Our Adoption Journey: Airplane Rides and New Home!

Sorry for the delay in posting! As you can imagine, we have been busy at home getting adjusted to being a family of five. So far, things are going fabulous! Better than I would have expected. It is so amazing to realize we are living the reality of something we have been working on, praying for, and dreaming of for nearly 2 years.

We flew home on Thursday, the 25th. I won't lie, flying home with a 3 year old (plus 2 other kids) on a 12 1/2 hour flight isn't fun, especially when he doesn't speak your language. That makes it hard to explain the need for seat belts and other airplane safety. But, we survived and learned to swallow our pride with the not-so-nfun looks we got from other passengers. After a long wait in customs, Nikita was declared a United States Citizen and we drove home from Houston with three kids sleeping in the backseat.

Nikita seemed at peace immediately when we got to our house. I think he recognized his room from pictures and had a look of pride on his face as he took it all in. I think he understood on some level that his room was his room: something he has never experienced before. I checked on him about 20 minutes after putting him to bed that night and he was sitting in bed, holding a picture of Brent, himself, and me in one hand and a book the orphanage nurse gave him in the other, grinning with a look of total joy. This brought big tears to my eyes.

This morning we attempted to go buy him some shoes. The pair I bought to take to Russia did not fit and he has been wearing a pair of Dylan's old shoes since we got him. They are worn out but he is so attached to them, he insists on wearing them constantly, even insists on sleeping in them! The shoe store ended up being a pretty crazy experience. He was upset to take off the shoes and refused to try on new ones. And, of course, we don't have the words to explain to him that he can keep the old shoes. It ended up being fruitless anyway, because the store was out of shoes in his size. So, for now, he is wearing Dylan's shoes and I'm ordering online from now on!

Watching Nikita experience life is so much fun. He squeals with joy and claps at bubbles, something my other kids had lost interest in by the time they were his age. He experienced the first Bowen "family movie night" involving pizza and Madagascar 3. He is enthralled with all the toys in the house, and especially loves the play kitchen. And, he has been smiling almost non-stop since he came home. Seeing the joy on his face brings me such joy. I know without a doubt God sent him to live here and be a part of our family. This is where he belongs.

Our biggest challenge is the language barrier but we are making progress. He is already picking up the language some, mostly repeating things Maddie and Dylan say. We have also been using sign language, which he appears to already know. He calls me "Mom" now, instead of "mama" and Brent is "Dad" instead of "Papa". Maddie is usually "Maddie" and Dylan is either "Dylan" or "Brat" (the Russian word for brother, which we find very funny!) He also has learned "all done", "more", and can say "Sasha, come here" when speaking to the dog.

Here are a few pictures from life so far, since leaving Moscow.

The whole family, leaving for the airport in Moscow!
I love seeing all of us together.

My attempt to get a picture of the 3 kids in their big sis,
big brother, little brother shirts at the airport.
Couldnt get them all looking at the camera.

Nik is pretty attached to water bottles, so major drama occurred
when he had to throw this away in airport security. We had no way
to explain to him the problem or that we could get him more water
after security.