Welcome Home Baby Colin!!!

Last Saturday Allen, Calen, KatieJoy and I had the privilege of getting to welcome home a new baby! Baby Colin made his long flight home to his Forever Family and flew into San Francisco around 11:30 am! Colin's mommy, Jill, and I become close during my wait for KatieJoy and while we were still waiting to go to Korea to get KatieJoy, Jill & her husband, Kraig, got Colin's referral from our wonderful agency, Holt.

Jill waited A LONG time to adopt (our agency's wait times have just extended so much since the first application she and Kraig filled out) and watching her wait and fret over becoming a mommy was so hard for me sometimes. I knew that God had the most perfect baby planned out for her and Kraig, but telling that to a waiting woman isn't the easiest of things sometimes! It makes sense in your head, but when your arms yearn to hold and love on a your own child, sense doesn't exactly matter! So when Jill texted me Tuesday July 13th to tell me that her son was finally going to be home on Saturday, I was THRILLED! I told Allen right away, as we'd been praying and thinking of Jill and Kraig for awhile and he was quick to ask me if I wanted to go to the airport to see Colin come off the plane. Of course I wanted to! I wanted to take pictures for Jill and practically begged her to be able to do so as she kept telling me that she didn't want to inconvenience me! LOL!

Once I convinced Jill that she wasn't at all inconveniencing me- (I SO WANTED TO BE AT THAT AIRPORT!!!)- Allen and I decided to head to San Francisco for Friday night as a mini-vaca for us and the kiddos. We drove around San Francisco and checked out two different Camera stores for me and then we headed to Pier 39 to give the kids a taste of the touristy SF that we know and love. :) It was FREEZING that evening- and I mean FREEZING!!! It was Great! We ate and then walked around in the cold to show the kids the boats in the harbor and to take a picture with Alcatraz in the background. Then, because it was so darn cold, we hopped back in the car and went to our incredibly nice hotel so the kids could swim in their indoor pool before we all went to sleep. (I love Embassy Suites!)

Foggy, Cold, Beautiful San Francisco

My adorable family :0

We woke up the next morning very excited and took our time getting ready and eating our FREE breakfast (yay Embassy Suites). Just thinking about Colin coming home to the exact place that Calen did made me emotional that morning...I can't even believe that it was only two years ago at this time that Allen and I were waiting to become Calen's parents...two years doesn't seem very long ago, but it certainly seems like I've been Calen's mommy forever! (Thinking this way also led to the fact that even though 2 years ago we still weren't parents to Calen- not even 2 years later we become parents a second time to KatieJoy- GOD IS SO GOOD)!!!

Around 11 we headed to SFO to find Jill and Kraig to wait for Colin to come out the restricted area of the International Terminal. What we found when we got to the airport overwhelmed me and made me realize just how much this baby boy was already loved! Jill and Kraig's entire family came to that airport to welcome home Colin... I'm not kidding- both sides of the family were waiting with Jill and Kraig- there had to be around 30 people there! It was incredible- even Sister Ellen thought so (she's the greeter for all escorted baby's that come home to SFO and she's done this for MANY years, so she would know)! I realized once I saw all these family members there that it was really my job to capture all the emotions that everyone was feeling for this sweet baby boy- not just Jill and Kraig's, but all the family too. I had my work cut out for me, but loved, LOVED being able to capture everything... I knew that the family was mainly concerned with getting to see Colin and getting pictures of him- so I made sure to take lots of pictures of everyone waiting! Of course, I watched Jill and Kraig like a hawk too because I really wanted to see their reactions to the day as well. Jill was so calm- no tears, no jumping up and down impatiently, just calm. When I asked her if she was nervous she said "A little. But it just feels..." I finished for her- "... as if this is the way it's meant to be?" She nodded yes. That's how I remember feeling the day of Calen coming home too. She got a little more anxious when ALL the flight attendants came out and started telling her how Colin had done on the plane ride home. They all told her he was an adorable baby but that he had cried a lot of the way home and that one male flight attendant was the one able to get Colin calm. If I remember correctly, there were at least 3 flight attendants that stayed to watch Colin be placed in Jill and Kraig's loving care- simply amazing! Kraig- now Kraig I really enjoyed watching so much. I could tell he was nervous and excited all at the same time and the closer it got to Colin coming out, the more nervous Kraig was! However, the moment that Colin came out, Kraig snatched him right up and held him so tightly...Colin seemed to just melt into Kraig's arms. It was awe inspiring to watch him instantly become a father... he cried after a minute or so, once he had a bit of space and I become mush behind that camera lens. Even now, I am tearing up thinking about Kraig's sweet reaction to his son.

I'll let the pictures talk for themselves now.


Not yet the whole group...

talking with the flight attendants about Colin

Waiting daddy...

So exciting!

Are you ready?

Where is that boy?

Still waiting...

First look at Colin with DJ!!!

Colin with his Forever Family!!!

One happy daddy!

Emotional first time daddy

Kraig, Colin, DJ and Jill :)

Adorable Baby Colin

Some of the joyful onlookers

Mommy holding Colin for the first time- Look at the OVERJOYED daddy in the background!

Mommy looks so content holding her baby- just as it was MEANT to be!

WHY is that lady still taking my picture?!? ;)

THE WHOLE group, minus 3 of us taking pictures! :)

After a half hour or so, every one started to get ready to go. Colin's escort happened to be our social worker from Korea, DJ. She remembered us and KatieJoy and even took a few pictures with us as everyone else was getting a chance to meet Colin. We chatted for a bit and found out that she had a 5 hour layover in the airport before her flight left for Oregon! We jumped on the chance to take her to lunch and spend some time with her! Once Jill and Kraig left to start their new life as a family of 3, we took DJ to lunch and just enjoyed getting to know her and more about the Korean adoption process. In the extra hour that we spent with DJ we learned so much more than we had ever known... it forged a great friendship and I feel so blessed by this extra blessing that God poured out on us last Saturday!

Jill and Kraig- I want you to know that Allen and I are forever grateful to you for letting us be a small part in Colin's homecoming day! Getting to know you over the past year has been awesome and we both know that the Lord is going to bless you so much with that sweet little boy. Your day getting Colin still amazes me when I look back at the pictures or think back to specific moments... that little boy is truly blessed to be your son and to be in a family like yours that will love on him in every way possible! We can't wait to watch our children grow together over the years and just know that you are in our thoughts and prayers! Thank you so much!

~Mandy~