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Our flight to Delhi was uneventful and Joseph was a complete dream on the flight. The Dr's appointment was traumatic. They required 6 shots and examined our Rupees much longer than they examined him. The only decent, caring thing the Doctor said was that he needed, "fresh air and a lot of love" and that he should grow and do fine. Then, they proceeded to jab him 6 times while we had to hold him down screaming and holding his breath. We were all crying by the end. BARBARIC is the word for that. INHUMANE also comes to mind... but we survived.
Embassy day was actually pleasant except for the fact that we brought electronics that had to be checked. DON'T BRING ELECTRONICS that you have to check. You will have to wait in a long line in the heat to check them and to pick them up when you are done. It was also funny that we brought a little "star teether" that runs with batteries. This both entertained and confused the security officers. They asked me to take out the battery. YOU CAN'T TAKE OUT THE BATTERY, so we offered to let them keep it. They declined, but wanted to see how it worked, so I had to gnaw the teether in front of them! So funny! We had to pick up his Visa the next day after 3:00. Here is a great picture of Bill with our documents. He was totally our legals man on the trip.
The trip home was LONG, but thanks to an amazing baby and these super cool bassinets, our little guy missed most of it:
We finally arrived home to the United States feeling a new patriotism and contemplating the idea of "citizenship" in a new way. I plan to write a post about that-- hoping this week in honor of July 4th. We just wanted to be on American soil. We sat on the runway in Paris praying that our plane could just leave and land ANYWHERE in the US. We did get to leave that evening 3 hours late to land in Atlanta. We missed our connection and stayed in a hotel, but there were no complaints from these thankful passengers!! Here is a picture of us holding our last tickets that would bring us home:
NOW-- here are some newer pictures. Joseph has absolutely flourished since he came home!! Finding fresh air in Missouri is not difficult to do at all. Here are a few pictures I would love to show that Doctor in New Delhi! How are we doing on the "fresh air and love" thing?
I am pleased to show everyone "fresh air"
And lest we forget "Love":
Finally, I want to add that we have had some rather unpleasant "firsts". Upon arriving home, Joseph was terrified of all things wet. Baths were particularly traumatic. What do you do as a mom? I tried everything. Finally, I decided to use the sink instead of the tub. The first attempt produced back-arching screams mixed with new curiosity. By the 9th or 10th attempt, we had success:
Another "first" was the haircut! Very emotional for all involved. We went from this picture taken that morning before getting dressed for the "Cookie Cutter's Kid's Salon":
To this:
He was not impressed with the DVD's or Bubbles as distractions. I guess those are for kids who aren't as smart as my boy. He wasn't buying it and had his eye on that lady with the scissors! We have no photos of the actual process. We will just say that it was not a fun "first". The finished product was darling and we no longer have to answer the question, "How old is she?"
We are all doing great and enjoying our summer. God is good and our family is blessed. We now have 3 beautiful children. There is nothing like a house full of rowdy boys..."Sons are a heritage from the Lord...Blessed is the man whose quiver is full of them"... Psalm 127
