We cannot believe that our Gracie has been home for a month now! That stressful, awful, wonderful time in China is becoming a distant memory - thanking God for that!!
The Gracie we received and struggled with through our time in China is also becoming a distant memory. She is blossoming before our very eyes, and we love the softness and gentleness we are seeing in her. We love her so already!!
Everyone is settling down into a routine. We are even able to venture out more and more and do more "normal" activities with our new little girl. During her first couple of weeks at home, there was a time that I didn't think things would ever get any better. Jet lag, exhaustion, and being overwhelmed with the transition can really play havoc on your emotional state! Also, there is a certain letdown after you return home. The high excitement of traveling and receiving your child has worn off, and the sheer amount of work in the transitioning stages tend to be a let down similar to the day after Christmas. That is the only way I can explain it, and I am not meaning anything negative about our precious children and the gift they are to us. I feel fairly certain that each new child we bring home feels the letdown for a bit as well.
Then we begin to move on through that stage, and suddenly you wake up one morning, and just like that, your new child feels like he or she has always been with the family. Just like that the same new child begins to feel that he/she is finally home and that you are their family. It is such a difficult process, but we are entering into that stage where we all are feeling like we belong to each other, and I have to say that we are "thrilled" to be out of that yucky "new at home" stage. Even though we will still have rocky times, we know that mostly it will only get better and better.
