5:30 am China time saw us leaving our hotel room for the airport in Guangzhou. 5:30 pm China time saw us STILL flying home. 5:30 am China time saw us at the Chicago airport with half of our 5 hour layover done (we were eating at McDonald's). 1 am our time saw us introducing Josie to the kids as well as Aunts Shana and Janice and Grams. We were back in bed by 3 am.
Josie did well for a two year old spending over 24 hours traveling. We had no issues with her "diapers." Big thank you, God! Back home, she is slowly getting used to our house and the kids. She was shocked to realize she had to share Mommy and Daddy with two other kids! Michael is learning to keep his hands off her face (she has an instant, high-pitched scream) and Chloe is patiently waiting for Josie to warm up to cuddles. They made friends at the initial meeting by feeding Josie marshmallows!
Josie is TERRIFIED of T-Rex. He cannot even look at her from across the room without sending her into a fight-or-flight hysteria. We thought about sending him to Grams for awhile so she could get used to the house first, but right now he's still here (in a corner somewhere feeling rejected).
We are going to take a "nobody hold her but Daddy and Mommy" approach for the next couple of weeks. We feel she needs this more than Chloe did as Josie is still working on her attachment to us and we think she's not quite where she would need to be for us to pass her around. We are hopeful to be in church tomorrow morning but we won't be able to put her in the nursery for the same reason. Ever try to tell a two year-old who doesn't speak your language to please be quiet during the service???
Michael and Chloe grew while we were gone even though I had explicitly told them not to do that. So disobedient! Daddy and Mommy are really proud of them for coping these last two weeks. Of course, that had much to do with five wonderful relatives who took care of them! They had a jar of Hershey's kisses so they could see the time left as they each had a kiss "from us" daily. Last night as Michael ate his last kiss, Aunt Shana reports he said, "It's a real exciting sing!" We agree.
Oh, and Michael's quote upon meeting Josie? "Let's talk about a boy now." He did wait until we brought Josie home, just as we'd asked . (He'd been wanting to talk about a brother for some time.)
It is so good to be home. In addition to our kids, we've enjoyed showering in clean water that doesn't stink and using the faucet to brush our teeth. I'm also enjoying the washing machine and the dish washer! We washed our clothes in the hotel bathtub while we were gone and hung our clothes all over the room!
Thanks to Shawn and Tammie for meeting us at the airport! Thanks to Kim for keeping this blog updated! Thanks to Shana for the clean house! Thanks to Grandpa and Grandma Riddle, Grams, Aunt Janice and Aunt Shana (who took 1 1/2 weeks off) for caring for Chloe and Michael. Thanks to Marta for the second phone card for the kids (it was soooo good to talk to them each morning.) And thanks for all the prayers for us while we were away. Please continue to pray for our transition to "zone defense" and for Josie, she is overwhelmed right now. I will try to post some photos in the next few days, but don't have the gumption right now. (It is almost 6 am China time so it's like pulling an all-nighter even though it is just dinner time now!)
Also, we lost a bag in China. It didn't make it from the Chinese airline to United. It contained some gifts but also the two gifts the orphanage gave to Josie and us. So we'd also appreciate prayer that it is found and delivered to United!
Yeah! She's home!!! And she's definately a Riddle ( : And as of touch down in Chicago, she's also an American citizen!!
Homecoming
