We're Home!

Wow! What a day yesterday! We got up early and were ready for Vlad to pick us up at 8am. It took about an hour to get to the airport. When we went inside we had no idea where to go. There are no "check in" counters at the airport there. You basically have to go to a kiosk in the middle of the room that will tell you when your counter opens up. Everyone waits and then rushes the counter at once to check in. Business class status DEFINITELY helped on this one! We took an Aeroflot flight to Copenhagen, Denmark and then Scandinavian Airlines on to Chicago. The Aeroflot flight was about 2 1/2 hours. Maks was able to sleep for an hour of it, which was nice as he screamed for the other hour and a half. The crew was so sweet, they put a bassinet up on the front of the wall and he was able to just fit. It was nice to have him sleep there as we didn't have a seat for him.

We had a 3 1/2 hour layover in Copenhagen and were able to use the Business Lounge. Its very nice there with computers, food, drinks, ticket people and best of all a KID LOUNGE! Thank God! Maks was able to play with toys for 2 hours before we found our gate. Once on the plane he made it known that he was not happy about flying home. Again the crew was so nice to us! The one flight attendant said, "don't worry, I'm sure he won't scream for the entire 9 hours." Little did she know...

He had a really tough time. He screamed for the first 5 1/2 hours of the flight. Nothing would soothe him. Jason and I spent a lot of time in the bathroom with him trying to calm him down and trying to give other passengers a break. For the most part everyone was very kind, but it had to be taxing. He finally was able to fall asleep for the last 3 hours of the flight, but was very restless. He was sleeping on a pad of our coats on the floor in front of me. We didn't get to enjoy any of the perks of business class, but it was worth the space. It really was the toughest time I have ever had. I was in tears for most of the flight, so poor Jason had both Maks and I crying. The poor guy. We landed a few minutes early and I have never been so happy to see Chicago!!! Maks was a US citizen the minute the plane touched down! YEAH!

We got to passport control and they gave us a big packet of info to take to another counter after we got our bags. We walked over there and the lady told us to just sit it down. We thought, great this will take forever! But it didn't. She was able to get us processed in 10 minutes. When we walked out of customs my family was waiting with balloons, cameras and hugs. I started crying the minute I saw my Mom & Dad. I was SOOOOOOOOOO happy to see them. And everyone else of course! Thanks to Luke, Ang and Leslie for all making the trip during crazy Friday night traffic! But I was really happy to see my Mom. I missed her so much and feel so much more confident that life will work out, Maks will calm down and I won't feel this overwhelmed forever just by her being there. Hard to explain. I guess sometimes you just need your Mommy. :)

Maks was all of the sudden the perfect gentleman and little charmer! Boy does he know how to work the drama. :) We rode to our house with Leslie who did a good job entertaining Maks during the ride. I'm sure Rylan has given her LOTS of practice! When we got home Shirlene and Roger were there to see Maks too. He loved his Grandma's attention! And having them both there plus Grandpas, Aunts and an Uncle he was in his heyday. They say not to let adopted children be exposed to too much too soon. But I will say Maks loves seeing everyone. He lights up and just run run runs!

Everyone left around 9pm and I took Maks down to his room shortly thereafter. He feel asleep pretty quickly. He slept until 2 or 3am and then woke up screaming. He was able to calm down in about 20 minutes and go back to sleep until 7:15am. It was lovely to be back in our house with our own bed and own stuff! Not living out of a suitcase!!

We had another great day today. More about that later. Hopefully Leslie or Roger will send me some of the pictures they took today so I can post with those tomorrow!