Back Home!!!!

We made it back. Jet lag is a bad thing.
We left GZ Friday night on CS at 9:00 pm. Am did a good job spending the last of our Mao money at the gift shop in the airport so we left China with only some of the Monopoly type yuan worth less than dimes and nickels. I counted a total of 14 babies in Premium Economy and atleast another dozen in coach. It was like a flying daycare. Very funny. There were a few screamers but all in all, the babies (and bigger brothers and sisters) did really well. We landed in LA at about 5:00pm and did the immigration and customs dance for about an hour before making our way out. Not too bad here. The baggage claim was a bit of a pain as the area is very small and there are a lot of people and luggage on a Boeing 777. Syd was very good all the way through. She slept for maybe 7 or 8 hours on the plane and didn't fuss too much at LAX.
We spent the night in LA at an Embassy Suites that was close to the airport. Other than having to wait 30 minutes for the shuttle it was wonderful to stretch out in a sutite and have a good breakfast the next morning. We ran into a couple with their kids the night we arrived who were enamoured of Sydney(I can't blame them) they were on their way to a vacation at Club Med,I think, and they were so sweet... they bought us a round of drinks on the sly after they left:)
We flew back to Houston at noon on Saturday and were met at the airport by my parents, Kyle and Spencer and a bunch of our good friends(Cricket-documentation queen, Cindy, Sarah, Desi, Maddie, Daniel and Cindy's newest foster girl( can't remember her name but she sure is cute!). Also, last but not least...were Heather and Ricky who are next in line to get their referral. We can't wait to return the favor when they come home.
Here's a bit of good advice - Before you leave, borrow a friends baby or something to properly setup the size of the straps in your carseat. We didn't do this and couldn't get Syd strapped in properly. I couldn't figure out how to adjust the things in the parking garage so we had to drive home with Syd strapped halfway in and Anne Marie holding her other half down. Not fun- Sydney does NOT like to be restrained, so the car seat is a BAD and horrible MONSTER to her and she screamed until she passed out. Thankfully it's only a 20 minute ride. We got home to a house filled with welcome home posters that Spencer and our friends Cricket and Cindy and her kids put together. Very sweet. There were also tons of red ribbon strung around the house...AKA, The Red Thread... and red balloons.

Syd met the doggies for the first time and was a little upset with them. Ok...maybe a lot upset. But, she warmed up quickly though after a few face licking sessions. We had a quick dinner and Kyle and Spencer took turns helping out with that.
She got the tour of her new home and spent some time playing in her room before bed. Did I mention that jet lag REALLY stinks? It's worse for babies. At least grownups know why they're tired. Take an 11 month old who is is in totally unfamiliar surroundings and has no idea why the sun isn't out when she thinks that it should be and it's a very bad thing.
It's Monday and Anne Marie is running on about 6 hours of sleep since Sunday. Syd is a good sleeper, just at the wrong times. She's wide awake and ready to go at 3:00am. Hopefully this will get better over the next couple of days.

This has been such a wonderful experience. The three weeks in China were totally unforgettable and we are soooo happy about Sydney that I have tears in my eyes just trying to think up words to describe it. The families that we traveled with will be forever in our hearts. We'll sort out the pictures in in the coming days and email everyone the pictures that we have of them and their newly expanded families.
We will continue to blog here, especially all our new milestones as a family of 5!!!
I wish we could have posted every pic we took while we were there, but I think the PC would have exploded and we would have missed a few tours! Until next time...
PS..
Thanks to everyone for all their support and encouragement in listening to the gripes and complaints... to anyone reading this who is waiting... it is OK to gripe and complain, you will get your referral and when you experience the gotcha moment, you will not think back on anything you thought was so important at the time of the gripes! It will all make sense and fall into place when you are holding that long awaited baby in your arms for the first time.
AM, Joe, Kyle, Spencer, & Sydney!