Homecoming, Friday, April 3rd, 2009

"The plane ride is HOW long?"

Our journey home began on Thursday, April 2nd, 2009. We left Guangzhou for Hong Kong on an afternoon flight. The flight was a quick one and good training for what we would need for our flight home. We arrived in Hong Kong safely and anxious thinking about our long day of travel the following day. We checked into the Marriott Sky City hotel and were so happy to see a king-sized bed! We'd been in twin beds since we were last in Hong Kong. Natalie liked the bed as well. :) We ordered room service and turned in early. The next morning we got onto the airport shuttle at around 9:30 a.m. We checked in without any problems and began our wait for the flight. Andy was very happy to find a Burger King in the airport for lunch where the burgers tasted 'just like home'.

Natalie liked playing on the big bed


We boarded the flight on Friday and took off at 12:45 p.m. (Hong Kong time). The flight was almost 14 hours to Chicago - ugh! Natalie did very well considering the situation. She slept about an hour after take-off and then about 3 hours before landing. We walked the aisles, played with her stacking cups, read books, and just tried to keep her happy. The flight attendants were very helpful especially when it came time to fixing bottles. One particular attendant was very fond of Natalie and was full of questions. Many women on the flight had a lot of questions about our 'beautiful baby girl'. Some had stories about daughters adopting from other countries. They were very interested in the process and how Natalie was doing.

We landed at O'Hare International and had to go through customs. We were sure to get out the safely stored travel and immigration documents for Natalie. The process was very anti-climactic, but Natalie became a U.S. citizen at that time. Then we were off to wait 4 hours for our flight to Portland. We got settled in at our gate and the time seemed to pass quickly. We were able to use our cell phones for the first time in 2 weeks. We called Kelsey, and Amanda and sent a few texts. Again we met some kind women who were very curious about Natalie and us. It's amazing the opportunity we had to share our journey of faith. I found myself crying (I do that a lot lately) at the thought of seeing Amanda and Kelsey in just a few hours. I was so excited to see them and to introduce them to their new sister!

Natalie took a quick nap on my chest just before boarding and I found my own eyes closing. I hadn't slept a wink on the flight and was feeling a bit tired myself. We both slept on the 2 hour flight to Portland. My head was bobbing even before take-off. Sleep helped to pass the time more quickly. The anticipation of landing was so great! The diaper change would have to wait! We were in the very back of a United Express plane (very small in comparison to the jet we took from Hong Kong) and it took some time to deplane. Once off the plane, we looked down from inside the gate and could see Amanda, Kelsey, Teresa, and Anna waiting and waving at us.

I could hear Amanda crying as we got onto the down escalator and the tears began to flow. I couldn't get down to them fast enough. Amanda and Kelsey came to Natalie and me and we had a big group hug. Andy followed just a few steps behind and wrapped them in his arms. We had been waiting for this for so long! We missed having my mom and dad there and it was hard for them to miss it as well. They are away in Arizona visiting family. Unfortunately the plans were made long before we knew of our travel plans. :(

Next Anna and Teresa were there with hugs. More smiles, and tears. We were all so happy to be back together. There was quite a group welcoming John, Beth, and Lily home as well. Some came to welcome me home and to introduce themselves. They had been following our blog as well as John and Beth's. They felt a bit like extended family. Many of them had left comments on our blog encouraging us while we were away.

Our welcoming party just before we arrived - Amanda, Anna, Teresa, and Kelsey. They met some of John & Beth's (and Lily's!) family while waiting.
Andy introducing Natalie to her sisters and cousin Anna

Our family of five! So good to be home.

Saying our good-byes before heading home from the Portland Jetport


"Mom, what is this restraining device? I can't look out the windows from your lap anymore?"

Natalie did not like her car seat. She had never been in one before and was not happy to be in one on the way home. Although, Kelsey, Amanda, and Anna kept her entertained from the back seat for the entire ride. We'll see how it goes next time!

Our three beautiful girls getting to know each other

Natalie was very happily playing with Amanda and Kelsey. We got home around 11:30 p.m. Natalie went to bed around midnight and slept until 9 a.m. the next morning. She might have slept longer, but I intentionally made some noises in her room to awaken her. It's going to take some time to get her on schedule with the new time zone!

Natalie being introduced to Baxter.

Natalie wasn't sure what to make of Baxter. She was curious, but screeched when she shook his head! He was very sweet and gentle and mostly just watched her. Sadly we had to say our goodbyes to Baxter the following morning. Baxter was almost 13 and began to fail quickly in the weeks we were away. It was really hard on all of us as he'd been a part of our family for so long and was a great dog. It's certainly been an emotional roller-coaster!

Sleepy girl crawling on Daddy's belly Saturday in her room while playing

Natalie wasn't quite herself on Saturday. She was really tired! She took a 3 hour nap in the afternoon and went to bed at 7:10 p.m. Andy took a 2 hour nap - he's very sick with a cold! Natalie seemed to be asking to go to bed. She wouldn't take her bottle and I think it was because we ran out of the formula she as accustomed to in China and had made a switch to a different formula mid-day. As soon as I laid her in her crib she grabbed her blanky (shown here in the photo) and went to sleep. It's now 13 hours later and she's still sleeping! We've been told that there would be sleepless nights in adjusting...could we be this lucky?? We'll see. Alicia