Coming Home

Kate (her new name!) and I have been home for 9 days, and this is the first chance I have had to write a note on her arrival.  The flights home were fine, she slept through the 3 hour leg to Beijing in the Ergo on my chest.  The 3.5 hour layover we spent playing in the airport lounges, then she was just a bit "twisty" on the 11.5 hour flight to San Franciso, finally sleeping the last 6 hours. She became a U.S. Citizen with our landing, and I dutifully stood in the "Foreign Passports" line with the Chinese passengers.  Could we have stood out?  Airport staff came right over, took the briefest look, and said: "Adoption?"  Was it that obvious?  Turns out we should have been in a "New Immigants", of course!  Unfortunately this is also the line for the flight crew who work very long days and do not let even tiny and cute New Immigrants go ahead.  When we got to the front of the line I handed over the mysterious brown envelope.  The man said "Welcome to the United States!"  I told him she would be an excellent addition to our fine country.  He let me look at the paperwork!  It was just the forms we filled out in China at our various appointments.   Then we were done, and free!  I have never been so happy to see my husband as I was that morning at the airport.  Joy, love, relief, it all came together in that moment I saw him standing there, video camera in hand, capturing a moment we had imagined for so very long.  All that was left was to get our family of four together.  Big Sister was waiting at home with Aunt and Uncle.