We are HOME!
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WE ARE HOME!!! Sunday, December 30, 2007 We are so thankful to be home, and settling into our lives back in Connecticut, after an AMAZING journey to our daughter, Claire. Leaving Hong Kong was uneventful. We simply caught the airport shuttle, and 5 minutes later arrived at the departure terminal for our flight to Newark, New Jersey. I was very sad to be leaving Hong Kong, it would have been great to really see more of the area, and I plan on definitely going back one day. It is an exciting place to visit! We were very nervous about how Claire was going to do on an almost 15 hour flight! She was simply a trooper! Although she was very fidgety, she didn’t leave our ‘area’ for the entire flight, except for potty breaks! There were no issues with seat belts, or kicking the seat in front of us. She pushed the buttons on the entertainment terminal hundreds of times, but, who cares?!! We were traveling on an Boeing 777, which has triple seats across the body…..I sat with Courtney and Claire in the center, and Steve sat on the aisle next to me….it worked out fine, and Steve’s seat was designated the ‘sleeping’ seat for either he or I , depending on who was more tired. Neither of the girls’ slept much, which wasn’t great. We figured we would just deal with the aftermath of that issue when we arrived home! The food was mediocre, and the entertainment system broke down after about 5 hours or so…..but, the girls did great! Courtney finished up some schoolwork (nothing like waiting until the last moment…oh well…we were having too much fun, and we are very lucky she is an awesome student ….) , and Claire, well, Claire pushed a heck of a lot of buttons! There were two women sitting in front of us with their little boy they were bringing home from Hong Kong. He was a cutie, and the girls enjoyed entertaining him on and off. One of the stewards spoke Mandarin, and he stopped by frequently, to chat with our little one….There was another woman sitting near us, who helped me with Claire in the potty, reassuring her she would not be sucked out with the flush! That one was giving me some problems!!!! The wait in Immigration was LONG, and they were very SLOW!!! I always find Immigration annoying….and, this was no different, except we were in the Non-US Citizens line…..upon entering the USA, all new adoptive families (from China anyway) must go through the foreigner line. Not sure why, and when the other line was EMPTY, on Christmas Eve, it was rather frustrating!!! There were no issues, we simply presented the UNOPENED brown envelope, with our rainbow of passports….and, received our stamps, and went to wait for our luggage. Claire became a US CITIZEN when her feet hit the ground in New Jersey! The citizenship paperwork should arrive in the next few months…..! We had one casualty….The NEW suitcase from Guangzhou …… handles GONE….glad it was only the handles, and not the stuff inside the suitcase! Cleared customs without an issue, I had saved ALL the receipts, and had written our list on the back of the form. They didn’t even look at it, which is just fine with me! Our friend, Chris Brabham, was waiting for us when we walked through the doors!!!! It was so nice to see a familiar face, and I just gave him a big hug! THANK YOU, CHRIS!!!! Claire was very friendly, simply took his hand, and we walked through the airport to the parking lot….like she had known him forever. Not a great thing in terms of attachment to Mommy and Daddy, but, we were too tired to care….and, very happy she was no problem getting into the truck with seatbelts, etc. We arrived back home just about 5pm, and Mom was waiting for us with open arms, and a BIG hug for her new granddaughter!!! It was so nice to see our Christmas Lights, and our tree, and, especially, our nice SOFT bed!!!!! Dinner was in the oven…..yummy! Claire spent awhile walking around the house. She pointed at different things, and we just let her look around. We told her what each room was, and she nodded her head. Then, we took her upstairs to her room. She walked into the door, looked around, smiled, laughed her wonderful belly laugh, and RAN over to the dolls’ bunk bed in the corner, and picked up her Bitty Twin doll (it was Courtney’s) and just held her, and kissed her, and laughed some more. Then, it took her a few minutes to figure out how to get the other doll out of the bottom bunk! It was so cute, and she was just chattering away in Chinese the whole time, and laughing, and smiling, and pointing at the dolls, and saying ‘Culaire’s’..it is very sweet how she pronounces her name….very sweet! Then, she walked over to her bed, and picked up her new little Bitty Baby, and cradled her for a little bit, then, climbed on the bed, and put her head down on the pillows. She climbed down, and discovered the wire ball maze in the other corner of the room, and played with that a little bit…and, then, she discovered the TOY BOX!!! Oh my!!! She pulled out a puzzle, and sat down on the floor! There are only a few toys in the box…and, she played with each and every one of them, and put them each away before she got out the next. I wonder how long that will last??!! She is a joy. She is an angel. She is very stubborn!!!! Have I mentioned she is so very cute?? Our friends, Sid, Jo-Ellen and Sarah (LID 1/4/06) joined us for a Christmas Eve dinner of ham, potatoes and all the fixings! Claire just loved them! We were thankful they were happy to entertain her, and they helped us out a lot being there when we were so tired! Sarah is 8 years old, and has been waiting for her own little sister almost 2 years now. They are getting close to finally receiving their own referral, and we will be so excited when they can go to China to bring home their little Eve! Putting the girls to bed was not too hard, as we were all very tired. We were surprised Claire didn’t have any issues sleeping in her own bed…we had thought she would either want to sleep with us, have one of us sleep with her, or want to sleep with Courtney in the bigger bed. But, she surprised us all, and went off to sleep without much of a hitch in her own little bed! Nightlight on, dolls tucked in beside her, kitty in arms……Sweet dreams, our little one…. ~ Christmas Day, 2007 Once again, we were surprised by how well we felt when we woke up! Courtney came in around 5am, and we said ‘NO WAY’! She was encouraged to go back to sleep, and she did, thankfully! I had gone into Claire’s room at about midnight the night before in case she needed a potty break…and, she slept until about 8:30am. There were no tears, just a happy smile, and lots of giggles! She has no idea what ‘Christmas’ is, and we do not have the knowledge of Chinese to explain it to her. But, Courtney knows!!! We all went downstairs, and sure enough, SANTA had been there during the night! What surprises he brought to the girls’! There were stockings filled with little toys, and some candy, and Claire just kept pulling her treasures out, and laughing…and, opening each little thing she received…..then, she put them all back into her stocking…… Courtney showed her the gifts under the tree, and she reached down, and said ‘Culaire’s’….and, let Courtney check the tag…..she opened her packages carefully, and then, we opened the boxes, and she played with her new doll, dressing her in the new clothes Santa brought her! It is so hard to say if she had a ‘favorite’ gift. My friends’ had a shower for me two days before we left, and she received some wonderful gifts that day…..she loves everything, and plays with it all! I would say her ‘favorite’s may be the little princess scooter, playdoh, dolls, tea set, telephone, a wooden magnetic book from her cousins…..I really don’t know…..she is just enthralled with everything, and everyone….. We spent Christmas Day with our dear friends, The Fitzgeralds and Giontas….They are close friends who we consider family, not friends. Tracey and Mike Gionta have hosted Christmas for quite a few years, and we were very pleased we were feeling well enough to go! It is always fun, and they have 3 kids who were very excited to meet Claire! It was a great day! The day after Christmas, Steve had to go back to work, and I can truthfully say, I don’t know how he did it! I spent the day looking for the truck that hit me! To say I was tired would be a huge understatement. I was exhausted, and felt lousy. The girls’ were both okay, and I was thankful my mom was with us, and that we had some of our friends visit! Tonya arrived with her kids, and Michele with hers….They are both also adopting from China, and Michele is Kailei’s Mom (we mentioned her earlier in the website)…..Claire meeting Kailei was very emotional for me, and they didn’t disappoint us at all! We watched as they ran around the house holding hands, and it was just wonderful…..I almost cried….Claire is still talking about Kailei! I cannot wait to get the girls together again!

