in no particular order

Whew! We made it back to the States and are starting to feel a little more like ourselves with jet lag beginning to wear off. I'm still not thinking terribly clearly, so I'm going to post a very lame bullet list with newsy items and some random observations and feelings from being in America.

1. My asia friends - I miss you guys! Thanks for all your prayers for safe travel and sanity! =)

2. My kids (all three girls!) slept 10 of the 13 hours on our flight! The remaining three hours were spent watching Toy Story2 and eating tons of candy. Ten hours! That's like hitting the jackpot!

3. The place we're staying at is big and roomy - probably twice the size of our apartment. It feels SO huge. We're all loving the extra space.

4. We just got internet access today, so please know I haven't been avoiding anyone.

5. First impression of Americans after several years? Tattoos! EVERYONE has a tattoo. What's up with that? [Seriously, that was the very first thing I noticed in the airport. Not 3 Musketeers bars, obese Americans, or the fact that Chili's had Chips and Salsa available to-go. It was the tats. Weird.]

6. My girls think that water fountains are the coolest thing ever. Water. That comes from a machine. That you have to stick your face in. They love it.

7. Wal-mart offers free disinfecting wipes you can use to wipe down your cart when you pick it up before shopping. That is awesome.

8. We walked out of our house the other day and left the doors completely open and unlocked - for the entire day. It seems we need to perfect our "going outside" routine: who gets kids in what car seats, who grabs the keys and locks the doors....we've got some adjusting to do!

9. In asia, we always bought the most expensive, softest toilet paper available. Let me just say that Americans totally have the edge on the softest plys! There is some seriously silky toilet paper here.

10. We've had tons of rain since we got to Oklahoma just a few days ago, but it's been fabulous to see the big mushrooming clouds and watch the storms come in. Oklahoma storms are a beautiful thing.

11. Went to the doctor today to have the first appointment of this pregnancy - good thing, since I'm 31 weeks. Got interviewed by Lifetime TV about having my birth shown on TV. I originally thought this was a very cool idea...now, I'm starting to wonder how I feel about 90 million viewers (their figure, not mine) watching me birth a child. That's just...weird? More on that story later.

12. Josh and I spent the morning together at the hospital by ourselves (for that doctor's appointment - the girls were with my mom and sister). We laughed together so hard, for so long that we were both in tears. It was so fun to laugh and enjoy each other and not have any big decisions to think about or make. I think I added about five years to my life today. =)

13. I'm going to bed now. Josh is already asleep and the sound of his breathing is making me tired. We'll be having doughnuts in the morning, and chocolate milk too. Thank you, America, for the 15 pounds I'm sure to gain before I have this baby!