At Last...

A surprising call came Friday morning...bursting with excitement, Emilie told me she had managed to get the rest of the day free from work and was getting ready to get on a plane to come home...She and Nova would be landing in Honolulu by 8:30 tonight.

I could hardly concentrate the rest of the day at work waiting for 8:00 p.m. to get here.
Finally, we loaded into the van and headed to the airport where we stood at baggage claim and waited what seemed like forever...then at last...

Meeting Mommy

Meeting Nova

I'm sure we were quite a scene in the airport with everyone crying and hugging and passing babies back and forth. Of course, mommy had sent a special outfit for Juneau to wear so that her and Nova's outfit didn't clash in their first picture together.
Nova was SOOOO tired on the way home from the airport and fought sleep for awhile. By the time we rolled into the driveway, both sisters had finally given in and were happily snoozing in side-by-side carseats.

Juneau slept her normal schedule but Nova still thinks these clocks at home are off by 6 hours so she was up at 3:00 a.m. Their first morning at home together was great. Juneau is so interested in her little sister.

Getting ready for bathtime.

The sisters had their first (of many, I'm sure) baths together this morning. Juneau's idea of playtime in the bath is still a little "lively" for Nova's taste so she wasn't too happy with her big sister and decided to bail out early on this one.

Great-grandma Nova sent these outfits for the sisters to wear on their first day out...in this case, their first trip to the zoo. Luckily, cousin Melody, who is an expert on the Honolulu zoo was there to show us exactly where everything was.

Family photo at the Honolulu zoo with a Diamondhead view.
Aunt Betsy and Nova at the Zoo arguing over who is less tan.
Stranded in the middle of the fish tank
Juneau's reaction to her mommy has been nothing short of amazing. She immediately reacted to her very well. Emilie held her a bit at the airport and sat next to her car seat the whole way home. At the zoo, Emilie carried Juneau pretty much all day. On only a couple of occasions did Juneau insist on daddy.

The craziest outcome of the whole return home is that the one who is having the hardest time adjusting is Nova. With the time difference and forgetting what her home looks like, she has been stressed the whole time, not sure when she wants to eat, sleep or be happy. She was beginning to think she actually lived in a hotel room. Juneau has taken the whole thing in stride and barely missed a step. In her mind, this is her home and mommy and Nova are the new kids on the block.

Emilie and I spent a few minutes last night talking about the craziness of our situation...going back and forth from joy at being together and having our girls laying beside us to terror from realizing that we actually have 2 children under 1 year old. It is clear that Juneau and Nova are going to become best buddies...the only question yet to be answered is how long it wil take before they start conspiring to drive their parents insane.