There's No Place Like Home

Good Saturday morning!! It's 7 am and the Graul house has been up and moving for a while this 

morning. We were able to keep Gabe up for quite a while last night hoping he would sleep to a decent hour this morning. We got pretty close to a decent hour for a newspaper delivery person. 

When we left Chicago yesterday, Gabe was asleep. It was a hard won sleep. For most of the 13 hour flight from Beijing he played and fussed, but didn't sleep... So neither did we. Headed off the plane in Lexington Gabe woke up in the toddler carrier and cried and cried. He was so tired! 

Tim had gotten permission to come through the gate, so he was waiting for us. What a sweet moment! We sat down in a quiet part of the gate and took Gabe out of his carrier. Tim met his son and got to hold him and love on him before Gabe fell back to sleep. 

When we walked down the stairs into the baggage claim area there was a large group of friends and family to meet us! We came down the escalator as a family into the arms of so many people who love and support us! 

At home, Gabe finally opened his eyes to take in his new surroundings. He was sleepy and clingy for a while, but eventually woke up and took a tour of the house with Baba, including his room and the bonus room with all the toys. Gabe loved taking all the books off the bookcase shelves. He saw the Goldens through the back door where they were on the deck. He thought they were great from that distance.

Gabe slept pretty well through the night, but did wake up crying in his crib in our room a couple times. With soft words and gentle back rubs he was soon back in dreamland. 

We have enjoyed playing and discovering this morning. He allowed Harley to lick his hands through the baby gate and he petted Toby, who is so patient. 

That's the update from here! Thank you all again for following our story and for your prayers during this amazing time!