Roll Credits

Its our one week homecoming anniversary today.  I  hope you'll forgive us being a bit quiet, but there has been a lot to do to really settle in.

Not the least of which was Zelie's first visit to the pediatrician.  All went well.  She charmed him as she has everyone.  Her overall health is perfect.  Her height/weight stats put her at roughly the size of a two month old.  The doctor seemed a little surprised (pleasantly so), but mama wasn't.  Carrying that baby around constantly, she already had a pretty good idea of just how robust our girl is!  Some plans were made for future visits and follow up imaging requested by the surgeon and we were sent on our way.

And that brings us to the close of this first chapter of our Zelie's adventure.  It is certainly not over.  We've just begun to get a peek at all the wonder of the person that our Zelie is and will become.  There will be more entries here as well.  But having reached the end of this first phase, I wanted to pause to say some specific words of thanks.

First, and above all, we are thankful to Our gracious God who saw fit to gift us with another soul to love.  This has all been His doing, one way or another, and we are still awed that He chose us as home and haven for this little one.

To our dear friends who came to our aid in person, keeping J, cooking for us, hauling around laundry, putting up with Mr. K's painful Boston accent imitations and the uselessness of a very pregnant Mrs., thank you does not say enough of what we mean.   We would not have made it without you.

For those of you who came to K's aid while we were gone, treated her to dinner, kept her company and otherwise entertained her.  Thank you.  To one particularly special someone, and you know who you are (Aunt Jenny) who happily took on more than she realized, and who kept it together when the realization hit, for all your time, your sacrifice, your patience and your unflagging kindness, we are forever in your debt.

To those of you who knew Boston first, who made contacts for us, made recommendations for dinner and safe neighborhoods, who opened doors for us literally or figuratively, thank you.  You made what could have been a cold and confusing ordeal accessible to us.  Thank you.

Though they won't read this, I couldn't publish it without saying thank you to the many wonderful doctors and nurses, priests and chaplains who cared for us in Boston.  I could write a long time about them, each by each.  At every turn we were met and cared for by genuinely warm, exceptionally competent persons who welcomed us as we were and applied to our situation all they could.  I hope to be like them and consider them proof of Our Lord's mercy.

There are several of you who contributed out of your wallets.  We have been, frankly, astonished by the generosity of so many.  When we were tempted to worry about all things financial, your largesse helped keep our heads clear and focused.  You helped us shoulder a great burden.  Thank you.  Thank you.

To all of you, for your cards, your phone calls, your endless prayers, for checking in on us here or through friends, I want you to know you made a difference, a tangible difference.

We thank you.  We love you. We are carrying you all in our prayers.

Home Sweet Home!

Home at last!

I forgot we even had cats, who very sweetly greeted us upon our arrival.  The house looked great; it even has a Christmas tree!  Of course it needed my wife's very own magic touch to make it feel like home again.

The van is unloaded, but we are far from unpacked.

We ate some yummy soup and bread that was waiting for us and uncorked a chilled bottle of bubbly.  We have the best of friends looking after us.

We then proceeded to rounds of diaper changing and baths.  I forgot how to turn our bath to hot water (its backwards).  We've been gone such a long time, we've forgotten the little idiosyncrasies of our wonderful little house.

I got a hot shower, determined that we probably need a new towel rack and went straight to sleep without a thought or a prayer.  Who knew we had so many comfy pillows?  I can't overstate the luxury of laying down in my own bed after two months and letting the magic powers of sleeping babies take me with them.

Today, we remembered that our son loves our cats. There is a special giggle reserved just for petting cats.

Zelie slept in this morning, which just means she realizes that she is home too.

Mrs K. is thrilled to be home, but will be even more thrilled when everything is put away.  She's done a remarkable job so far, despite both our children wanting her full attention at any given moment.  Luckily for her, they think daddy is an okay pillow for up to 30 minutes at a time.