Home. Enid, Oklahoma USA Sept 8, 2007 7:30pm
We are home. Thank you God. I have to say that God led us this
entire trip. Everything we did, was smooth. Every process, every
document, every person we dealt with, every thing that we needed –
it was all done with ease, expediency, and peacefulness. I know
that is completely because of prayer. Ours and a ton of you out
there that I know prayed for us on every step of this journey.
Not just during this trip, but everything that lead up to it which
has been over the last, almost, 2 years. I can’t thank you enough
for that. It is the most important thing that we ever do.
Prayer.
Thursday, Sept 7 (Yesterday)
Our driver Eugene and our translator Ludmila took us to the
airport at about 9:30am. We had never seen Eugene smile this whole
trip. He speaks no English. But as we were loading in, Matt said
to Emma, “Say hi to Eugene.” That got the first smile and then Matt
handed him a bottle of wine and he got a real big smile.
Finally. We gave Ludmila and Elena, another girl in the office
boxes of chocolates. It was about an hour to the airport.
Ludmila got us passed through a security gate without going
through it. She probably knew the girl there. Luke was in the
stroller. We had 3 huge suitcases to check. Matt, Emma and I
each had a fairly heavy backpack. Stroller, car seat for airplane
and car later, Luke, rolling small suitcase that we carried on
full of 2 laptops and documents you have to carry on (for the
adoption).
It was all easy, short lines and quick moving through. We were
done with all that with 2 hours to wait, so we went to the
restaurant and ate lunch, fed Luke in the stroller and walked him
around. He had a blowout poopy diaper there and I had to throw
away his outfit in the airport bathroom. Don’t have that many
outfits. I hope he doesn’t continue this.
We got onto the airplane and they switched our seats to the bulk
head with the bassinet. Yeah! Thank you God, another prayer
answered. So Emma, Luke and I sat in the middle three seats and
Matt across the aisle by us. This little bassinet was cool. It
hooked on to the bulkhead and we just used it for a different
place for Luke to play during the flight and to change his diaper.
He actually slept in the car seat. Wow! I didn’t expect that. He has never
been in a car seat and I’d heard stories of babies just hating them and
crying the whole time in them, but he got used to it really fast.
The flight from Moscow to Atlanta was 11 hours. Luke slept the
first 2 hours and the last 2 hours. During the middle he played
in the bassinet, or in the car seat, or we walked around, or I fed
him or Matt held him. He had another blowout poopy. Another
outfit in the trash.
The flight attendents are great. They said they usually had
at least 5 adoptions every flight. This time it
was just us and one other couple. I met them. They were bringing
back a 21 month old girl. They lived in Ft Walton Beach, FL.
Their 2 week period was not waived and they were so glad to be
going home.
We got to Atlanta, had to claim our bags, go through customs and
immigration. A lady saw Matt carrying the car seat with Luke
asleep in it and all our other bags and called us to her line at
the front with tons of other people in other lines. Hers was the
special assistance line. Again, ease. Then on to some special
immigration area where they take our sealed envelope from the
Embassy, process it while we sit for 15 minutes and then we check
our bags again and are on to the gate to go to Wichita. Had only
about a one hour wait and got on the next plane. It was 2 hours
to Wichita and we all slept the whole trip. It was 6-8pm Oklahoma
time and 9-11am Moscow time after not sleeping all night. We
landed in Wichita, nice small airport, got the bags and headed
straight to a hotel to sleep.
We all went to sleep at 9pm. Luke woke up at 1am, so he and I sat
up from 1-3am. Then I put him back down for his morning nap at
3am and we slept from 3-6am. Matt and Emma got up at 3am and went
down to the lobby to watch TV. We all left at about 7am and drove
back to Enid. Oh it was so GREAT to drive back to our wonderful
town! After reading A Farewell To Arms about men going to war in
Italy during WWI, I thought we don’t appreciate home like we
should. Thinking of men going to war, not wanting to go, but
having to go to some random country and do things they would never
want to do and stay there for who knows how long and how much they
must want to come HOME. They really know what home is all about.
I felt an inkling of it as we drove into town.
I called Evie, my sis, and said we will be home in 20 minutes. She called
my mom and she was here with the lights on in the house and the
door opened welcoming us home. Luke rode just fine in the car seat.
We brought Luke in and Evie was so excited to see him. My mom was
there a few minutes later and then Matt went over to the Dunfords
house (our good friends who kept our other two babies, 6 and 4) to
pick up Meg and Henry. He brought them home and they
ran up to me and hugged me in the driveway and then we walked into
the living room where Luke was playing and they just started
loving on him. There we all were. It was a great moment.
Videotaped too.
I can’t tell you how Luke is just fitting right in like he has been
here all along. He is happy. He loves to play in the play pen or
crawl all over the living room floor. He didn’t mind all the new
people playing with him. Elaine, Matt’s mom, then came over. My
mom brought tuna fish casserole (my childhood favorite comfort
food) and orange jello with peaches and bananas (more comfort
food) and Elaine brought Orange cake. We all had it for lunch.
And we just sat around soaking in the bringing of a new baby. It
was a very special day. Mid-afternoon, Jennifer (who kept our
kids) came by to bring the breast milk she has been pumping for
Luke. She is breastfeeding her own 3 month old baby and has been
pumping on the side for us. Wow! What an amazing thing for
someone to do. I am so grateful for that. I breastfed the other
three for 18 months and over and was pretty dissappointed that
Luke would not have that benefit for his immune system, but now
with this, he will have, at least some of it.
I tried it with his other formula and he didnt like it, but then I
mixed it in the cereal and he ate that fine, so that may be how he
is going to get it in him.
Luke went to bed at 5pm last night. I was ready to go to bed and
so was Matt. Emma went down about 5pm also so we took Elaine up on
her offer to have Meg and Henry spend the night since they were
not on our schedule.
Luke and I got up at 2am this morning (That is good. An hour later
than yesterday.) Matt got up about 3am and we have been decluttering
and organizing our house all morning. We have till 11am when the
OU football game begins. Matt is finishing painting the nursery
(which he was going to do if he came home 2 weeks before I did)
and getting the shutters ready to be painted. He also is
polyurethaning the front entrance. He can get very ambitious!
Evie moved the crib into our room, before we came home, so Matt
could finish the nursery. So for now, Luke is sleeping in my room
and Matt is sleeping in the nursery until it is done.
Typical for arrivals of new babies.
I’d better get back to my jobs getting this house in order. Talk
to or see you all soon!
Love,
Allison
PS My friend Gina, wrote me this morning saying I needed to write
one more entry about arriving home. You were right Gina. Thanks.
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