First night, first day

Elsie is so happy to finally have "Lacie" home-- she's not understanding the fact that we changed her name to Lily, but thats okay!





Annabelle showing Lily her bed (and wanting to sleep with her too)




Look who is pulling up to stand...he's growing up too fast





So precious....little girls loving on their sister





Big sister carrying Lily around....Lily LOVES it





Naomi with her happy baby brother



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Joshua in his crib...probably happy to stretch out!





Sean checking out his new brother and roomate...and showing him how a musical toy works.





Lily in her bed (a packnplay so she doesn't roll out...which she did frequently on the journey home)




Joshua in his highchair






Lily playing with her feet





I took this picture so we can remember how thin Lily is when she came home to us...hopefully she will start eating more and with good nutrition, be a more healthy weight and flourish. She is eating better, but does not like to drink--we have to be creative to get liquids into her.




In contrast....here is our stout big boy Sean we adopted last year!





Our sweeite pie!




I had to take a picture of our Elsie...who we found in this position, fast asleep on top of the girl's bookcase. So funny--and we were thankful she didn't fall off. She is not usually a daredevil either, so it was quite a surprize.




These pictures are dark but I had to document that the first day --believe it or not-
Sean, Joshua, and Lily all went right to sleep for a nap! I was amazed... jet lag probably helped some, but it was great.



Joshua





Lily





and Sean!

It was such a blessing for all of us to be in our own bed our first night. That hard time of separation is finally over and now we can get adjusted to life with 9 children! As John says, our quiver is very full and we will need the Lord's wisdom, strength and love as parents to so many blessings.

Everyone slept through the night except Joshua...who woke up crying hard...and I found him soaking wet from his diaper too full, needing a change of clothes and a bottle.. he had not drank near as much as usual on the flight home so I was glad he took a bottle. Then he settled right down to sleep..thankfully the other boys didn't wake up.

The next morning John went in to work a little late (couldn't convinve him to stay home) so we enjoyed breakfast together...my daughter Haylee was excited to cook omelets for us all. It was quite a moment having all of us at the table for the first time...it will take some thinking to do to figure out the best set up so there are helpers near those who need help. LIly is used to being fed everything by a spoon...even drinks...so we are working on getting her used to some self feeding (right now she throws it off) and using a sippy (which she hates and doesn't seem to like to drink...maybe since she had so much soup in the orphanage?) Joshua eats from a bottle with a nipple cut to allow a thicker drink (baby food and formula or juice mixed together, or blended up soup)...he is doing pretty well with adjusting to this. At the orphanage he had a lot of blended up soup, formula with potatoes or fruit in it, tea and juice and porridge. We look forward to getting his swallowing evaluated later this month.

The house was a flurry of excitement with the little girls (and JOnah) carrying Lily around who doesn't play with toys yet (only throws them) but LOVES the attention. Joshua is pretty content and happy unless he is hungry, wet or tired. He likes being with everybody even though he can't communicate and we don't know what he sees or hears...it is obvious he is happier when he's with the family.
Sean seems to really like his new brother and sister too--he's sweet and curious..and he was showing Lily how to push a popper and handing it to her. HE also tries to push the stroller and he lectures Lily to eat her food!

I'm realizing I will need to get to bed earlier and up earlier so I can have some quiet time and to be organized for our busy household. Please pray for us as we all get adjusted here. Hope you enjoy the pictures!