Home Sweet Home

We are home safe and sound! After a breezy Embassy appointment, the Article 23 was there waiting for us, we spent our last days in Delhi just hanging out and playing. Immigration in Delhi was comically easy. The officer briefly looked at Asha's paperwork, looked up at us, said "I'm new here....Just go on through." And that was it!

The flight home, as other families have blogged about, was pretty awful and uncomfortable. Asha was very agitated on the 15 hour flight from Dubai to San Francisco. The flight crew on Emirates was amazing, never seeming to get frustrated with our aisle walking, or our parking ourselves in front of the emergency exit to play on the ground with Asha. Due to the lack of sleep, and the intensity of the trip, I burst into tears when US Immigration informed us that Asha was now "a US Citizen." Asha took it all in stride and seemed completely nonplussed by her new immigration status :) To arrive home and see the faces of family and friends, and feel the hugs, was emotional and relieving. We missed everyone so much!

Today we have been home for one week, and it has been an exhausting, momentous, frustrating, interesting, and loving time. I plan to do a whole blog on "attachment and bonding," but for now, let me just say that Asha is a brave little girl who is resilient and sweet and trying very hard to adjust to her new life and surroundings. We, as first time parents, are trying to adjust to functioning with very little sleep :) Even in this short time home, we have seen progress, and love to see Asha's curiosity develop as she explores our home, our dogs, her grandparents, new foods, new toys, and daily walks to the playground. Support from our family has been essential in our transitioning, and the meals cooked, backs rubbed, and late night talks have been the scaffolding that allows us to build this family. There are more stories to be told, and certainly pictures to post, but for now this new Mommy must rest and rejuvenate for the little girl who will awake soon!