Settling in at home....

Things are finally starting to settle down at least a little bit here at the Arenas house, so I have to get in a quick update. I'll do a quick rundown of the events that have transpired...

8/31 @ 1pm, we left Antigua for the last time to head to Guatemala City
8/31 @ 2pm, we arrived at the Grand Tikal Futura and got Lili's final paperwork, including her Immigration documents and Passport!!
8/31 @ 5:30pm, Moses, Max and Lili left with Angel (Lili's foster father) to go say a final goodbye to Ligia (Lili's foster mother) who had started a new job and could not leave work. I headed to the airport and wrestled the baggage and stood in line to checkin.
8/31 @ 6:45pm, everyone FINALLY was at the airport; said our final goodbyes and (through our tears) headed to our gate to board our plane
8/31 @ 9:00pm, the flight finally boarded
9/1 @ 2am, we landed in Chicago after a rather uneventful (but uncomfortable) flight
9/1 @ 3am, we passed through Immigration, collected our baggage, made it through Customs, and met our family and friends who were brave enough to greet us!!
9/1 @ 5am, got home and showed Lili the kitchen and then her room (she was FASCINATED by the kitchen countertops and by the DOGS!)
9/1 @ 9:30am, Lili was up and not doing so well... fevers and a cough all day
9/1 @ 10pm, Krista & Lili end up at the Emergency Room because Lili wouldn't eat or drink all day
9/2 @ 12:30am, we returned home and had Lili (with viral bronchiolitis) sleeping in our room
9/2 - 9/4 UMMMMM, can't remember much of anything.... I think we visited some family/friends, maybe got an hour or two of sleep, held Lili pretty much non-stop and worried about why she wasn't any better! Grandma & Grandpa Parollina came to town, the Emergency Restoration company came to work on cleanup of the basement from the flood (our basement is finished, so this was NOT GOOD!) and we FINALLY had a chance (with Grandma's help) to get the baby stuff out of the storage room
9/4 - took Lili to the doctor and discovered she had a double ear infection - started antibiotics
9/5 - back to the doctor for a recheck (looking better) and her first "real" checkup
9/6 - back to the lab for bloodwork (she had to fast, poor thing!)

While dealing with her health issues, it was so sad to see her feeling miserable and crying all the time. I don't think people really believed us, but she is SUCH a happy child and never really cries or fusses, so this was ESPECIALLY difficult for us. Now that we're past all of this illness, she's back to her normal self. She's adjusted beautifully, and I can't remember what it was like before she was here. She's in love with all of us, including the dogs. She's learning to do new things every day (she plays peekaboo, waves and will blink or squint her eyes to copy me when I do it to her). She's eating EVERYTHING!!! Thank goodness we got our doctor's blessing to use a minimal amount of baby food and really go straight to table food... she is an eater! Today, she had oatmeal, chicken, green beans, macaroni & cheese and peaches. And, of course, her formula! It's SUCH fun watching her grow and fall into a routine here at home. She's had the chance to meet many of our family and friends, although there are still lots more for her to meet. We visited Daddy at work (both of his offices, two different days this week). She was actually a little bit "shy" at one point and nestled her face into our shoulder when someone new would approach... that was a first. She's actually so laid back and easygoing that she'll go to anyone that wants to hold her.

So.... I'd better get going. We had a rough night sleeping last night and today, and I'm anticipating that we'll be up tonight again with her. Oh, well, another thing that I wouldn't trade for the world!!!! I'm SO glad she's home!!!!!!!!!