Alyvia's Gotcha Day

I thought since a picture's worth a thousand words, I would let these pictures tell our "Gotcha Day" story.

Tavis and I laid in bed the night before Livy arrived and "watched" our daughter land in France.  There really is an app for that!

We woke up the next morning to a very exciting day!

In case you were wondering, I did finish the quilt at 10pm the night before she arrived. I put it on her bed first thing the next morning.

I was addicted to this app the whole day.  Here's where she was at 9am.  She was flying over the Atlantic and we were getting ready to get in our car and go get her.

Everyone was excited, well, except for Clara.

The boys watched a video on the way to Cincinnati to pick up Livy.

Keeping busy.

She landed!  She's here!

We arrived at the airport right at 3:00, just a few minutes after her plane landed.  We wouldn't actually meet her until closer to 5.  It takes that long to get through customs. 

We're here!

Our good friends, The Abney Family, just happen to live only about 20 minutes from the airport.  They came with us to help us with our kids and take pictures for us.

We were waiting in the waiting room right at the edge of the arriving flights terminal.  The kids really were very patient. 

Daddy's ipad kept them busy for quite a while. 

After almost two hours of waiting we hear our coordinator yell out, "They're here!!!!!"  We rushed over with the 3 other families to the terminal to meet our little ones. 

There were 6 children coming home to meet their families that day.

We're actually whispering to each other saying, "Which one is she?"  With her hair in extensions, she was hard to spot at first, and was also hidden behind the little boy with the suitcase.

There she is!  She's the one on the far left.

The lady in the blue shirt literally called out "McNair?" and just handed her off as she walked by.  Livy came right to us.

It was so good to get my hands on her!

Notice the other family meeting their little girl for the first time as well.  So sweet.

Tavis asked if I wanted to trade girls.

So we tried....

But Clara didn't want to be "traded."

And so I got Livy back.

I'm not picking her nose.... I'm actually calling her brothers over to come and meet their new sister.  They were so busy playing that they didn't even realize she was here.

"This is your sister."

Why am I laughing.....?

Because of THAT face.

She warmed up quickly though.  They are both fascinated with the others' hair.

Daddy finally got his hands on his new baby girl.

This is our attorney.  She is giving me all the documents we need for readoption in the United States.

She's so sleepy.  It's midnight in Congo.

 

 

Despite her lack of sleep, she had boundless energy.  All the other kids were crying and/or falling asleep.  Not our daughter!  She would throw the toy, and then the kids would "fetch."

Run!

After leaving the airport we took Livy for her first American meal--Chick fil a.  She only ate the fries.

After eating, it was time to head home. 

Livy stayed awake almost the whole trip.  She was out cold when we arrived home though and asleep enough for me to remove all the extensions.  She slept the whole night and has every night since.  We are loving having her as part of our family!