Dorothy Was Right - There is No Place Like Home

After approximately 27 hours, we are home. Well, what's left of us!
One very tired girl. Oh, and Emma was pooped out too:)
She put her arms out to my step dad and went right to him. Of course, he couldn't be happier.

Waiting in Chicago for our next flight out. She had just about had all she could take!
Waiting in Nashville was our fan club. There were about 30 people at the airport waiting on us. It felt so good to see those faces!

Leaving China - for now. It was a very tender moment for me. I can't really describe what I was feeling when we left. Somewhere in that vast country was her other mom and I can't praise her enough for giving us the greatest gift. I hope that somehow she knows that her little one is being loved and taken care of. My heart was full when left.
Okay, I'm an idiot and posted this picture twice. Sleep deprivation does weird things to you.

Leaving our hotel in Guangzhou at 5:45 a.m.

Okay, so I know my name is mud for not having blogged in the last couple of days, but I've been a little busy. I'm still doing laundry after 2 days! I will post even more later with more pictures, but it takes so long to load them on my computer that I will have to do it later. I have some great homecoming pictures and I know that everyone wants to see them.

We left Guangzhou on the 12th at 6:00 a.m. and got to Nashville at 9:20 p.m. on the same day. Weird? It was the longest day of our lives and Emma did pretty well. She managed to sleep for about 4-5 hours total on the different flights. When we made it home Friday night she went to bed at 11:15 p.m. and slept until 10:30 Saturday morning. I was right there with her. I have never been so tired in my life and I was suffering from a horrible allergic rhinitis with a nose that looked like Rudolph. It started about 4 hours into our flight from Beijing and didn't stop until the next day. The boys did GREAT. They slept off and on and were angels on the flight home. Bo managed to rest some, but mostly we just kept rotating her around. At one point, I looked up and she was gone. Bo said the flight attendants had her in the back of the plane! She didn't seem to mind and although that breaks all the attachment rules, I was so tired at that point it didn't seem to matter.

Everyone was so sweet when we arrived. We had a wonderful welcoming crew and she handled it well to be so tired. She enjoyed visiting on Saturday with the grandparents and aunt as well as friends. She didn't offer to go to anyone, but didn't mind sitting in their laps. She did keep a close eye on me to make sure I was near, so that was a good feeling.

Her sleeping habits have not been that great the last 2 nights. She is still on China time and is going to bed around 7:30 and getting up at 12:30 - 1:00 a.m. and taking a bottle and then she wants to play. We have let her stay in the bed with us when she wakes up because she screams when we put her back in the crib. She is rolling and kicking and playing and babbling when she is in the bed with us. Too funny. She will get right up in your face and start saying "mama". She is a little monkey.

Well I have to go now and I promise to post more pictures today if I have time. I hear her on the monitor and I am sure she is soaked and hungry.