Home Sweet Home

We're home and boy are we happy to be here. The 27-hour travel day was grueling. Emmy did well for most of it (thanks Benedryl). Dave and I, still feeling pretty sick, did not do so well. Emmy was the hit of the plane on our Tokyo-Detroit flight. There was a Korean sports team of young kids that loved her. They even asked to have their pictures taken with her. And behind was a Japanese family of several girls who could not stop smiling at her and exclaiming her cuteness. We knew it to be true but it was neat to have other people confirm our suspicions.

By the time we made it to the Detroit airport we were about collapse. When our plane hit the ground in Detroit, Emmy was officially a U.S. citizen! We made it through customs and immigration without any snags. Everyone was very nice and helpful. We had a four hour layover till our flight left for Louisville. We passed the time walking around, using the clean sit-down toilets, brushing our teeth with tap water, and having conversations in our own language! It was snowing and we were getting worried that there would be a delay. We got on the plane on time and hunkered down for our last flight (the 7th in two weeks) which would only be an hour and 15 minutes long. After 45 minutes on the tarmac for de-icing and snow removal we were getting very scared that we would spending the night in Detroit, but finally we took off. Dave and I were so excited to get home we had nervous stomachs.

All of the trip was worthwhile when we walked down the corridor and saw many smiling-crying faces waiting for us. Everyone cheered and I breathed a sigh of relief. We had our baby home to the people who are going to love her all her life. What an amazing feeling. We had been the only ones to hold her and care for her for 11 days, so it was strange to hand her to other people. But she did well (so did I) and got a big hug from her new grandmothers, grandfathers, aunts, uncles and cousins and friends.

Now that we're home we are realizing that the biggest adjustments are here. She is in a new country, new house, new room, new faces (lots more blonds than she's ever seen before) and two furry creatures who follow her around. Everyone's sleep is off and no one has made it through a whole night yet. Emmy is eating well (especially Cheerios which seem to make all new activities go smoother). She cries out a lot at night, she probably wakes up and doesn't know where she is. She has had lots of visitors and manages a smile for all of them.

It's great to be in our house but it's even harder to find our routine than it was in the hotel. I know we'll get there, I just need to be patient...and get some sleep.