Christmas was great and very tiring :). My mom was visiting from Savannah, and my sister and her family were up from Houston. My mom was the only one staying at our house, but we managed to get some fun play dates in for the kids.

Taking a stroll around (not all the way around) White Rock Lake with Mommy and MiMi.

Sharing blocks (at least for a moment) with cousin Evie.

Collecting the blocks with cousin Georgia.
I know this pic looks like an intense stare down, but everything was okay. :)
Learning about her new musical instruments.

Christmas day will be three weeks home for us and things are going really well. It's just amazing how far Maeve has come in such a short time. She went from only drinking formula (for comfort I'm sure) to now wanting to eat everything we're eating, which is hard to manage with only 4.5 front teeth :) It took us about a week and a half to get her adjusted to our time zone. She's still waking up at least once a night, sometimes because she's itchy, or hungry, or scared.

Her skin issues have really improved. I'd say most of the ringworm is gone, but there's something on her feet that's putting up a fight and really giving her a hard time. We're only 3 weeks in to the medication that was prescribed for 6-8 weeks, so we'll have to see how it goes.

The attachment process is coming along well. She really likes/loves us both and gives us lots of affection. It was really tough at first because she definitely preferred me, having only had female caregivers. I had to hold her constantly. Then, when she allowed me to have her on the floor playing, she'd have a complete meltdown if I was out of her sight for a second. This is getting a lot better though. If I step into the kitchen, she'll get up and follow me..and will even go to her room on her own to get a new toy. Mark is home for the whole week, so I've been trying to give them some time without me, which really has help their bonding. He's a great dad.

Maeve is just a joy. She is so smart and fun. She loves to laugh, take a bath, dance, and sing.

Maeve with her babies.

First Doctor's visit. Everything was great until the blood draws :(

Trying out her new shades.

Checking herself out in the oven reflection.

Fun in the leaves on an unseasonably warm day.

My first "cheese!"

We are home! The flights home were a marathon, but not quite as terrible as I expected. Maeve is a joy, such a sweetheart and handful. This pic is from our first night together in the hotel in Addis Ababa. She's wearing her "Everyone is Thankful for me" Pj's. I think it will take us about a week just to get adjusted to US time (Maeve is still on Addis time). Then we need to start working on a regular schedule/routine. We have a doctor's appointment later this week to begin sorting out skin and tummy issues. Getting those things under control will certainly make life easier. We're almost through he piles of laundry and haven't even begun to get our pics from the camera to the computer. Mark and I both have sinus colds and very sore throats, adding to the tiredness, but we're hanging in there and trying to sleep when we can. We couldn't be happier! :)