I’ll be honest, I do NOT feel like figuring out all of the people I need to send this to, so I just sent it to our family, and I hope our friends will see it on our blog.

We are so excited and ready to come home! We will be in Pennsylvania tomorrow, Saturday, evening and then on Sunday, we will head home to Kansas. If you are interested in meeting us at the Kansas City airport, please email or text me or Aaron for the flight information.  Also, friends from our church have set up a meal schedule for our family, so if you are considering bringing us a meal, please email me and I’ll send you the link. Thanks so much!

Like with Reed and Lena, we have a few rules that we are asking our friends and family to stick to, as Gus gets to know what it’s like to be a part of a family. He is used to have lots of adults in his life, who can pick him up or care for him, without any real consistency. We want him to be bonded with our family and know what it is like to be a part of a family. We know that everyone is very eager to meet and get to know Gus, and there will be plenty of time for that once he has settled in.

1. Please do not pick him up, hug him, kiss him or let him sit on your lap. He loves physical affection, but we are asking that this is just for our immediate family, as we bond.

2. Please do not give him food or drinks. This is also reinforces our relationship as a family, and while he is meeting so many new people, it helps teach him that he will only get his needs met by certain people.

3. Please don’t respond to him if he is crying. Again, let me or Aaron meet his needs. This is especially important if he is upset because we are not allowing him something. It doesn’t help our bonding if we are the “mean” parents and other people are treating him differently.

Also, we will probably not be up for visitors, particularly long ones, for awhile. Everything is on the kids’ schedule for awhile and we all need to adjust as a family. We are not sure how that will look– we maybe be ready in a few days, or it may take us weeks. Bringing a new child home and adjusting as a family can be very stressful and exhausting on everyone. Please keep on asking us about visits and play dates, but don’t take it personally if we decline you for awhile.

Thanks so much for supporting us through this process and respecting our requests, as Gus adjusts.