6 months ago...

at about 7pm we finally really became a family of 6. Keeghan and I had a long journey home from China. Our day started very early (5am) in Guangzhou where we headed to the airport with breakfast in a bag and boarded a plane headed for Tokyo, Japan. That flight was short enough but once in Tokyo we had to get through a bunch of security checks and I lost Keeghan's blanket at one point...it was a tough transition. We grabbed a snack, had a diaper change and waited to board our longest flight from Tokyo to Detroit. The flight was PACKED but thankfully I got to sit with a travel mate way in back of the plane. This flight could have been way worse than it was but overall, Keeghan did ok and so did I. Not much sleep for me but the princess did some sleeping for me thankfully. Landing in Detroit was a huge high for me. I was very happy to be "home" especially after getting through customs, immigration, and having to re-check all my bags. Once that was all done, however, I got a terrific iced coffee from Starbucks, changed the princess, and got her to nap in the sling for a bit while I walked around. It was also nice to text/talk with everyone! We finally boarded our flight for Manchester around 6pm and a VERY kind woman whom I'd spoken to in the terminal offered me her seat in first class...which I declined as I wanted to be with my travel mates for the last leg of our journey. I'm thinking the poor girl who wound up next to me wished I'd taken the offer but oh well! Keeghan SCREAMED for about 15 minutes after we boarded while we de-iced and waited to get clearance to take off but then crashed and slept the whole way to Manchester. She woke up just in time to get off the plane to meet her Baba, Gege, and Jiejies. It was SO nice to be home with everyone and "sleep" in my own bed. China was an amazing journey and we hope to bring Keeghan back there when she is older so she can see her birthplace. For now, we'll work on getting through the next sixth months to our first forever family day this December.