Day ???? (The Long Way Home : ))

Thanks for all of the prayers during our travel - we are home and the 30 or so hours of travel went as well as they could have!  I had asked for prayers for a good tailwind to bring us home quickly, and the first thing the pilot said on the plane was that we would have a great tailwind and possibly have our flight shortened by an hour and 30 minutes!!!  I had just told Sam aabout my prayer request, so I shot him a look of surprise and happiness!  In fact, our flight was an hour and 45 minutes shorter - the pilot said it was the shortest flight from Hong Kong to Dallas that he had ever had!  THANK YOU!

In my opionion, the girls did really well on the plane.  THey didn't sleep much though, unfortunately.  FL took about an hour and a half nap and C only an hour.  Their sleep time, which we mistakenly tried to push them into early (7:00 instead of 9:30) with a little help from benadryl didn't go great.  FL tossed and turned most of the flight and C took a very long time to sleep, and really only slept about 5 hours.  FL got about 8.  They are used to about 10 for nighttime.  C didn't cry hardly at all.  Fl had a hard time because she finds light very stimulating and we had computer screens in the seats she wanted to turn on and various people (not meaning any harm) would turn on their overhead lights during the flight, waking her and causing her to fuss.  She didn't want to be held and she didn't want to be in her seat.  Their wasn't much room for her to lay down, but she had to.  Their wasn't any room for C to lay down and she didn't want ANY pillows propping her up, thought she tolerated them at naptime.

THis was my view during their nap time. : )  We were glad that FL never figured out how to unbuckle the seatbelt (remember, this is the first time they have EVER been buckled in anywhere - they don't use seatbelts or car seats in China.  The girls always sat on our laps.) because it kept her from sliding off the seat and flailing around!  C is a type A rule follower, so she never even tried to unbuckle it.  She's something else!  THe girls are so different personality wise, and I'm so thankful! : )  It keeps it fun and interesting.

Eventhough FL had a hard time settling down and cried a little, it wasn't much.  Just loud and short and to the point!  I was really proud of them and the way they acted most of the time.  Great kids - big blessing!

Our plane in general was very "active."  Our big flight on the way to China was very quiet, dark and still.  This flight, the population was very busy.  The crew was always passing out something (which was fine), but not very quietly.  THe people were up and down, turning on lights, opening the shades, talking and laughing the entire flight.  I expected people to settle down at some point, but for the most part, they didn't.  I think this made it harder for the girls to sleep, in addition to the amout of light on the plane.  Sam didn't sleep at all for fear that FL would fall off of the seat (we unbuckled the belt at one point) and I got about 30 minutes worth maybe.  

We couldn't bring water onto the plane (they made us dump out what we had for FL's bottles except for what fit into a sippy cup), so the girls got dehydrated on the flight, as did we.  If you asked for water for your beverage, you got the little cup, which just didn't satisfy your thirst.  If you plan on making a flight like this, please hydrate yourself and your children as much as you can before you get on the plane.  Start 24 hours before.  Also, bring lip balm for yourself and your children.  We all had horribly chapped lips from the flight, though the girls were worse because the lip balm I had had menthol in it, which I knew would make their lips feel like they were burning a little, so I didn't even try to put it on.  They are just fine now, in case you are wondering! : )  THe air on the plane is very dry, so that's what causes this.

During the flight, I worried about keeping the girls entertained.  

* I knew that the i pad would be a last resort, as the light is stimulating and I only had one i pad and two girls!!!  

*They colored for about 15 to 20 minutes, 

*looked at little board books for about 15 minutes, 

*ate plane food for about 20 minutes (the rice dish had a hot pepper on top of it that looked like a green bean - it burned Sam and FL's mouth, but I was able to save C and myself from that pain!  Watch out for the rice and vegetable dish on the American Airlines flight!), 

*played with one button on the seatback for about 20 minutes on and off (we took the remote out and hid it in the seatpocket since it had a "call attendant" button and all the girls wanted to do was push it!) 

*and stickers for about 45 minutes (C probably an hour or more) which was my saving grace.  

I wish I had remembered to bring pipecleaners and playdough on the plane.  If you plan to fly for this amout of time with children this age (18 months to 2.5), plan for each activity your bring to entertain for about 20 minutes.  I wish I had thought things out a little better and had a play plan, but I ran out of time and brainpower when I was packing!  THe stickers were great because they could peel them off my fingers and stick them in the coloring book, on their pillow, on me, on themselves, on their backpack (C thought that was so fun!) or in a big glob, which C favored the most.  They didn't really care what the stickers were.  I even used the sticker boarders and tore them into little pieces to hand to them.  They loved it!  There were stickers everywhere on our row (we didn't allow them to stick them onto anything that belonged to the plane except the pillow)!!!  But, it kept them quiet and happy for a while!   Yes, I am still finding stickers here and there!  Our other time was spent in the potty (not as much as I thought), trying to calm them and/or put them to sleep and just doing the little things that you usually do for your children all day long.

Close up of these two at naptime. : )

So, the flight was long, but we lived to tell about it, and though C cried a little and FL had a sleepy tantrum or two (or more), total crying time wasn't very much and I would have to say that they were great little travellers!

