Jet lag Stinks!

Hanging out with boys

At Chicago airport - outfit made by

her grandmother, Linda Nixon

Sorry Madison, your brothers

thought this was funny

Wow- what a whirlwind. Today is the fist day I have even been able to look at our blog. Our friend Steve, who did the updates for us, did a wonderful job. We are so thankful to him for doing this since we could not do blog updates from China.

Now a little about our trip home. We left Guangzhou on Wed evening flew into Hong Kong. Had a quick nights rest then headed to the airport for our 14 1/2 hour flight to Chicago. Let me have a proud momma moment & say that Madison did AMAZINGLY well. I think she cried for about 30 seconds 1 time when she was trying to fall asleep. The people around us were so impressed. Once we landed in Chicago, we had to go through customs, immigration, etc. This is where Madison became an official US citizen. Our flight was delayed to Nashville but we finally made it home around 8:30 on Thursday evening. We had numerous family members & friends greet us. Let me apologize for those of you who thought we were arriving on Friday & had arranged to go to the airport to meet us. So sorry for the confusion.

Seeing the boys brought me to tears. We missed them SO much. They were more worried about seeing Madison than us, but that's understandable. Madison was a little unsure about all the chaos around her but she managed a few smiles. My sweet cousin, Ronnie came & took pictures for us but I don't have them yet. As soon as I get them from him, I will post pictures from the airport. After the airport, we went to our house with family. The house was decorated for her return home, dinner was waiting for us & she had a welcome home cake. We are so appreciative of all that family & friends did for us while we were gone. We are so blessed.

Jet lag has been hard on us (more Phil & I than Madison). Last night I gave in and took Melatonin. That is a wonder drug!!! I feel so much better today. I always thought jet lag was just feeling tired but it was so much more (light headed, stomach problems, etc). Madison was been staying in her routine as best we can but she has gotten up each night around 2-3 & been up for approximately 2 hours, then goes back to sleep until around 8. However, she doesn't seem affected during the day, She's her usual cheerful self.

Madison & the boys are quickly bonding. Sometimes it's difficult for them to understand when she doesn't want them to pick her up. They think she doesn't like them. They are learning that she needs her space sometimes & they are beginning to read her moods & personality. I'm so proud of how well they are handling this huge change in our family. They're great kids!