Home

We are HOME and so happy to be back. It was wonderful to see the boys again and we are enjoying our soft bed again!! Our journey home started with our flight from Guangzhou to Hong Kong. This was a short 45 min flight and Maeve did great. The plane was nearly empty so she got her own seat and had us rethinking our decision to not buy her a seat for our long flight. Once in Hong Kong we had a 2 hr lay over until our flight to Chicago. Even though we were only at the airport, we walked around and took in the sights of Hong Kong. It is very pretty with the mountains and ocean all around. Too bad we didn't get to spend any time there.

Our flight to Chicago was packed full! Our plane was larger than our plane on the flight over, but it was not as nice. We were spoiled going to Beijing because we each had our own TV screen on every seat. This time we only had overhead screens to watch, so we were forced to watch whatever movie was showing. We were excited to have a new set of movies to watch, only to find out we had the SAME movies as the flight over!! If you remember that trip, they were horrible, so this did not offer any relief. Anyway, Maeve did great on the 14 hr flight. She slept about 3 hrs total (off and on) and really never fussed. We had HORRIBLE turbulence throughout the flight, but one hour was particularly bad. The pilots announced "flight attendants please apply restraints immediately." Some little boys in front of us were vomiting and when they tried to get to the restroom, the flight attendants yelled at them to sit down, then announced over head, "No one may get out of their seats, even if vomiting. It is too dangerous." We were sooooo nervous and I was convinced we were going down. Needless to say Maeve learned the Hail Mary pretty quickly!! That "event" passed after about an hour and it was off and on bumpy after that, but tolerable.

We finally arrived in Chicago and were greeted by my cousin Annie and her little man, Timmy. It was so great to see a familiar face!! We felt like we had been gone for so long and seeing family again really made home feel like a reality! Annie had a great present for Maeve and some cookies for us!! Thanks Annie!! Going through immigration was not exciting at all! We were expecting the heavens to open and light to shine upon Maeve's face as they stamped her passport "American Citizen." Instead we got a "Da Bears" type of Chicago immigration officer who said, "here ya go." When I asked, "Is that it...the stamp we have been working for this whole time?" He replied, "yep, congratulations....NEXT." We were excited nonetheless as Maeve was officially American!!

Our last flight home was uneventful (THANK YOU!!) and Maeve slept the whole way. We didn't think she would wake up once we landed, but once it was our turn to exit the plane she perked up and was ready to meet her brothers. Grandma, Grandpa, Mimi, Papa, Aunts, Uncles, cousins and Aidan, Cian and Fintan waited for us with a "Welcome Home Maeve" sign as we exited the plane. It was very exciting to finally see everyone and introduce them to Maeve. Once we got home the boys showed her room by room our whole house and it was very sweet to watch them be so gentle with her. She easily goes to each of them and lets Aidan and Cian hold her. It is just too funny to watch her hold up her arms to Aidan wanting him to hold her.

We had a wild weekend with our local St. Pat's parade on Saturday and a house full of friends and family. A great homecoming party!! Sunday we lounged all day and slept. So far all is going well. Maeve struggles a bit throughout the night, awakening frequently and upset. I think her system is all messed up! Last night was much better, so hopefully improvement is around the corner. The boys are on Spring Break this week, so we are going to enjoy the nice weather (80's...warmer than anything we had in China!) and some family time around the house.
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Enjoying her own seat from Guangzhou to Hong Kong.
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Our massive double decker plane from Hong Kong to Chicago. Notice the mountains in the background. Hong Kong looks very nice.
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Goofing off at the Hong Kong airport.
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Annie and Timmy meeting us at O'Hare airport. It was so great to see them and meet Timmy!
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Maeve and Fintan. I hope this pose doesn't indicate things to come!!
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Home one day and already Irish!!
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Having some lunch at the parade party.
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Playing with the recycling boxes.
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Cian and Maeve.
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All the kids at dinner on Sunday.
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Hooray, we are complete!! Fintan, Maeve, Aidan and Cian together at last!!

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