We are home! It was very emotional leaving Grand Forks. Our hearts were breaking for Amy as we said goodbye Thursday morning. I was so sad our whole way home, and I know my pain was nothing compared to what she was going through. We know Amy loves Lillian so much, and that because she does, she was able to place her in a home where she will be completely loved and adored by a mom and a dad, and a brother, and tons of extended family members. Amy always said it wasn’t about what she wanted, it was about what was best for Lillian. We have the greatest love for her, and Zach, and his parents in helping this miracle happen.
I had many tears on our way home, but it wasn’t until I saw our family as we were coming down the escalator that I finally had tears of joy. It was so neat to see them, and having them meet Lillian made everything more real. Sometimes it still feels like a wonderful dream, and I have to remind myself that we do in fact have a daughter!
All of the women were crying together, we had all been anticipating this moment, and it was so neat it was finally here!
Jimmy’s mom, my mom, and my sister Shirley holding Lillian. I really loved talking with Shirley because she and her husband have also adopted 2 children, and because of that, they can empathize with us about all of the emotions that are involved with adoption.
Grandma S holding Lillian for the first time
Grandma Z holding Lillian for the first time
We were so excited to get to my parents’ home to see Zeke. We really wanted him to meet Lillian in a more quiet setting with less distractions. We went in and spent a few minutes with him, and then we told him we had a surprise. Jimmy went out of the room to get Lilly, and when he brought her in, Zeke immediately wanted to hold her, he said, “I wanna hold him”. We took a video of it all, and the link to it is found here.
He is doing so well with her! We were a little nervous, but he is taking on the role of big brother like a pro! He loves to help feed her, and he gets her diapers for us. When she cries, he gets concerned for her, and he loves to have her riding in our car with him. We bought some gifts in the Minnesota airport for Lilly to give to Zeke, but I think he would have liked her just the same without them. We are so happy he loves her!
My parents’ house was decorated so cutely with tons of “It’s a Girl!” decor.
Suzy, (Jimmy’s sister ), made Lilly these darling bracelets that I love! She has three boys and one girl, and her daughter, Mallory, is such a little girly girl! Mallory sang Lillian some princess songs, and I took some cute video clips, I just need to upload them.
kissies from big brother
Our whole little family, together at last.
View from my parents’ front porch of a double rainbow; and extra special welcome home gift from above.
When we got to our house, we found more surprises! Thank you to the mystery people who came and decorated our door!
Lillian woke up at about 1:30am, and Zeke woke up too. He was so excited about Lillian, and wanted to hold her and help out. We had some fun middle of the night family bonding time.
Lillian in her crib
We are so happy to be home with Lillian, we love her so much!
