We're Home
March 30, 2009  |  November 3, 2009

Monday, March 30, 2009 We're Home!!! There are cheerios in every room of our house, toys scattered everywhere and we are all exhausted, but it is all worth it cause our son is home! We left Guangzhou at 6am Saturday (6pm Friday here in the US). We took a 3hr flight to Beijing where we sat in the airport for a couple hours. We then took a 12 ½ hr flight to Chicago. Graysen did pretty well considering he is a 2 ½ yr old. The passengers around us were very patient & we were so thankful for that. Graysen slept a lot, but had one short night terror. We even had one episode where I had taken him to the bathroom & he refused to put his pull-up & pants back on. I pleaded with him for 5mins…funny now, but not then. We were so happy to be back in the USA. We got off the plane and headed to immigration. Once we cleared there we headed to the area where they processed Graysen’s paperwork & announced he was now an American Citizen!!! We rechecked our luggage & then ate dinner at Johnny Rockets. It was so great to be eating real American food again. An hour later we were on the plane headed for Knoxville. It was a super small plane & we had to fly through a thunderstorm so it was a very bumpy ride. Graysen thankfully slept the entire 2hrs. Due to it being midnight in Knoxville & there were a bunch of planes parked by the gates, we had to run in the rain to the airport. Once inside we headed past security & there was Angie, Kaitlynn & Sammy waiting for us! It was so great to see them. They were so sweet to bring us our car & help us with our luggage. Corey & Ashley rode with Angie, Kait & Sammy. Aaron & I took Graysen in the Element. He wanted nothing to do with the carseat & freaked out because Aaron & I were not in the back with him. The whole time we were in China we had a driver & there are no seatbelt or carseat laws. Yesterday we were all so exhausted. We all stayed up til 5am & then Aaron and I took Graysen into our room & we fell asleep. We slept until almost noon & then said goodbye to Angie before we went back to sleep. In between I was doing laundry. That afternoon Aaron & I took Graysen with us to get a few snacks from the grocery store & then some KFC for dinner. Graysen did great in the carseat! We had a rough night since we were all awake. We slept a few hours here & there, but the kids managed to go to school this morning. Graysen is now napping while I do this update. Life is so great right now & we know that we are so blessed. It is amazing to think back on this long journey. Our desire to have another child has been a dream of ours for so long and we have endured a lot of heartache along the way, but the end result is breathtaking. I sat there watching Lion King with Graysen last night & remembered doing the same thing with Corey 13yrs ago. Corey & Ashley have been amazing with him and my heart skips a beat everytime I see Aaron with Graysen. He has far surpassed my expectations of what an amazing father I already thought he was. Thank you everyone for the prayers. Believe me they were felt! Everything has been so much better since we got home. The tantrums are a lot shorter & he is so much happier. Stay tuned because we will update next month about our new life as a family of 5! Blessings, Aaron, Tracey, Corey, Ashley & Graysen

Listening to some tunes on the first of 3 planes to get home Having a ball at the Beijing airport Playing with some playdough on the plane Enjoying dinner as an American Citizen Playing with his cousin Kaitlynn

Baba made this bed for him while he watched TV

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