Going HOME

After T was released to us, we still had to wait in Arizona for a while.   There is something called the Interstate Compact on the Placement of Children or ICPC, which controls the "movement" of children from one state to another for adoption.   There is an ICPC office in each of the 50 states and when an adoption happens out of state, both the "sending" state and the "receiving" state have to give the OK for the child to move across state lines.    The case worker in AZ had a meeting with the ICPC office right away on Monday, so we were told we may get to go home as early as the end of the week.  Unfortunately, AZ wanted another state to look at our paperwork (the state that BM was moving to) before sending the info to our home state..  This caused a bit of a delay and we ended up being in AZ for a little while longer.

Although it was HOT and I was really missing home, the time that we spent just the three of us was great for bonding.  We did see our friends that lived in AZ too, but a lot of time was spent in our hotels or running errands just the three of us.  
Finally, on Tuesday, August 7th we got the "all clear" to return to our home state.    It was a good thing, because we already had booked flights for Wednesday the 8th!
We spent Tuesday evening with our dear friends who I stayed with in AZ J, A, and E.    I almost cried as I said goodbye to them since they had really become my family while I was away.
But we had to get home.
It was a little surreal as we got ready to leave AZ.  I had been away from home for 4 weeks, Brandon had been away for about 2 1/2 weeks.   And we had a baby with us....

Wednesday morning we got up very early and headed to the airport.  We had to request to sit next together since originally, our seats were very far apart on the plane.  But with a newborn... I really wanted to sit next to my husband!   

At the Gate...getting ready to fly HOME!

Up until this point, I was thrilled to have T, of course.  But he didn't feel like he was MINE.   There is something about being in a hotel, away from home that makes it all seem like you're babysitting.
Then, we were in the air.   I started to cry as I looked down at this beautiful baby.  We were taking our child HOME.  No longer would I be away from family and friends, away from my bed, away from my dog.  I would be HOME and I would have the baby that I had dreamed of for so long.  

T was an amazing baby on the flight.  He slept the entire time and didn't cry at all!  The flight attendants loved him and he got his wings for his first flight.   We couldn't have asked for an easier flight home really.

My parents were picking us up at the airport and it was such a fantastic feeling to walk towards them.  They had helped us get to this point and they looked SO happy to see us.

With Grandma for the First Time

I can't even explain how we felt at this point.   We packed up our minivan (which I hadn't seen in a month) and we headed home.  We drove through familiar cities and saw the GREEN land of the Midwest.   And we had a baby with us.  Not just a baby, but our baby.