We Are Here!

Hi!  Remember me?

First things first.

Are you ready for this?

Just now, I told Griffin that I loved him and he signed it back to me!

Melt.My.Heart.

We sign it differently, in a way that I feel is easier for him.  We cross our hands over our heart and sway back and forth.

So what if he was sitting on the potty when he did it?  haha.

So....where do I even begin?

The night before we flew out, Big G and I were both in the ER.  Big G had been running a high fever for days and actually missed her last few days of school.  I had relapsed into one of the worst colds of my life.  Pretty sure I had the flu but they didn't test me for it.  But anyway, they gave us meds to help us make it on the plane ride home.

As we made our way through the Frankfurt airport, guess who set off the metal detector and had to be patted down?  Little G, of course.  The workers wouldn't let me help them capture her so I had to stand back and watch the show...and laugh.  She ran circles around all of them, laughed hysterically every time they managed to start the pat down, rolled around on the floor, and repeat.  Come to find out, it was her Twinkle toe shoes that set the alarm off.  Once they were done, we were on our way!

The children did very well on the flight...better than I expected, actually.  Want to know the trick?  I wore headphones that canceled out most of Little G's noise, turned on one good movie after another, and I was good to go!  What worked for Little G?  Those Crayola invisible markers that only write on certain paper...and her favorite fish puzzle.  What worked on Griffin?  He was content to play with Giraffe Meat and snuggle.  He was awesome.  Big G had a nice relaxing time by kicking back and watching movies.  Don't get the wrong idea, though, it was an exhausting trip.  Little G had to be catered to for the entire flight, needing constant entertainment.  By the time we landed in MS, we were almost too exhausted to get off of the plane.

Almost.

The welcome that we received at the airport was amazing!  We landed in a small airport and our family and friends were actually able to stand just inside the door that led to the runway.  We had to walk on the runway to get inside of the airport, so they got to see us exit the plane with the little ones.  It was great!  (No worries, our cousin, who is a photographer, captured the moment and we will get the pictures this weekend! I will post them for you.)

I had a wonderful surprise at the airport.  My BFF, Shana, and her family, made the trip from TN to greet us at the airport!  It had been a year since I got to hug her neck and it was so awesome to see her there!  I got to meet her precious little son that she adopted from Russia, only a month or so after we adopted Griffin, who also has Down syndrome.  He was just too precious!

After we said our hellos at the airport, my family took us to the community center and had a dinner for everyone who wanted to see us.  We had over 40 people to join us and it was so enjoyable!  It seemed that we all got our second wind and made it through the evening just fine.

Life has been crazy busy since we landed.  We enrolled Big G in school and she had her first day on Tuesday after making it to MS on Easter Sunday.   Griffin's process was a bit more difficult.  He actually had his first day today!  And yep, he rode the bus!  Big G is loving school and Griffin seemed very pleased with himself when he got off the bus today.  I can't wait to talk to his teacher to see how he did!  I will do a separate blog on Griffin's first day back to school.  It's just too precious.

So what are these kids up to around here?

Well, let me back up a bit and say that Little G finally decided to use the potty chair in our temporary housing after months of trying to get her to do it.  I was so proud of her!  However, we had to leave that potty chair behind because we didn't have the space to pack it.  We immediately bought a new one and she refuses to go near it...so it looks like we are back to square one.  Griffin uses this potty chair just fine, so I think I will take Little G to the store and let her pick out her own potty.  Maybe that will help.  Who knows.

I have been noticing that Little G says "gosh" all of the time.  I finally realized that she got it from Mickey Mouse!  We have been trying to break her of saying it by saying, "don't say that", every time she lets it slip.  Well, this has become a game to her.  So what does she say now?  "gosh, no say dat!"  <sigh>  Can't help but laugh though.  She always keeps us rolling around here and there's never a dull moment.

Griffin is the Houdini of removing his diaper so magically beneath any article of clothing.  We have reintroduced nap time to him since he's sleeping through the night, and if he wakes up, you better be quick to get him out of there.  He will find mischief.  We thought that having him in a onesie would keep his diaper on, but he's figured out how to remove it without dirupting his onesie.  He must be in footed pjs every time he goes to sleep, complete with a safety pin at the top.  Once, we found him trying to untangle his giraffe from the blinds in his bedroom, so we had to move his crib.  He's such a stinker!

Griffin has received his first 4wheeler ride and his first tractor ride.  Little G didn't want to participate in those but Griffin loved it!  The littles also enjoyed their first stroll on our family land to the pond.  Little G kept calling it, "da jungle."  They have been playing outside for hours every day and it's so refreshing!  I love having to wash the dirt off of them every single night.  This is the life that they need and I pray that we can have a big back yard for them, wherever we have to move.

Big G experienced her first tornado warning at school today, complete with hunkering down beneath her table and also in the hallway.  She had a lot to talk about when she got home from school!  Where was I when the tornado hit?  Target, buying more footed PJs for the little Houdini.

Chris has attended two job fairs, one in Houston, TX, the other on the coast.  He's sent out a ton of resumes so we are praying that God lines a perfect job up for him soon.  I have to admit, it has been awesome having him here with me 24/7.  I love that man!  He thinks he's going to grow out a full Duck Dynasty beard, but I have to say, he's sadly mistaken.  <wink>

Well, I think I will wrap this up for now.  Little G keeps messing with my mother's china cabinet and it's past her bedtime.  I promise I will blog more frequently now that we are getting somewhat settled!

Love and Hugs!