May 29-31,
2010
TRIP HOME, SISTERS MEET FOR THE FIRST
TIME . . . AND HOME AS A FAMILY OF FOUR
The packing is brutal. at this moment I am
sitting in the LA airport waiting on our last flight home. We
ended up with 5 checked bags and no overweight fees for the
“elephants”, our carryon’s were the stroller she has yet to ride
in, a diaper bag as my purse, a roller board with a change of
clothes for all, paperwork and essentials and then a blue land’s
end back with snacks, laptop and other child necessities..oh
forgot the toy backpack. We must look like a mini train with me
pushing the stroller with bags and also pulling the roller board
and then Mel carrying Emma…what a site. This is funny now, but
while I was checking out she wrote down “Braun” and gestured a
shaver as if to say we left our Braun shaver. I said we don’t
have a shaver, then on the flight home it occurred to me she
meant the Braun thermometer….hee hee! Oh well we left it. Our
guide Raymond took us to the airport and also was able to find a
cord for the panda phone where I left the charger in Nanning. We
arrive and check in goes well with agent “113”, no names on the
staff of the airline. We then navigate thru security or
something and didn’t have our card so that was crazy, but soon
were on the other side. Oh almost forgot they put us in the
priority line since we were premium economy, but literally then
let like 12 people get in front of us…I wanted to screen….but I
just smiled. Traveling is such a crapshoot, lines, lines and
more lines, people and sometimes rude and just all that goes
with travel…makes you really appreciate home. Warning there is
nothing really good to snack on once you are in the departure
area and the restroom is hard to find. Then without warning they
begin to board, fortunately I acted a bit dumb because I was ill
informed and asked where to check in and the lady said “you have
child, here” which allowed us to bypass like 200 people and get
on the first shuttle to the plane. The shuttle stopped and I
schlepped our luggage and Mel unhooked the stroller and then we
stood in the light rain to board..climbing no less than 50 steps
to do so. Once in our seats Emma begins to explore so cute
pressing buttons, climbing over armrest and just checking out
the scene…we get our necessities out and settle in. I say a
little prayer that we all get some sleep. Soon Mel had our
little tiger to sleep and we stuffed her seat with pillows and
got her situated all comfy and snuggly she slept that way for
4-5 hours and then woke up and wanted me and kissed me and
hugged me and pulled me toward her. Finally after about an hour
she fell back to sleep and slept for another 5 hours…she slept
almost 10 of the 12 hour flight..can’t complain there.
As usual I was nervous the turbulence leaving China had me
saying prayer after prayer as I was sick at my stomach and
afraid…but Mel and Emma were sound asleep. Once in LA we
navigated our way thru a shuttle bus ride with all our crap,
then locating the immigration line, we went thru the wrong one
so had to go thru twice, the agents were nice though. Then we
reclaimed all our “elephants” and our stroller now had a new
shape it would not fold up or out…so now I have 5 checked bags a
broken stroller and our carryon’s, hobbling along. We get
cleared and recheck our things and somehow we got the stroller
back into form. We walk from international to domestic…really
cold in LA and then I had to check in, fortunately I was able to
use the little kiosk and all went well. We found the elevator
cleared security again…after swipes of our stuff, testing a
water bottle and such we were back in the land of the living.
First stop McDonalds and I stood in line forever…$22.00 later we
had our food. Then our Emma proceeded to flip Mel’s meal I
thought we both would loose it. We salvaged the Mac and the
fries flew like confetti oh well, we will continue to work on
the food flipping, we found our gate and miraculously Mel got
the little tiger to sleep and she slept in her stroller for
maybe an hour or so…so worth it “smile”.
We waited like 5 hours until our flight to Memphis left at like
1:40 am…or forgot the Crown Room was too crowded for us so we
just hung out at the gate. Boarded our flight to Memphis and we
all pretty much slept. Arrived in Memphis made our pit stops and
then saw Starbuck’s and I knew then we were almost home….no Chai
tea for me for like 20 days how did I do it. We then had
breakfast…should have skipped it the Chai tea was all I needed.
We found our gate and had time to change the tiger into fresh
clothes and get some water then it was time to board. What a
hoot our seats were split and she wanted to sit with me but my
seat was on the split side. The flight attendant made me move to
the side Mel was on and hold Emma in my lap. Of course once I
moved Emma wanted Mel…such is life.
Home… oh home sweet home!