Most of the flight attendants and crew were fantastic, but there was one guy who just plain didn't like me, for whatever reason.  I won't go into all the details or incidents, but one might be helpful to others in the future.  FL needed to be changed before she went to sleep there was NO WAY she could fit on that tiny changing table in the restroom.  She is much longer than the room is wide and (thankfully) not a skinny girl.  She's two and a half!  I took a blanket to lay her on at the back of the plane, as there was a wide space in front of the restroom.  I asked two of the flight attendants if I could change her right there.  At first, they said no.  When I told them that there was no way she would fit, they agreed that it was fine.  As I was in the process of changing her, I heard, "No, no, no, no, NO!!! You CAN not do THAT there!"  It came complete with a finger wag in my face from the flight attendant that didn't like me ( I always make it a point to be polite to others, so I have no idea where his dislike came from - me having small children on a plane maybe?).  I calmly told him there was no way I could fit my daughter on that changing table and that I had permission to change her there.  "WHO gave you permission?!" was the reply, which made me feel like I was in Junior High, and being interrogated by the principal.  I told him and he stormed off.  I waited a bit to see if he came back to say anything or if I was really going to have to cram poor FL onto that table.  Then I decided to finish the job and get back to our seats.  I did, no one came back there or saw anything and life went on on the plane. So, all that being said, if you have an older child in diapers or a very tall baby, be prepared to have to squish them onto that table or hope that you have some understanding flight attendants to give you permission like I did!

I can't think of much else about the plane ride except that most everyone was very nice and asked about our girls and asked if we travelled with them everywhere , and were shocked when we told them this was their first flight (second for C) and they were newly adopted. : ) 

Here's some pictures of our bedtime!

Fl had socks on at one point -we're not neglectful parents, I promise!  Neither likes a blanket, either.  I dressed them in fleece pants, a long sleeve t shirt and a fleece jacket.  The layers were great, as the plane got both hot and cold at times. 

Once we landed and realized how early our flight was (we were facing a seven hour layover), we decided to see how quickly we could get through the channels of customs and try to get on an earlier flight.  I ended up leaving my purse on the plane and having to run back and get it (the i pad was in it, as well as C's and my passports and tickets, not to mention all of my ID!!!!!), then loaded with my purse, my backpack, C's backpack, a rolling carryon and C in the carrier (Sam was about the same) we hightailed it as fast as we could to customs.  It wasn't busy at all and Sam and I sailed right through, but because of the girls immigrating, we had to see an officer, show him the very special "Do Not Open Or Bad Things Will Happen" brown envelopes ( as C was yelling out, " PAHHHH DEEEE!  PAHHH DEEEEE!" and signing frantically) and then go to a room to wait for the brown envelope to be opened.  THankfully, the Room Where Brown Envelopes Are Opened had a play area for slap-happy, sleep deprived children and their very sleep deprived parents.  It was here that we lost yet another Parent of the Year nomination as we sat there blankly and told our children to "go play."  I didn't want Sam to spend $2.00 on a bottle of water because I temporarily forgot that we weren't still saving for an adoption, but he ignored me (which was a good thing) and got us some water.  The process took about 15 to 20 minutes I think and C and FL each had a minor meltdown, FL fell and scraped her face and C and I set off some alarm when I took her to the PAHHHH DEEEEE.  Sam and I did fine though because we were too tired to do much thinking and just handled it.

After The Room Where Brown Envelopes Are Opened we went to baggage claim, loaded up our checked luggage (thankfully they had carts) and went to the ticket counter to try and change our flight. It was a no-go because only Sam was a "Gold Member" and the girls and I were not.  Only he could be on the waiting list, and I think he temporarily considered going ahead until he saw the look on my face. ; )

We hurried as fast as we could to the gate to try and get on the flight, but going back through security held us up as the line was VERY long, we had to take out all of our liquids, take the children out of the carriers, but everything we had into little buckets, and  I couldn't find my boarding pass.  It was here that I almost had a meltdown, but by the grace of God I held it together.  I would like to say this:  If you EVER see someone travelling with small children that are strapped to her/him and struggling to get her carry on on the belt or just looking like she/he MIGHT need help, please offer.  Never once, with everything we had going on did anyone try and help or ask if they could or offer a word of encouragement.  I am going to try and do better with this myself in the future! 

After security (which all of the girls liquid snack pouches somehow made it through, but not FL's sippy cup), we hurried to the gate, but it had just closed after final boarding.  Much to our comfort, there was a long list of those waiting and we probably wouldn't have made it on anyway.  At least, that's what we told ourselves.  So, at this point, we had over 6 hours at the airport to wait.  We went to a play area and made that home for the next 5 hours.  Thankfully, C gets more and more gleeful as she gets more tired, so she was ok playing and eating snacks and taking trips to the potty for 5 hours.  Poor FL zoned out at times, but with all that she's been through, did really well.  She had only two major meltdowns that I can remember and one crazy bad diaper that forced me to use a teeny restroom changing table.

We went to our gate an hour before baording so we could feed the girls dinner and get prepared slowly.  The only problem with that was they changed our gate FIVE TIMES!!!!!  And not just one beside the other, opposite ends of the terminal, tram rides from one side to the other, and so on.  Can I say again that we have great kids?!  We loaded them up and unloaded them each time.  They just kind of went with it and all of the craziness of the day!

Finally, we boarded our plane for home.  The girls only slept about 20 minutes of the hour and a half plane ride (FL didn't like C sitting behind her ) and were sad a little bit, but, again, were troopers.  I can't tell you how many times I signed and told C "ALL DONE" when that plane landed.  She signed and said it with me, too! We made it!

Our sweet family met us at the airport with a sign and lots of love, then we drove home (the girls didn't fuss about car seats at all) to a warm, decorated home with a stocked pantry and everything - so nice!  THANK YOU!  I was so happy to see my home and my beloved animals!  The girls went to bed at 1AM or so and they slept until 9 AM!  YAHOOO!   And we jumped right back into farm life the next morning and have been on a pretty consisten schedule ever since.

Life has changed for us a lot and the adventure leading up to that change was long and sometimes difficult, but here we are and here we go!  The real adventure begins!  I hope you'll keep reading and we will try and keep writing.

Thank you and we love you!