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Sunday, February 7, 2010

We're home and doing well!!! I have meant to post sooner but right in the middle of my post last nite Ethan woke up screaming. He was wide awake for quite awhile. Probably just has his times messed up. We are all suffering from jet lag in different ways but are doing well. The fact that we are home with Ethan, the paperwork is done and we are all healthy is a small miracle. I actually feel pretty energized. At least one family that was in our group was from D.C. and I believe they had two nites in Chicago after their flight from Hong Kong because of cancelled flights. That would really be tough.

We left Guangzhou for the US Consulate on Thursday. After a very tedious appointment waiting for our visas, our group all received them and everything was spelled correctly! As recently as two days ago, we still had a misspelling of Ethan's name on a document that had to be changed. We boarded a bus for the train station. The train station was quite a lot of going through security and immigration, since we were leaving China and arriving in Hong Kong. It was extremely busy. We had to fill out departure and arrival cards, and I even had some guy with a mask and rubber gloves on come up to Ethan and I and told me he was going to take Ethan's temperature. Before I had time to even respond he took his temp and nodded for me to keep going! Crisis averted. I was at the point in our journey that it was best that this guy didn't mess with me. I was feeling pretty protective of Ethan. I guess they are still concerned about the H1N1 deal. I'm so glad none of us had temps as they also took them when we arrived in Beijing through infrared technology. We took a 2 hour train ride (ask Elizabeth and Michael about the "squatty potties!") and arrived in Hong Kong. It was a nice ride and interesting to see all of the lights and high rises and the enormous port. Oh, and the kids loved spying for double decker buses! It was nice to see signs in English. We arrived at our hotel which is connected to the airport around 10. We were exhausted, hungry and ready to call it a night. It was a very pretty hotel and they had beautiful red lanterns hanging in the lobby for the New Year. I was too tired to take a picture. After a quick meal and securing a crib for Ethan we called it a nite. We got up early and made it to our flight. It was very tiring waiting in lines and going through security and the such. We flew a Boeing 747 on the way home. The kids were disappointed we weren't on the upper deck. I had forgotten about the fact that they do an additional security check of carry ons for international flights. All of our carry on luggage was opened and inspected again right before we boarded. The flight overall was extremely long but everyone did better than I expected so that was good. It was quite emotional for me as we took off to leave China. Wasn't expecting to feel sad but I did really feel sad that I was taking Ethan away from everything he knows and away from his birth mom. So sad to me that she had to give up this beautiful boy so that he could get the medical attention that he needs. It is very humbling to adopt and it makes you feel a little inadequate as a parent when your child is from another culture. We are looking forward to learning more about China with Ethan as he gets older. We are planning on going to a Chinese New Year celebration here in Des Moines next Saturday. Hope to see some of our friends there who have also adopted. It is at Indian Hills Junior High and is supposed to be a lot of fun. It is from 11 till into the evening. We will just go for a few hours.

So, we arrived in Chicago. We went through security and they asked for our brown envelope that we received from the US Consulate on Thursday in Guangzhou. They opened it, looked at his passport and visa, and just like that Ethan is an American citizen! Our flight was delayed a little to de-ice. We walked outside to get on the plane and Ethan got to experience snow for the first time. Finally, we made it to Des Moines. Can't tell you how relieved we felt! We were greeted at the airport by family and friends and it was so wonderful! Thanks to everyone who made it out. It will be a memory that will stay with us for a long time!

When we got home, our wonderful neighbors had put up "welcome home" signs outside the house and in and we had all the groceries we needed (including Ethan's favorite yogurts) as well as frozen meals and chicken and rice ready to warm up that nite (which we did and was wonderful). We also had flowers, candy, balloons and champagne and cards for Elizabeth and Michael. The champagne may get opened tonite when we watch the Super Bowl. We can't tell you all how much all of you mean to us and how appreciative we are of your warm welcome. We also want to thank our great friends who are helping to drive Elizabeth and Michael to their activities this weekend and next week. That is really a lot of help for us. Ethan is not crazy about his car seat as we found out this morning going to church. We look forward to being in a position again soon to be on the giving end.

Ethan slept all nite on Friday and woke up in a good mood. It is amazing how adaptable he seems to be. The kids taught him how to blow a kiss last nite too. We had a great day on Saturday. We just stayed home all day and played a lot with Ethan. He took a long nap and enjoyed me rocking him in the glider in his bedroom. Mike, however, had drill this weekend. He did see Ethan a little bit last nite. Ethan is so darn cute and seems so happy. As long as I am holding him! We think Ethan is perfect and perfect for our family. One of the security people in Hong Kong made a comment to us of "congratulations" and something to the effect of "I hope he will be everything you had hoped for." Seemed like a strange comment because to us he already is!

“Not flesh of my flesh,
Nor bone of my bone,
But still miraculously my own.
Never forget for a single minute,
You didn’t grow under my heart
But in it.”
~Fleur Conkling Heylinger

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