Our trip was wonderful, but
there is truly no place like home…even if the HVAC went out
while you were away. We arrived at the airport to an
enthusiastic group of friends eager to help us with all our
“elephants/luggage” and it was really nice to have friends
welcome our new arrival. She handled it well and even took to
the car seat initially, but then turned on the yelping and
screaming until she wore herself out and fell asleep. The drive
home was so reminiscent of our trip home with Ellie Lu…thinking
back it seems like yesterday. We drove straight home, no stops
at Mickey D’s and were welcomed by a huge 6 foot stork to mark
our new arrival…thanks Julie! Our welcome banners for both Emma
Lynn and the one we had for Ellie Lu 2 years ago… both our girls
are having a “homecoming”. When I opened the door I knew
something was wrong…the air seemed to be stagnant and warm and
sure enough our main HVAC was out, fortunately we have 2 units
and our bedroom unit that heats and cools that end of the house
was still working and it was helping keep the remainder of the
house cooler than if there was nothing. We brought Emma in and
quickly showed her around her new home…with the temperature a
little warm we didn’t take photos and really in less than 5
minutes Mel and Emma were asleep. Forgot to mention she is
terrified of our cats as in blood curdling scream if she sees
them and she stops breathing while crying. Not sure how we are
going to handle this, but the cats are staying…tomorrow is a new
day!
I began going thru mail and greeting our cats and just trying to
grasp that we were home. I was not sleepy so I made a quick list
and decided to go out and do a few errands and get my nails
done…don’t laugh if I didn’t do it then it might never happen
again, nothing wrong with a little me time. I picked up a few
things from the store too and also some Chinese dumplings and
noodles for Emma. By the time I got back to the house it was
around 5 and I was worn out, Mel and Emma were still asleep so I
escaped to the basement were it was relatively cool and
collapsed in our downstairs bed. I left Mel a note on where to
find food and necessities and to only wake me if he had to. Well
at about 8:30 pm he woke me up and we all ate…we finally got
some parmesan noodles down Emma she is really picky since
leaving China, she won’t drink any milk or formula, just water
or minute maid orange drink which I have not found here.
We all fell back to sleep relatively quickly in the same bed and
then at 4 am Emma woke us, we were able to get her back to sleep
and then we just dozed and watched some of our Tivo’ed shows
until we felt rested. I then prepared breakfast and began
thinking about the drive to get Ellie Lu. I honestly felt
horrible, but I had to go get Ellie Lu and really it was not
possible for all of us to go at this point. We got the car
unloaded and I organized myself to get Ellie Lu and setup the
camera for our return home and the girls meeting for the first
time. During this time before going to get Ellie Lu Emma finally
walked around the house and actually played with toys and
started to feel comfortable. This was very encouraging to me…I
just couldn’t leave to get Ellie Lu without seeing Emma
accepting her new home in some way. Her playing made me realize
she was feeling safe…at least while the cats were in the
basement.
Off to the farm to get Ellie Lu. I made great time and just
before arriving I called Cheri and she said they were outside
waiting. I turned on my video and took it all in on tape and
once the car was stopped and off, she ran screaming to me and it
was so good to see her…she seems 4 years old. She has grown so
much. She was full of questions and her first was “can I have
some of your gum”. The gum I was chewing…well I gave it a
thought and then gave it to her; little did I know she had been
chewing gum with Sheshee and Coco while I was away. I have the
“you must be 4 years old until you chew gum rule”…well I had
that rule, so much for rules. She was delighted and just kept
saying she was a big girl!
We went inside while Sheshee loaded the car and we all visited
and got caught up. She climbed on me asked about Cissy and Daddy
and was just so anxious, and then she asked about Grammy Purcey
so we left and stopped by Grammy Purcey’s to give her the
etching I had made for her. Ellie Lu was so happy to see Grammy
and Grammy loved her etching and her “Grandmother” charm. She
had a surprise for me. Someone had sent a lovely throw quilt to
her when Daddy passed; it had the same poem on it that I asked
to be read at the service. She also ordered one for
herself….that was really nice. We had a nice but short visit and
then we headed home. Within 5 minutes Ellie Lu was asleep and
slept soundly all the way home. I of course prayed and wondered
how the meeting between the girls would go. I finally called Mel
and he said Emma was still sleeping, so I continued to drive
around until Ellie Lu woke up. Then I talked to her a bit and we
pulled in our subdivision. At first she didn’t want to go home
when she heard Emma and Daddy were there, but then finally she
came around. She seemed really uncertain. I carried her in and
acted like I didn’t know where Daddy was, we called out “Daddy
where are you?” I had hoped Mel would come out and he could see
Ellie Lu without Emma in his arms, I thought it would be better
for Ellie, but he didn’t so we peaked in and she said “Is that
my baby sister?” and before I could answer she said “I love
her”. We closed the door and then Ellie Lu just nervously
giggled a little and asked to go see her again. This time she
bound thru the bedroom door and up on the bed into her Daddy’s
arms and you guessed it Emma woke up. She was a bit grumpy as
you might imagine and clung to me and Ellie Lu to Mel. I sat
there thinking how do we bring this together? So after awhile we
all went into the kitchen…our oh so warm kitchen and I prepared
some dinner. Thanks Christy and Shannon for the lasagna. Emma
would not eat a bite and really we all were lite eaters, but
while I was preparing the girls did play with the refrigerator
leap frog alphabet and it was cute.
