Oh. my. goodness...It's good to be home!
God works everything out. Our judgments and adoption processes while in Ukraine worked out very smoothly and very quickly. Our facilitator worked very hard to make sure that everyone was prepared for every possible outcome. On Christmas Eve we were able to complete the adoption process by having Eva's medical appointment and "two" embassy appointments squinched into one.
We left our apartment for the airport around 2:30 am Christmas day. Kyiv was full of snow. I miss it.
Our plan was: Kyiv, Frankfurt, Chicago, Houston, then home to Arkansas. We made all flights except our last out of Houston because we were delayed flying out of Chicago due to ice. Apparently hundreds of flights were delayed and/or cancelled on Christmas due to weather. Our airline were very gracious and gave us vouchers for food and lodging. So, Daniel, Eva, and I spent our Christmas at a hotel in Houston. Not ideal but not bad. Things just work out.
And, you know what? Guess which little girl was a STELLAR flyer?? Yep, Eva did so amazingly well on all of the flights and during all of our layovers. She was fussy some, but usually it was from fatigue or obvious stress. Our little post-institutionalized girl rocked those flights. She put all the other kids to shame. That was so nice, but also made me sad because I kept wondering if she was actually very stressed the whole time but just wasn't communicating it. Because of being institutionalized...but, it's over now and it was NICE to have a contented little flyer.
She was pretty much this way for it all: chill and taking everything in. And her juggings were pretty much that way for it all too. Hiked up. But a wedgie isn't a real wedgie in a diaper, right?
We arrived home yesterday and were greeted by Two Amazing Families. They have both done so much for us since we started this process a year ago. Such a nice welcome home. Friends who understand that lots of hoopla would overwhelm a little miss but that just enough hoopla is a good thing:)
Daniel is johnny on the spot with his cameraing. So we even have some quick footage of me carrying Eva over the threshold.
We arrived home to find gifts, groceries, and a hot meal on our porch. This phrase gets thrown around a lot, especially in the Bible Belt, but I am compelled to say it, "We are so blessed." It's true. Thank you dear friends for showing us love in so many ways. And thank you, Amy, for Mojitos!
Mexican food after Ukraine is a necessity. I don't understand these things. I just roll with 'em.
Eva has continued to be content-most of the time. Maybe she was just irritated here because she (like us) had been wearing the same clothes for nearly three days?? Or maybe it's because she knows I'm about to wipe that smashed banana off her mouth?
Daniel went back to work today and Eva and I stayed home. We all seem to be adjusting to US time for the most part. However, I was tired today. I broke down and took Eva with me for some drive-thru Starbucks. She was mostly dressed and I was only missing shoes, thank you very much. And I resisted the urge to drink salsa for breakfast. Score.
