"Little Miss I Just Can't Seem to Get Comfortable on this Plane" becomes a U.S. citizen

In our LA hotel room, about an hour after she became a US citizen, lookin pretty cute for someone who only slept 4 hours in 15 minute increments last night!
9:00 pm China time - Just got on the plane, none of us have a clue what we're in for
Sweeeet! We scored bigtime with our seats and this bassinet. Scott and I start talking about how great Piper's going to sleep in there for the entire flight and how we can't wait to do the same.
This bundle of contentment lasted, oh, about an hour.


The good news is that we made it to LA safe and sound, well maybe not so sound, but safe. We're in a hotel tonight and will back home tomorrow, Thursday that is. The flight started off great, but about an hour and half into it, things went South as we traveled east. Piper just couldn't get comfortable. The bassinet was too small, I was too hot, we just couldn't find our zone, and so we struggled and struggled to get some sleep. As I walked the aisles and did the mommy sway with Piper, I noticed something peculiar - every other person on the plane was sleeping. The lights were down low and I couldn't find one solitary person who was awake. Just me and Piper. At one point I just stared dreamily at the exit door, telling myself that at some point we would get off of this no good, terrible, rotten flight. It seemed like a very distant dream at about 2 am. The flight lasted 12 hours. We arrived in LA at 9:00 am China time, but it was not 9am, but 5 pm Wednesday. Funny, at our first 5 pm Wednesday we were at the US Consulate in China completing our adoption, and here we were, 5pm Wednesday - again - but this time landing in LA. Once we went through customs, and Piper's documents were stamped, she became a US Citizen. China still recognizes her as a Chinese citizen as well and she retains her Chinese passport, but now she can get a US one as well.
It will be interesting to see how tonight goes. She's crashed on the bed right now, but according to her regular schedule this would be her afternoon nap. It's 9 pm California time.
Scott and I are kind of sad to see this part of journey winding down. At the same time, it's really hitting us how much we miss Hunter and Ella and how much we want to find our new normal as a family of 5. Time has gone so fast, we can't believe we have actually left China and are back in the US. It kind of feels like culture shock.
Even with the sleep deprivation, our little peanut is still as sweet as ever. It's weird for us to think that none of our friends or family know her yet, she already has made such a huge mark on our hearts.
Goodnight from LA