Home sweet home

So what does one do when their toddler is still on a much different time zone and wants to get up for the day at midnight??? And especially when you can't find the tv remote to change the station and are stuck watching "hey Arnold" the cartoon... You give the little man a bowl of Cheerios, eat your first breakfast of the day and update the blog, well at least until I figure out something different. Poor Jeff never slept the night before and finally gave up and got ready for work at 4 am. Jet Lag is brutal....

Almost as brutal as our 14 hour plane ride home. We mistakenly thought we had bulkhead seats, and we also figured since little man likes to be held a lot we wouldn't spend the money to buy him a seat. We also didn't figure that the people in front of us would recline their seats the entire 14 hours. The stewardess also handed us an extra life jacket to hold and a 55 gallon trash bag to store all our dirty diapers at our seat to go along with our two giant bags (with all the toys, snacks, diapers and extra clothes one needs for a 14 hour trip) that we already had to straddle between our legs. All the on demand movies, video games and tv shows we had on the way there, were replaced with a large screen communal movie screen four feet in front of our faces that continually blinked and showed images in double playing serial killer movies and scantily clothed people. Even if I was able to shut my eyes, I could still see the flashing screen from the inside of my eyelids. Actually Matthew didn't do too badly and he enjoyed our siestas to the airplane bathroom where he could take all the paper cups from the dispenser -it was sweet freedom just to stand for those short bits.

Well aside from the plane ride from H-E- double hockey sticks and the lack of sleep, Matthew is doing amazingly well. He still isn't very verbal, but he understands a lot of what we are saying. Our communication includes a lot of pointing, a little signing and grunting but for the most part gets the job done. He will even point to his butt if his diaper has a "surprise" waiting in it. Matthew has decided the fruit in Ohio isn't as good as the fruit in China - he won't touch our watermelon, apples or oranges. He does like soup with vegetables, so we just have make a trade off there for now. For the most part he is more trusting of men more than women - that is pretty common for kids who have had women in their lives that have let them down. Matthew was instantly taken with Robbie but Shelby is quickly gaining on him. His disposition is still very sweet and his smile will crack you up - what a cheese ball! He is a lot of fun and just a very loving little boy.

We have been blessed with some meals from family and our church family - this has been priceless!!! Matthew is also taking a nice nap in the afternoon and I am able to regain some of the lost sleep. I still can't believe he is finally home with us, it is so surreal and humbling - dreams do come true and prayers are really answered.

And last but not least...Shelby has been the lucky one to have her birthday in the midst of the chaos - my baby girl is 17! She is now able to have more than one non-relative in the car when she drives and she can watch the "serial killer" style movies that we could watch on the plane. She asked to get a Cedar Point pass for her birthday, so keep her in mind if you are headed up there to ride coasters. She is growing up to be an amazing person and we couldn't be more proud of her.