Airport Greeting Crew

Many of our friends and family have let us know that they want to be at the airport when we arrive home with the boys.  We can't wait to have you there to welcome them to the US, to the family, to the amazing circle of people who already love those boys.

Photo from an airport "welcome home" of a friend of ours. 

There are some "rules of the road" I'd like to share with those of you who will be coming.

• Have low expectations.
• Be ready to follow a few rules.

Sounds like tons of fun already, doesn't it?

DO:

• Do show up!  The boys won't realize why you're there now, but as they grow up and look at the photos in their lifebooks, they will see the people who had waited with us to welcome them home.  For the rest of their lives,  they can look back over their lifebook and see your faces and know how much they were anticipated and wanted.
• Do make a welcome home sign!  You or your kids may want to make a sign to hold to welcome the boys home. That's a fun idea and we welcome it.
• Do take pictures!  We will be exhausted and holding the boys, so won't be able to snap pictures when we get to DFW.  We'd love for you to take as many candid pictures as you'd like. (Yes, even if we're all crying, disheveled and smelly.)  Also, take photos of the group while you're waiting for us to arrive.  That would mean a lot to us.
• Do love on our three birth Brownies!  They will have had an intense and exhausting 3 weeks.  They will have taken a back seat when it comes to one-on-one attention from Mom and Dad.  It will be a welcome blessing for our friends and family to hug, hold, and fawn over those three sweet kids all you want!

DON'T:

• Don't hold the boys.  Even the grandparents can't hold the boys for the first several weeks.  If you realize their history, that they have been raised by many different adults over the course of their life, you'll understand why Ken and I will be working to help them understand what parents are and that we are their parents and that parents are not like any other adult in their life.  They will have just gotten off the airplane and stepped into a new world where the people look different and the air smells different and everything is just...different. We have no idea what fears might be going through their heads.  Passing them around will only intensify their fear of being passed off one more time.  They may hold their hands out as if they want to go to you, but we still can't pass them off.  (That's called "mommy shopping".) We know you all understand, but we also know it will be difficult.
• Don't have high expectations.  This is as much for me as it is you.  Some of you may drive 30 minutes or an hour to come meet us at the airport.  You may be getting up super early or staying up late so you can be a part of this special event.  You may have a picture in your mind of what this "homecoming" will look like.  Throw out the picture.  I know Ken, the kids and I will all be very tired and emotionally drained.  Our two little ones may not want to look anyone in the face.  They might...we hope they do... but we have no idea.  I'm sure I'll be looking pretty horrid with no makeup and messed-up hair.  I will likely be in tears.  Just be ready for anything.

If I didn't scare you off, I hope you'll come.  It's truly a special time and we'd love to have you there.
We will post updates regarding our arrival date, time and gate numbers on facebook.  If you need to be contacted a different way, let me know soon so I can make sure you're in the loop.  As of now, we expect to fly in on the 29th of July.