We made it!!!!!!!!! We are home!!!!

After a 24 hour journey - we made it home to the USA and my baby girl is a citizen!! YEAH!!!
There were 13 other babies on the flight home and the flight attendant gave an announcement when we landed that 14 babies are now us citizens and congratulated us! It made my mom and I cry! It doesn't take much to do that these days of course :-)

So we were tired and disoriented after an overnight flight - it was 6am to our bodies on china time but 4pm the day before chicago time. Amaya did very well on the plane but got fussy around 8pm china time so we gave her benadryl - she has a cold so I feel less guilty about drugging her on the plane this way - double duty - sleep on the plane and to cure a runny nose! :-)

So she slept about 8 hours on my lap but I didnt sleep very much. Even though I didn't sleep very much at least I didn't get motion sickness this time. Our friends from our group Ginny and her daughters Blaise and Margo were on our flight too - it was sad to say goodbye to them! We are going to keep in touch though because we all have a special bond thanks to our beautiful babies!

Anyway, so we get off the plane and we are walking down to the gate and I hear SISTER! My sister and father surprised us because my dad works for customs and got them to meet us right off the plane. My sister and my cousin made a beautiful sign with pictures from my blog and chinese characters in the colors of Amaya's bedroom and it had a purple butterfly balloon too! It made me cry! Then we met my grandmother and Latham in the waiting area of customs! It was an emotional moment! It meant so much to have them there to welcome Amaya home!
Latham came over to help with Amaya and spend time getting to know her. My mom and sister are coming over sunday and more friends and family to follow in the days to come! I am so excited for everyone to get to know her!

She was so cute tonight - she is itching to crawl - she scooted herself over to the tv stand because she was determined to pull down the colorful disneypackaged videotapes. She tried out her swing and the vibrating chair, she liked them for a little while but she likes interacting more!
and when she's tired or fussy the only thing that works is to pick her up and walk or sway with her. I know some might not agree with this or think I'm spoiling her but I disagree. She is still attaching to me and learning that I am her mommy so I am going to pick her up as soon as she cries.

So we played, ate bananas and drank 2 bottles since we've been home - her favorite thing for entertainment in her now home are the kitties! she laughs and kicks her legs with excitement. The cats are checking her out too - it's the cutest thing ever!

Right now it's 2:45 AM and she is sleeping in her crib and Sage is watching her through the crib tent. They are very curious about this noisy new arrival! :-)

Okay - I need advice from you experienced China travelers! How in the world are you supposed to switch back to US time and get your baby on a schedule here? As you know, I was struggling as it is to get her on a normal bedtime in China! It's 2:45 AM and I am wide awake and I'm assuming she went down for her normal nap - cuz it's 4:45pm the next day to our body clocks.
Any advice out there?

Well I am looking forward to settling in and hopefully adjusting to the time difference soon so I can see everyone during the daylight hours!
More pics are coming soon!