Now that we are HOME!

We have been home one week and one day.  Jetlag was pretty bad for the first 2-3 days for all of us.   Lena was waking up around midnight every night, we were going to bed too late (Olympics doesn't help with that...lol), and we all were waking up between 4 and 5 a.m.   Lena got on our timeline first and then Evan.  Rick and I are pretty well there, though still tired in the afternoons.   We haven't done a whole lot outside of the house, but we have done a few fun things as a family.   Evan, Elijah, and Jonah went to VBS every morning this week at our church.  Evan was so excited to be there with his cousin Noah who is visiting from Florida.   I got to spend one morning with Katelyn, my niece, which was nice because we only get to see them about once a year.  Today we went to a program and picnic for the culmination of VBS.   Lena loved watching the kids perform and enjoyed the hotdog lunch with Culver's ice cream for dessert!  She was flashing that big smile for all to see.  It was also  my first full day without Rick, as he had some FFA duties.  He has take a lot of half days to work, but this was his first full day gone.   Really adding a 6th child hasn't been too bad.   I would say that Lena is doing great and that our two biggest challenges are 1. carseats- getting all 6 kids crammed into our 8 passenger mini van and buckled is not as easy as it was with five kids and 2. the two youngest boys learning to not bother their sister so much and to give her her space, but also for her to learn that it is okay to be touched by them and that you don't have to whine every single time they come close....balancing act! :)   She loves Evan, Elijah, and Jonah and them coming near, tickling her, hugging her, etc. doesn't bother her at all.


A couple other fun things we have done this week were going to my mom and step-dad's for lunch/grill-out (yum)  and going to a friend's house for dinner and then to their farm for a hayride and to watch some baby snapper turtles.   Lena loves animals (so very different than our experience with Elijah and Jonah)!   We are enjoying seeing her get excited around them and trying to teach her the animal signs too.  Thank you Pearce family for a great time!!

 I didn't think she'd want anything to do with riding this toy at my mom's but she wanted to and LOVED it!  She smiled and laughed like crazy.

 My niece, Katelyn, and my nephew, Noah.

All Six Kids

 Elijah and his new cheesy faces!

 Jonah- oh so jolly!

 Landyn- always thinking about his next move!

 Jayce- silly little man!

 Evan- always looking for a project to do!

 Lena- looking so cute!

 A bond has formed between these two for sure!

 All Six Kids Together Oldest to Youngest...this is going to look crazy, but here goes: 5, 4, 4,3, 2 and 1 :)

 

Hayride Fun!

 This picture says it all about this child!

 Eating on the run- there is just too much to do!

 Swinging with friends.

 Awww...if only all his touches were this gentle and they got along like this all the time. ;)

 Hayride time- they all LOVED it!

 Yum!

 Loving the cows!

 Off to see the baby snapping turtles.

 Look at them go!

 Love this picture of Rick, Landyn, and Jayce.

We have also had Lena's first visit with our pediatrician (nothing new to report besides the things we've already discovered).  She might have lost a little weight while we were in China from stress, lack of eating, and all the changes.   She is 26lbs and some odd oz. and 36.5" tall.   She was even on the American growth charts- very tall for height and on the lower end for weight, which was no surprise to us.   We have our first visit with our ENT at Children's Hospital in Milwaukee next Monday and then our first visit with the audiologist on the 20th to re-check her hearing to see if the reports from China were accurate.   We also had our first post-placement report with our social worker this week.   We have to do them at 1 mo, 6 mos, 12 mos, 2 yrs, 3 yrs, and 5 yrs. for China's guidelines.   That went very well and we are working on gathering all the pictures with captions that we need to submit with the report.

Time is flying and life is good!