We're Home
October 1, 2008  |  November 16, 2008  |  January 25, 2009  |  August 12, 2009

Wednesday, October 1, 2008 “A happy family is but an earlier heaven.” ~George Bernard Shaw This is the perfect sentiment to describe our first week home. To have our entire family in our own home is a sliver of heaven. By His grace, we are all together again. It is with grateful hearts and an abundance of joy we celebrate being a family. Unity, compassion, acceptance, love, togetherness – these words describe the joining of our hearts to become a larger family. Sappy, I know, but true. “The Maginn 6 Pack” as a friend described us. I should back up a bit. Back to Guangzhou. The night before we left, a typhoon hit Southeast Asia and traveled northwest to Guangzhou. As we lay in our beds unable to sleep, we wondered about the possibility of needing to stay in China longer due to the weather. Our Northwest flight had already been delayed, but they were moving us back to Japan Air to fly to Tokyo. We were ready to come home; we just prayed we would be able to leave. At 5:00 a.m., our bags were being picked up by the bellhop and we got a telephone call from Grace asking us to come to the 2nd floor lobby instead of the 1st floor tour reception room. Apparently the lower parking lot was flooded and there was no way for the bus to pull up to the door. We ran through the wind to the bus and were off. We got to our plane on time by running through the airport. This was not easy because Princess Maeve would not walk. Any imagined picture of us looking harried and stressed toting a toddler and all of our stuff running through the airport would probably be accurate. (Lynn was also on our flight and I asked to buy her stroller from her. She just laughed and ran faster!) Our takeoff was awful. The wind was so bad our plane tilted from side to side as it ascended. The consolation was that Maeve was so scared, we were preoccupied calming her and didn’t have time to contemplate dying. That was the most eventful part of our flights. She did really well on the plane. Because she was scared, she had no desire to be off our laps or run around. She slept some and ate some and played some. I have the cutest picture of her combing Mike’s beard with the White Swan comb. Arriving in Detroit was the biggest blessing. We breezed (mostly) through customs and immigration with a TSA worker welcoming us home! It was an amazing feeling. Maeve officially became an American citizen at the airport. She didn’t look really impressed with that knowledge. Maybe she isn’t real pleased with the current administration? :) Both of our mothers and our three older children were waiting to greet us at the airport. Being reunited with them was overpowering. We had missed them so much. I couldn’t believe how much they had grown. Hugging them and introducing them to Maeve was incredible. They had brought a gift for the baby. She opened her first present and received a Barbie (which she named Mama appropriately!), a pair of crocs from Amanda (thanks!), some Barbie clothes, and some little panda bear toys. Too sweet. She loves the Barbie. The car ride home was fun. The first argument broke out between the older kids. Everyone wanted to sit next to their new sister. Mason won with the promise that she would be here forever and there would be plenty of time to take turns. The noise level declined and the pouty faces arrived. The noise level increased considerably as we placed the baby in the van. Maeve did NOT want to sit in her car seat. We bribed her with pretzel sticks and she gave in. (I would have held out for chocolate!) Now she sits well in her car seat, waving bye-bye as we shut the door! Coming home was amazing. We arrived at the house to a vase full of carnations and a poster from the Eberly family. They also brought us dinner that night. Bliss. There was no way we were cooking. I wasn’t even sure I remembered how. Thankfully, my mom stocked the fridge and had made us a big pot of chili. We have now spent the last week in a daze of jet lag, dizzying happiness, cooler temperatures, piled up mail, home cooked food, and lots of noise. It has been wonderful. The children are all fascinated with their new sister. She is equally fascinated with them. She took to Liz immediately. After a couple days, she decided the boys were fun too. I started back to school this week and came home to Gabe and Maeve running circles around the couch laughing hysterically. It was paradise. (Except for the abundance of toddler toys I’ve been tripping over. But really, we are even tripping with smiles.)

Of course, not everything has been pleasant. None of us are sleeping really well. Maeve wakes several times during the night. We are still pretty tired. But every day gets a little easier and last night we were even awake until 9:00 p.m. (A couple nights ago, I was in bed at 7:30!) Jet lag is not fun, but every day it gets a little better. Because I know you are all wondering, here are a list of her likes and dislikes: Likes Going bye-bye Pasta with veggies Sitting with Mama Touching the keyboard as I type Taking a bath Fruit Juice boxes Giving kisses Being chased by her brothers Being tickled Her mother’s singing (I know this will eventually move to the next list) Dislikes Being alone in a room Hotdogs Sleeping through the night Having sticky fingers Getting blood drawn Cold milk Dogs (especially barking ones) Thankfully, she is a pretty laid back kid. Her feet actually work in our house. Not much outside it of course, but we all have “our thing.” Please continue to pray for all of us as we learn to be a bigger family. The support we have had so far has been overwhelming and we are very grateful. We will probably update again in about a month to let you know how she is doing. Thanks for following us, praying for us, and encouraging us. We were honored to have you along. Hugs from HOME, Mike, Traci, Liz, Mason, Gabe, and Maeve

Website by myadoptionwebsite.com