G'night Gracie

We're home!
And life is good. Grace is still sleeping and it's 8 a.m. I actually watched part of the Today Show this morning which was a big treat.

We've settled in and although the house looks like a tornado hit, all is well. Grace is adjusting better than I expected. She fell asleep at about 8:15 last night. Woke up once for about an hour and is still sleeping now. She likes her crib which is a good thing since she likes to flail around quite a bit when she's falling asleep.

We've had family over every day since we've been home and Grace just goes with the flow. She developed a little bit of a cold on our way home, but it doesn't seem to get her down. Last night I went to check on her and I had to touch her because I couldn't hear her breathing. I guess it's that typical new Mom fear. She was fine and rolled over just to prove she was OK.

We had my brother and his family, including 18-month-old twins over Saturday night. I got the twins squeaky shoes from China and they loved them. They walked all over the house making their shoes squeak. It's going to be a challenge for Grace to keep up with those two! They are high energy.

The flight home was interesting. We were lucky enough to get bulk head seats but we had the middle and window seats. Steve sat by the window with Grace and held her almost the whole 13 hours. The guy sitting next to me only got up once the whole 13 hours. I think he was part camel. Dude, can't you get up at least a couple times?? I had to crawl over him each time I needed to change Grace, then when I needed water for her bottle, and when I needed juice for the sippy cup and yes, I am not a camel so I had to get water for myself, which led to the need to use the bathroom. Needless to say he didn't say a word the whole time. I'm sure he was thinking to himself "why did I have to get stuck with the screaming baby sitting right next to me?" To bad Dude, you're a camel, so does it really matter? Grace didn't really scream that much. Maybe a couple of times for about 10 or 15 minutes. She was an angel and continues to be.

Our reception at the airport was so much fun. My Mom, Dad and Sister greeted us along with Jeff, Tracy and the kids and our friends Lisa and Duane and their kids including Sarah who was adopted from China last year, only 5 days before Grace's Gotcha Day (big, long, run-on sentence). The kids were all excited to see Grace and so were her Grandma and Grandpa Olson! As usual, she just took it all in with her somber look and a few yawns here and there. Once she got in the car, we saw a few more of her smiles.

She did excellent in her carseat and only complained after the trip started to get too long. Welcome to St. Louis traffic at rush hour. I felt like I was back in Beijing, minus the bicycles and mopeds. It took us a good hour to get home and she was getting restless about 10 minutes before we arrived. When we got to our house another great reception was waiting - her brothers and sister and Aunt Peggy, Uncle Kurt, Ally and Colin. Ally was so excited to see her. It's so fun to see how much she nurtures Grace. She's going to be a great babysitter in a few years.

When we landed in Chicago I was so tempted to stand up in the airport and sing "God Bless America". But Steve rationalized with me and said with the dry air in the airplane my voice was liable to crack. I figured he was right and refrained from my solo. But man was I glad to be home. And man was I glad to drink a diet coke over ice. And was it ever the best to be out of a little hotel room and be able to wash Grace's bottles in the sink or dishwasher. God bless America.

We're home, we're happy and together we're the parents of a beautiful little girl. Life is good.