(Nathan) It's 10:15 PM Ohio time and we're getting ready to sleep in a real bed for the first time in over 30 hours.
The flight from Hong Kong was filled with an unexpected blessing. We didn't splurge money to get Eliana her own plane seat and weren't looking forward to holding a fussy or sleeping-so-don't-move-or-you-might-wake-her-up-and-the-whole-plane-will-be-annoyed-at-our-screamer baby. And sure enough, when we boarded, all four seats in our row were filled with bodies. But at the last moment, the guy seated next to Lisa was called up and went to First Class. Now, I would have much rather it been US who went to First Class, but in lieu of that we did get the consolation prize of an extra seat to lay Eliana in. Given the fact that Lisa was out of commission with a horrible headache for most of the flight, this came in VERY handy for solo dad.
Eliana did wonderfully throughout the flight except for an hour or so where she was just bored and fussy. As good as she was, I would officially categorize 14 hours on a cramped, freezing-then-sauna-then-freezing plane with bad food and an infant as Not Fun. Whoever designs the leg room in the po-folk class is certainly an agent of the devil himself. We really don't want to see another plane again for quite awhile. Oh, but what a thrill it was for me the moment we touched the ground in Chicago and I realized that my baby girl had just become and American citizen.
Thanks to all of you who met us at the airport in Fort Wayne! Sorry we were too tired to really form a coherent thought, but know that we appreciate your love for us and Eliana.
It's just sooooo good to see my boys again and have our new family of five all under one roof. Cameron and Zack just adore Eliana, want to hold her, feed her, make her smile, and they have talked about her non-stop. All are finally in bed and soon so are we. I'm sure we'll post more in the coming days as we recover.