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Our Trip
December 7 and 8, 2001 - Days 20 and 21: Home Sweet Home click HERE for Days 7 and 8
On Friday night, more then THREE years after we started working on adopting, the new (and theoretically improved) version of the Rinke-nabers stumbled out of a limo and into our farm house. Exhausted doesn't even begin to cover it. The day started at midnight at the Westin in San Francisco. After a grueling flight (albeit in First Class) from Seoul, we were excited to have a great Mediterranean meal at the Westin restaurant and then crash out for nine hours in the hotel's trademarked "Heavenly Beds". Sophia had different plans and she popped awake at midnight, fell back asleep at 4 am and we stumbled out of bed with our wakeup call at 5:15. The 6:15 shuttle hauled us the quarter mile to the terminal and we were checked in and through security by 7 am. Our flight left promptly at 8 and we got in to Dallas to make our Minneapolis connection around 1 pm. She did pretty well on the plane and in fact even slept an hour. By the time we were in the air to Minnesota, both Ann and I were, how do you say, punchy? But Sophia was still wide awake and we descended (with her screaming) into snow flurries at 4:15 pm. Ahead of schedule. She's generally pretty good on flights, but has the orphanage-thing of not liking to be confined to a chair or a crib or basically any small space. So she squirms. And she definitely has eustachian tube problems. You couldn't help but feel sorry for her as she scrunched up her face in total pain and shrieked her lungs out. For posterity and for use at her prom party, I taped the whole thing. Because that's what dad's should do, right? We deplaned, strapped her in our $20 stroller that we got the first day in Nanjing and rolled her up to the main terminal for a thunderous welcome from the Rinkenbergers, my mom and step-father, and our family friends the Priesmeyers. Massive tears and balloons and signs and passing-of-the-child. As is her way, she smiled and let herself be handed around by this group of strange people. What a happy kid. The extra hands came in handy (pun intentional) to haul our burgeoning load 'o luggage out to the ramp for our limo ride back to Scandia. The Lee's Limo guy had decked out the interior in Christmas decorations and there was even a fireplace video rolling on the TV in back. Very festive. Friday night is kind of a blur. I know that I fell asleep dressed and with my glasses on and slept 12 hours. The kid did 13 and Ann did somewhere around 7. Which is great for her. Saturday began the parade of visitors with our neighbors the Swensons, and they brought her over a little sweater (the perfect gift for a Minnesota baby). Sophia had eyes for Michael who, while 10 years her senior, could someday be an in-law. Holly has offered babysitting services which we will definitely take her up on, and Kent got the first of my contraband cigars. (Minor scare at SFO when a USDA sniffer beagle targeted our suitcase, but we bluffed our way through. I was prepared to bolt screaming for the exit and leave Ann with the stash, but she lucked out and the puppy moved on.) My mom and Dan came by to bring the dogs home. They took in Sydne and Casey for most of our trip and the dogs completely spazzed out when they came in the door. It was gratifying to see that they'd missed us. Sophia had NO fear of the giant, slobbering, shaking dogs and was petting them within a minute. Sydne, who's 11 and the one I figured most likely to not like the interloper was completely cool with it. Casey was a little wary but, 24 hours later, Sophia is sleeping in her crib and Casey, who loves responsibility, is sitting guard at her door. A very serious look on her face. So that is it. We're home. The baby is home. And tomorrow we begin to restructure our "normal" lives around this amazing little person who has so completely handed herself over to us. Thank you for following along and before I sign off, a couple of "thumbs" to pass along. A BIG thumbs up to my niece Sarah, the Pride Of Brainerd. She created the website and updated it for us while we were gone. Looking for a 14 year-old web designer? Contact her at poniesarewild@hotmail.com and she'll try to pencil you in. A second thumbs up to Becky Gellerman, who watched our house and menagerie of animals. If our daughter is as responsible at 17 as Becky is, then we will indeed be fortunate. A big thumbs down to me. You will notice in the pictures that there are no photographs at the airport. We were both so out-of-it by that point that we forgot to take pictures. Luckily, between the three families, we almost got cornea damage from the cameras flashing, so hopefully someone can get them scanned and sent to Sarah ASAP. Check back in a week. I know I know. A three week