We're back, and it feels SO good.

We're FINALLY back. I cannot tell you how great it is to be in my OWN home, my OWN bed, my OWN good old USA. When we got to Michigan, the man who checked our passports asked us how long we had been gone, etc etc, then he handed our passes back and said, "Well welcome back to the USA." I promise you, I almost cried!! We got back a day before July 4th, so it seemed like we celebrated it early. We had barbeque and my cousins and Aunt Missy and Uncle Richie were there, and my grandparents, and Colt, and Amber, and of course, mom and dad and Luke! It was SO much fun!

Jetlag really wasn't that bad, and I'm not sure why. Maybe because we left Hong Kong in the morning, and, give or take a few hours, it seemed like we were in the same time zone as home, because we arrived home at 5:00-ish PM. Luke has adjusted pretty well for what he's been through. I mean he was in surgery at 1 month, at 4 months he was put in his foster family, then a month before we came, put in the orphanage, then us. Then, he saw the orphanage nannies the very next day, along with seeing other adoptive families and Chinese people who would speak to him and call him by name. The worst night so far was when he woke up at around 3:00 AM and cried solid for an hour and 18 minutes. The other night, we all got in the bed and watched a movie, Richie Rich. When it was time to go to bed, he freaked out and started crying. He led mom into the kitchen and opened the fridge, and touched everything, then got a bottle of water, took one drink, then led mom back to HIS room in his bed which he had been scared to sleep in, and climbed in with me and mom, and fell asleep. It was so weird! Mom said it's probably because he remembers us trying to get him to sleep there, and since we had never watched a movie in bed before, he was looking for something familiar. He's getting very attached to Pop and Grandmama. Whenever he sees Grandmama coming up the sidewalk, he'll run to the window and shout, "Gramamaa!!!" He likes riding in the mini trailer behind the fourwheeler, and he LOVES to swim. He actually knows how to kick his legs and move his arms already, but he still has trouble floating and keeping his head up. When he does let me put his ring around him, he can swim around and splash and everything! He likes dunking himself and playing around with my goggles. :) He likes looking at my magazines, and when he sees a picture of Victoria Justice, he says "Jie jie"! Haha! And when he sees a picture of Taylor Lautner, he says "Dang Dang!" Which is his Chinese nickname, pronounced "Dong Dong". Keep dreamin', little man! LOL.

I can't wait for him to meet all our friends and families, and I especially can't wait to get videos on here! He is learning english SO well. Everyone says so, even the doctor! His english vocabulary is HUGE. Let me see if I can remember them all:
Throw'm'way.
Mama
Baba
Joy(Jo-Eh! Lol)
Colt
Gugu
Jie jie
mom (it sounds more like MAAA)
Ready to go?(He found one of my old doll cars that says that and he repeats it over and over again!)
oh yeah, baby
no way, dude.
Say wha say whaaaa????
I love you!
Thank you!
Hello!
Hi!
Bye bye!
Please!
phone please
Luke
want
Grandmama
Pop
Laci
Kemper
Uncle Richie
Aunt Missy
Amber
Ring ring
water
pray
Thank you Jesus
for this food
In Jesus' name
Amen
Team Jacob!!! (That's my boy!)
Oh yeah!
yayyy!!
yeah!
No
And something that sounds like "quit"

And he can imitate just about anything! If my phone makes a noise, he can repeat it exactly!! It's so funny! He sings and talks in both English and Chinese all the time, but he's saying less Chinese.

He's super smart and whenever we sit down to eat, he says "pray!" and he puts his hands together, bows his head, and closes his eyes and waits for us to tell him what to say. If we don't pray, he doesn't eat! How great is that? Thank you, God!

So far, so good. We just got him down for a nap, and it went smoother than usual. Videos coming soon, for now, I'll just show pictures!


Mr Cool.


Pop's "Little Man"


Swimming lessons will be a breeze!


Cool vampire??!!


Little Fish!



Fun with Jiejie


Playing Guitar Hero with Jiejie at Incredible Pizza :)


A little kiddie ride at Incredible Pizza, he loved it!


Look at that grin :)

Blessings,
Joy