One chapter ends, another begins

Our flights went well on Wednesday. We sat next to some great people on both legs, one guy from Ghana, and another from Las Vegas who just got home from 18 months in Saudi Arabia. The man from Ghana is going to school in Ukraine and knows Ukrainian, so he was able to talk to Micah some and was such a nice young man. I really enjoyed that leg with him, talking about his travels and going to medical school. Micah slept most of both flights and did great in between as well. In fact, he did better than me on the 2 hour layover.

I had a melt down in the London airport because when we got off the plane, his stroller wasn't there. I asked the British Airways lady where it was and she said no strollers were put in the cabin. I said I saw them put his stroller on the plane and she said in the hull? I said yes and then she said it would be in the baggage claim on the last flight. WHAT?!!!! I had to carry a 3 yr old and my carry ons through an unfamiliar airport. It was huge. I held it together through the walk to the long line to get to security, then upstairs to get to another line to security, waited for 10-15 mintues through security, went downstairs to the terminal area to find out where to go and lo and behold I had to take a tram to the part of the terminal I needed to be in. I went to customer service and asked if they had any strollers (the aforementioned BA lady said to go there to get one) and the very nice gentleman said they had no buggies. I did everything I could not to cry, but the tears came anyway. He asked if he walked. Yes, he walks, but he doesn't do well holding hands and listening while he walks (yet), so I have to carry him to avoid a struggle. He directed me to the tram and it sounded forever away. I found the nearest bathroom, changed Micah's diaper, and had my meltdown in the changing room. I pulled myself together and on we went. Down a hall to a "lift" (elevator), to the train/tram... two stops to gate C52 and there it was. The gate! They were already boarding, so we sat and waited for our row to show up on the screen. Once it did, the nice BA lady said, "Come with me through the short line" (someone finally acknowledged I had a baby!) LOL... I got on and the rest was cake.

Micah sat still pretty well, fell asleep, and slept most of the 9 1/2 hour last leg. When he did wake up, he was happy and easy. And the man next to us didn't mind the occassional swat by him either, ha! Once we landed in Las Vegas, it was a short walk to customs, a short line through customs, then we had to go to the immigration office in order for Micah to be accepted into the U.S. That took about 20 minutes, then I got my suitcase and out we went to greet our amazing family.

Barry had roses! If anyone knows my husband, they would know that this is a HUGE thing! He doesn't buy flowers, hardly ever... not even on Valentine's Day or my birthday. He thinks it's a waste of money for something that's going to die in a few days. I got over it a long time ago, but there he was with roses :) It melted my heart.

The girls and Fischer had welcome home signs for me and Micah. Chloe ran right up to him and said hi to him. He tried to kiss her, so I let her know she needed to kiss him. Annie was very quiet and shy towards me, and Gracie watched in the background. I hugged and kissed them all and Barry took Micah right away. Out we went to the car and the long 3 1/2 hour drive home. There wasn't any traffic, but after that ride, I realized how FAR we live from the main highway. We are really in the boonies up here. It was almost midnight before we got in bed. And we all slept, all night!

Thursday morning, Micah woke up bright-eyed and bushy-tailed as usual. He still loves his morning cuddles, hugs, and kisses. Gracie had slept in our bed, so she got to bond with him early too. We went downstairs and made pancakes, and all the kids were happy. We spent the morning lounging, and then decided to go to Costco. All 7 of us. Why not? Two carts; two kids in each cart, and Barry, Fischer and I walking around. We got everything we needed and made it out alive. In fact, all the children were really good, especially Micah. We headed home, put everything away, the littles took their naps, and the day was great! We had another good night of sleep too.

Today, we all got up, had breakfast, then I took Chloe to gymnastics (first time in 7 weeks for her), she did awesome, then we came home and had lunch. Micah and Annie went down for their naps and Chloe pretended to. It's been another great day so far, and I imagine it will continue like this from here on out.

Micah loves having a mommy and daddy. And he likes to play with his sisters. He loves to run into Fischer's arms too. Security. Happiness. Love. What more could a little boy want? He has what every child deserves. A family with lots of love to give. The ending to our adoption story, and the beginning of a lifetime with our new son.

We sincerely thank everyone who helped give Micah the gift of a family, and who helped us be the ones to bring him home. We love you all and wish the best that life can bring. May the Lord bless each and every one of you.