We are home...

We have been home for 3 days and are continuing "settling" in. Trying to find rest, routines and figure life out as a family of 3! Solomon was a great little traveller and we were so blessed to have extra seats around us  on almost all of the flights so he could stretch out and have more room to play! 

On Tuesday night we were greeted at the airport by family and friends which was so great! I don't have pictures of that yet but will definitely be posting some once I get some! :) Solomon did amazing even though it was very overwhelming for him. 

We were able to enjoy 1 full day at home as a family but Josh had to go back to work today which was hard for Solomon (and me) this morning. He had his daddy around for a whole 7 weeks and so this morning brought many tears and "dada?". We are continuing to work on attachment and bonding with our son and so I wanted to give you a glimpse as to what our next few weeks will look like.

Solomon was so loved and cared for the last 14 months of his life. And even amongst that he has encountered loss. The day that we could hardly wait for was a day of loss for him. He left the only place and group of faces he had ever known and came with us.  We prayed for him regularly, even before we knew him, and I believe that God had been preparing his little heart for this moment in his life. 

The last 7 weeks that we were in South Africa we tried to be very intentional to encourage that attachment and bonding to help make this whole transition a bit easier for him. We have made sure we are the ones who feed him, change him, cuddle him and hold him. We continuously tell him we love him and share positive affirmations  to show him how excited we are to have him in our lives! It was a great time for our family to really learn more about our little guy!
Now that we are home it is exciting for us but another loss for him. We see that he is bonding with us and that we are a place of safety and security for him, but we also see at times how he is unsure of this new place, with new faces and much colder weather!

So for the next couple weeks we will be laying low and in some ways "cocooning" as a family! We plan to focus so much on bonding and having our little boy attach to us. These are a couple ways that we plan to foster this bonding:
1. We will be spending the majority of our days at home with limited visitors. Josh and I would love to be able to introduce our son to all of you but we are focusing on whats best for  him. Solomon needs to know that this is home and that we are his parents and the people that will never change. So...we will be waiting a few weeks before we venture out to church, work places, friends houses and even shopping. But it won't last forever!!
2.  When we do have visitors or when you meet Solomon, we would love for you to play with him, but are asking that you step back from picking him up, cuddling, and kissing him (at least for the next couple of weeks).  Although we see that he is more & more secure in who we are as his parents, he grew up in a baby home with different caregivers and volunteers catering to him.  We want to make sure he understands that we are his parents and the ones that will feed, change, cuddle and comfort him. 

This is hard for us as a family as well because we would love to be able to introduce him to everyone! But that may not be whats best for Solomon and we need to do what is best for him. This won't last forever...but just give us a few weeks :)
We are so grateful for the support from all of you and thank you for giving us some time as a family!  
Be Blessed...

(Thank you to Heidi Klassen for some of the phrasing that is used in this blog! You put these ideas down in writing so well and I appreciated being able to use some of it!)

Halfway home

We are waiting in London for our next flight that will take us home to Canada! We made it through our first one hour flight with a new toy and some snacks and then from Johannesburg to London Solomon slept most of the way with some snacks. 12 hours of flying done and only 12 more to go!!
When we arrived to Heathrow I was thinking about when to change his eating times as the time difference is small here but still different. Never thought of that for a little body like his as for me I can just adjust when needed. So many new things to think about when travelling with a child!
Definitely been loving it though...makes the time go faster when you are constantly busy.
Pictures to share soon from our adventure home!
See you all tonight!!!! Can't believe it!!

On our way...

After 2 delays, 7 different "homes",  hanging out with 4 wonderful families, enjoying countless hours with our son, greeting our dear friends at the airport and hanging out with them for 2 nights, 2 trips within our trip, seeing so many beautiful sights of places, people and things, AND loving the beach we are finally on our way home!
This morning we woke up and headed to the beach to enjoy the beautiful sun, sand and water. Solomon then went down for his last nap in a bed for the next 2 days, we finished up packing and now heading out soon to go say goodbye to our first B&B host then off to the airport we go. We will be missing it here for many reasons but we are looking forward to getting home as well to settle in, introduce our little man to all of you and becoming parents with family, friends and church support all around.
 We are continuing to pray for safe travels, that Solomon is able to sleep and enjoy the airplane, that he stays healthy and we catch all of our flights in good time!

If you would like to meet us at the airport feel free to contact me and I can try to give you details! It will depend on wifi access! 

Be Blessed...