Thursday, July 13, 2006
We have now been home six days and are finally finding a moment
to concentrate again on posting our We Are Home update. The main
factors that have contributed to our inability to post have
been: adjusting back to our time zone, trying to figure out how
to function with two children and simply trying to get caught up
on all the many things that have been neglected in our absence.
Our friends and family have been absolutely amazing in the help
they have extended to us in our adjustment. As you can see from
the photo, we received a very warm welcome home! Our friends and
neighbors decorated our house with balloons and a sign welcoming
Mia and Annabel home. As an extra special touch, all of
Annabel’s new girlfriends wore matching t-shirts to celebrate
her arrival and to make sure she knows who her friends are! In
China she was her happiest playing with her fellow adoptees in
our travel group and she is equally as happy with her new peeps
in Oakland.
Once again because of our frequent flyer miles, our travels home
were complicated. We flew from Guangzhou to Beijing, then
Beijing to Seoul, and finally Seoul to SFO. As a saving grace we
were able to get a bassinet for the 12 hour Seoul to SFO flight
and Annabel slept the whole way home.
Annabel’s first birthday was July 8th – the day after we
returned from China. My sister, Sarah, drove all the way from
Nevada City with a cake to meet her and celebrate her big day.
We took off her clothes and put her on a sheet with a piece of
cake and let her go to town. True to form, she went after the
cake with all the passion she reserves for food. She did not
hold back.
Since we have been back she has done a great job getting
adjusted to our time zone and getting into the swing of a nap
and sleep schedule. Some of her firsts (I assume): she went to
the zoo and enjoyed their merry go round and train ride; she has
gone to the park and was introduced to the swing (which she
absolutely loved) and sand (a little confused there), and she
has slept through the night now three days in a row! Lastly, she
has been introduced to the car seat in a big way. I feel bad
about the amount of time she spends running around with me in
the car taking Mia around and running errands. I suppose it is
the trade off for having an active family life.
Thank you everyone for your participation in our incredible
journey to welcome this wonderful little bundle of joy into our
home and into our lives. Reading your comments every day was one
of the things that really made the trip special and was a
highlight of our day.
We would like to say a special thanks to Joe and Jennifer
who host this website for the wonderful work they do.
They are so well organized and we have nothing but positive
things to say about working with them. Any technical issues we
experienced along the way were on our end.
Love you –
Steve, Andrea, Mia, Annabel, Ben, Yippo, and Joo Joo
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At the Beijing airport getting prepared to leave China
Annabel sleeping soundly on the flight home
(we were envious!)
"Welcome Home!!"
Annabel's first birthday and first taste of chocolate cake!
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