We're home!

...and ready to take a nap.

Our flight from Moscow was late into JFK, and by the time we got through customs and immigration, we had missed our connection and there was no way to get to Omaha that night. The lady said that with my "low-price" ticket there wasn't the option to put me on another carrier. Well, trust me, I didn't think it was low price, and didn't they put me on a different carrier (American Airlines) to get me out of Omaha on the first leg of the trip? But no problem, I was totally fine rolling with the punches as long as they paid for the hotel, which they did (Ramada), along with transportation there and meal vouchers (two vouchers, $7 each, which barely covered the cheapest item on the restaurant menu).

It was actually almost a blessing, as when I was in the hotel room I felt almost dizzy and wondered why, then realized it was due to being incredibly tired. Amanda had done great on the long flight (not perfect, but only a couple of in-our-seats time-outs), but I hadn't been able to sleep much. When she was sleeping I couldn't sleep, and when I was tired she was awake and not willing to let me sleep. I'd tell her I was going to sleep, and she would say, "Mama speet" (which is Russian for sleep) but then she would pat me every 20 seconds to show me the new mark she's made on the coloring book page.

We had a good night's sleep (well, she did - I only slept about 5 hours) and got up at 1am, took a shower, gave her a bath, had some of our traveling breakfast options and took the 3:30 shuttle to JFK for our 6am flight to Cincinnati. Both flights today were without incident and only a few sitting time-outs. My friend Jan had arranged her/our friend Jenny to be pitch hitter as our airport pickup-person in her absence, and I appreciate both of them very much!

So, we're home and Amanda is enjoying tearing through everything, both that which is hers and that which is not. She has put her fuzzy puppy, new cups, new books and doll to sleep under a new flannel ladybug blanket and then moved on to discover wonderous new toys in other spots. She is really loving her new "stuff" - thanks again to everyone who has gifted her with welcome items already. =)

I have no food ready in the house, of course, so we made our first "solo" Omaha excursion to Runza, where she enjoyed fries with as much ketchup as she wanted!

And now, we are going to speet! More posting later, hopefully! (I have a lot of messy house to childproof - something that did not get that done pre-trip!)