Two years ago today Stephen and I boarded a plane and started on our journey to parenthood. Well the journey actually started many months prior, but two years ago today we held our first babies in our arms and never had to give them back! It’s amazing to me that two years has already past, but in the same way it feels as if we have been a family forever.
January 21, 2006
We arrived at the airport bright and early. I don’t think either Stephen or I slept very much the night before…and who could blame us!! Our flights to Guatemala were both quite un-eventful, other than our nervous excitement.
The driver from Hannah’s Hope (the home where our boys lived for the past 6+ months) picked us up at the airport. Since it was late in the afternoon we were debating if we should go pick up the boys or just go straight to the hotel….well, we decided to go to the hotel first…ok, ok, no way! We went straight to Hannah’s Hope to meet our little guys for the second time!! We asked to see Jeremiah first and they took us to his casa.
My biggest fear was that I would not know which baby was mine. What if I did not recognize Jeremiah!! There were several babies in his room, but Stephen spotted him right off and I did not have to worry a bit about not knowing who he was! Oh what joy to see our darling baby!! Stephen let me hold him first and I took him out of the bouncy seat. He did not cry or fuss, but just looked at us. I reluctantly gave him to Stephen to hold for a few minutes…..boy I did not want to let go!! Jeremiah’s Special Moms (the wonderful women who have taken care of him over the past 7 months) gathered up the little gifts that we left on our first trip and had sent down at Christmas and gave us a bottle and off we went into the joys are being parents!!
We left Jeremiah’s casa and went to a lounge area to wait for Carlos (several of the kids in his casa had the chicken pox and we did not want to expose Jeremiah, so we were not able to go to Carlos’ casa). His Special Mama brought him to meet us. He was quite shy and scared and did cry huge tears, which just broke our hearts. He was so scared and unsure what was happening. Stephen eventually won him over with the camera. Carlos loved taking pictures and seeing the re-play on the screen.
His Special Mom stayed close by, but let us get acquainted again. Too soon it was time to leave. They brought us the projects that Carlos did in school, both for Christmas and his regular schoolwork and a special DVD for him. Carlos was very sad to leave and cried for most of the short trip to the hotel. He asked if where we were going if there would be a Special Mama to take care of him. That just about broke my heart! Getting checked into our hotel was pretty much a nightmare. Both boys were crying and I felt like crying myself!! Once we finally got checked into our room they both calmed down considerably and Carlos was interested in checking out his new surroundings. Jeremiah was just happen to get a bottle and a nap!
We ordered room service for dinner and Carlos really chowed down. He just loves French Fries and chicken! The first night both little guys slept really good, but mama and papa, well that’s another story!! Both Stephen and I woke up at every little movement and sound. And I had to check multiple times for breathing….just had to be sure they were still doing that!!
(Part 2 coming tomorrow….I promise….It’s already typed!!
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House of Smooches 