There's No Place Like Home

We are HOME!!!! We left Hanoi on Friday. Our plane was supposed to leave at 7:00 p.m., but we were stuck on the tarmac for an hour for some technical reason. And Maelie had a complete meltdown. Oy. It was NOT pretty. I swear to you I was ready to go rip the door off the cabin and shake that pilot. Maelie was hot, screaming bloody murder, and NOTHING could console her. We were given cold towels, tried bottles, toys, NOTHING worked. We took her clothes off and tried rubbing the cool towels on her, which helped slightly, but didn't stop the screaming. Finally, we took off, and she was instantly fine. That was when I really wanted to go shake that pilot!!!!

Since we were an hour late leaving Hanoi, we were late getting into Hong Kong and our connection. We were ushered through the Hong Kong airport to get to our plane, which was already boarding. We got settled there, and that flight went well. Miss Maelie slept in her bassinet for most of the 12 hour flight. She really did well and I was so proud of her. Unfortunately, though, she was naked for a bit...we were hoping to have time in the airport to change her and get her dressed again from her meltdown, but we didn't have any time. So, we get on the plane and the flight crew were looking at us funny and asking if she was going to get cold because the poor little thing was naked!! We just kept saying 'trust us...you do NOT want to get this child overheated!!!' After take-off, we were able to get her dressed and changed, and she slept and slept. Thank God!!!

We made up time and actually arrived in LAX 45 minutes early, which was GREAT. We had to get through Customs and Immigration before our next flight took off for Minneapolis. This gave us three hours. We, again, barely made it!!! We went through Customs and I headed for Immigration, while my sister and mom got our luggage. Immigration was a breeze, by the way, and my eyes welled up when I was handed back her passport and a piece of paper that said, "Welcome to the United States." What a feeling!!!!

It took us a little bit to find our terminal, which was about a 5-10 minute walk, and then get our boarding passes and find the gate. We still thought we'd have plenty of time to get her changed, make some bottles, use the bathroom, before boarding. NOPE. We had enough time to get through security and find the gate. I changed Maelie right there in line, and then my sister and Maelie went off in search of some bottled water. We ended up missing pre-boarding and had to wade onto the plane, and to the VERY LAST row, with a ton of people on board already. But, after a little fussiness, Maelie did well. I went in search of water on the plane for her bottle, and made myself at home in the rear galley. Hey...what you won't do for your children, right???? :)

AND...let me tell you. For some reason, my mom was in the row ahead of us, and I had some younger guy sitting next to me. He had the WORST breath in the entire world, and he kept snoring on me. It was TERRIBLE!! He must've taken something, because he was so out he kept leaning on me. I kept telling my sister that if I only had some Tic-Tacs I would so have been throwing them in his mouth. It was BAAAAAD. And funny! LOL!!

When we got to the Minneaplis airport, I was never so happy to not have to go through security check-points and find another gate. Mike was there to meet us at baggage, and since we were in the last row of the plane, and Mr. Bad Breath fell asleep again and didn't move until everyone else was off the plane (after the stewardess shook him), no one else was down in the baggage area. Mike had already gathered up our luggage, and it was just so nice to see him. Maelie wasn't scared of him. I thought she might be because he's such a big guy, but no. It was great. And Daddy came bearing gifts...blankeys, toys, formula, all sorts of stuff. It was so incredibly sweet.

So, since arriving Saturday morning at 6:00 a.m., followed by a fairly peaceful 3 hour car ride home, we've really not done anything. My luggage is still all packed, Maelie's room still needs to be finished and put together, but she has a crib she loves, a Daddy who dotes on her, and a still tired Mommy. But, we are working our way to being a very happy little family. We still have some time change issues, but we're working on it! I'll be writing another blog soon about my darling husband, but this post is long enough for now.

To make a long story short, we are home and we are fine. It was a long trip, but it's over now. I miss Hanoi, but I missed my husband and home even more, so I am very happy to be home. There's no place like home!