We got home Monday night in the dark with sleeping children. It took us ages just to get all of our stuff inside and we were exhausted. Still, it was super nice to be home!

I spent Tuesday and Wednesday moving into the kitchen. We were filthy, exhausted, and very satisfied to finally have a place to be a family. The kids and dogs seemed very confused initially, but everyone’s adjusted by now. We even had friends over for dinner on Saturday night! We felt it was important to celebrate something good, aka the kitchen, and acknowledge that something sad happened. We had a wonderful night, and even though we were exhausted again on Sunday, it was totally worth it.

As we gear up for another week, sitting in our new family room watching our children play together, life still feels pretty surreal. But real life calls. We will be saying goodbye to Flamine next Sunday and welcoming Joy, her replacement, on Friday night. In the meantime, we’ll both be catching up with our teams and getting back to work. We haven’t taken that much time off, but a wedding does make everything feel longer!

The kitchen is clean and organized. The cabinets are all sorted, and the fridge is full of food. We know enough to find silverware without hunting, and it already feels normal to come in here for morning coffee. The kitchen is now home.

I’m sure the coming week will bring many questions about the adoption and many uncomfortable conversations. They’re not uncomfortable in terms of our sadness, but in terms of other people not knowing how to respond to what happened. I don’t blame them! I don’t really know what to say either. It won’t be a long transition; word will travel quickly. It will be good to get back into our routine and to settle into Milwaukee before the snow comes.

Aside from the house, we got back to swimming lessons. Those were less successful than moving into our new space. Tess pulled her screaming routine for the entire half hour class. Here’s hoping next week is more fun!