WE ARE HOME!

Sorry, were you wondering what the heck happened to us?

The last few days were such a whirlwind that I didn't have a spare minute to update you all. We were in fact able to get the visas in just one day. We got the call at 3, and we had to leave for the airport at 6:30, so we had to wrap up everything and pack in that short amount of time. And of course, since we've been home, the boy has not touched the floor for a minute.

Our flight was uneventful. Avianca is an awesome airline. We were able to get the seats that have a bassinett attached to the wall in front of us, so the boy was snug as a bug in a rug, and slept the entire flight. Mommy and Daddy couldn't sleep, so we settled for staring at him the entire time and thinking about how the family was going to eat him up.

My parents met us at the airport at 5am, with a huge bunch of balloons. We drove back to our house and shortly after that Jim's parents and sister came. Everyone was overjoyed to have him home and to finally see him in person. The rest of the time has been a blur, people have come in and out of the house all day, and the boy takes it all in stride. He doesn't cry no matter how many people he gets passed around to. He is just as sweet and wonderful as he was in Colombia.

Last night my mom called and told us to come for dinner. She told me to dress him in something cute so she could take his picture in front of the Christmas tree. And since I would be holding him, she told me to at least wear a decent shirt (I usually wear sweats and slippers over there - she lives right down the block). Well good thing I listened, because when we opened the door I got a big "SURPRISE!" in my face. My mom planned a quickie surprise baby shower! I couldn't believe it, I had no clue! My entire family was there it was so awesome. Somebody took the baby out of my hands as I was standing there stunned, and I barely saw him the entire night. There were literally people lined UP to hold him next! And there were so many cameras in his face it looked like he had his own papparazzi! We got lots of good gifts, but the best part was seeing my family after so long. Speaking of gifts, I would like to thank my wonderful secret pal Debbie, who was nice enough to send me a very generous gift card to Babies R Us. Thanks girl, I can guarantee that will go to very good use. And thanks for being a great pal, I truly appreciate everything you did!

So we are really going to enjoy Christmas this year. I hope each and every one of you enjoy the blessings of the season no matter which holiday you celebrate. I wish you all peace, love and joy. For those of you in a crappy place this holiday, I wish you the hope of dreams finally fulfilled and the year 2007 to be the "year of you" (if you remember I declared 2006 the "year of me" and it actually did work!) I really enjoyed reading all of your comments, and feeling the love and support from Blogland. It was awesome to get and give comments to all of my friends who are in other countries at the same time as I was! And thanks to all you lurkers out there too...Yeah, I know you're there...I hope you enjoyed our adventures, and I know that this coming year I will read all the adoption blogs with a new perspective. I will be even more excited for all of you as you travel forward on your journey!

Below I have posted the last two posts from my family blog, in case you want the blow by blow of the last few days.