We made it! :)

After traveling about 24 hours straight, we made it safely back home Tuesday around 8 in the morning! As soon as we walked in our apartment door, we only had enough strength to get our beds made, pry open a few windows (as it was so hot and stuffy in here!), brush all of our teeth, and then we just fell into bed. We all stayed that way for about 4 hours. We were EXHAUSTED! But, we had made it! Yeah!

Overall, the trip went smoothly. We were able to get good seats on both flights, which was great! The second flight, when the kids were really tired, they each had an extra seat on which they could stretch out on. So, all three of them slept well that flight. SO nice! It was a challenging trip in that the babies just really had a difficult time sleeping. They would fall asleep for about 5 minutes, and then wake-up again. I think it was just way too noisy and bumpy for them to relax and sleep well. And, exhausted babies = fussy babies. (BIG sigh.) Whenever they would fuss, especially while on the plane, I would just nurse them. I think I must have nursed each one at least 20 times throughout the trip. Perhaps that wasn't the best thing to do, but I just told myself, "desperate times call for despearte measures"! At least it would quite them down and even put them to sleep for a bit. Blessed quietness the few times that did happen!

I think the most challenging part of the trip for me was the 3 hour layover we had in M before our second flight. We ended up standing in line over an hour at the check-in counter, and the older three kids were just exhausted. I must say though, they did great for having missed a night of sleep. But still, they were tired and hungry. And H & H were VERY tired and VERY hungry as well. (Don't see how as they had nursed quite a few times on the 3 hour flight just before that!) So, after we got checked-in, we found a place to sit down and David went to find something for the kids to eat and drink. I was trying to nurse one baby, while the other one was just screaming her head off. It seemed like everyone was just staring at us. And as I tried to discreetly nurse one baby in front of a bunch of men while the other one was just screaming away, I found myself wanting to cry as well. But then I told myself that I could not cry but had to keep going, and soon both babies quieted down and fell asleep for several minutes. Enough time for me to eat a piece of the 'wonderful' dry bread with cheese that David had paid a fortune for. Then we headed to our gate, walked right onto the bus that took us to the plane, and were one of the last ones to be seated! I'm so glad that our layover was 3 hours. If it would have been any shorter, I'm not sure if we would have made it!

Once we landed in the city of 'A' around midnight, we all decided just to keep going and 'get home'! So, we found a taxi in which we crammed our stuff and our weary selves into, and were on our way. Six hours up and over mountains on very bumpy roads during the night isn't the most fun thing in the world. Especially with 5 very exhausted little ones. But, we made it! I don't think my bottom had ever been so sore in all of my life! Sitting for about 11 hours straight can do that to you, I guess!

We are just so, so thankful for Eduard's help! I just don't think we would have made it (at least, not very easily) without his help. As we had to check in our strollers with our luggage, we had to carry the babies throughout the airports and onto the planes. We put them in their carseats, and Eduard carried the babies, while David carried Micah, and I took the older two girls. Thank-you so much Eduard for your help!!!

It is good to be back home. We were surprised with how well our apartment looked! David did such a great job of sealing our windows before we left last fall, as not too much soot made it's way into our apartment. I still have quite a bit of cleaning to do, but it's not nearly as bad as I had thought it would be.

It's great seeing familiar faces, neighbors and friends again. It makes all the stress of packing, cleaning, and traveling definitely worth it! Sigh. It's so good to be home! :)

These past couple of days, we've just been resting up, getting used to the time difference, and unpacking, cleaning, and getting settled back in. Thank-you so much for thinking about us on our return trip here. We are so thankful that all the traveling is over for now and that we can be here! :)