Pictures From Home

Heather, I love my pink highchair!

Mama's little funny bunny

Home, Happy, and Rested!

We are here… rested, and so very, very happy! Sorry I haven’t blogged in a while, but all I want to do is spend time with my beautiful daughter. Shane and I just can’t seem to take our eyes off of her (of course, with a 15 month-old you can’t anyway). We are trying to absorb the fact that she is really here in our arms now. What an incredible feeling! She is just doing great! We are amazed at how well she has adjusted. She sleeps through the night and has a good appetite. She toddles around now on her own... working ever so diligently on her balance. She often topples on to her bottom, but then hops right back up and tries it again with a smile on her face (now that's determination!)She won’t allow anyone else to hold her yet except Shane and I, but that will come in time. We know that this is a positive sign that she is bonding and attaching to us (hang in there grandmas… it will happen!) She will however wave and smile at most everyone she sees. She’s also had a cough and runny nose and little things like that, but all and all she is a happy, happy baby girl. So tiny, beautiful, and perfect! Parenthood is really great! It just fits us like a glove.
We were greeted by so many family and friends at the airport upon our return home. We were truly overwhelmed by the outpouring of love and excitement for our daughter’s arrival. We just can’t thank everyone enough for all of the enthusiasm and support we’ve received. We will never forget the incredible homecoming we received! Thanks Nadra for providing the pics!
We’ve had a couple of obstacles since we arrived home. First, our luggage got lost somewhere between LA and Tulsa, which I think is very funny since we made it through the crazy airports in India with no issues. It was finally delivered two days later. We were very relieved as they contained all of our irreplaceable souvenirs and a lot of Jadyn’s clothes and such. The second issue was our washing machine went out (arrrgghh!) This is always a problem with three suitcases full of dirty clothes (and I do mean dirty). The third was the microwave went out too! Anyway, we’ve got everything worked out and are now almost into somewhat of a routine. I feel like I’m kind of going in circles with the laundry, dishes, etc. Although it’s getting lots better now.

I can’t seem to get back into my normal sleep routine and the issue isn’t having a new baby in the house. She is in a perfectly normal sleep routine… sleeps completely through the night. I on the other hand am getting up about 1:00 a.m. and 5:00 a.m. and am craving lunch and dinner type foods. I’ll start with a bowl of cereal and that just doesn’t do it, soon I’m eating some dinner leftovers (I’m ashamed to say… but I even had a chicken leg one night). I’m not really all that hungry at normal dinner time though. Really weird…I guess I’m still on India’s eating schedule.
I think part of the reason I’m up late is that I just keep thinking about all that God has brought us through and especially the last challenge we faced just before leaving. I awoke to a phone call from Anila telling me that there had been a fire in the passport office in Kolkata. I just knew I had to be dreaming; it couldn’t be true. It was true… I felt my last bit of strength begin to crumble. My mind was reeling with possibilities of more delays and what ifs. She and I both started praying, crying out to God, and asking Him to somehow change the situation. I soon realized that He had already taken care of it because no documents were burned! It was a fire in the electrical wiring. This is a great miracle! We still didn’t know exactly when the passport office would open again, but we resolved to travel anyway and just wait longer in Kolkata if necessary. The manager of the passport office soon mailed the passports out to the orphanage director and we received word when we arrived in LA that they were done. I was relieved getting this news because, although I didn’t tell anyone, most of the way between Tulsa and LA I kept having this nagging worry in the back of my mind that we might have to turn around and come home… come home without our daughter. I just couldn’t deal with that thought so I just had to keep pressing forward and trusting that God would work it all for good. Friends… that’s just what He did…God is sooo faithful! He took care of everything… every last little detail. He knows what we have need of before we even ask.

There are so many details left about our trip that I haven’t shared yet. I’m sure you’d much rather hear about my eating habits (heehee). I need some more time to pull my thoughts together so that I can narrow down the important details. Otherwise, this post could go on forever… it kind of did anyway didn’t it? Sorry. I’ll try to post again soon, but at least now you know we are home with clean laundry.

