Saturday, May 28, 2011

HOME!

Yesterday was quite the experience.  I should begin by saying it would have been impossible with out the loving help of Audrey.  I cannot even imagine doing any of that with a baby by myself.  The day started a little before 4:00am - wake up, shower, last minute packing of the crib etc. and we were driving away from the apartment by 5:30.  Thank God for Reynel at the airport....everything was confusing and everyone told us soemthing different but he stuck with us and brokered on our behalf all the way to security (which took about 2 hours),  After bidding farewell we went through security (the first kind) only to discover we could not yet get to our gate.  At around 8:00 we passed through into a small waiting area (the gate) but first had to have our bags inspected by hand and our bodies frisked (and if you were Audrey- you had your gingerale confiscated).  Once on the plane, I began to actually breathe again (ok a little) and I am very thankful for the boarding early with small children because people are ruthless and they will run you and your 6 month old over.  Sebastian really is an all-star - he fussed a bit on the ascending and descending and when he got sleepy or hungry(totally usual) but he napped, ate dinner despite some turbulence and won the hearts of everyone he met.  (We've discovered he's a big flirt)
Landing in Orlando we rushed to customs- knowing that we only had 2 hours before our flight left for Boston and we NEEDED to be on that.   Immigration - and the process of Tano becoming a legal resident was an adventure.  First- what line : According to the travel packet (thank you Sabeth) provided by our agency we were to go to the residents line and inform them that we had an adoption immigration packet (all the paperwork). 
Well the lady guarding that line said we needed to go to the visitors line and not residents.  Sensing she did not know what she was talking about...we walked toward the visitors line and spotted a  sign saying "special assistance".  We walked up and explained the situation to another, nicer woman and then went to see an immigration officer.  After they stamped our passports they took all Sebastian's paperwork into a back room with a small waiting area.  It felt a little like detention...and the officers were all walking in and out of the offices but never called anyone from the waiting room in...It felt like forever and at around 3:15 we started feeling like their was no way we could make our 4:00 flight - after all we still needed to get our luggage, recheck it and go through security again (i mean we weren't even out of customs yet...)  Thank the Lord someone came and took Sebastian's paperwork and a little later came out with his stamped passport- He could now enter the country!  We ran out of there literally piled all 5 of the suitcases on a cart and went to security checkpoint #1(I wish there was documentation of this process- the suitcases were piled so high that I couldn't see the other side and might have, sort of ran into a man on the way to the belt.  With our luggage rechecked we ran to security, removing shoes, laptops, taking Sebastian out of the stroller- having the thermos of water in the diaper bag tested ....then we ran (again literally) to the gate.  They even though it was 3:50 they hadn't started boarding- Just enough time to call Greg and let him know we were going to make the flight.
The rest of the night seems a blur - we made it to Boston.  Sebastian got to meet his Tia Allison and Mimi and definitely remembered his Daddy.  Tano had his first ride in a car seat and after a rough patch finally slept in his crib.  He woke up scared and a little confused by his new surroundings but has been doing pretty good today - all things considered.  He loves his exersaucer and went for a nice walk around the neighborhood.  We know it will take him some time to get adjusted and comfortable in his new home but with his upbeat and loving personality we are hoping that you all get to meet him really soon!


3 comments:

  1. Hoorah!! You're home! And how could you not love the exersaucer?!
    -Linda

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  2. Call us when he's ready to meet Lila. Glad you made it through the crazy airport obstacle course.

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