adoption journey and I didn't take any pictures at the airport. I'm an idiot. Let's just leave it at that. Ann's Comments: I'd have to agree with Paige that we started out Friday pretty wiped out thanks to Sophia who woke up in the middle of the night and did not want to go back to bed. We were pretty frustrated and tired by the time we had to get up and out of the hotel to catch the shuttle. The flights were fine minus the screams on descents. We counted: Sophia had been on five plane rides in the only 11 days we knew her (all of which were in the last 7 days). She does fine on the flights between being entertained with toys, reading materials the airline provides, being changed, eating, and sleeping. She also enjoys being misted with an Evian face mister (the airline gives them to you on international flights to moisturize your face). It's only the descents that are difficult. She likes the landings and enjoys watching the landscape move by quickly. The welcome home was wonderful. There were 13 people greeting us - all standing in two perfect rows. They were standing all the way across the ticketing area so we rolled Sophia over to them. My nephews Jordan and Colton had made great signs welcoming Sophia, and my niece Ashley was holding a "Welcome Home" balloon. The camera flashes were going off almost continuously as we walked closer, and my brother-in-law Ken was videotaping our arrival. Felt like we some huge celebrities with all the attention. Kind of weird (especially me for who doesn't like public attention), but really nice to be welcomed home and know that that our family and friends are there to support us! When we stopped in front of everyone, they all greeted us, but no one stepped forward to pick up Sophia. They all stood in a row. Finally I said, "Does anyone want to hold Sophia?" I can't remember who said it (in fact I think I heard a couple of people say it), but the phrase, "We're afraid of her" was said. "Afraid of her? Why? She's a baby!" I said. "We're afraid she's going to cry." So I picked her up and then my mom came forward as the first person to hold her. After that, it was mayhem. Everyone wanted to hold her. Sophia didn't cry. In fact, as she spent more time with everyone, she warmed up - smiled - waved - and showed her great disposition to everyone. We gathered our 10 pieces of luggage (one of which was the stroller), and then headed out for the ride home. As we walked toward the car, Sophia waved to everyone. Each day there is such progress. It's exciting! The ride home was wonderful. Comfortable, festive, and relaxing. Sophia slept for most of it. When we came home, my parents had visited earlier during the day and decorated the house to welcome us home, and put out food for dinner and Saturday's breakfast. What a pleasant surprise! Paige brought all the luggage in while I showed Sophia her new home. I brought her to her nursery and put her on the floor to crawl. She immediately lit up with a huge smile. I think she knew this was the final destination. She was home. Finally. We had a nice dinner and then put Sophia to bed by 9:00. Our hopes were high that she'd sleep through the night since she did so in China. No such luck. Around 11:30 she woke up, and stayed up for a couple of hours. On Saturday, we all overslept. I got up at 7:30 which is SUPER late for me. Went outside and fed the chickens, sheep, and turkeys. Put straw down in the barn, and then did a quick walk-around to see how everything was. Around 9:00 a.m., I woke up Paige and Sophia. Both had breakfast and then we got ready for the Swensons to visit at 10:30 a.m. They stayed for about an hour and Sophia did great. She had a lot of fun with them. She's walking much better than she did when we met her on November 26th. In fact, she can walk longer distances, and her footing seems more confident and strong. It's amazing to watch how quickly she learns. Then at 11:30 a.m., Irene and Dan came over to drop off the dogs. Both of us were worried about how Sophia would react. We anticipated the worst. Instead, she observed them with curiosity, tolerated their kisses and excited barks, and eventually pet them. We believe that this would be her first time ever seeing dogs. We went out to eat at Trail's End with Irene and Dan. Sophia's eating baby food and food from my plate. She can feed herself little pieces of food, and can assist me at times when I feed her from a spoon. Came back home and Sophia took a nap. Paige started reading and then fell asleep. I began unpacking and also fell asleep. We all woke up around 6:00 p.m. Our schedules are so off because of the time change. Had
a light dinner and then put Sophia to bed by 9:00 p.m. again. It
doesn't seem like we did a lot, but we're all exhausted. Hope to
get a good night of sleep.
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