Leaving Hong Kong, on our way BACK HOME!! Claire had a wonderful time riding in the luggage trolley! - December 24, 2007 When we arrived home, Claire wandered all over downstairs, and then we brought her upstairs to HER room......she stopped in the doorway, smiled, laughed, and RAN to the little bunkbed in the corner. She picked up one of the babies and just rocked it in her arms! Welcome Home, Sweetheart! Our friend, Tonya, put balloons on our mailbox, but, we didn't get a photo until the Day AFTER Christmas! It was a crazy few days when we returned home with our little angel. Christmas, 2007 Steve, Courtney, Claire and Eileen Turner Home at last!!! Merry Christmas!! Santa came during the night for the girls....... Claire and her 'Gwandma' Christmas morning..... she learned that word very quickly! Playing with Courtney's new game! Claire FINALLY met her friend, Kailei, who has been WAITING for her!!.....They loved each other at first site, and ran around the house holding hands.....it was adorable, and heartwarming, and wonderful to see! Learning to use her new scooter! She received this at my Shower held two days before we left for China! Everything is so new, with Shower gifts, and Christmas gifts! But, she is taking it all in stride, and we are bringing out new things gradually so as to not overwhelm our little munchkin! She and Courtney played outside for hours the day after Christmas! They even had BaBa on the pogo stick! Now, that was funny........ The girls had so much fun playing outside!!

The week was hard for both Steve and I. We were very tired. I am only very glad the girls did not seem to be affected by the jet lag. That would have been so hard to deal with when I was so tired myself. Steve and I spent a lot of time talking about how difficult we thought the transition could be for Claire into our lives in Connecticut, and I have to say, it has been so much easier than we thought it would be! We are so relieved, and so happy, and feel so blessed that she has transitioned well. The attachment to us has been slower than we had hoped, and we have had to ask our friends to refrain from hugging, kissing, and cuddling with her. It seems to be working, and now, instead of opening her arms for a hug, she generally will hold out her hand to be shaken instead! Every day she has been getting more and more affectionate with us, and today we HIT THE JACKPOT! She came into our room, and allowed me to lift her into our bed for a cuddle with Mommy, Daddy and Courtney! We were just thrilled! At last! We are so happy. We feel so blessed. Thank you for sharing this amazing journey with us. We are planning to continue to update the site every month until Claire’s 6th birthday, which is in April. We hope you will continue to follow us as we grow together as a family!!!! ~ January 1, 2008 Happy New Year!! I decided to update a little more since I hadn’t attached the photos until today…..a story I want to remember……last night when I was tucking Claire into bed, I was singing her a song I made up years ago when my eldest nephew was a baby (he is 13 years old now). It is a simple song….made up of repeating “Mommy loves you (back then it was Auntie), and then, adding some little sounds, etc….anyway….I have been singing it to her since the first night, and last night, she started singing it to me!!! Oh MY….my eyes were filled with tears, it was cuter than I can even say….in her little voice, singing the words, with her arms wrapped tightly around my neck…..we sang the song maybe 5 or so times, and I tucked her in even tighter with her babies, and her blankie, and her little stuffed cat…. Wishing you peace, happiness, and love; ~Steve, Eileen, Courtney and Claire Turner

“What makes the difference between wishing and realizing our wishes? Lots of things, and it may take months or years for a wish to come true, but it’s far more likely to happen when you care so much about a wish that you’ll do all you can to make it happen.”
~Fred Rogers

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