Home Sweet Home

Our day started at 2:45am (Moscow time). We got up and showered and then met our driver at 3:45am. Our flight to London was rough, it was crowded and cramped and Maks had a hard time falling asleep. The man behind me smelled like salami and alcohol, so my stomach was turning most of the flight. We had a 3 1/2 hr layover at Heathrow, good for Maks to be able to move around more and get some more food. He is really gassy and still a little constipated. We got upgraded on the flight home to business class, thank God and Thank you JoJo!! It was great to have space to stand up and rock Maks. We had the bassinet seat too, but he wasn't going for that, it is mommy or daddy or he just screams! The flight went well, the British Airways staff was so wonderful and helpful. Maks slept for a couple hours so we were each able to relax a little. We also sat near an older British gentleman who was really nice and interacted alot with Maks, we had told him Maks was just adopted in Russia and we were on our way home. He thought that was wonderful. At the end of the flight, he walked up to Kevin and handed him money and told him to put it in Maks money box and congratulations to us and welcome home Maks. That was so sweet and so amazing from a complete stranger, I will always remember him! Maks did have several episodes of loose watery stools and spit up several times. I was covered in puke and poop! He had another poop just before our decent, so I ran to the bathroom and changed him, of course it went up his back and messed up his Little Brother t-shirt. So I managed to clean that up. We settled back for our decent into Philly as we are landing Maks pooped again! I felt it leaking out his pants-YUCK!!!
JoJo met us at the plane and we introduced her to her smelly, dirty, yet very cute newest nephew and Godson, I felt bad she couldn't hold him, because he was dirty and a little anxious about eveything.
We made it thru customs and secondary inspection fairly quickly and Maks was officially our newest citizen!!

We walked down the long corridor to meet up with the family. It seemed like just yesterday we made that walk with Alek! I saw Alek ahead with my mom waving and smiling, he looked so big and so different!!! We went right into my arms, I was crying, Maks was just staring and Alek started bawling hysterically, saying mommy mommy and holding onto me tight, then he completely melted down, it was very overwhelming, so Kevin held him too. Then Maks started crying as well. We were all a mess! It was great to see everyone,Granny and Pop Pop, Grammom and Poppy, Pop and Noni, JoJo, LaLa, TT and Kaitlyn all welcomed us home! Maks was too anxious to go to anyone although he did a couple times and then started crying immediately. I know it was overwhelming for him, but at least our family got to see him and we could then settle in at home. I loved holding both my boys in my arms, it was truly a dream come true!!! Our family is complete, what an amazing feeling at the end of a very long trip and journey!!
We said our good byes, Pop and Noni bought us enough clothes for both boys to last for like two weeks so we wouldn't have to do wash!! LaLa drove us home, Maks was not happy with the car seat situation at first, I sat in between my boys as we drove home. Maks got more comfortable as I tickled Alek then him, he even started laughing and smiling!
So wonderful to pull in our street (although, alot of Xmas lights up already!! Our pumpkins are still out front!). Walking in the door as a family of four was such a wonderful thing! Thank God we are home! Grammom and Poppy left us turkey and trimmings which we will enjoy tonight, we were too tired last night and just ordered a pizza. We loved the matching outfits from Grammom and Poppy for the boys, so cute, cant wait to see them in it together!
It was so fun watching the boys in the playroom together, Maks was so into exploring all the toys and crawling around. He was not into the dogs though and completely freaked out when he saw them. He is warming up slowly though. It was fun all sitting around the table for dinner, although Maks is not eating much, but he will drink the bottle and formula and I did get him some Pedialyte to replace all he lost during the day.
Maks passed out around 7:30, he definitely prefers to be rocked but he stills cries and moans as he is falling asleep. Kevin, Alek and I came to bed around 8:30 and as soon as we climbed into our bed, Maks woke up! We took turns getting him back down, it is rough, he really fights the sleep, I feel bad for him. He finally conked out again at 9:30 so we all fell asleep, Alek stayed in our bed, he really needed us to be close. At 2:30 Maks woke up, so I took him in the guest room and tried to get him back down, lots of rocking, one large bottle and 2 hours later he fell back to sleep in bed with me. At 6:15 Alek woke up and came to his room looking for me and when he didn't find me he got really upset and started crying which then woke Maks up. So we have been up since 6:15! The boys played all morning, Kevin got us our long awaited and anticipated WaWa coffee and donuts (coffee roll for me!). Tried feeding Maks some breakfast of warm oatmeal, some applesauce, he wasn't digging it at all. he did have another large bottle of formula though. He did eat some more peach applesauce which he liked. We played, Maks' eyes look so tired and red. I tried to get him to sleep again but he just freaks out. So we played some more, but you can tell he is absolutely exhausted. So daddy took Alek to the big boy store (aka Lowes) and I got Maks down, it took about 40 minutes though! Alek came home asleep and is napping in our bed, Maks woke up after only 20 minutes of sleep. I tried again and again to get him back to sleep but to no avail, so changed of scenery he is downstairs with daddy trying. Poor little man!! So that is it for now! The work and fun begins!!!