We're Home!!!

I know this is a very long post, but we have officially been christened into parenthood..

Where to start...My new family is home safe and sound. Of course there were a few bumps along the way, but what would a story be with out a "grand finale". The morning started out great, A.J. slept for 12 hours the night before we left. He must of know his world was about to be rocked upside down. R.J. and I were so excited to becoming home we were up, showered, packed, and ready an hour before our scheduled pickup time. For those of you that know me I am always 10 minutes late for everything. Not this time!!! It was nice to just have some time to play with A.J before we had to leave.

In the short time that we have had him he stays awake in the mornings for about 2 1/2 to 3 hours before he goes down for his morning nap. The plan was to keep him awake, and then let him crash on the plane. He did great waiting for our plane to leave with all the stimulation in the airport. While we waited to board the plane A.J. also played with the children of the adopted families that were on our flight.

We boarded the plane, and were right on schedule, I gave A.J. his Motrin for his ears, the bottle was prepped, we pulled away from the gate...Yeaah we were off, but the plane just sat there...A.J. started to squirm...he had seen the bottle...I had to give it to him...not a problem we would surely start to move, but we just kept sitting...something was wrong...we had to be towed over to the mechanic garage something was not right with one of the engines. This is always great news to hear right before you are getting ready to travel for a very long time (11 hours and 25 minutes, with an infant to be exact!!).

An hour later the engine was fixed and we finally took off, the bottle was finished, and A.J. was sleeping peacefully in my arms...not for long!!! I'd say a half hour into the flight he was wide awake. Let me just say it was a "great flight"...NOT!!! Whoever said the bulk head seats on a plane are the best to sit in with an infant must be crazy. In my opinion they are the worst. The armrest don't fold up. So the only place to lay the little guy to sleep was in our arms or on the floor. The large screen for watching the in flight movies is directly over head - great stimulation for a child that has been in the orphanage since birth, and everyone that has to use the bathroom passes your seats. We could not have had a more busier spot on the plane. Of course people in passing have to ask if he was adopted, and they smile, wave at him, and make funny faces and noises. This is certainly not a calming environment for a child that is trying to sleep!

We did a pretty good job of entertaining him, but after 4 1/2 hours of R.J. and I he was over it, and he was not shy about letting us, and everyone else on the plane know that he was done. R.J. took him for a little walk down the aisle and I figured that all was good they didn't come back for a while. The next thing I know R.J. is telling me to come quickly he doesn't know what to do with him. So now we are both at the back of the plane in the flight attendants galley, and A.J. is exercising his vocal cords quite nicely!! Let's just say that we were "THAT FAMILY" with the screaming baby on the plane. Being that we have never had kids before we have always despised "that family", and now have so much more compassion for them. When you are in this situation you are so helpless - there is no where to go, and we still had 6 1/2 hours of flight time. Luckily I am a person that thinks quickly on their feet - the bathroom!! At least the screaming would be somewhat contain, and the stimulation would be next to nothing. I won't go into details, because what happens behind close doors, stays behind closed doors, but I will say for such a little guy his has the will of a small village.

An hour later A.J. and I come out of the bathroom, him wearing just his onesie and sleeping peacefully in my arms. I guess it is true what they say about being a parent - you will do anything for you child. If you are anything like myself, the less time you spend in a airplane bathroom the better, and you all know what I am talking about - they are gross - the longer flight to worse they get.

A.J. slept for about 3 hours and then he was back up again. He did pretty good the rest of the flight and fell back to sleep again the last hour. Why is it right before you are ready to land children go to sleep.

We were late getting into Atlanta so lucky we breezed through customs, and were able to make our connecting flight to Tampa with about 10 minutes to spare. This was a little closer than I had planned but at least we made it. A.J. could barely keep his eyes open through customs, and I just knew as soon as we would get on the plane he would crash, catch a hour nap, and be wide eyed and ready to meet his Mamaw and Pop. Like I said this is a very strong willed little boy.

The flight to Tampa was a shorten version on our flight from Moscow to Atlanta - we only had to spend about 10 - 15 minutes on the bathroom on this leg of our journey. This is only after some screaming, and kicking the back of the seat in front of us. I do have to give him credit, he is a very smart little boy...he quieted down right away when we walked into the bathroom.

Again, what is it with children and falling a sleep right before you land. After all the time he was awake, and for as long as he fought sleeping he just couldn't last to the end. I kid you not the landing gear was down, and we were minutes away from landing when he zonked out. So of course after the headache we had been through he wasn't going to get to sleep through meeting his Mamaw and Pop. Again, let me just tell you he is a very strong willed little boy. I did everything I could to try and wake this child up, but no such luck! He was in such a deep sleep I even check to make sure he was still breathing.

So, all in all, even though our flight was pure "hell" one really good thing came out of A.J only sleeping about 6 hours in a 24 hour time period. He was so tired he slept straight through to the next morning, and has adjusted to our time change with no problem. I had envisioned being up a lot in the early morning hours, but we have been spared. I guess he figured we were christen enough for the moment and he should give us a small break since we are first time parents.