More Pics Before Leaving

Daddy finally found his hairbrush... it was at the Sheraton all along!

Poolside with mommy at the hotel. Jadyn is so enjoying the sunshine on her face.

It's a bird! It's a plane! It's Super Baby!

Our things are all packed up and we are ready to go. We'll stay here at the hotel until 6:00 and then we will head for the airport. We are tired and ready to come home, but yet we have so many sweet memories of our time here in India. I think Jadyn will do okay on the airplane. On the short flight from Kolkata to New Delhi she slept. We haven't seen her facial expressions at take-off yet. I'm sure those big beautiful eyes will get a little bigger. As we rode the taxis, rickshaws, etc, those eyes were giant sized at times and always looking around.

Okay to resopnd to some of the comments... Marilyn and Joanne-I'll be happy to go shopping one last time and get you some bangles (such a sacrifice to shop again-heehee). Natasha and others who are wanting to come to the airport- we would love to see everyone there! We will arrive at about 10:20 p.m. on Friday night. I can't guarantee we'll smell good or look very pretty, but of course miss Jadyn will be looking fabulous as always.

This will be our last post from India :-( I'll try to post again during our layover in Singapore, but we'll just have to see how it goes. Although maybe I shouldn't...I was giggling and blushing as I read over some of my posts this morning. As a new parent with jet lag, I cannot be held responsible for spelling errors and such. I hope it all made since, as they were just our personal notes posted during times of extreme fatigue and happiness. I've posted a few times with my eyes only half open. Anyway, so glad that all of you were able to share in our incredible journey. Wish time would've allowed us to post more. Thanks again to everyone and we will see you very soon! God bless!

Be Home Soon...

Jadyn enjoying the big bed in the hotel room! She is sleepy and ready for a nap.

Sweet baby girl... all smiles and showing off her new bangles daddy bought for her.

The auto rickshaws we rode(Don't worry grandmas... we were safe!)

We have had a great day... we just played and shopped and enjoyed being together! Daddy just spoiled his girls today! It was a great time of rest before getting on the plane for the very long ride home. Tomorrow we might shop a little more (heehee!) and then just hang around the hotel until it's time to leave for the airport. Shane and I have just laughed and had sooo much fun with Jadyn. She is always doing something so funny and cute.

Here is a list of just some of the adorable things she does:

-The way she throws her head back and laughs when we kiss her neck.

-The hundreds of different ways she she grins at us.

-The way she rolls her eyes up and hold's her mouth when she's feeling shy.

-The way she pats us with her tiny little hands when we are patting her.

-The way she sleeps between us at night and reaches out her little hands to feel for us.

-The way she babbles and talks so sweetly to the baby on the lotion bottle.

-Watching the way she looks at her daddy... he is an AMAZING daddy.

I could go on all night, but I guess I should stop. When you meet her , you'll know what I mean. I guess I keep saying it, but we are just SO happy. God hand-picked her for us... there is no doubt about it. We feel so honored and blessed to be her mommy and daddy. We are forever changed! Praise the Lord for his goodness and love for us. This whole experience from the first piece of paper we filled out until today has been one miracle after another. I can't begin to list all of ways God has shown His mighty hand in our lives.

We will try to post once more before we leave tomorrow. We will see everyone soon! We look forward to seeing all of you at the airport and we so appreciate all of the comments you have made. It means so much to know that everyone is thinking about us and sending up prayers.

Also... grandmas, she had the big BM!!! Yipeee! We never thought we would be celebrating poopy... my how life has changed!

Finished at the Embassy today!

Walking to daddy... isn't that the most adorable smile you've ever seen?

Sleeping Beauty

Telling Ms. Roy, the Orphanage Director, goodbye at the hotel in Kolkata

Wow... we have had such an amazing experience in India! We are tired, but so so happy! It has been so busy! We received Jadyn's Visa at the Embassy today so we are ready to travel home soon. We are looking forward to seeing everyone, but we are trying to soak up every minute of this experience that we can. What wonderful memories we are going to have to tell Jadyn about some day. India is an amazing place. It looks even more beautiful now seeing it through our daughter's eyes.

