Saturday, August 23, 2008

We're home!

Here are some pictures of Hanoi's outskirts as we drove to the airport.

The red river.
A pretty church in a small town outside of Hanoi.
Madeleine's last few minutes in Vietnam.
Playing in the Hello Kitty baby room in the Taipei airport.
Playing on the Hello Kitty playground (which is now clean) in the Taipei airport.

We made it home Thursday night. I knew the trip might be long for all of us but wow -- it was tough and I'm SO happy we're home! Madeleine was incredibly tired and her teeth were really bothering her. On both the Taipei-Seattle and the Minneapolis-Chicago flights, Carol (my step-mom) was the only one who could console her -- thank goodness someone could!

Madeleine right before we went to Immigration.
When we got to Seattle, we went through the non-citizen line to drop off Madeleine's paperwork. I thought she'd be a citizen when we both arrived with her. However, the immigration officer said, she is actually a permanent resident and that she is eligible for citizenship. So we need to file an N-600 form to receive the actual certificate of citizenship and change her status from permanent resident to citizen. The immigration officer seemed to think it would be fine to wait 6-weeks until we change Madeleine's name to file the new paperwork - so that's what we'll do.

Playing in the hotel in Seattle.
First car seat trip.

The ride from the airport in the car seat went incredibly well. Madeleine thought is was a little strange but I think having her brother next to her helped. 

I have forgotten (blissfully) how messy a toddler is. :) Madeleine immediately pulled all 52 letter magnets off the refrigerator. 
Our first full day home we just unpacked and tried to recuperate from jetlag. Madeleine is overall doing well. Her sleep schedule is off like the rest of ours. Thursday night she went to bed at 9 pm and got up at 4 am. Friday night she went to bed at 9 pm again but was bright-eyed and bushy-tailed at 2:30 am. Isn't this the wrong direction? :) Eric's parents arrive from TX tomorrow afternoon and Eric leaves for Switzerland for a 1-week conference Sunday. Life keeps going and Madeleine will settle into our family life soon I think.

7 comments:

Hank said...

Welcome Home!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Welcome Home little Madeleine!!!!!

maxhelcal said...

Wow! Can't believe it's over already! So glad everything went smoothly for you. What a beautiful family!

Congratulations!

~Michelle

Jessica Alvarez said...

Welcome home! So glad your trip went well. We loved following your journey. Enjoy these first days home, and good luck getting over the jet lag!

Sheila Skaggs Hale said...

congrats to all 4 of you! If you ever get to Austin, I'd love to meet you.

hugs,
Sheila Hale (Keane Matthews' mom)

Unknown said...

I'm so glad y'all are home and safe and Madeleine is adjusting well! Congratulations again and we can't wait to see the whole family in October!! :)

Meghan said...

Welcome home! Trixie is excited to play with Andrew again, but I told her he needed to rest after his big trip. And I figure you guys need some time to settle in!

Will you be @ Kelli's wedding on 9/5? Maybe we'll see you there and the kids can dance. ;)

Keane said...

Oh, you are SO blessed! Congratulations on beginning this new adventure in your lives!

Much love,
Keane