I'll miss the clapping...

It's very, very good to be home and watching Mattea enjoy her freedom! The kids are getting along great!
To explain the title of this post, even though I was so, so homesick during the time I spent in Ukraine, it really did grow on me in ways I wasn't expecting. I think I blogged on this previously--- My Mom expressed concern that I was going so far away and worried about my safety. When I got home, I reassured her that the Ukrainians had taken good care of us while we were there. When I was alone with Mattea, I never once had to navigate the many stairways with her stroller by myself. There was always someone running up to help me carry it, even down multiple floors of stairs. The food was comfort food to the max. The sound of the language is musical and I didn't realize how familiar it had become until I was at the luggage area in Salt Lake and I helped an older woman pull her heavy suitcase off the carousel. She turned to me and said "Spasiba" (Russian for Thank-You) and then got embarassed because she hadn't spoken English. I immediately said "Pazhaloosta" (Russian for Your Welcome), it just automatically came out, and she got all excited and asked if I spoke Russian, which I really don't. Meanwhile, I was all choked up at hearing the familiar words and knowing it was probably the last time in a long time that I would hear them again.
So to the title of the post, every time we flew with Ukrainians on the plane, whenever the plane would land, every single Ukrainian on the plane would clap an applause, a gratitude that they had landed safely. When our plane landed in Albuquerque, there was silence.
Here are some pics of our first few days at home---
Two little mischief-makers emptying out the box of diapers and flinging them everywhere. It's fun to watch Mattea get into mischief.

Rub-a-dub-dub...

Mattea found the feather duster.

We were unsure of whether or not to put her in a crib but opted to give a toddler bed a try since she does seem to have awareness of the edges, and she has done fine!

"Little" brother Estuardo interacting---usually gently...