Saturday, April 14, 2007

We made it! After a grueling 20+ hours in an airplane, Ainsley, David, and the “traveling grandmas” touched down at Pittsburgh International Airport at 6:15pm today, Saturday, April 14, after traveling a total of nearly 20,000 miles on this trip!

We were greeted at the airport by friends and family with signs and lots of love and support. Ainsley did quite well considering the many new faces and lots of attention on her. Although she did get upset a few times, she generally did great and seemed at peace with meeting all the new people. She especially seemed to like all of the other kids who were there (babies and toddlers) with our friends and family. They started to get to know each other and even play together a little bit.

After a long time of talking and telling stories and hanging out at the airport, David and Shannon put Ainsley and Griffin in the double stroller, made their way to their car, then buckled them into their car seats and left for home. We arrived home around 8:30pm and all had an easy dinner of sandwiches and chips (thanks to Renee and others for your help). We then tried to get to sleep – babies, toddlers, and everyone else!

The first night was very challenging. Griffin did pretty well, but Ainsley woke up crying quite a bit, which is very different from the routine she had gotten into in China. In China, Ainsley pretty much slept through the night from 8:30/9:30pm until 6:30/7:30am. We have to keep reminding ourselves that she is in a whole new place now and will have to totally readjust.

Even before we fell asleep on this first night back, it was more clear than ever that all of this is going to be an emotional rollercoaster for many weeks and months to come, especially as David and Shannon not only have to deal with Ainsley’s adjustment but also have to still get used to having a newborn in the house (Shannon got more and more into a rhythm with Griffin over the past two weeks, so now David has some catching up to do with him while Shannon needs to begin the bonding process with Ainsley).

There are many challenges ahead, so please continue to pray for us. David does not plan to go back to work for at least a couple more weeks, so hopefully this will provide the time needed to begin the important adjustment process and get into some sort of rhythm and routine.