Finding a new normal

We have been home for 4 full days. Our plane flight home went better than I thought it would She really didn't cry that much.

Her first nap she took found her playing and then all of a sudden laid down on my arm and closed her eyes. My first thought was it had to be the prayers of my many wonderful friends. What kid just lays down and instantly goes to sleep? She wasn't showing signs of being that tired. She slept for about an hour. Later near the end of the trip she cried just a little and then slept for about 3 hours. The worst part for us and not that big of a deal to her, was that we rushed through sercurity after we landed and ran to our gate in Detroit which was to leave in 30 min. and found out when we got there that it was delayed! They would give us a time we would depart and then they would extend it for a half hour later. They changed our gate 4 times and kept adding a half hour to our wait until finally we boarded the plane. There was bad weather earlier and planes were late getting in. Many planes were delayed. We should have gotten into South Bend around 4:30pm and it was after 8pm when we finally saw our family. Renee did so good when she met the family. She even went to her brothers and smiled at them.

We finally got everyone in bed by 12:30am. The boys had fun showing Renee her toys in her room before bed.

She woke up at 3:30am. We decided to just keep her in our bed until it was light outside. She wanted to go potty every half hour and it was quite a fun game for her. The funny thing was almost each time I took her she put pee or poop in the potty. She had no accidents on the plane trips. This girl is truly potty trained. I am glad, but I also made many trips on the plane to the potty.
I have been waiting to write because I have been waiting for the bomb to drop. Meaning right now I feel we are in the honeymoon stage. I am truly amazed how well things are going. The dog even seems to accept the fact that she is here to stay. She has a healthy fear of the dog, but is absolutely facinated with him. I am having to watch the two of them together alittle more closely as her healthy fear of him is wearing off. Last night she slept through the night and seems to be through the jetlag. We are not over our jetlag. The first three nights when she woke us up in the middle of the night, I was in deep sleep and then last night when she slept through the night, I could not get to sleep til after midnight.
She was a little more sober today and I wonder if it had to do with the fact that Tim went back to work today. She absolutely loves her baba(dada)! She called out for him today, but didn't cry. She was much happier tonight when Tim came home.
Don't get me wrong. She has her moments, most of what I have seen is normal 2 year old issues. She wants her way and is a very picky eater. We went out to eat to celebrate my sons 14th birthday and she started to go into a mini meltdown, but seemed to come through it much quicker than in China and soon was in her baba's arms and eating and smiling. We even made a quick trip to WalMart to find a few things we needed for her and she was fine. The hardest thing is just me adjusting to having a 2 year old again. I need to go back and remember all the things I use to do with my boys. She sometimes will give me a break and play with the boys, but today she only wanted mommy. Here are some pictures for you to enjoy.

My friend asked me last night if it had really set in yet that Renee is here and she is my daughter. I don't really think it has. I know that sounds crazy. She is right in front of my eyes, but it is such a whirl wind of activities from getting your letter of approval to travel and then packing to travel and then weeks in China that are jammed packed. You just find yourself living in survival mode. Seriously, my heart is just racing sometimes when I go to bed. It is hard to relax and just step back from it all and reflect. The few times that it has been quiet and everyone is in bed I am too tired to put thoughts together.
It is spring break right now. Life is not normal at all. I am glad to have the time with her, but I am realizing that I am totally unprepared to start homeschooling next week with a toddler. I know that I just need to give myself time to adjust. We have spent months doing paperwork and preparing for this time, but making the shift from preparing for Renee coming and living in reality that she is here is not that easy. Especially when you are dealing with jetlag and getting caught back up on home issues. On top of that, you go to bed just wondering what will tomorrow be like? Will the honeymoon end tomorrow? I feel like I have my guard up. It is a process as I said in China. I am trying to enjoy each moment of this journey.