We're Home
June 11, 2009  |  June 20, 2009  |  July 8, 2009  |  August 13, 2009  |  September 22, 2009  |  October 31, 2009  |  November 24, 2009  |  December 21, 2009  |  January 8, 2010  |  February 12, 2010  |  March 22, 2010  |
April 22, 2010  |  May 14, 2010  |  May 15, 2010  |  June 30, 2010

Thursday, June 11, 2009 What a wonderful feeling to be HOME! Our flights Saturday went well and we arrived at the Oklahoma City airport at 3:30pm as scheduled. We were welcomed by our precious family and friends….Kaden, Bria, Aunt Julie, Aunt Jen, Uncle Josh, Aunt Debbie, Uncle Kenney, Uncle Nathan, GaGa Donna, Nanny Gloria, Papa Lloyd, Cousins Grace, Hayley and Emily, and Abree’s “adopted” Grandparents Mark and Brenda. I cannot describe how WONDERFUL it was to come around the corner and see their smiling faces and welcome home signs!! Most of us could not hold back the tears! Abree received beautiful yellow roses from Big Sister Bria and a precious teddy bear from Aunt Debbie and Uncle Kenney. After visiting at the airport for a while, we decided to take Abree home. She did great in the car seat in the car…not a single tear. We had to move car seats around so Bria could sit RIGHT next to her sister—it was sweet! When we arrived at our house, Abree spotted our five-pound dog, Kami, and would not take her eyes off of her. At Beacon House they have a large dog named Romeo that Abree was not so fond of, but I’m not sure she even realizes that Kami and Romeo are the same type of creature. After four days of being home, Abree finally was brave enough to barely touch Kami on the back with her tiny little fingertip. We are making progress… The first place the kids wanted to take Abree when we were home was to her new room. They had collected many toys for her a few weeks ago and they were so excited to share them with her. She had the biggest grin on her face as Kaden, Bria and Grace continued to hand her toy after toy…she loved it! Despite several visitors, Abree settled in and became comfortable in the house very quickly. She was bursting with personality within thirty minutes. She has such a bubbly personality—always smiling and giggling. She is a JOY!!!! We all enjoyed watching her soak it all in and watching the three kids interact. Bria could not wait to feed Abree, so we gave her some Cheerios and Bria fed them to her one-by-one. She was also so anxious to change Abree’s diaper, and even though her diaper was nearly dry we let her change her baby sister’s diaper for the first time. Bria was so proud of herself! Kaden just kept smiling from ear to ear saying, “she is just so cute!” and “I can’t believe she is home.” They are both wonderful with their new baby sister! Abree has done great adjusting to the time change. She goes to bed each night around 9pm and sleeps solid until around 7:30 to 8:00am. She eats 3 meals per day, takes about a two-hour nap after lunch and likes a small snack after her nap. She really loves taking a bath with her big sister every day (but she likes to EAT bubbles…we had to stop bubble baths). On Sunday, Abree’s big sister Ashlyn and big brother Landen were able to come for a visit. Abree fell immediately in love with Ashlyn and with persistence on Landen’s behalf she fell in love with him, too. She loves for Landen to chase her around the house! It is strange how Abree is a bit apprehensive around Caucasian children. I wonder if she has been around Caucasian little people much—if ever. On Monday we stayed home all day and enjoyed watching our precious silly girl play and relax and play some more. We set up the sprinkler in our back yard and after watching Kaden and Bria a while, she decided to join in the fun. Monday evening she went to her first baseball game to watch cousin Jake play his last game of the season. She just sat on my lap at first and took in all of the action, and then she was ready to get down and explore a little bit. Daddy and Landen took her on a walk and she had a great time. On Tuesday Abree “helped” the big kids set up a lemonade stand in the front yard. It was so cute!! She wanted to have a big girl chair just like Bria, Kaden, Grace and Jake. After the first customer arrived and she realized there was something to drink, she could not wait to get some lemonade of her own. We gave her some and she LOVED it! The kids were also selling popsicles, so she had the opportunity to try her first popsicle. Of course, she loved the popsicles too! Her first doctor visit was yesterday (Wednesday). She weighs 20 pounds and is 30.5 inches...less than 0% on the growth chart for both height and weight. She’s a tiny little princess! After visiting her family last week, her height and weight did not surprise us because they were all petite people. The pediatrician said she looks very healthy and is bonding extremely well. She is running several tests on Abree just to establish a baseline. So far Abree has tried lots of food and seems to enjoy most of them. She likes chicken, fish, beef, pizza, french fries, oatmeal, cold cereal with milk, cheese, sloppy joes, cucumbers, dill pickles, and much more! She is a great eater! She has learned how to kiss and make the kissing sound…it is precious! I think she has realized that we are a very “kissy” family and she has joined right in. Sometimes she will even give us kisses without a request. She melts our hearts! She tries to say lots of words and makes lots of noises in imitation of all of us, but we still don’t understand much. She is really trying and I know her vocabulary is going to grow by leaps and bounds over the next few months. We look forward to introducing her to the rest of our family and friends. We are also very anxious to take her to church, but her pediatrician has asked us to wait until some of the tests results are back before we take her to church for the first time. We cannot begin to explain what a tremendous blessing this precious girl is to our family! She is one of the happiest little angels you will ever meet. She loves to have fun and be silly. She fits RIGHT in our family. It is amazing to sit back and watch her develop bonds with each one of us. She is SO loved beyond measure! We can never thank God enough for this amazing gift He has given to us! She is wonderful!!!!

American Girl!! Ready to be HOME! Welcome Home Abree! Papa was first to hold me at the airport... I went right to him! Bria loves to feed her baby sister! In my own bed at last.... Meeting big sister Ashlyn and big brother Landen... So happy! Daddy's Blessings

Special Sisters!


Having fun in the sprinkler!


Sliding down together...

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