What a long strange trip it's been

We're home. We're safe.

That trip home? It shows you what you're made of. That is one.... wow. Difficult. Difficult, trying, demanding, exhausting, trip.

26 hours into the journey, I turned to Matt and said in an unsteady voice, "We're warriors." Then I swayed slightly to the side. He took the baby from me and replied, "We're warriors who need to sleep."

We went through the entire journey, that started at 530am in GZ the day before, with the Hogan family. It was comforting to have them next to us. Everything we felt, they felt. When we thought we couldn't take another step, we knew we weren't just being wimps. They were as pale and shaky and unsteady and ready to wave the white flag, too.

I'll give more details in another post. I just wanted to let you know I am blogging this from home. HOME! Oh home. How I love my home now.

There's so much yet to tell you. But it might have to wait just a bit.

We were met at the airport by Britney, who has been this family's rock away from home. She has held my family together, what a woman. We stood in the parking garage of the airport, watching fireworks, with her physically holding me up while I babbled incoherently and swayed side to side. Honestly, that's a trip that needs to be broken into two days. The Hogans and we kept saying, "We are not safe to be holding this baby right now."

Britney got us home. She played with the baby while I got into my night clothes, brushed my teeth, popped a sleeping pill (the plan was for me to crash for 8 hours, then take over for Matt) and make sure Matt got settled with everything he needed. Matt slept more on the plane and was more steady than I was. Britney showed Juna the house. They laughed and played. I ran into walls. I waved goodbye at 10pm.

The sleeping pill worked. The next thing I knew it was 11 am. The baby and Matt are passed out together on the couch. I am going to wash everything on HOT water. Get the gifts organized. And see my GIRLS in a few hours! My babies, how I've missed them so much.

I'm still swaying from the motion from the plane. Hence the sleeping pill last night. You lay down and you're still rocking back and forth from 30 hours of travel. I feel like I'm not really here. But I'm home. I'm HOME.

I'll update soon, including pics of us along the journey. I will also have lots of hints and tips for those traveling soon.

We're home. We didn't die in a plane crash. Nothing went horribly wrong in China. We have a beautiful baby girl. I'm stronger than I ever thought possible. I'm a new person. This trip has changed my entire life.

But most importantly, our family is now complete.

I'll be back soon. Thanks for hanging in there with me. I appreciate you taking the time to "take the journey with me."