Xavier is home!!!!

We arrived home this afternoon and are happy to finally be here! Our trip to Chicago was wonderful and finally getting to hold my baby was absolutely amazing. We arrived into Chicago on Tuesday afternoon. We spent the afternoon and evening at the hotel, swimming, relaxing and getting prepared for our big day on Wednesday. On Wednesday morning we drove downtown Chicago and took the kids up to the top of the John Hancock building, did a little shopping and had lunch at the Cheesecake Factory. Then it was back to the hotel to get refreshed for the airport. We left for the airport at 3:00 and arrived around 3:30ish. Xavier's flight was scheduled to arrive at 5:09pm. It was a looooooong hour and a half, but we made it. At one point, after we knew the plane had landed but before they brought the kids out (there was another family getting their son at that same time!) I knew that everyone could see my heart pumping out of my chest. Wow...... Finally, we saw the escorts come up the escalators and it was then that we first got to see our sweet baby's face! The next hour felt like a dream to me. Way too good to be happening for real, and so incredibly amazing I didn't ever want it to end! The best part, of course, was that it was real! I was stroking Xavier's cheek, kissing his head, taking in his smells, gazing into his eyes. For real!!! His escort was a wonderful, sweet woman who had tears in her eyes when she saw the tears in my eyes. She told us all about traveling with our baby and how good and smart he is. She gave us her business card so that we can keep in touch with her, and let her know how Xavier is doing. Xavier did amazingly well all through this time. He was very content, just taking it all in. He wasn't scared and never cried....I was amazed. After a while at the airport we went back to the hotel. It was fun to learn about Xavier's personality, his likes and dislikes, his mannerisms, etc.

We drove to Mike's parents house on Thursday and stayed until Saturday afternoon. We drove about 8 hours on Saturday and all 3 kids did really well. Xavier slept most of the way, which meant that he and I had a loooong night last night. He awoke at 1:00am and we played until nearly 6:00am when Mike took over! We had a great time! And they did well again today on the last part of our trip home. We arrived home about 3:30 this afternoon and have been busy unpacking and adjusting to life as a family of 5.

Xavier really seems to be bonding well with us so far. I hesitate to say that since it is so early, but he seems to recognize me as his mama/main caregiver and he is very comfortable with Mike. He loves to watch Marina and Alexander and will even try to get right in the middle of the two of them every so often. He has a smile that will melt your heart and is a definite cuddle bug! We are all 100% whole-heartedly in love with this precious baby boy. He brings a light to my life like my other children have and it nearly brings me to tears every single time I think about how incredibly blessed I am.

Here are some pictures of our last few days. The first picture is us meeting Xavier for the very first time. That is his escort holding him. And the rest are pretty self explanatory! Enjoy the pictures. And come visit us soon. I know you, too, will fall in love with our newest family member! Thanks again for your prayers and well wishes. I'm sure I'll be back to post more pictures in a few days!









Much love,
Mike, Kristen, Marina, Alexander and Xavier