I can't begin to tell you all of the wonderful experinces we have had... but the best of all, of course, was meeting Jadyn for the very first time. I will never forget the moment I saw her. INSTANT LOVE! She is such a loving and sweet baby girl. We feel so blessed that she has bonded so well to both of us. We are both able to hold, snuggle, and love her all the time. She just looks back at us with such love too. It is truly amazing! She makes the most adorable expressions... she has all of these different little smiles that just melt your heart. Everywhere we go people smile and say how cute she is... of course we already new that. She has such a sweet little disposition. During the long day at the Embassy today she just slept and then woke up smiling. The doctors visit was a little scary for her though... when we had to undress her she cried and that was the first time we had heard her really cry loud. Thankfully, she didn't have to get any shots. We were so relieved because we hated to put her through that. Her weight was just over 15lbs which is what we thought.

We rode an autorickshaw yesterday to get the visa photos and shopped in the crowded streets of New Delhi. (Anila's brother helped translate for us and helped us bargin at the markets). Even though it is very crowded and busy, we have never felt unsafe. It's all just like a scene from a movie. You've never seen so many people in one place! It's true what everyone says about the traffic and the lines in the roads being just a guideline, and the honking too. However, Anila told me that the honking is not intended to be rude, as it often is in the US. It's just a way of letting people know you're coming. As I've watched, I've seen that this is totally true. They are never angry when their honking. They just don't give to one another at all when driving. They just keep right on going into oncoming traffic.I've never seen so many close calls in traffic, but I've yet to see an actual accident. It's all just like organized chaos.

We also ate at McDonald's last night, which is not like ours in the states. Shane was dissapointed... no hamburgers... just chicken sandwiches. Today, for lunch, we had VERY spicy Indian food, which was really great, but you really pay for it later (heehee!). Anila showed us how to eat everything and told us all the names for everything. It is considered very mannerly to eat with your hands, and when you're done with the meal they bring you this little basin of warm water with a lime in it to clean your fingers. You use the lime like soap on your fingertips to remove all of the spicy smells.

Tomorrow we have a free day since all of our business is done at the embassy. We were surprised to be finished with everything so soon. PRAISE THE LORD! We decided to treat ourselves and stay at the Sheraton Hotel until time to travel. The Clark was okay for a couple of nights, but the room wasn't that great and it's in a VERY noisy area. We felt that we really needed some rest before we make the long journey home again. We wouldn't trade our expereience there though, it gave us a great chance to see a whole other side of New Delhi that we wouldn't have otherwise. By the way... I would highly recommend the Sheraton in New Delhi to those who will be traveling soon. Great rooms, great service, just great all around.

We might do a little more shopping tomorrow and then on Thursday our plane doesn't leave until 11:00 p.m. so we are hoping to be able to make arrangements with the hotel to stay a little later. I will try to post again tomorrow and put up new pics... got the message mom : ) We love everyone very much. Keep us in your prayers as we finish up this incredible journey and begin our new lives as a family of three. (I love saying that... family of three!)

So Much Love!

I have so much to say and so little time. We are filled with praise and joy. Our sweet baby girl is a blessing. I honestly don’t know how we waited so long. All of the pain and frustration of the long process has just faded away and replaced with peace and joy. We just feel so full and complete now. Going to the orphanage was incredible! The moment they introduced us to her was just amazing. I can’t even begin to describe the feelings of love and joy. At first she had the saddest little pout on her face. But soon she melted in to my arms. Then Shane took her and she quickly bonded with him too. She is easily allowing both of us to meet her needs. She is just such a joy. We were able to tour the orphanage and take pictures of all the babies for the other waiting families. The orphanage doctor told us she is completely healthy and doing great! They said she is timid and quiet and rarely gets upset. This has proved to be very true thus far although we are seeing more and more of her funny little personality coming through. We are leaving for New Delhi in a few hours… I will post more when we get there.

Together At Last!!

She is beautiful, perfect, absolutely wonderful! We are all doing great. I will post lots of details soon. Just wanted to share our first pics of us at the orphanage. WE ARE SO IN LOVE!!!