Finally Back in the USA!!!!!!

I can’t believe it took me over a month to finally write this blog…

We got up early on December 19th, finished packing our last minute things, and called a cab. We had 10 bags total…can you believe that?!?!? Phillip and I each checked 2 suitcases, Emily got to check a small bag, Phillip and I each had a small rolly carry on and a backpack, and we had an extra carry on bag (at no charge) full of medicines and medical equipment. Poor Phillip got stuck carrying most of the stuff since I was carrying Emily! We were really dreading the 9 hour flight to Atlanta, but it was great!!!! They gave us bulk head seats, which are the seats with more leg room. We had the first row in one of the sections, which means there was a wall in front of us. They attached a bassinet to the wall for us after take off!!!! We were so surprised that Emily LOVED it! (Remember – she hated her moses basket, which was very similar!) She napped in the bassinet a lot and even played in it some. We were able to eat both meals while she was in there sleeping or playing! It was awesome!!!! We had a 4 hour layover in Atlanta, but wasted most of that time waiting for our luggage! (When you fly international, you have to claim your luggage and re-check it.) They lost a bunch of luggage from our flight!!!! There were lots of unhappy people! A bunch of people even missed their next flight! They finally said they thought maybe the luggage was sent straight through to the next destination and that hopefully it would be waiting at our final destination. (Luckily, it was!) Anyway, by the time we went through security again and got a really quick dinner, we only had about 10 minutes left till we boarded the plane! Emily was great on that flight too!!! We had been traveling for 18 hours by the time we got to Evansville and Emily seriously cried less than 10 minutes the whole day! What a good little baby!!! We were VERY HAPPY to land in Evansville and see Phillip’s parents!!!!!!! They were super excited to see Emily! We spent that night at their house. We were worried that Emily would be up for good in the middle of the night because of the 6 hour time difference! She surprised us by sleeping till 5am though! Since that was 11am England time, we figured that was a success!!! (She actually adapted really well to the time difference and was only up one other morning at 5am. Then she started sleeping till 7am again…what a good baby!!!)

We headed to Tell City mid morning the next day. I absolutely couldn’t wait to get home so my parents could meet Emily!!! It was so great to hug Mom and Dad and to hand Emily over to them! I took a picture of Mom and Dad with Emily and posted it on Facebook saying that it made me happier than words could even begin to express!!! Mom and Dad were both so happy to FINALLY see, hold, hug, and kiss little Emily! They certainly had to wait too long for that!

And that was the beginning of a busy but wonderful Christmas!!!!! We traveled back and forth between Tell City and Evansville a lot so we could spend time with both families. It’s incredible how much a child changes Christmas…Emily is truly the best gift of all and it was so wonderful to see all 4 Grandparents enjoying her and loving her!!!!!!!!!!!!

We discovered that Emily HATES the car! She is ok for about 15 minutes, but no longer!!! She does ok if someone sits in the back seat with her, but totally freaks out if she is back there alone. So it is MISERABLE when I have to drive between Evansville and Tell City by myself. She cries and cries and cries and cries! She cries till her eyes are swollen and she chokes! Then as soon as she recovers from choking, she starts crying all over again! It’s just awful!!! So I try to avoid the drive between Tell City and Evansville if at all possible!!!! Here I thought it would be easy to drive back and forth frequently, but boy was I wrong! We think the reason Emily hates the car so much is that she just isn’t used to it! In England, we were only in a taxi for very short rides and when we were, we had to hold her in the backseat! Nothing like being in a car seat by herself! We also held her on the subway, on trains, and on planes. So this car thing is just not her preferred method of travel!!!!

Phillip had to go back to England for 3 weeks to finish his Psych rotation. Emily and I stayed with my parents. Phillip’s parents came often to visit her in Tell City (so I didn’t have to drive with her!) Emily and I really missed Phillip and skyped with him almost every day! Phillip was glad to get to see her on Skype!!! The 3 weeks went fast though and he was back here before we knew it! Now Phillip is doing a 6 week Family Medicine rotation at Deaconess in Evansville. We got a short term studio apartment in Evansville. Emily and I will spend some time there with him and some time in Tell City since he’ll be working a lot!

It has really been great spending so much time with my parents! They are so good with Emily and she absolutely adores them! It’s wonderful staying at their house too! They had our bedroom all ready for her with the crib set up and decorations on the wall above the crib. My mom had already washed Emily’s new clothes and had them ready and waiting in the dresser! (We got home just in time because Emily was just outgrowing all of the clothes in England!!!) They have soft carpet and plenty of floor space so Emily loves to play and roll around on the floor. It’s wonderful to be home!

Emily sure is changing a lot! She smiles all the time, laughs often, rolls all over the floor, and does something else that we think is hilarious! She scoots!!! When laying on her back, she arches her back so just her feet and head are on the ground and then she pushes with her feet so that she scoots backwards! It is sooooo adorable! The reason we think it’s so funny is that I used to do that when I was a baby and we were wondering if she would do it too! Sure enough, she scoots everywhere!!!! Hehehe!!! Emily is able to sit in her Bumbo chair now and looks adorable in it! Emily loves bath time and has so much fun kicking her legs and splashing in her little tub! We recently bought a doorway jumper for Emily. (It hangs on a stretchy cord from the top part of a door frame. She sits in it and her feet touch the floor so she can jump!) It only took her a few minutes to figure it out and oh my goodness, she LOVES IT!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! It is so adorable!! It also lights up and plays music. She jumps really fast when the music is on. She has so much fun in it! :-)

We will still be moving a lot over the next year, but at least we’re staying in the US! Here are some pictures from the USA!!!!!!!!!!!!!