HOME

We are home! We've officially been home for just over a week, but in some ways it feels like months. I can't even imagine our life here without our little nugget. Kate's transition home has been incredibly smooth. She's such a sweet little lady. We are beyond blessed to call her our daughter.

Our travels home went as well as we could have hoped, minus the sleep-less night before leaving. Shane's flight back to Bogota arrived late Saturday night. By the time he got to our apartment it was nearly 11:30 pm. I had packed up as much of our luggage as possible before he arrived, but I needed the carry-on suitcase he had in tow to finish. So at midnight the morning before our 3:00 am wake up call, I was up packing, weighing and repacking the luggage (that pesky 50 lb luggage weight limit is always problematic!) Once I finally got to bed, I tossed and turned until Kate woke up hungry for a bottle. I barely slept a wink when my alarm went off and it was time to start our very long journey home.

At 4:00 am, Patricia arrived to drive us to the airport. Thankfully there isn't much traffic at 4 o'clock in the morning! Once we arrived at the airport, she dropped us off at the front door and went to park the van. Luckily Shane had just been through the airport drill and knew exactly where to go. After checking our suitcase, we met up with Patricia who walked us down to the security gate. This was as far she could go. We said our goodbyes and she kindly said she'd wait a while just in case we needed her.  We passed through the first security checkpoint and then got into line to wait our turn to speak to the immigration officer. The line was slow moving and we were glad that we had arrived to the airport so early.  We definitely did not want to miss our flight home.

We were finally waved forward and presented our passports and Kate's sentencia and birth certificate to the man at the desk. He read and re-read our documents. He flipped through each page 5 times and then closely looked over each stamp that authenticated the document. We stood there for what seemed like FOREVER hoping and praying that every word was correct. Finally, he scanned in our passports and we moved forward to the last security point where all our carry-on bags were scanned. We passed through the last security check point with only about 30 minutes remaining until our flight would begin boarding. No wonder why Jorge and Patricia recommended leaving at 4:00 am! It takes forever to get through security.

We walked to our gate and there was a long line of passengers in wheel chairs lined up ready to board. The flight attendees ushered us to the front of the line and we awkwardly followed. I'm not used to cutting in front of the line, let alone in front of those in wheel chairs. They sure are accommodating when traveling with babies in Colombia!

Soon after, it was time to board. We usually don't get on the plane right away, but we had 5 carry-ons and wanted to make sure we found a spot for them. We walked down the long steep walk-way towards the plane. There were several airline workers waiting to check everyone off as they boarded. And wouldn't you know it, Shane got flagged to have his luggage searched. I was told to get on without him - it was a bit nerve-wracking! So Kate and I along with one of the workers who helped carry my luggage boarded the plane without Shane. Thankfully a short time later, he was walking down the aisle towards us. PHEW! We were all on board!

Once on board, I took Kate's oxygen saturation levels and they were quite low. I freaked out a bit! Her finger didn't seem cold (which can affect the reading), but it must have been. After several attempts on different digits, I made sure to warm her finger up really well and this time the levels can back fine. Thank goodness! I was ready to bust out the oxygen tank after my slight panic attack.

Nearly all the passengers were on board and the window seat in our row was still empty. I was hoping that we'd have the row to ourselves when a woman appeared. She had the window seat. What a bummer. Everyone was now on and the flight attendants were preparing for take off. One of the attendants saw the 4 of us squished into the 3 seats and mentioned to the lady that she could take the aisle seat just one row back so we'd all be more comfortable (there was only 1 person sitting in the row so she would have had much more room with an empty middle seat) but she refused! Who on earth would rather sit next to an infant with a lap ticket on a 5 hour flight?!? No one but her. We sucked it up and made it through the first long leg of our journey.

We landed in Atlanta and were able to skip the long line at Immigration and go directly to the short line for those with special circumstances. We handed the officer the giant manila envelop that we were given by the US Embassy and forbidden to open. He opened it, looked at our passports and then brought us over to the special immigration desk where we waited for our names to be called. It seemed like just yesterday we were coming back from Colombia with Rose and waiting in the exact same place.

The officer called our names, asked us a few questions, and we were set! Kate was officially a U.S. citizen! We had several hours to kill before the last leg of our journey, so we set off to find a place to grab a late lunch. We ate at the Gordon Biersch Brewing Company where Shane and I enjoyed their craft beers and Kate gobbled up two jars of rice and lentils - her FAVORITE!

Then we were off to wait at the gate for our flight HOME!

It's almost time!

Soon they were announcing pre-boarding so once again, we walked onto the plane - this time for the last part of our journey! We were almost home!

The flight went smoothly again, although by the end of the trip Kate (and the rest of us!) were ready to be done flying for the day. Finally, we had arrived to Minnesota. We made our way to the baggage claim and were greeted by all sorts of smiling faces eager to meet our new addition to the family.

 

It was great to see Owen, Cole and Rose again - it had been nearly 4 days since I had last seen them, which is a very long time for this Mama to go without seeing those sweet faces.

After catching up with everyone, we walked out to the car to load up the kids and the luggage. It was Kate's first time in a car seat and we weren't sure what she would think, but she thankfully didn't mind it one bit. Although she did give me quite the serious look after I finally got her secured.

Finally, after 29 days, we were home...all of us!

We owe a huge THANK YOU to our family and neighbors who kept tabs on our house and cared for our kitties while we were gone. Thank you to Jason who spent nearly a month living at our house keeping it safe and our kitties well fed. Thank you to Ruby for taking care of Eli and William on the weekends so that Jason could spend some time at his own home. Thank you to Judy and Dave for taking care of Owen, Cole and Rose while I was in Bogota with Kate and for the immaculate house when I returned. The house likely won't be that clean again for years! And an BIG thank you to my mom who spent the month with us in Bogota. You made our trip stress-free by tackling all the difficult tasks (like homework!!) Thank you all! We are blessed to have such wonderful helping hands. And so thankful to finally be home and settling into life as a family of six.