May 25, 2010- The LONG flight HOME

We arrived at the Delhi airport without a problem. As we drove up to the drop off area, the airport was packed with people and the sounds of horns and chatter filled the air.  We loaded all the bags onto carts and said our final goodbye to Uma.  We then took our place in the long line waiting to pass security.  I remember getting the cart behind me rammed into the back of my ankles several times....OUCH!

Once we entered the airport the crowds seemed to disperse and we found our way to the waiting area by our departure gate.  There was no crazy dash for the gate this time around :-)  Our flight number was called and we  boarded our first LONG leg of the flight home landing in Amsterdam.

Our seats were not together on this flight, but Darin was close by to my right and 2 isles back sitting with Luke.  Martin was beside Alesha and I.  I remember the flight attendant bringing me an extra belt to buckle Alesha in and instructed me to face Alesha outward.  This was a joke as Alesha only wanted to face me.  Since the day we picked her up she has been wanting to be held CLOSE facing me.  At times it felt as though she was trying to climb inside me, she just couldn't get close enough.  We finagled the belt and before long we were in the air.

There was a very sweet Indian lady sitting next to Martin.  She began asking questions about Alesha.  As the flight continued Martin began to feel sick.  This sweet lady offered to go and get some water for Martin as I was trapped holding a sleeping baby.  She showed great concern for our son. Eventually Martin fell asleep and that helped pass some of the time and sickness.  Alesha, slept the majority of the time only waking to have a bottle or diaper change.  This flight was really long having a baby laying on you and not wanting to move and wake her as to disturb all the other sleeping passengers.

At last we landed at the Amsterdam airport.  We had a 7 hour layover here.  Darin attempted to find a flight that would depart earlier, but no luck.  I made a beeline to the restroom.  One thing that stuck me about the bathroom stalls is that the door went all the way to the floor.  It felt as though I walked into a closet and shut the door.  Darin was able to distract Alesha by pushing her around on one of the luggage carts with the boys so I could go to the bathroom without holding a baby :-)

We passed the time by looking in the shops, giving the kids rides on the luggage carts, taking rides on the moving floor escalators, taking some pics and of course getting some coffee (for my husband).  My husband had a gift card for Starbucks and brought it along for the trip.  As we entered the Starbucks he asked the lady behind the counter if they took gift cards.  She looked at the card and said " no, but I like it."  This made us laugh.  We used regular payment and enjoyed some coffee and some treats for the boys.  After several hours we found another coffee shop and Martin and Darin had a cup of coffee.

Getting some more coffee

One of my favorite pics of Alesha

Our THREE kids

Shortly thereafter we made our way back to the departure gate and chatted with an Indian guy who had been stuck at the Amsterdam airport for 3 days unable to get his outgoing flight.  WOW, and we thought 7 hours was a long time.  Before long we were in another security check line.

This flight was our first EVER bulk-head seating.  We were all seated together in the same row :-)  The only down fall of this seating was that all the bags needed to be stored in the overhead  compartment including the diaper bag.  This meant every time Alesha needed something Darin had to get up and get the bag down.  There was also a bassinet area for Alesha to sleep in, but the stewardess said that Alesha was too big for it.  I looked at her in disbelief.  My TINY 13lb baby was too big for the bassinet?  It didn't really matter in the end as Alesha probably wouldn't have slept in there anyways, but it bugged me that they told me it wasn't an option.

We were now in the air for our 7 hours flight to Detroit.  About 3 hours into the flight, Martin is sick AGAIN, but not as bad as before.  I think the long layover helped his body adjust a bit.  The male stewardess stops and says to me, is he okay, he looks a little green?.  I told him that we discovered that our son does not fly well.  He felt so bad for Martin when he found out that we came from India and we still had a long flight ahead with another connecting flight to Portland.  Luke, did well this flight and Alesha, slept the majority of the way, what a blessing that was.   As we departed the plane everybody was telling me how well Alesha did and were shocked to find out that we had only had her for a few days.  These comments always make a parent feel good :-)  Our kids are AMAZING travelers!

At last we are back in the United States.  We make our way to the immigration line.  Thankfully this was a very short line.  A very nice lady walked us through the final inspection of paperwork and we were on our way through another security check.  When I put our carry on luggage through the screener

This should get us through the final leg of flight.  This pic is funny to me, because it looks like it was for me, but in fact I was just holding it for my husband so he could take the pic.

This water feature behind us was VERY cool.  It was really fun to watch.

Our precious girl!

We are SUPER excited as we board our FINAL flight home.  Knowing that this is just a short 2 hour flight, makes Martin thrilled.  He doesn't seem to get sick until about the 3 hours mark.  This flight was pretty cramped and we were not all seated together :-(  Darin was able to switch with someone to be within seeing distance of me in case I needed him, which was nice.  We chatted with several people seated around us about our adoption and they were all really happy for us and thought Alesha was adorable.  At one point I remember the flight attendant dropping a soda on the floor and it EXPLODED everywhere leaving many people including me with sticky legs and feet..YUCK!  He later came around and gave us a coupon towards our next flight along with an apology.  Alesha, did well until the very end of the flight where she began to get really squirmy and started to cry.  I was able to calm her down right before we landed at the PDX airport.

Our flight was a bit late on arrival.  It was around 10:30 p.m. when we finally arrived.  We made our way to the restrooms to regroup a bit before we were greeted by my mom, Tom and a few friends.  It was so  nice to finally be home and to see some familiar smiling faces.  How wonderful that people would come out so late at night to greet us.  We chatted with our friends and family briefly about our trip home, thanked them for making the trip out, and made our way to the luggage pick up area.  Thankfully all our luggage made it home.  What a blessing to have all our luggage make it all the way to the other side of the world and back without getting lost.  Our next stop was the car and to buckle Alesha in the car seat for the fist time.  Let's just say she wasn't too happy about this and cried the majority of the 40 minute ride home.  For one thing she wanted me to hold her, just like I did the entire time in India.  Second I think because it was pitch black outside and all the lights flashing about made her unnerved.  This combined with an exhausting trip she had hit her wall and was ALL done.

I love this pic.  The look on Alesha's face is like hey, you look like me :-)   My friend Cheryl came to the airport to greet us.  Her daughter is holding a sign she made for Alesha  - it says - Welcome home Alesha.  I cannot wait to play with you.  How sweet is that!

To drive up and see our house was a happy sight indeed.  We unloaded all of our bags and walked into a kitchen full of groceries.  Fruits and vegetables were such a lovely sight after not having them for over 2 weeks.  We grabbed something to eat and got settled into our home as an EXHAUSTED family of 5. 

Now the real fun would begin.  Getting over jet lag and finding that new "normal" was now on the horizon.