We are HOME!!

Yes, we are home with Emily Belle! We have been home for a little over a week now and she is doing great. I have had some technical problems with the laptop/wireless connection, and have not been able to post, but YES, we are home!! We had a pretty good travel day coming home last Thursday, until the last hour. Our little traveller had just had all the airports, airplanes and strange people she could take. She refused the bottle on every take off and landing and I really think her ears were just killing her. There was NO consoling her what so ever! No toy, no food, none of Jill's best tricks...it was just her time to scream and sob. Once we got off the plane, wiped her tears and stuck a bow in her hair to look cute for our 'meet and greet', she was fine. She enjoyed meeting her family and seemed to like everyone instantly. And everyone was happy to see the likes of us home safe and sound as you can imagine! She went right to my mom and to Leslie with out a tear. She loved Hannah and Matthew, I think because they were small and perhaps reminded her of her foster family siblings. She liked Jack and Bo and thought they were funny...gave them a big smile. She also went right to Lee and Nathan who spoke some very quiet hello's to her new sister. (Burt was working and met her the next day, she liked him to.) I bent down and let her meet my grandmother, her new great grandmother, and I hope we got a picture of that. It is not everyday that a 1yr. old gets to meet a 90yr. old in her new forever family a world away from the place she just left. I am not sure that my grandmother even understands 'why' I do this, and it was indeed a sweet event to witness. I think Emily Belle became real for her at that moment...a real little person, who really needs a family to love her. I think the attitudes towards adoption from 'back in her day' were only shame and misunderstanding, but for this 90yr. old... I saw some joy, a lot of compassion, and certainly some pride that this little girl was now related to her. It was a good thing to see! Will my grandmother ever know or understand ALL that it took for us to get Emily Belle from there to here... NO!! She could not even begin to comprehend it. The paper chase, the funds, the time, the emotions, the reasons...but I can tell you that when I saw my family standing there and I knew that it would only be a few more steps before I was really home, and NOTHING I had been through during the last 23 months really seem to matter. I have a lot to be thankful for in this world. "Thank you Lord for a safe and easy trip, with no sickness and no worries to really speak of...thank you for bringing Jill and Emily and I back home to our family" "Thank you for making this possible in the first place!" Those were my prayers of gratitude on Thursday night, November 1st, 2007!
On this post are a few coming home photos,(my mom has the rest and I'll post them as soon as she sends them) and one photo that may explain why I haven't had much time to fix this posting problem...Matthew was happy to meet this sweet baby girl that he's seem photos of for months on my computer...but he was NOT expecting her to still be here with us on Friday morning!!! In my arms, in our house and totally knocking him off his throne. He is still the prince of my heart and our house, but he was not planning on sharing the dynasty with a princessesa from Guatemala! More on this major adjustment for my little man, later!(by the way, he's potty trained, rides a 2 wheel bike, no training wheels, and hasn't been on a bottle for over 2 years!) Also, leaving Guatemala was really hard for me, I'll share details on that when I can do it with out tears,...and we met an angel, a real one named John! I'll tell everyone that story soon as well. I'll get the rest of the trip photos up as soon as she takes a nap. Thanks to everyone who has called or emailed to see if we made it home!