Adjusting

We've been home almost a week. It is great to be here! The transition and adjustment has been a little tougher than I anticipated, but we are just so thankful to be home. For me, it has been weird to be here, but not working. The first couple of days at home felt like snow days or summer. I did unpacking, my mom came over to help and I watched a bit of the TODAY show (which for me is a teacher snow day tradition and treat!). Then my mom went to work and it was just Samuel and I all day- no Lee Anne, Erick, Milo or Angie to play with. Our Antigua schedule doesn't work here, so we've been struggling to get Samuel back on some kind of schedule. He just hasn't wanted to nap at all during the day. Samuel did great meeting people over the weekend, but this week he has been really clingy. I know he is probably lonely for his Casa Bella friends and overwhelmed with so many new faces and places. It just makes it hard for me to do much of anything- like shower or go to the bathroom. He likes to pull up on my knees or reaches for me to hold him while I'm on the toilet. Here's to the end of privacy! All this adds up to a couple of long days this week, but I know it just takes time to settle in.

I've had several moments of culture shock this week. A few things that have caught my attention....

-I have fallen right back into texting, but today I used my debit card for the first time here and got all flustered at the little machine where you scan your card and sign. You don't see many of those in Guatemala.

-I've also found myself being really cautious with my wallet here- even when it probably isn't necessary! I guess that comes from so many of my mom friends in Guatemala getting robbed :).

-I think I'm recovering from the "black lung" acquired in Guatemala. I have a whole new appreciation for our country's emission standards!

-It is so easy to communicate here. Don't get me wrong, I LOVED getting to speak Spanish in Guatemala, but sometimes my head would hurt from the extra mental energy to translate. In the store today, I realized I didn't have to think about whether I should speak Spanish or English! I was in Nature's Pantry and the cashier said "Hi, guapo (good-looking)!" to Samuel and she really caught me off guard!

-I love our roads and sidewalks- they are so smooth and cobblestone free. However, they are not good for lulling Samuel to sleep. In Guatemala, I would stroll Samuel in the stroller and then he'd take naps in his stroller. I gave it a try here one day because he was so fussy, but no luck. I'm pretty sure it didn't work because his stroller wasn't bouncing over cobblestone.

In other adoption news....

Our friends the Embrey's found out that their daughter Caterin is OUT of PGN! The Heinrich's got the same news about their daughter, Auri, as did the Huff's for Otoniel. It's been a week of good news. Still praying for the Harris' son, Paulo, to get OUT of PGN and for them all to have quick RENAP runs!!

Speaking of news, you know that there isn't much going on in town when our adoption story is on the front page of the local Blue Springs Examiner! My *dear* cousin, Jamie, decided to contact the paper and share our story. A writer contacted me and asked some questions and today we were in the paper! He butchered some info (most obviously the spelling of Guatemala :)), but it was a nice article!

Below are a few pictures from this week- including the NKOTB concert! It was a fun show and we had great seats (thanks again, Amie!). I also just have to share this video clip even though Gramma Beyer will kill me. The things grandparents will do to entertain!

Samuel meets Luke

What I found in my bed when I got home from the concert... could Samuel be sleeping any closer to Jimmy!?

NKOTB about how I remembered them from 15 years ago!