Life as a family of five...

We have now been home for just over 2 weeks.  It has been difficult, but amazing.  It is amazing to see how far this scared little girl has come over the last month.  I feel so blessed when I look at her smiling and watch her playing with her brothers.  She deserves a life full of love and happiness.   God has truly blessed us with an adorable, happy little girl. Hayley has her moments of struggle, as I am sure she will over the next few months or even years that she is home.  God will get her and us through them...I know!

Our trip overall went very well.  The jet lag was pretty rough in the beginning.  Especially when Hayley decided to wake up between 3-4am the first 4-5 days that we were home. :-)  But now I cannot complain, she is sleeping great!  She sleeps all night, and takes a nap too!  I can deal with almost anything when I have had a good night sleep.

Aidan and Cameron love her to pieces, and they both have been so great with her.  They are patient with her, and are constantly showing her love.  She is a bucket of endless energy, and fortunately Cameron is the same way!  I think he is the only one that can really keep up with her!  Hayley is also starting to do really well with her daddy too.  He came home today, and she ran over to give him a hug and kiss, and they played outside for a while tonight.  It has also given me a welcomed break here and there. 

Tomorrow we have Hayley's appointments at CHOP.  It will be a long day for her.  We have three different appointments scheduled...all in one day.  Poor thing...that is the last thing she needs, but we figured it was better all in one day.  If not, we would have had to go down to the city three different times. 

We are all adjusting to life, as a family of five.  And we are all in love with this new little member of the family.  I now cannot imagine my life without her.  She has the cutest smile, and she always makes me laugh.  She loves to give me kisses, and loves to snuggle after her naps.  She loves to get her books and sit on my lap.  She loves to sing 5 little monkeys...over and over.  Yes, I love her.   When I look at her and think of her being back in the orphange that she came from, I feel so thankful that God chose me to be her mom.  It gives me strength to keep going, if we are having a tough day.  It makes my heart break for the other children that are still there...

God thank you for my little girl.

We are home!

We are so beyond happy to be home, and it was so nice to be greeted by our family and friends at the airport and at home.  Hayley handled it all pretty well considering.  When we arrived in the U.S., it was the middle of the night in China.  She was so tired, but managed to give everyone a smile. 

Now we are trying to overcome the jet-lag, and the little one sitting next to me decided to wake up at 3am.  So here I sit (at 5:30am), and she does not look at all like she wants to go back to sleep!  This should be interesting. 

After being home for about an hour, Hayley decided to get down and play with her brothers for a while last night.  They were thrilled, and they were able to see a little bit of her fun personality.  They are so excited to have her home! 

Thank you again for all of your prayers and support!  I will still try to update periodically to let you all know how Miss Hayley is doing!