We're safely home! July 14, 2007

First of all - happy birthday today to Grandma Lee, Indigos' number 1 blog fan! We're very happy to report that we arrived safely home on the night of July 13th after 24 hours of traveling.

We left our hotel in Hong Kong on Friday the 13th and took a shuttle bus to the airport. We checked in and then had breakfast together. We then browsed the airport shops spending our last Hong Kong dollars (or so we thought until I emptied David's pockets to do laundry today)! We were waitlisted to use our miles for a business class upgrade but they told us at check in that the flight was full and that it was unlikely that we would get the upgrade. We went through security just fine. They were really nice - it seems that if you have something for the baby in China, it's just fine to have it with you. Indigo had fallen asleep in her stroller and so they let David walk her through in the stroller and just wanded it down after going through. You can see that she is asleep in the stroller as we waited to board the flight from Hong Kong to Chicago. Anyway, at the very last minute this wonderful lady told us that she was able to get us into business class seats so that was super news. We left Hong Kong for our 14 hour flight to Chicago. The flight was great and Indigo was really super although during periods of time where she would usually be very active it was frustrating for her to not be as mobile. She did walk up and down the aisles a lot with Daddy and then when he needed a break she and I went and socialized with another couple who had adopted. We had no seats in front of us so the flight attendant gave us a version of a bassinet for the floor and she did take a long sleep. David and I barely slept at all but at least we were comfortable. When we arrived in Chicago it was the equivalent of 2 a.m. in the morning for her and we had to wake her up to have her on our laps for the landing. When we landed in Chicago she became an American citizen. We went through Immigration and were given a special folder for her and had to go through a different line for new immigrants after we had picked up our luggage. This is where we handed over the sealed brown envelope we had received at the American consulate in Guangzhou. Everything went smoothly and the immigration officials were very nice and congratulated us - quite moving. We rechecked our luggage through to D.C. and then had to catch the airport train to Terminal 1. We both commented how we have both been to O'Hare a lot for work travel but have never been at the airport there together. We cleared security again, gave Indigo a change and put her into her American outfit and boarded the plane for the flight home. The flight home to D.C. was not great - there was some plane trouble and they ended up turning off the left engine (Kim - I was freaking out!). We did land safely and were rapidly surrounded by the firefighters who came to check the plane before we were allowed to taxi to the gate. I have to say that the captain and crew were marvelous and extremely reassuring and they told us everything was going to be fine. I had to fight everything in my body from storming into the cockpit to say, listen here, we have waited forever for our daughter, we have traveled around the world to bring her home, been on a gazillion flights in China, now do not let something to us on this final leg to where her grandparents are waiting for their first grand child! Anyway, we arrived safely and that's what counts. Indigo was very lively and bouncing around in the bjorn. Mom and Dad were waiting as we exited to the baggage claims area with a welcome home balloon. I am sure nobody needs me to say that it was a tissue moment. We were hanging out with them when we heard screaming of "welcome home, Melanie, David & Indigo!) It was Shelli and Rou Rou who were so excited to see us all. They had bought a beautiful big butterfly balloon and an "arrived at the airport survival kit" of water, snack bars for us and Indigo, banana puffs for Indigo etc. Shortly thereafter, Jason arrived. He had flown back early from Michigan so that they could all see us. We collected our luggage and headed home. We were apprehensive about Indigo's first time in the car seat but she was awesome about it. A huge thanks to Marty and Laurie for their assistance to Dad with the car seat installation - it's rock solid. Laurie - thanks for knowing where the harness straps should be placed - they were perfect. Indigo fell asleep on the car ride to the house and stayed asleep on my shoulder in the house. Shelli, Jason and Rou Rou had come back to the house and we all talked while Indigo slept. The dogs and the cat were super happy to see us and it was so good to see our first babies! Thanks to grandparents for looking after them all so well in our absence. Shelli is really the person who took all arrival at the airport and home photos with her camera so we have to wait to get those before we have more to post. We were tired and mom's batteries in her camera had failed. We did get some later in the evening. Anyway, Indigo woke up eventually and was a little overwhelmed by all the people, but even more so by the dogs. We had expected this as we knew she had not had contact with dogs before. She cried a bit but soon quieted and Rou Rou really wanted to show Indigo her room and so we went to her room which seems to meet with her approval. She started moving around in there and Shelli took photos for us of all of us and us with them. After they left we gave Indigo some food and had a little leftover lamb curry that mom had made. By later that evening she was reaching out to touch to the dogs. Also, because Shelli et al. are moving, they had bought over pantry supplies, including a bunch of baking goods with sprinkles etc. Indigo thought these were all her personal toys and had so much fun shaking all the sprinkle bottles. It was late here but of course just felt like mid-morning to us although David and I were tired because of not sleeping at all. We gave Indigo her first bath at the house which she loved - thanks Lisa & Tim for the ultimat which we used. We put her in pajamas and off to bed. She had no trouble going to sleep. I stayed in the room until she was asleep and then David and I went to bed in our own wonderful bed! Indigo woke up at about 3 a.m. David kindly took the first shift with her. I fixed her some cheerios and puffs in her snack trap and we put a bunch of her toys with her and he laid on the bed in her room while she played and basically made a lot of noise throwing cups on the floor. She stayed up for about 2 hours and then fell asleep with him on the bed in her room from about 5-7 a.m. At that time I took over and David went back to bed. We played and she was walking all around the house for several hours. Although she was still initially nervous around the dogs, by later in the morning she was walking all around with them laying around and as you can see from the photos was offering Egan her cups and her snack trap. She got very tired around 9:30 which would be around 9:30 p.m. in China and at the very late end of her bed time. I put her down for a nap and the woke her around noon which she was not crazy about.

David got back up and he took care of her while mom and I went to the grocery store for provisions. He took her for a walk down to the beach and she went on the swing. He said she was scared at first but ended up enjoying the swing. We had lunch and she played a bit longer but was getting really tired again - as was I at this point. I had put two loads of laundry on - can't believe how much stain removal stuff a child's clothes need - I think she spills more on herself than I do! We put her down for a nap at 3 p.m. and I took a nap a short while later. The plan was that David would wake her up at about 5ish but he also fell asleep and we ended up getting up around 6:30 p.m. After she recovered from being woken up again she was very energetic and spent lots of time playing and walking around - a new plan needs to be made for the dog's water bowl! We had a great supper of chops dad did on the grill and grilled veggies, fresh corn on the cob and salad. Indigo ate some pseudo chicken noodle congee I had made, she ate a few bites of some carrots and some cauliflower but then ate a massive bowl of watermelon. We put her to bed around 10:30 p.m. and will see when she wakes up this time.

Just want to say thanks again to everyone for your overwhelming love and support through this journey. We can't wait for everyone to meet Indigo. We have loved reading every one's comments throughout our China travel. They have kept us connected to home, made us think of people, made us laugh and cry. Thank you so much.

For our fellow 10/28 er's we're so glad that you are all safely home! It's been an incredible journey together. It has been so great to catch up on your blogs now that we are able to view blogger again. Kristi - I sobbed as I read your updates on beautiful Zoe - she is thriving under your care. I tried to post a comment but was unable to for some reason. Pam - I could not post a comment on your blog either.

We understand from a few people that there are some blog addicts out there. Our friend told us that she might need to go to blog rehab - very funny. We'll see what we can do to continue to keep some updates but it won't all be as exciting as everything we were experiencing together in China. For us personally, it's been a wonderful way to document this momentous and wondrous event in our lives. Our journey to our daughter is complete - our lives with her have just begun.