Back Home!

I'm sorry it's been a few days since I have updated my blog.  My head has been in a fog since coming home on Friday.  Our last day in Guangzhou was uneventful.  It was another rainy day, so we took our time at our last breakfast, knowing we wouldn't eat like that again for a long time.  The buffets were everything that I had read about and lived up to expectations.  We then took a taxi to a mall that had a Walmart in it.  Once again, it was loud and hot so we didn't stay long. We got Milli's visa about 4:30pm, which as we found out later, was very lucky.  The families that had appointments on Thursday, ended up having to stay several extra days due to a computer problem.  I can't even imagine doing that.  We were so ready to leave at that point.  A van picked us up at 4:30 and drove us to Hong Kong.  It was a miracle we made it there in one piece.  Our driver was on some kind of mission to make it in record time, and talk on the phone the entire time too.  I couldn't even watch after a while.  We drove into Hong Kong at sunset.  From what I could tell, it looked amazing.  I'd like to visit there again some day.  Our hotel was very close to the airport, so we were only there 12 hours.  It was Milli's third hotel in the short time we had her.  I can't imagine what was going through her mind.  We had the 11:10 flight the next morning.  Milli was very scared at the airport so I had to carry her the entire time. We arrived 2 1/2 hours before our flight, and we made it to the gate only 20 minutes prior to boarding. There were so many lines and checks and escalators, and a tram ride thrown in there.  We then had to get in yet another long line to board.  It just seemed so chaotic there.  We had pretty good seats in the back, except we were seated by a very loud group of nonAmerican people with a couple of loud children.  We were then told our flight was delayed.  After 2 hours of waiting, we finally took off.  Those 2 extra hours on a 14 1/2 hour flight did us in.  The kids actually did well. John and I couldn't sleep because of the people around us talked loudly and people would just come in the back area and talk like it was happy hour.  It was totally annoying.  I was praying so hard for turbulence so they would be forced to sit in their seats.  We then landed and went through immigration, and Milli became a US citizen.  We arrived home 22 hours after leaving the hotel in Hong Kong.  My sisters were there to greet us with food, gifts, decorations, and love.  Our neighbor/friend also made a big poster and dropped off gifts for Milli.  Milli actually did great and was having so much fun with the balloons, and being her charming self.  She loved opening her gifts and did not appear to be overwhelmed.  She did keep calling my sister Barb, mama, and let her pick her up. She must have sensed we were family.  My nieces came later and Milli loved them too.This past weekend is pretty much a blur. I know I got up with the kids at 1 am on Saturday and started unpacking and doing laundry.  We tried to go back to bed later before sunrise, but was unsuccessful.  Sunday wasn't better for Gus who got up at 1am. I stayed with Milli and we have been getting up around 5 am. Gus then slept 14 hours Sunday night.  John is not doing well with sleep, and now he's back at work.  Hopefully we will  be better by the weekend.
Milli has been doing well overall. She was terrified of the dogs on Friday, but is giving them treats now and gave Gracie the first kiss yesterday. (I didn't get a kiss until today) She loves the cats, more than they love her. She is having unexpected moments of crying and looking far away. She gets this way at bedtime, waking up, when she's scared, and when I pay attention to Gus too much.  It's hard now that John is back at work and there's only one of  me.  I know it will take time to adjust.  I am praying for patience on my part dealing with her mood swings. I am so proud of her to have done as well as she has. Of course, as her mother, I never want her to be sad, but I know she has to grieve. I pray that this won't last long. She has such a joyful nature about her and loves to laugh.  I can't wait to be able to communicate better with her.  She learns more from John than me.  He has taught her how to say her formal name, laughing everytime she says it.  It was hysterical listening to her try to say Hintermeister.  She also does a fist bump with him, wink, and can sing some of Take Me Out to the BallGame.  She definitely shows off for him.  She still doesn't totally trust him to comfort her, but she did give him a kiss today.  She is making progress.  I can't wait to see what she's like in one month from now. I'm just happy to be home.