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Monday, May 22, 2006

The trip home was long and at some points painful, but overall, Sophie was an absolute champ. We both woke up early and a little bit anxious on Friday morning, around 5:45. We went ahead and ate since we were up before the crowd, but neither of us had much of an appetite. At 8:30 our guide met us in the lobby and we set off for the Guangzhou airport.

Our flight didn't leave until 11:30, but they wanted us to be there early enough to work out any potential problems with my quite overweight checked luggage. I did manage to squeeze all my purchases into my original luggage, but the unfortunate consequence of so much shopping was a bag that was about 5 pounds overweight. Thankfully, we didn't have any problems checking it in and Sophie and I set off on our travel day with excitement and anticipation of what the day would hold.

Our first flight was fine, short and sweet. Then we had a 5 hour layover at the Hong Kong airport. God blessed us with a wonderful family to travel with, they were the only other family in the room with us on gotcha day in Nanning! We were not in the same group together, but I was so thankful for them to travel with and spend our long afternoon in HK with. Our daughters are very close in age and they had the best time playing at a children's play area across from the noodle shop where we ate lunch together. Sophie was having the best time running and giggling, the girls were chasing each other and the anticipation of being 'caught' turned Sophie into a giggly, goofy mess! She was making me laugh so hard I had to join in the fun and we made a game out of me following her up and over the play set. Soon the fun got to her and she hit her limit. She hadn't napped but for a few minutes in the van on the way to the airport, and she had a meltdown at about 5:00 PM. She started crying and flailing and the only thing that would calm her down was if I walked with her. Thankfully we boarded the flight soon and she was asleep by the time we reached our seats. The nap didn't last as long as I'd hoped, she was up in an hour, but she was in a much better mood. We spent the next few hours looking at her bag 'o toys and having a few snacks. She enjoyed the in flight meal and was ready for sleep again several hours later. She had a tough time getting comfortable but finally managed to find 'the spot'. She slept like a log for the rest of the flight, probably about 7 hours. It was wonderful for her to get such a big chunk of sleep and for me to get some quiet time :)

She woke up just as we were landing in Chicago. Wrestling her, her stroller, my backpack, her tea set, her backpack, my camera and my rolling carry on got to be a bit overwhelming and we had a time getting through the Chicago airport. But we just continued on, even as we held the line up in security and received some curious stares, knowing we would be safely at home in a matter of hours. We had another lengthy layover at Chicago, but we made the best of it with a trip to McDonald's (Sophie loved her first chocolate shake) and a bathroom visit where I did my best to make the two of us presentable. She cleaned up a whole lot better than I did! I looked at myself in the mirror and was shocked at what the trip had done to me! Yikes! We arrived at the gate with 15 minutes to spare before boarding and we excitedly boarded the tiny commuter plane headed for St. Louis. This was the most difficult flight because Sophie had reached her limit on being tolerant of travelling and I was so anxious to get home. I remembered my secret stash of M & Ms and after a pack and a half between the two of us, we were finally landing.

It was so amazing to see everyone there waiting for us at the airport, my fantastic husband and beautiful children, closest friends with their children, it overwhelmed me how blessed I am.

We had a long layover at the Hong Kong airport

Having fun at the playplace

Crazy sleeper

Baba and Sophie

Isabelle and Sophie chowing down at Chevy's

Celebrating Sophie's homecoming

Sophie took it all in stride and even went to her daddy when he held his arms out to her. She also took to Isabelle right away, calling her Mei Mei and following her around. We're not quite sure how Isabelle feels about Sophie yet, so far they are doing well, but occasionally jealous of who happens to be sitting in momma's lap ;) We went out to eat together at our favorite spot Chevy's, to celebrate Sophie's homecoming and to enjoy time together again. We are so grateful to be united as a family again and very much look forward to starting out on this new adventure as a family of eight!

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