The Most Wonderful Homecoming Ever!!

The Lambeth Family is Finally Hooooooome!!

We are so excited to be home!!! It's been a whirlwind 3 days. I can't believe all that we had to do to get out of Kiev, thru customs, and finally to Atlanta. Haley was so great the 2 days we were in the apartment in Kiev. She slept in the bed with us and had very few episodes worth noting. We were in heaven! Unfortunately, she was a NIGHTMARE on the plane to JFK. She made everyone on the plane miserable. I finally stood up and apologized to all the folks around us and told them we had just adopted her and that she was scared. Most everyone around us was understanding and supportive, however, the “business suits” in the back were not smiling and rolled their eyes. I know exactly how they felt…I remember enduring long plane rides with screaming children...how we just wanted to read peacefully and get some sleep. Now I was the one with the loud child. I definitely understand the importance of the $2 headsets more than ever now! I joked that the headsets were on me!

Haley finally succumbed to exhaustion and fell asleep about 30 minutes from Atlanta!

Our friend, Laura Passanita and her mom were in seats right behind us with the 3 boys she adopted (we didn’t realize our seats were right by each other until we were boarding the plane). It was fun for Haley to see her friend, Evan (who had been at the same orphanage, but in a different group) although it probably added to the confusion and stirred up even more excitement on the trip. This is a picture of the Passanita boys and Haley just after we got off the plane in JFK airport...the first moment they were all officially US citizens!

On the plane, Haley was too afraid to go into the bathroom and she is not used to wearing a diaper, so when she had to go “potty” we carried a little plastic pot we had purchased in Zaporizia to the back of the plane and set it up in front of the bathroom. She'd sit down and go right there in front of the stewards getting the drink carts ready. I'm sure they were soooo happy about that. But it was adorable and so helpful that we had that potty with us! She went at least 3 times and Laura even borrowed it for her boys when the bathrooms were occupied.

We arrived in Atlanta to the most amazing homecoming!! After a 14 hour trip home with NO sleep, a 7 hour time difference, and the fact that we were not able to take a shower the morning we left Kiev (because the water in the apartment had been turned off the day before), we were looking very haggard. Our outsides were battered, but inside we were so excited to be home...with our daughter!! Our dear friend, Robbie Cantey, met us at the airport (she lives in Montgomery AL, and drove 3 hours just to pick us up!!) Robbie and her husband, Tim, adopted a boy (Sam) from Ukraine 2 years ago and they were the catalyst for our pursuing adoption from Ukraine as well. I love that she got to meet Haley right off the plane! Robbie had a sign in her car that said “Haley Anastasia Lambeth”, like she was a celebrity! She had brought all the perfect things for the ride home…toys for Haley she could play with in the car seat (she wasn't too thrilled about the car seat as you can tell in this picture) and cold drinks for us! Robbie took pictures like a paparrazi and made it all so special. Always the consumate cheerleader, she added spark and excitement to our trip up 85 toward home! She provided all the perfect touches to make it such a great, memorable time for us!

When we arrived home, we saw a wonderful Welcome Home Haley poster hanging in the foyer and little colorful cut out footprints leading up the steps. It was so cute. We walked up stairs to find the most precious little girls room in the whole world. It was so beautiful I stared to cry! Friends from our church had snuck in the house and worked their magic on her little room. Ty Pennington from Home Make-over would be so proud of all they did! It was amazing.

The "make-over elves" chose the perfect shade of pink that makes the whole room feel so cozy. There was a beautiful white antique bed and they had painted some of the old furniture I used as a child in pale greens, blues and pink. It's the most wonderful girlie room I've ever seen...complete with a pink tutu hanging on the wall. The bookcase was overflowing with books (she LOVES books) and stuffed animals were everywhere! Her closet and dresser were jam-packed full of clothes. It was overwhelming!!

Haley was so excited. She immediately kicked off her sandals and put on one of the pairs of shoes lining the floor of her closet.

The “crew” also set up a play area for her in the basement with a little kitchen and tons of toys!
This sweet little one went from clutching a beat-up plastic red bowling pin as a toy...to an incredible wonderland full of fun!! What a delight…Christmas in July! This little girl who literally had nothing to call her own is now surrounded by the most gorgeous room in the world and more clothes and toys than she'll ever know what to do with. We felt so much love emanating from every corner of her room! We are so thankful to everyone who helped make this little one feel so LOVED on her first day home!!

We continue to discover new things every hour that the elves did in our home to brighten her world and make it a more “kid friendly” environment... kid-proof locks on the cabinets and doors, outlet covers, a beautiful gate on the back deck, adorable knobs on the night stands, not to mention the clean kitchen and bathrooms, freshly cut lawn, someone even installed our new computer (which had been sitting in boxes in our garage). The "makeover" welcome was the greatest surprise we've ever had!! Just amazing. We felt so loved…

The last few days home with Haley have been such a joy for us. She is adjusting so well and is all smiles and giggles. She is eating really well…she loves fruit and veggies. She will eat an entire tomato like an apple and loves bananas so much that I have to hide the rest of the bunch or she’d eat every last one.

The potty training is going so much better than we could have expected!

She still loves to wear mommy's running shoes...at least someone is getting some use out of them!!

She loves to push her baby dolls in the toy stroller one of the little elves brought over for her.

She is such a good helper, always wants to help mommy wash dishes in the sink and put things in baskets to put away. She loves tools and had fun helping daddy lower the railing on the steps.

I am so proud of her. She has been through so much and just surprises us every day with how incredibly well she is handling all of this! Our days are full of lots of hugs and kisses. We are having so much fun with her. We are still working on curtailing some of the behavior problems, particularly the tantrums at night before bed time…but they seem to be getting shorter each night. For that we are so thankful!

She is a ball of energy each day and wears us out. We have not only been exhausted, but we started wondering how we were ever going to get anything done since she would not take a nap! Yesterday, finally, she took her first nap! Halleluia! It was a glorious four hours during which Hunter and I were able to catch up on work and clean the house!

We feel so blessed with our sweet little darling! We reached many destinations as we traveled through the voyage of adoption, the very best of which is being HOME with our little girl! We know the journey never ends and we are so excited to begin this new chapter in our family with our precious Haley.

Gotta go...Haley just woke up! The adventure continues...