Safe and Sound and Somewhat Sane!

CLOSE-UP on the SWING

I cannot believe it has been so long since I've posted.  Believe it or not, this is the very first time I have been online since we arrived home over 1 week ago.  I just finished going through over 300 emails:(  Yuck!  I have received quite a few menacing calls and emails requesting I get off my rear and do some blogging.  I'm touched that so many people followed our travels!  As I started off saying , though, I am NOT a writer and I don't like being near the PC if I can help it, so these posts may be fewer and farther between.
Let me start with a little catching up...
Our travel home was, thankfully, uneventful.  The 13 hour portion ended up falling during Quinn's natural bedtime so she slept about 11 hours of it:)  The only problem with that was that she was rarin' to go when we arrived home after midnight!  We were shocked and touched that Chris' mom, the boys, and 4 of our dearest friends were waiting in baggage claim for us at midnight bearing a pint-sized American flag for Quinn, a bouquet of flowers, and some balloons.  Our friends took pictures and video.  I'll try to post the pictures when I get them from them.
Quinn and the boys acted as if they had just been apart for a while, not as if they were meeting for the first time.  They hugged and played together all the way home and played some more once we got home.  No one wanted to sleep!  Quinn was almost immediately at ease in the house.  She sat on the couch and played and laughed.  She watched our dog, Maggie, with curiosity, not fear.  She followed her gu gus around the house and slept in her own room in her crib without hesitation.  Below is a picture of the most amazing surprise when we got home.  My aunt drove several hours to set up our dining room as an elegant Chinese restaurant.  We now own all the necessitites to make a wonderful Chinese meal...even down to the bamboo steamer!  Now we can make Quinn's favorite bao-baos:) 

The boys were totally smitten with Quinn from the moment they laid eyes on her.  Owen's first comment was, "She's even shorter than I thought she was and her hair is soft."  Colin's first remarks were about how cute she was and if he could carry her:)  They continue to be enthralled with her (most of the time).  They wheel her around the house on her riding toy at top speed as she squeals with delight.  They tickle her and wrestle with her and play fun games such as 'jump off the sofa" which we typically would not allow.  They also read books with her and cuddle with her and they even got her out of her crib once using a step stool...yikes!  If the boys are not around, I get the inquisitive shoulder raise and "Air gu gu?"  The only time the boys clear the room is if Quinn is crying, which isn't often.  The first time she wailed about something, Owen was quite concerned..."What's WRONG with her?"

 

There have been so many touching moments in our home over the past week, I'll just list a few of our favorites...
- Night one-Owen said his prayers and before I could even ask him the ritual question "What do you want to thank God for today?', he said, "I already know what I want to thank God for today. I thank God for Quinn."
- When asked which Colin liked better for Christmas, his trampoline or Quinn, he replied, "Quinn, of course.  She's a real, live person!"
- When Colin accidentally hit Owen with a ball in the face, Quinn told Colin off in Cantonese and her finger wagging, then promptly ran over to Owen and hugged him and kissed his cheek.
- When the boys and Chris were having their first wrestle-mania since we'd gotten home, I tried to keep Quinn occupied in another room, but once she heard the commotion, she ran in squealing and piled right on top of them.
-From day one, when Quinn wakes up she yells, "HI MAMA" or "HI BABA" until we come in to get her.
-Every single time Maggie walks by, Quinn says "Hi Gee-Gee!" (her best attempt at Maggie.)

-When I was tucking her in one night, I whispered "I love you" and she whispered right back, 'I lu u."

Here are a few of the LOW-lights since we've been home...
- Day one home- I came down with a vicious bug that left me in bed with fever, aches, pains, etc.
-Day two home- Doctor visit and antibiotics! Quinn awake from 12:30am- 7am.  She and Chris enjoyed many cups of pretend tea, cartoons, and books while mom slept away her illness.
-Day three home- Chris back to work a full day,another bug hits both Chris and me, Quinn awake from 1am-5am.
Day four home- Quinn falls down the entire flight of stairs (while being supervised, I'm ashamed to admit.)  Scariest fall any of my kids have ever taken.  Landed head first on a plastic toy at the bottom of the stairs and got a goose egg triple the size of the one in China.  Thank GOD she was ok, but we were all shaken up for a while afterward. Chris works another long day.  Quinn awake 3-5am.
Day five home- Everyone is well...sleeping all night...aaahhhhhh!
Now on to the Christmas fun...
Our friends brought some finger lights for the kids...they were such a hit!  Check 'em out!

Christmas morning was interesting!  The boys were so excited, but Quinn was still snoozing at 7:30am.  We decided to wake her up to be a part of the action.  She was whiny and overwhelmed.  You can see how thrilled she was about her new tricycle:)

 However, after an early nap, she was back to her fun and playful self!  Her absolute favorite thing to do is swing.  Chris took her out for the first time and said he had never seen a child as thrilled as she was to be on a swing.  She laughed and squealed and smiled and did not want to get out for over 30 minutes.  Chris finally pulled her away, but you better believe she asks to go out even when we're letting Maggie out in complete dark!

The boys prized Santa gift was a trampoline.  They are having a blast on it and they've been very nice about sharing it with their little sister from time to time!

 I cannot finish this post without adding some holiday pics!  Chris' office had a little Christmas event that we took Quinn to.  She was not at all intimidated by the noise.  She enjoyed clowning around with her brothers!

 We also went to the Christmas Eve service at church.  We knew it would be Quinn's naptime and, sure enough, she slept through the entire service after a brief protest during the Gospel reading.  (Owen later reported how embarrassing it was that Quinn cried in church....maybe this will be a good tool to help HIS behavior in church:)  The most miraculous moment of the service for me was during the Prayers of the People.  Since we first saw Quinn's face on February 1, 2011, I have prayed for her health, safety, and happiness during the prayers for those in any need or trouble.  I was suddenly overcome with emotion as we reached the prayers for those in any need or trouble and here I was holding my sleeping angel on my lap, healthy, safe, and happy.  God answered my continued prayers!  We are so incredibly blessed to have this precious child as our daughter.  Our family has bonded in a way that can only be defined as God-Ordained.  All of the waiting and wondering, all of the anxiety and sleeplessness has been worth it.  None of us can imagine our lives without Quinn and we have only been together a little over a week!  We can't wait to share more stories of our time together as a family of five!