I can see that if I can get out of the picture they can play
well, but if I am in the equation I find both of them clinging
to my legs and pulling me and trying to claim me for all their
own. Soon it was time for bed… Daddy did baths with the girls,
no public photos, but it was really sweet! Then we read books
and that was fun too, then we struggled to get them down finally
at like 2 am I decided to give Emma a baby bottle of
formula…keeping in mind she has hardly eaten in 3 days. She took
the 8 ounces and then was out like a light. I then took Ellie Lu
to her room, but it was too warm, so we went to the basement
“Mommy’s special bedroom” and we snuggled and read and went to
sleep…her about 3 am. I was exhausted, but could not sleep, so
finally went to the couch and caught a few winks. Ellie Lu was
up at 8 am so between all my wake ups and finally getting to
sleep at 5 am…3 good hours for me…yowza!
Emma and Mel slept forever as in Emma did not wake up until 11
am I believe. Finally after we had breakfast I left Mel with the
girls and said I must have 2 hours or I am gonna lose it. I went
back to the basement and finally fell asleep. Mel promptly woke
me at 2:30; I could have slept for a week. We got the troops
dressed and ready…forgot to mention the toy explosion in our
great room….some toys must go. It looks like the room threw up
toys…awful and I can’t live like that.
We got everyone in the car and nobody got hurt, I drove and
within 15 minutes both girls were asleep. If we could only drink
and drive (joking) what a feeling it was to have both girls
asleep. I was tempted to have Mel just drive us all around for a
few hours. Instead we drove down to “Chatt” and went to
Babiesrus for a few necessities. Then we went to our favorite
holiday restaurant and had a burger. We went to the same place
when we came home with Ellie Lu. Both girls were clingy and I
found myself holding both girls several times. Our little Emma
did not eat a bite until we were feeding the ducks and she
demanded the french fries we were trying to feed the ducks and
she ate them quickly to get as many in before we fed them all to
the ducks. What a fun family outing…our first as a family of
FOUR!
Back at home we tried a bath with me this time and Emma wailed
for most of it. Then we had jammies and books and potty trips
and then bed time. This time we got Emma to sleep and then Ellie
tossed and turned in our bed, but finally went to sleep. A
little more sleep for us all this night. I was so nervous as Mel
was returning to work the next day.
I honestly woke up Tuesday morning completely jet lagged and
thinking how on earth are we going to do this? How am I going to
do this? What have we done? I literally put one foot in front of
the other and the turning point came when I told myself…just get
out of this house. Keep in mind we still have no HVAC…so out we
went and just got some lunch and drove around, both girls fell
asleep and I thought “thank you God” it is going to be okay. I
successfully moved them both to beds and they slept out their
naps and we had a nice dinner and I knew then it could only get
better and even if we had hard moments, we would also have great
moments. We have been so blessed by this addition and Emma has
really done so well. On May 17th I had my doubts, but she is
bonding well to all of us, she has a very sweet core and it is a
total crack up and also has a bit of a stubborn side to her as
well. She really is affectionate to me and wants Mommy now most
of all. What a journey it has been…how blessed we are…thanks to
you all for your encouraging messages and thanks to Joe and Jen
for hosting us here at myadoptionwebsite.com. If you feel your
child are children are waiting for you in China or somewhere…my
best advice is “go get them, then can’t wait to get home”.
We will update here periodically over the next year, but between
updates here you can follow us at: http://ladybugsmom-journeytoladybug.blogspot.com/
From our family to yours…thanks for your love and support…we
have been blessed!
The importance of a Sister
A sister is someone who loves you from the heart,
No matter how much you argue you cannot be drawn apart.
She is a joy that cannot be taken away,
Once she enters your life, she is there to stay.
A friend who helps you through difficult times,
Her comforting words are worth much more than dimes.
A partner who fills your life with laughs and smile,
These memories last for miles and miles.
When she is by your side, the world is filled with life,
When she is not around, your days are full of strife.
A sister is a blessing, who fills your heart with love,
She flies with you in life with the beauty of a dove.
A companion to whom you can express your feelings,
She doesn’t let you get bored at family dealings.
Whether you are having your ups or downs,
She always helps you with a smile and never frowns.
With a sister you cannot have a grudge,
She is as sweet as chocolate and as smooth as fudge.
Having a sister is not just a trend,
It is knowing you can always turn to her, your best friend.
~ by Shiv Sharma |
Ready to fly
Rock-a-bye baby in LA
Sleeping in LA
Checking out the seats
Almost there...
Daddy and Emma...sweet slumber...
Happy Momma
It's good to be home
Our Welcome Committee
First carseat ride...
Daddy and the girls...
Pop Pop and the girls
Picking up Ellie Lu
Sleeping princess
Thank You Sheshee and CoCo
The Girls...
Dinner with Daddy
Making herself at home
First dinner out family of 4
Toy explosion while Mommy slept |
