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I just wanted a hot shower…..

Yes, it’s 4:45 am and we are all up, it’s dinner time you see and our bodies are ready to go 🙂

I want to start by saying that the jet lag is killing me. I feel so off kilter and messed up that I can’t even describe it. Waiting parents need to be ready for this. Mike is doing well and we seem to be doing good as a tag team – one can play with baby while the other sleeps and so on. If your spouse has to go back to work right away make sure that you have someone around for back up when you are just so tired.

Anyway, I slept from about 10 pm to 12 am and then got up to see Nadia. She got back to sleep around 1:45 and I thought, “Maybe a hot shower will help relax me and I can go back to sleep.” I was feeling a bit weepy and worn out and just wishing that I could get back to normal. So Mike is chatting with me and I get the shower going. I take my glasses off – I have terrible eyesight without them – and get in the shower. I start to wet down my hair and feel something on my leg. I reach down to grab it and it moves. Right then I realize it’s a spider and start screaming. I become totally paralzyed with fear and can’t stop screaming. With my limited eyesight I think the thing is as big as a house. Mike throws open the shower door and says, “Get out.” He throws a towel around me and tries to get me calmed down.

This was NOT what jet lagged momma needed. So Mike gets the spider who has drowned at that point and tells me all is clear. I am soaking wet and still wishing for a shower. So I calm down, put my contacts in and Mike says he will triple check the shower for me. He moved all the shampoo bottles and looked all around and in the door hinge. He said I was safe and I asked him not to leave until I was done. LOL. The start of the shower was nerve wracking, but by the end the hot water had worked its magic and I felt better. But as you can see….I am still awake….and planning the death of all future spiders I come across.

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We’re Home! (Thankful Thursday AM)

First because it was asked on another post, baby Madison who was sick got much better by the end of our trip and the family is great! I think that they head home from China today. God is good!

It’s 2:30 am and Nadia was wide awake until about 5 minutes ago, which is good since Mike and I are feeling like zombies. Thanks to my mom for coming to visit us at the hotel and dropping us at the airport and for the presents for Nadia. Thanks to Roger and Paula for picking us up after midnight since our plane was delayed 3 times. Thanks to Joy and Janis for the fresh food and new toys for Nadia. I had a salad just a few minutes ago. YUM! Thanks to all the people that left welcome home messages on my cell phone, that was really sweet.

I will post more tomorrow and hope that we can get on American time pretty quick. It’s a relief to be home and around familiar things. As Mike was driving us home from the airport I was saying, “Yeah for the QT, yeah for SuperTarget, yeah for ……” You get the idea. I am just dying for a burger and mashed potatoes (not together).

And I just weighed myself becuase my clothes had become so baggy and I lost 10 pounds in China! WOO HOO!! (At least all that upset stomach got me something….hee hee) I plan on macking down on plenty of food in the next week to make up for that.

Love you guys, Louanne

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The Best $25

Nadia in bassinet

The best $25 we spent was on the baby bassinet for the long flight home from Guangzhou, China on China Southern Airlines. (note to waiting families – you have to call at least 24 hours in advance for this to get the bulkhead seats and for them to put the basket on the flight) Nadia slept about 10 hours of the 13 hour flight which was a great blessing. Now of course it’s 4:14 am in LA and we can’t sleep. We got Nadia to bed about 15 minutes ago since she woke up at 1:40 am ready to rumble because it was day time to her and she slept so much on the plane.

So we are hoping to get a little more sleep before my mom shows up at the hotel in the morning to meet Nadia. We may all fall asleep on her! We are also hoping to get a late check out, but they say they can’t tell us until after 8am. Our flight to DFW leaves at 5 pm and we should land at 10. Then home to our comfy bed (you can’t BELIEVE how hard the beds are in China) and so that we can have food that is normal. I was just relieved tonight to be able to use the water at the hotel without fear.

Once we landed in LAX and went through immigration Nadia was an AMERICAN citizen. WOO HOO!!! One more flight and we are home!!! Thanks for all your prayers, and to Jen – thanks for your sweet welcome home call. We love you! Louanne

P.S. To the Hatchers if you see this before you leave – Nadia was very frightened at the beginning of the flight and we could tell that she was really nervous. We fed her and changed her before the flight and had Gerber graduates on hand to give her as a distraction. Once she got sleepy we put her in the bassinet and she seemed like she felt “safe” in there. She really was snug as a bug in it and they have a little flap that they ask you to secure over the baby in case of turbulence if you fall asleep. Most of the babies did well, but there was crying off and on throughout the flight because of all the babies on the flight. Good Luck and I hope the strike doesn’t affect you guys.

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Getting ready to leave China

Hi all. Today we had to hang out in the room for a couple hours while our guide Michael went to the American consulate with all of our documents. Once we were cleared we went out and did some more shopping then came back and ordered lunch while Nadia took a nap. Right now I am taking a break from packing to get ready for tomorrow.

It should be an easy day, we have our bags out by 2 pm. Leave the hotel a 2:45 and have our consulate appointment at 3 pm. From the consulate we go directly with 3 other families to the airport to catch our flight home.

I ask you now since you are all just waking up to please pray for us that Nadia is able to sleep tonight so that we can too. We are 13 hours ahead of you and she is having her night-time bottle right now with Daddy. She has a little cold and we were up and down for hours at a time last night because she was just feeling sad and miserable. We got enough sleep to function today, but we really need a solid amount of sleep before tomorrow. Our flight leaves at 9 pm, then we fly for 12 hours and arrive in LA. So we will arrive in LA at 7 pm on Tuesday and will most likely be beat up! There are 3 other families on the flight with us, so at least we won’t have the only crying baby.

Getting through customs takes a couple hours I have heard and then we have a reservation for a hotel in LA. So thanks to all who are willing to pray for us and our travel adventures getting home. I don’t know if I will post again before we are home.
Love, Louanne