The Homecoming

Hi Everyone!

Well this is finally the last email of our journey.

After 22 hours of travelling we finally arrived home to Lara on Monday afternoon.
We had requested a baby bassinet for the big overnight flight, and when we
collected our tickets were assured we had one. However, on boarding we
found that although we had a bulkhead seat, there was no bassinet. Luckily
the stewardess was able to organise a row of four seats for Alex and I, so that
Jade could sleep in the two seats between us. It worked out really well and
she slept all night. The padded suit she is wearing lets her know this is
bedtime, and we continue to use it here, so hopefully we don't get any hot
nights soon. Our flight home from Shanghai was delayed a bit and we just
missed our connecting flight to Melbourne from Sydney - due mainly to one
of our bags being one of the last off the plane. The next flight was already full,
but they managed to get us onto the one after. Sigh. Some quick phone
calls let those waiting know that we would be late.

I was frustrated they did not just transfer the luggage for us between Qantas
flights, but we had to go through customs in Sydney with the bags. My
nightmare of the hassle with 5 suitcases, 5 carry ons, baby and coats etc on
and off planes came true. What a pain. The boys were tired and cranky (as
were we) and we were rushing them to try and make our flight. Not a fun
experience for any of us.

Finally we were on our final flight of this mammoth journey. Jade was on my
lap and fell asleep before we took off on the domestic route, and she slept
through the entire trip and even the rough landing. She woke only when
people started moving about the cabin. As far as she was concerned, people
got on the plane, sat down and then turned around and got off the plane.

It was lovely to be greeted at the airport by Sue and James and one very
excited bouncing Jacqui, with flowers and balloon. It was very special and it
took away the stress of trying to fit us all (and the luggage) into the Prado,
as the Stents were able to take a couple of cases, and Joshua too, who was
eager to beat us home and see Moni.

James also offered to collect my Sister Melissa, Rob and their 2 kids from
Avalon Airport for us, as they were flying in to meet their niece and cousin
and flying out the next day.

Meanwhile, Kim along with some help from Jackie and Jan had decorated our
place with welcome home banners, balloons, cooked up a storm and
restocked our fridge. What an amazing thing to do for us. For the drive home,
I was on cloud 9 - so excited!! Jade looked tiny in her big car seat (still
reversed), and she played happily the whole trip home, as we were all singing
and clapping hands. She is not fazed at all by a racket - just joins in with her
happy squeals.

There were a few tears on our arrival (not from Jade) - very emotional. So
many people have joined in this journey with us, it was lovely for them to see
her arrive home. Sue, James, Jacqui, Kim, Patrick, Jonathan, Benjamin,
Nicholas, William, Jackson, Princess Jazmin ("do I get to meet my sister
Jade today?"), Melissa, Rob, Kelsie and Andrew, gave us all a lovely
welcome home and some lovely gifts for Jade too. We all had something to
eat and drink and then the visitors took their leave, to give us some quiet time
settling Jade into her new environment. It was lovely Melissa and her family
could make it over, as it might be a long time between visits.

The boys all had Tuesday off School, and Josh tried to catch up on some of
his school work. Jade had gone to bed about 11.30pm (8.30pm China Time)
and woke at 9am (6am China time). I was hanging around in her room for her
to wake up, so I could reassure her and show her around her room. She woke
with a lovely smile. We visited the Dr, and he thinks it is best to continue with
the antibiotics she is on until the end of the week. I will give the other
medicines a rest though. We had a lovely day on Tuesday with her Uncle,
Aunty and cousins, (sweet Taylor spent so much time with his young cousins,
playing games and taking them fishing), and they then cooked us a lovely
BBQ and salads, so that we could both focus on just the baby and unpacking
the suitcases. It made our first day home very special. We collected Rusty
the Jack Russell from the kennels, and she is really not sure about him -
prefers to be in your arms when he is around.

Then it was time for the drop off at the airport, before settling Jade again for a
full nights sleep. Today she woke at 7am, when Alex was up with the boys
getting them ready for school, and he put her in bed with me, where we both
slept until 9am. She has been a bit fidgety this morning, and I actually think
she is missing the boys who have been so much a part of her life over the
last few weeks. I can't wait to see her face light up when they get home from
school. Alex has been de-spidering (how quickly they take over!!) with the
vacuum and Jade in a sling. So cute.

Well I plan to enjoy the next 1.5 weeks of leave with Jade, before it is back to
work for me, although things will never really be the same again.

She is a happy contented little treasure who truly does light up our world. It
has been a huge wait of over 4 years, and a real pain to get here, but it is oh
so worth every single moment and so much more. I would like to thanks
those that have been there on this journey before us, that have supported us
through the tough times. I hope we can do the same with families on their
own journeys in the future.

Thanks so much (again) for being part of this experience with us.

Cheers,

Cindy...