know we need to continue to earn her trust but this is so draining and she is not sleeping well at night so I can't seem to catch my breath so to speak. Camden on the other hand went from happy to finally have Avery (the first day) to saying sadly tonight that he likes Uhura (our cat) a little bit more than her. He also said after listening to Avery cry for a while, Dad can you just give her Mom so she will stop crying. This has been really hard on him. He has been crying a bit as well and is complaining about being left out and not enough time with me. I knew of course that this transition would be tough on him. He is a Mommy's boy and has been the center of it all for far to long. But I had hoped and prayed that it would go better than I thought. Unfortunately it has not. I don't want to be a downer... just wanted to give you all the real deal. We are in survival mode right now. We are happy to finally have Avery and we know she was meant to be in our family (she feels like ours already) but are struggling during this transition. We know it will get better but would appreciate your continued prayers for our family. When things settle down a bit for us I will post more photos and thoughts of our time in China.

Thanks again dear friends for all your encouraging comments and prayers. They been a tremendous blessing and are most appreciated!

Here are a few photos from our last few days:

Our last day in Guangzhou:

The Chongqing part of our travel group. All of these families adopted children from our same orphanage:

Doug & Avery snoozing at the San Francisco airport:

Passing time at the Denver airport:

Camden snoozing at the Denver airport. I think he slept for about two hours in that spot.

Looking good after 27 hours of travel, but oh so happy to be back in Tucson:

Our friends, the Lowells, who were so kind in picking us up from the airport:

Arriving at home:
Avery meeting our kitty, Uhura for the first time. She wasn't impressed, in fact she was quite scared of her. Hopefully she will warm to her as Uhura is quite curious.

Getting ready to show Avery her room:

Avery checking out her room:

First time in our high chair. Poor thing...she can barely see over the tray! :)