Home Sweet Home!

We made it home!! I can't even begin to describe how wonderful it is to be home and together as a family of five!!

Our flight went very well overall - much better than we had expected! We joked about how Caleb's  behavior on the plane is a true testament to the power of prayer, Dramamine and Benadryl!! He didn't have any tummy problems and he only got really upset a couple times. He mainly sat and played and slept. He took about 3 naps on the long flight. We had bought a few toys for him in China and kept them hidden until the plane ride, which proved to be a good idea!

He was asleep when we landed in Chicago. He slept peacefully through another moment in the series of moments that have changed the life of this precious child in the past few weeks! This was the moment he became an American citizen! As we started our descent, I looked over at Steve and said "he's about to become an American!!" to which Steve replied with an excited "I know!!" The way the adoption process works for Chinese adoptions, their paperwork is prepared in advance and once they are on American soil, they officially become a citizen. I was struck yet again by what an awesome privilege it is to be an American. So many people want to come here and never are able to do so! We saw this first hand at the American Consulate in Guangzhou. Crowds of Chinese people lined up outside trying to obtain visas to get to the US! It really is such an awesome country! I had grown up hearing and believing that, but something about seeing first hand how much people want to come here brings a new sense of patriotism!

We got off the plane, strapped Caleb onto Steve with the carrier and quickly made our way through the line for immigration and customs. We were still with the two other families we'd been with for the entire trip and despite our exhaustion after having just survived a 15 hour flight with toddlers, we all had this excitement over our new little citizens!

We had almost a five hour layover in Chicago. We weren't sure how long customs would take but it turned out to be pretty quick for us. We grabbed some food and settled down to wait. During our wait we had to say goodbye to the other families that had been our travel companions. We were so sad to part ways but we were all so ready to get home!

After 4 gate changes and an hour delay due to the crew for our flight being on another late flight, we finally boarded the plane that would take us home! Caleb had done well for most of our layover but at the very end he was really struggling! I think the exhaustion and the long hours of travel were taking their toll on all of us! While we were waiting to board the flight to Louisville, we met another family from Louisville with several Chinese children. They were on their way home after a spring break trip and they struck up a conversation with us when they noticed we had a Chinese child. It turns out that they have a 7 year old daughter adopted from the same orphanage as Caleb!! What a small world and what a blessing to have met them! The little girl was so cute! She came over to me and said "I'm so sorry, but I don't remember your little boy!" Her dad explained that she had been adopted before he was born and then she was quite relieved to know she had not forgotten an old friend!

Once we boarded the plane, all three of us went to sleep. At this point, we'd been traveling over 24 hours and Caleb had napped intermittently but none of us had gotten very much quality rest during that time. The flight was very quick and I woke up just as we were landing. We were home!! I was so happy and the knowledge that I was minutes away from hugging Jasmine and Joshua coupled with my exhaustion started to make me very emotional!! As we approached the area where everyone waited for us I found myself walking faster and faster and then I caught a glimpse of my kids!! I dropped my bag and ran toward them and they ran at me and we were all hugging and I was bawling. Joshua said "I'm so happy I feel like I'm going to cry!" There was a big crowd of friends and family cheering for us, waving "welcome home" signs and waiting to greet us, even despite the lateness of the hour! It was amazing. So many people who had helped us fundraise, who had given freely of their time, energy and money, who had prayed for us faithfully every step of the way were now welcoming us home. I am still so humbled at the memory of it all!

The last several days we have been soaking up family time. The big kids still had Friday off for spring break, which was wonderful. We had some nice weather and played outside and inside. Friends have been bringing meals so that we could spend time resting and bonding with Caleb and that has been an incredible blessing!!

Jet lag is an ugly beast, especially when it involves a toddler trying to adjust to a new hemisphere's time zone! The first several nights were very difficult but we are beginning to see improvement in Caleb's sleep habits. He is definitely now at least tired at the appropriate times, but he still wakes up to make sure we are still here. I'm pretty sure he has never slept in a room alone before so that takes some getting used to, but he is adjusting well for the most part. (I've been talking to the other mamas we travelled with and their little ones are doing a lot of the very same things, so I am quite reassured that this is to be expected!)

Caleb is a strong willed, resilient, smart, silly and loving child. I'm amazed at his ability to smile and to love so freely after all he has been through in his 20 month lifetime! We have finally been home longer than we were in any one hotel with him in China, but I keep reminding myself that he has gone through so many rapid changes in the last few weeks that it will take time for him to realize that our family is forever.

He absolutely ADORES Jasmine and Joshua and the feeling is quite mutual. They are all very much in a "honeymoon" phase. I don't expect it to last forever, but I am eating up the sweetness and the newness as we settle in to our new normal.

Caleb is learning English quite well. He seems to understand a great deal of what we say and has begun to repeat a few words. He says "hi" and "bye" very well. He  also says "more" and just this morning he looked at Steve and said "daddy"! (He has been calling us both "mama" and Steve keeps telling him "I'm not mama, silly! I'm daddy!")

So this is it. Home. Let the journey truly begin!!