Home Sweet Home

We survived the 20 hours of travel in order to make it home last week. It was long and exhausting, but we made it back to Pittsburgh!

Our very first flight leaving Sofia was delayed by 45 minutes, and we were in danger of missing our connection in Frankfurt. We were so worried it would extend our travel, but we made it! Here we are in Sofia, boarding the plane via the stairs instead of a walkway.

The hardest parts of the travel was trying to get good sleep. Niko is not used to being held while he sleeps, but there wasn't enough room for him to spread out, so it was a lot of fitful sleeping followed by several minutes of crying each time he woke up.

This toddler carrier has proved to be invaluable so far with Niko. It got us through busy airports without having to carry him or push him in a stroller where he could feel removed from us.

My worst fears did not come true, which were him running up and down the aisles or crying the entire flight. We did lug around a backpack full of toys that he showed no interest in. Instead, he leafed through the inflight magazine obsessively and repeatedly opened and closed the safety brochure.

We were also very concerned about masking requirements for Niko. At the orphanage, he did not need to wear a mask and therefore has never learned to be comfortable in one. We practiced during our Bulgaria trip, but the longest he left it on was about 8 seconds, and we didn't think we'd get through security quite that quickly. I reached out to a friend of mine who works for United and wow did she come through! She alerted the flight crew on our long flight from Frankfurt to Washington D.C., and we were treated like royalty! Besides checking on Niko several times, they also gave us additional amenities and were fine with him not wearing a mask (he was Covid tested right before the flight anyways!). Our friend taking the time to do this was an answer to prayer!

We finally made it home and showed Niko around the house. There was a lot of excitement, but somehow we made it to bed around 1:30am. Our neighbors, who have been a huge support to the kids during our time away, did their own work to make Niko feel welcome. One made signs to decorate our home, and the other is actually flying a Bulgarian flag! What a welcome Niko received!

The next day, Oliver and Ellis finally got to meet Niko. You could feel the excitement as they came into the house and, though Niko was a bit timid at first, he was really curious about the boys.

Here is our first photo as a family of 5!

The transition to home life has been going ok. The first big obstacle is everyone getting on sleep patterns for our time zone. We are still working on this, but it's getting better each day. Niko just loves his big brothers, but we are finding that he is still hitting mom fairly often. He is doing great with his eating, and we have even gotten him to eat soft foods that require chewing, like pasta, cottage cheese, and mashed bananas. He's napping in his crib and sleeping in our bed at night. We're not sure how or when this will change, but we are giving him time to fully acclimate before making any decisions. Otherwise, we are really starting to fall into a good routine!

We have been so appreciative of the gifts, meals, and encouraging messages we have received over the past 2 weeks. It's a journey nobody can fully prepare you for, and being away from our support system was tough. Niko has received such a warm reception, and it has been such a blessing.

Finally, we have to point out what an amazing job the grandparents did taking care of Oliver and Ellis. They didn't just care for them, but they fully assumed our roles in order to keep routine and consistency for the boys. They stayed at our house, ran them to activities, did laundry, cooking, and cleaning, gave pills to our sick cat, got them to school on time each day, AND found time to FaceTime with us in Bulgaria. They lived a life that tires us out, and they did it, I think, even better than we do. The same goes for my brother who watched our dog, Maple. He got in a little trouble with his landlord, but Maple loved her vacation. They truly are the unsung heroes in this story.

So, now we start Spring Break week as a family of 5. There will be lots of bonding time and hopefully some fun memories. Happy Easter, friends!