Picture Post

Life after India

Holy cow, I never knew how difficult it would be to get over jet lag. I am really struggling and still having tummy problems. I am soooo thankful for my husband who has been Super Dad and very helpful. Everyone seems to be doing pretty well except for me. Adia still seems very happy and laughs and plays all day long. She is a very busy girl. I am still her least favorite person. I am not sure what that's about but it's kind of hard when she prefers everyone but me. I can't make a toddler let me hold her while she is screaming etc...What to do??????? Any suggestions would be great. I am sure it will get better over time. She is very independent and plays by herself but loves to be with older kids. Our kids LOVE her and are having a blast. She is eating pretty well, I have started mixing everything with rice and then she will at least try it. She loves yogurt, fruit, graham crackers etc... She takes a 2-hour nap in the afternoon and goes to bed around 9pm. She has been getting up around 5am which is way to early for our family but it is so light out she can't sleep anymore. I think we are going to look into getting some blackout shades for in our room. I am not a morning person and 5am everyday is not good!!!!

I better go and clean something since she is napping...pictures to come later today.

Home at last!

We are home and just trying to get adjusted. I am having a really hard time sleeping since we have been home. I've only gotten 3-4 hours a night. Adia is doing wonderful!!!! She is such a happy girl and loves her brother and sister. She did great on our flight home, Eric had her belly laughing for the last 30 minutes of our flight. She has a great laugh! I will hopefully post some new pictures soon. We had an amazing homecoming to lots of family and friends. We are a happy family of 5.

Headed Home!

Well, today is our last day in India, we fly out tonight. We are really excited to get home to our kids and our own home. Adia hates our hotel room...she screams and cries every time we come back to it for a LONG time. It is very sad! I have had a really upset stomach for the last couple of days and am not feeling real great. We are going on a Delhi site seeing tour today before we go to the airport. There are so many beautiful monuments in India. Adia loves her dad!!!! much more than her mom! I have had to put Eric's belt and shoes on for him so he did not have to put her down...FUNNY GIRL! Prayers for a safe flight and that we all sleep well.

Cheryl

So in love...

with our girl. Adia is a doll and we had such a great time meeting her this morning. She was very shy when we first came in to see her. She was eating lunch and when Eric and I knelt down beside her she just got up and left. It was funny! We just sat on the floor while all the kids were playing and tried to include her as much as possible. We had brought a few books (she loves to read) so she slowly was warming up and we would look at books with her. She is VERY busy! Did not stop moving the whole time we were with her. She is also very smart. She did not speak the whole time we were with her but hopefully as she gets more comfortable that will come. By the end of our visit we even got a few smiles. She hugged me goodbye and shook Eric's hand...so cute! The kids at SOS Childrens village are all wonderful. We loved playing with the older kids too. The girls loved me taking pictures of them and then looking at my camera after so they could see. They would giggle forever about the same picture. V-jay the orphanage director is fabulous!!!! We really enjoyed our day with her and her daughter. They treated us to wonderful chinese food and it was so fun to sit, chat and share stories. This evening we are going to go and do some shopping at a local market. Tomorrow is our Embassy Day and we have to be at the orphanage to pick up Adia at 9:00. I am praying everything will go smoothly, we'll see! We are really enjoying our time in India and I feel like we all have adjusted pretty well. The driving is still scary but we are already used to it.

Kaylin and Blake we are going to try and call you tonight. We miss you guys so much and talk about you everyday. You are going to be so in love with your sister. She is so funny and very tiny. Oh, ya! we put on the white beaded slippers(from Amelia) for her at the orphanage and she would not take them off, she loved them and wanted to take her nap in them...So Cute!

Our trip to Agra

We just got back from a great day in Agra. Our driver is wonderful in the crazy traffic but it did get really scary a few times. We visited the Taj Mahal, Red Fort and a Duty Free market where we learned how they made gorgeous marble decorations. It was neat to watch some of the process of how they were made. We ate at two YUMMY Indian restraunts. The drive to Agra and back is 8 hours. So we are really tired again and looking forward to a good night sleep. The heat was sooooo HOT today it took an hour for us to cool down in the car. We have so many great pictures but are unable to get them to load, hopefully tomorrow.

Tomorrow is our big day to meet our precious Adia. We are really excited!!!!! She will not be coming with us tomorrow because they want to transition her to us. Hopefully on Tuesday! Please, pray for our day tomorrow!

We arrived!

We made it to India and are very glad to be off the plane. When we arrived we had only had about 5hrs of sleep in 48hrs. We are sooooo tired but excited! Our driver is a very sweet, very old man and he knows what he's doing. Driving around here is CRAZY!!!! No Rules!!! We all felt peaceful in our car, I was so scared for the people on motorcycles. We even saw two beautiful ladies drivng a motorcycle really fast down the road with no helmets and the one in the back was riding side saddle. SO SCARY! We arrived at our hotel, The Claridges! Beautiful and wonderful service. We leave this morning to Agra for a day tour of the Taj Mahal and other monuments. We will hopefully post pictures this evening.

Kaylin and Blake we miss you sooo much but know you are having a great time. Talk to you soon!

Cheryl

We are on our way!!!

Still up all night getting everything ready. What a whirlwind of a few days. I don't recommend leaving in 2.5 days....lots of work! :) We leave at 7:45am in the morning. We can't wait to meet our sweet girl on Monday. We hope to be able to post from India can't wait to share our "Family Day" with you.

Cheryl

We leave Friday!!!!!

I really can't breathe now...we are leaving on Friday! I better get busy I have tons to do to get ready for our baby girl. :)

We are headed to India!!!!

We are leaving June 17th...Thank you, Thank you for all your prayers. I will write more when I can breathe. :) Yahoo!!!!!!!!!

Cheryl

No Visa!

No Visa last week, hoping for the beginning of this week. We spoke to our case worker and she said she really thought it would happen by Wed. We are hoping to leave June 17th. Please continue to pray, hold your breathe, cross your fingers, say happy thoughts whatever you do for us. We appreciate it!!!

Cheryl