Andy is very interested in Gracie and gets very upset every time that she cries.  He loves to hold her and then refuses to give her up to anyone else.  Eden doesn’t seem all that interested in Grace, but she really likes to be the helper and does a great job getting diapers and blankets and paci’s when we need them.

We’ve been blessed by people bringing meals and helping with the kids and are now trying to get into a routine.  We’ve had a lot of changes recently and the big kids have done a great job, although we occasionally see the effects.  Ben and I are hanging in there and running on not much sleep.  It makes us really appreciate having my parents willing hands around because these days we need all the help we can get!    There are a few pictures of Grace below and some others on the ‘photos’ tab.  There’s also a video coming soon!

We’re all enjoying being a family of 5 and getting into a new “normal”.  We will post more pictures soon, but here are a few from our reunion at the airport.

I still feel great, although by dinnertime most days my back hurts from carrying Andy around and most days I find I need to catch a nap while Andy sleeps in order to stay awake until bedtime.  We had an ultrasound at my appointment on Monday and it was so much fun to see Grace!  They estimated she weighed 5 lbs 4 oz and all of her organs looked good.  We saw her spiky hair and she was sucking her thumb.  We could see her face pretty clearly and we watched her yawn, which was really cute!

Eden on the Fly540 flight. She LOVED flying “up up up in the air” “like a birdy” and going “up and down up and down” (turbulence). She had a lot of trouble with the concept of the us being above the clouds:
What are those white things Daddy?
Those are clouds Eden.
But they’re down low.
Because we’re flying above the clouds, we’re way up high.
But I’m lookin down, they’re down low.

Eden was a great traveler and I lucked out with her being hyper during the should-be-nap-time instead of a terror. She fell asleep 5 minutes into our car ride home at 4:45.

She started being a three year old while we were laying over in Kisumu. She was trying to figure out why we couldn’t fly straight to Eldoret and every response from me was rebutted with the same statement except “Why…” affixed to it!

Our flights back to the U.S. are scheduled for the 18th of January. That was the only day Delta had available for both my ticket (paid) and Eden’s ticket (mileage award seat) on the same flight in the same class. She did give me the option of the 9th…with Eden riding up in Business Class but me in Coach!

January 18th is a lot later than we wanted to be reunited, but it does allow me time to get things sorted out with the house, van, packing, work, and all of our stuff. Its amazing how many things a woman can collect in a short 8 months in Kenya. You heard me right, none of this is mine.

Today Andy counted to 10 which shocked me and he has even started singing a couple of songs.  He loves to finish our sentences, such as “Home again, home again….”  Andy has been very happy this week while Uncle Colin is home and the Smiley clan was around.  He’s had lots of attention and lots of boys to rough house with.

Andy LOVED opening presents at Christmas and I have to keep an eye on him because he would really like to open Eden and Ben’s presents which are under the tree.  He was fun to watch because he gets so excited when he starts to open the gift and then gasps when he finally can see what’s inside.  Then he just wants to sit and play with that gift for a while and he needs encouraged to open the next one.  Andy also had fun playing in the snow, as you can see below!

Next Steps:
Our lawyer takes this letter to court next week and hopefully is seen on a Certificate of Urgency (2 days wait instead of 3 weeks). This first hearing is the appointment of a Guardian Ad Litem. This person is supposed to come visit and observe how amazingly wonderful we are with Eden, how she is thriving in our home, etc. We then have another court hearing 1-2 weeks after that where the guardian and a little angels’ social worker present their reports and (hopefully) the court grants the adoption. Its unclear if we have to go back to the national committee at that time or not. If we do, well, hopefully they’ve worked through their backlog! Worst case scenario is that we have to wait 3-4 weeks for the first visit, then 3-4 weeks for the second visit, then 4-8 weeks for the national committee…but thats where the humanitarian visa would come in: we could at least come back for a little bit to see Meghan/Andy/Gracie/family in the middle of all the waiting.

I am now 33 1/2 weeks.  Grace is very busy stretching and kicking these days but has settled herself quite uncomfortably on my bladder.  I feel her most often on the bottom left portion of my belly.  She is sitting much lower than Andy did.  (You can see a picture of me at 35 weeks with Andy here).  It’s funny how different this pregnancy has been from Andy’s.  I suppose her being a girl and this being my second pregnancy make the difference.

I can’t believe that I only have 7 weeks left.  The last several weeks have flown by and I know my due date will be here before I know it.  I had an appointment on Monday and everything looked good.  I’ve consistently measured just a little bit smaller than my weeks indicate, but Dr. Lund has told me that I shouldn’t be optimistic about having a smaller baby this time.  I’m still hoping!  I have another appointment next Wednesday before the office is closed for Christmas.

We celebrated with a grand ol’ party last night. Nearly everyone in the compound came for pizza, cake, and ice cream. We did an Elmo theme. He was splattered all over the plates, cups, noise makers, hats, gifts, and food. For some reason though, Eden and I were the only ones that wore our Elmo pants. But that was ok by her, at least we were matching!

Getting ready to sign for Eden

Chrissie's amazing homemade Elmo Cake

Izzy and Eunyoung made Elmo Cookies. They tasted even better than they looked!