Welcome HOME Lily!

Well, I'm up.  Still up because I'm off on my sleep.  But that's Ok... I just gotta tell you about our trip home and Lily's debut to our boys and grandparents!
So...it all started at 4:45 am China time;)  We got ready and out by 6am.  Lily is not a morning babe.  I get her.  So I slowly woke her up to reality.  We made it to the Guangzhou airport in 40 minutes and got checked in.  The airports in Guangzhou and Beijing are HUGE.  I felt like we walked for miles!  Beijing's airport has got to be one of the world's largest.  They built it for the 2008 Olympics.  Anyway...I'm getting off track here.  Our plane going to Beijing was HUGE too!  It was a double decker and the 2nd level went all the way (front to back).  So it was a nice ride and faster ...2 1/2 hours.  Lily was great!  We were worried because sometimes she flips out and is inconsolable.  We are just still getting to know her and how she ticks.  And sometimes she is a "time bomb." ;)  But mostly she is so stink'in cute and funny as all get out!  She was great and did fantastic!  So...first hurdle- done!
At Beijing, we had to get our bags then find the bus to go to Terminal 2 for International flights.  That's when the "bomb" went off.  Lily must have had some gas or stomach issues.  She was climbing me like a kids jungle gym on the bus.  Chinese people are all staring at me ...and they are all quiet.  I'm a sweaty mess trying to console this little Tasmanian devil.  I'm mean...she was nuts.  She calmed down for a minute after we got off but then started back up when we were checking bags.  Dale finally got her calm.  We got some lunch...something that resembled a club sandwich but with foreign lunch meat.  Literally ;)  Dale had a burger that looked questionable and of course we got a bowl of noodles for Lily.  Those were the best.  You gotta stick with what works with where you are.  lol.
Anyway...we got through 5 hours of waiting and Lily fell asleep for about 1 of those hours.  We boarded our plane and it was an awesome ride!  Come to find out, Lily DID have a stomach issue from the stinky results of her diaper.  So we were glad her "ticking time bomb" episode had a good reason and that it happened outside of an airplane;)  We had dinner and played with Lily for about the first 3-4 hours and then tried to get her to sleep but she wanted to play more!  She would squawk like a bird and thought that was just so funny!   I sang to her a little and finally got her to settle.  We slept about 8 hours!  It was on and off for me because she flips and flops like a fish.  But hey, we slept!  Then when we got up, they served us breakfast and we were on our decent into O'hare!
We got off the plane and was told that customs can take hours to get through.  But, when we got to the line...a woman ushered us to the front and they got us through in easily 20 minutes.  It was amazing!
Thank you for all your prayers because I can't imagine it going any smoother!  We were so happy!  And Lily is so happy too.
When we got through the custom doors, Lily's Gamma And Gampa were waiting.  Here is Lily's first meeting with them.

Lily had that "what is going on?" face for most of the car ride home.  We thought she would cry because she's in this carseat that she has never ever even seen before.  They don't have carseats in China!   She was just soaking it in and processing.  Here's the look...

They boys were outside waiting for us when we pulled up!  They were soooooo excited!  And so cute.  Noah gave me the biggest hug.  He nearly jumped in my arms.  For a kid that doesn't hug or kiss much, he sure took it all in tonight!  And Jake said I could make up 16 days worth of hugs to him ;) (but not the kisses).  I still get away with the kisses with him!

Here's a family photo.  Lily is still "processing"

THEN..... within 30 minutes, Lily OWNED the place!  She was playing with the boys, hugging the grandparents and just loving her new "digs."  

Gamma got a hug!

Jake's first hug with Lily

AND...She's down...

AND...She's back UP again!

 Gampa is in love with his Granddaughter

Noah & Jake were so wonderful with Lily!

It's like she's always been here with us.  And really...she has...in our hearts.  Now, we call ourselves..."Kalman, party of 5".  We are truly blessed.  Thank you all for your support and prayers and mostly...your love.  I'll keep you posted on Lily's surgeon appointments next week.  Most likely, she will need multiple surgeries...but I do hope they tell us otherwise.  Please keep her in your prayers.  So thrilled to be home!  love, D&N