Travel home: Sunrise, Sunset... Sunrise, Sunset

(Posted a few days late, after Baby J is in bed for the night... I think. This is really written after we are home, but I will write as if these events occurred today.)

So the title of this post should be taken literally. On our day of travel home, we witnessed the sunrise and sunset in Korea, then the sunrise over the Pacific close to California while in the air, and the sunset over the mountains, close to Denver, right before landing .... all within the same date! Oy, what a long day it was! And what a long post this will be!

Our first night with Baby J went ok. We actually got more sleep than I had expected to, though neither of us slept well. J is a very restless sleeper. He likes to roll, toss and turn... frequently. We had pulled the full size mattress off the bed onto the floor and pushed it up against the wall and box spring. C slept on one side like normal, blocking the short fall to the floor. We put J where my head would normally go, then I slept curled around the corner. He woke once or twice in the night, but was only slightly fussy then. I think we gave him a bottle at one of the times. I kept waking up to make sure he was breathing though. When J woke for good in the morning, he seemed to be content again. At least he was not scared of C or I anymore!

We spent the morning going to Namdaemun Market one last time. My mom, (Nana) wanted to buy J a pair of Korean baby shoes. We loaded him into the chunei, this time on my front, since we had to take the subway. He seemed to enjoy looking around, but quickly fell asleep for a morning nap. We didn't stay out too long though. We came back to Eastern to finish packing and eat lunch before our appointment for mom to pick up the baby boy she was escorting back. Baby L is much bigger than our Baby J, and he is two weeks younger! Dr. Kim came to pray for Baby L right before we left, so J was twice blessed!

J napped again on the ride to the airport. We got there about 2 hours prior to our flight, but it was a good thing we did, as it took awhile to get to the gate. First we had to buy lap tickets for the two infants; 10% of a full adult fair. Although I knew it would happen, it still slightly irked me. However, the flight was not full again and the very nice lady who checked us in, "gave" us (as in didn't seat any one else there) 6 seats, two rows of 3, one right behind the other, with windows. Great news for such a long flight! We next stopped at the special immigration office where Baby J's and Baby L's passports, emigration papers and visas were checked. Then we had to take a train to the next concourse! We only had about 30-40 minutes to spare before boarding by the time we got to the gate. Enough time for a bottle and some cruising around. Here is Nana distracting J while Baby L sleeps and I prepare J's bottle:

The flight from Seoul to San Francisco was relatively ok. He fussed a bit, but took the last of a bottle and sucked on a pacifier for take off and landing to help clear his ears. He slept a good portion of the way, some on the seat between us, some ON us. We did have to get up and walk with him a little bit though. Baby L did not have a smooth flight though. Poor little guy! It was just a long flight.

Once in San Francisco, we went through customs very quickly. Right behind us were a family bringing a daughter home from China! What a fun day for those immigration officers.

We had a long layover scheduled thinking it would take longer through customs/ immigration. We spent the time eating lunch and generally trying to stay awake. Here is J with Daddy while waiting for our second flight:

J did not like the second leg of our journey home. He fussed most of the way to Denver and finally fell asleep towards the end. As soon as we got off the plane though, he woke right up, as curious as ever. He was content when we met the few people who came to welcome us and Baby L home.
(May post a picture here later, depending on who sends me more pictures.)

All our luggage made it safe. Mom and the family and friends who greeted us all left. C went to get the car, but then getting into the car seat for the first time was not fun. Much screaming ensued then. We stopped for dinner on the way home, where he did enjoy sitting in one of those wooden high chairs. Back into the car and slept the whole way home, though C and I were trying not to! We were both exhausted by that point. We were just hoping to get some sleep, any sleep when we got home. See next post for that though.