Trip & First few days home!!!

Again, sorry for not posting to the blog sooner. Life with a 3 year old is busy and of course a blast!!! I will try and do my best to bring you up to speed with things since we have been home. I'm sure it will take me a few posts as I will think of things after I publish the posts to the blog.

When we arrived at the Beijing airport it was a zoo. There are people everywhere and you are pretty much touching whoever is next to you. When we checked into the airline they had our seats all scattered.....I really wanted to be close to my parents incase I needed there help. So we showed them that we had seats already assigned and explained why we wanted to be together. They ended up making it happen....thank heavens. I felt really weird when we were in the airport. I was sad to be leaving China, happy to be going home and scared of the 11.5 hour plane ride to Vancouver. We said good bye to Yulin (which was hard) and made our way through security with no problems. We had 2 other families on our plane and there was a 4th family with us at the airport but on a different flight. So some went shopping in the airport while we waited for boarding and some just hung out with all the carry-on luggage. When it came time to board we said good-bye to Barry, Carolyn and the kids and made our way to the plane. Channing knew what was happening and started to cry. She was mad!! She took off her jade bracelet and I had really no extra space in my hands so I hooked it on the stroller handle. We boarded the plane and she still wouldnt settle down. All that kept going through my mind was "I could get off this plane and stay, I could get off this plane and stay".

Waiting to board the plane for CANADA!!!

Aidan and Maia......they are both so cute!!!

Once we were off the ground Channing was still crying a little. I felt a little tap on my shoulder from a Chinese lady sitting behind me. I turned around and she was sitting there with her 6 year old son. She asked if she could read Channing a story (in Chinese). WHAT A MIRACLE IT WAS TO HAVE HER RIGHT BEHIND ME!!! Of course Channing went and sat with her for a bit. This lady was awesome!! Channing and the little boy entertained eachother until it was bedtime. Channing slept for about 3 hours and that was it. I didnt sleep at all. About half way through the flight I started to panic. I looked everywhere for Channing's jade bracelet. I couldnt find it in any of the bags. Overall the plane ride to Vancouver went great. It only felt like a 7 hour flight.

Once we landed in Vancouver we were waiting at the plane for our strollers to come. And would you believe Channing's jade bracelet was still hooked on the handle of the stroller. I was so relieved!!!! I totally forgot I had left it there. We had a 4 hour layover in Vancouver which was nice. I had some paperwork to do at Immigration, but that went great. Channing is a "permanent resident" of Canada now. While I was at Immigration with Tracey, Kelly and the kids everyone else was getting the suitcases. I guess my mom got hunted down by the DOG!!! We totally forgot that we had some fruit in Channing's backpack from China. So of course we had to get rid of it and the dog kept sniffing our things. My parents got their bags searched so that prevented us from saying good bye to Tracey, Kelly and their families. By time we caught up to them they were already on their plane. We then killed time by eating and watching Channing and her reactions to all the "white" people.

Our next flight was alright. Channing cried a bit at the beginning and then slept. Before our next flight I got Channing changed and freshened up. She cried and cried when we had to boared the 3rd flight. She cried all the way!!! The poor kid. Everyone around us on the plane was so kind and understanding. They didnt blame her for crying since it was such a long day for us. When we landed at home I got teary eyed!! I knew we had a few people going to greet us and thats all I wanted. When we got on the esculator all of a sudden started to cry when I seen Hunter. I missed him sooooo much!!! It was also great to see my brother, SIL, other nephew, Aunt, Uncle and Bev & Hanna (sorry no pictures from the airport. I didnt have my camera handy so hopefully I can get some from my aunt & brother). We had a quick visit and then it was time to head home. We had a 45 minute drive and Channing sobbed all the way home. It was 10pm, dark, she was strapped in her carseat for the first time and it was also COLD!!!! I sat in the back of the van with her and she held my hand the whole way home. When we got home my friend Cory waiting for me or should I say waiting to see Channing. So she came for a quick vist and had a bag full of goodies for Channing. I made Channing some noodles and that was good enough to recharge her battery!!!

Channing feeding her new baby that she got at the airport from Hunter. Also she did her hair with some of the hair pretties from Cory.

My hungry girl eating her bowl of noodles

Once everyone had left and we were all alone I tried to get Channing to bed. That wasnt working or her plan. The poor girl cried from 11pm until 5:30am. She would cry, then scream, then stomp her feet. I was so tried, she was so tired and I had no idea what to do. All I wanted to do was cry myself. So eventually hours later she fell asleep on the couch. That was good enough for me!!

The next few days got a bit better each day. Channing's hardest part of the day was early morning and then going to bed. The jet lag hit us pretty bad and we both got COLDS. This girl of mine is one strong cookie who has been through so much. Every day when I go to bed I get excited wondering what tomorrow will bring with her. I love her so much!!!

More to come......