Settling In At Home

We are finally starting to feel somewhat settled in at home.  After returning Sat afternoon, tackling mountains of laundry, finishing our tax return, and catching up on mail and bill paying, I finally feel like I can breath (and blog).

 

So far Ella is doing great!  She had no issues getting strapped into her car seat (something non-existent in China).  Once home our fears were confirmed and she screamed when she saw our cat Piper (we came across a cat at a shop in Guangzhou and she was quite freaked out by it).  So poor Piper spent some time locked in the laundry room.  Ella LOVES her brothers and they love playing with her.  They also love all the 2 year old toys we have for her (Noah especially).  It is actually nice to have them around to entertain her and very cute to watch them be such proud big brothers :)

 

Sleep has also gone way better than expected.  She doesn't like to be put in her crib and will fuss and cry a bit, but German has stayed in the room with her and she is usually out within 10 minutes.  Sometimes she refuses to lay down and has fallen asleep sitting up several times. I had envisioned her seeping in our bed forever so this has been quite nice.  One of us has gone and slept in the room with her (on a twin bed in there), and she has woken up once each night, the first night crying and fussy for about an hour but the next 2 nights her wake up has been much shorter and she has gone back down much easier.

 

She is eating well and I am actually having fun spoon feeding her (something I hated with the boys since it was always stressful to have to feed them both at the same time).

 

The boys went to school today (though German had the day off).  Ella and I ventured to Target and she was a trooper sitting in the cart.  I also took her on a quick run, the good news is she was fine with the stroller, the bad news is that after 3 weeks of no running I was feeling WAY out of shape.  Not sure if it is due to the time off or the extra ~50lbs I was pushing, I think I will go with the extra weight :)

 

She is such a cutie and has been so much fun to play and hangout with!

 

Tomorrow German goes back to work and I am on my own with all 3 all day, that will be the really test!