Homecoming

I have waited on this day for nine months. I have thought about it at night, while running and all sorts of random times during the days we have been waiting for Chad to get home. Chad surprised me by telling me he was getting ready to board a flight for Kuwait three weeks early and finally coming home. After so many nights and days of daydreaming, it was finally becoming real.

The day finally arrived and my whole family giddily arrived at the General Aviation airport next to Tallahassee Regional. The reason we were meeting him there was because Chad's Guard Unit was flying him in so he did not have to take a commercial flight to Tallahassee. These guys have always been unbelievably wonderful to Chad. They flew a plane from Austin to Ft. Benning to pick him up so he could get back to his family as fast as possible. When we arrived at the airport, the staff there was beyond amazing to us. They knew Chad was flying in from being gone and did everything they could to make the whole experience special for us. When he finally landed, they parked his plane right in front of the door and let me go out on the tarmac when the engines shut down.

My sweet, amazing, wonderful, skinny husband poked his head out of the plane and I lost it. We had talked earlier and I told him not to cry because I didn't want to cry. But I didn't have a chance in hell. I had been crying all morning. I cried when a dear family friend, Mr. Eddie wrote a personal message to Chad on his Subway business sign. I cried when the local florist did the same thing. I cried when I saw Gavin in his trike with his Welcome sign for Daddy on it. So there was no way I wasn't going to cry when I finally laid eyes on my husband.

 

 

So yeah, I was completely fooling myself in thinking there wasn't going to be a tear shed. I bawled. I mean I flat out bawled like I never have before. He stepped out of the plane with flowers and if they weren't sitting on the table in the dining room I wouldn't be able to tell you what color they were. I just had my husband home and it was a whole mixture of wonderful. I can't even type this without crying about it. But it's a good cry!

 

Ok, so this picture has an interesting story. In all of the excitement, I did not give my camera to someone to make sure some sort of picture was taken when Chad got off the plane. My brother had the video camera going but no thought was given to actual pictures. A woman that worked at the airport actually took this amazing picture. Her office was upstairs and she knew Chad was flying in to see his family. She told me she had her camera ready for when he landed. She got this one picture and her camera battery died! I mean, are you kidding me?? She came downstairs and found me and asked if she could email it to me. It was perfect! How absolutely wonderful of her to capture this amazing moment. I am telling you, the staff at Million Air in Tallahassee was absolutely fantastic. The girls behind the counter did everything they could to make us feel so special. They even fed us while we waited for Chad! The guys guiding the airplane into its parking spot all shook Chad's hand as we were walking back into the airport. I truly felt like a rock star.

 

Gavin needed a little warm up period but once the initial reunion had passed and we were back inside the airport, he immediately started wanting Dada. He was so confused by the four guys in the same uniform but it didn't take him long to figure out which one was Daddy.

 

 

When we got home, he immediately started showing Daddy all of his toys. He even let him sit in his rocking chair which is a huge personal deal for Gavin. He never lets ANYONE sit in his chair. Not even Mommy. So we knew something special was sparking inside of Gavin when that happened.

 

 

So we were able to enjoy a few hours of wonderful bliss until reality started setting in. First of all, Chad arrived back home not feeling well at all. The night before he flew here, he got really sick. It was terrible timing. But he powered through and made it home. After the initial shock of having Daddy back home, Gavin started not acting right. He was being really clingy to me and acting so tired. Before I tell you the rest, Chad and I always used to joke about how Gavin would throw up or poop on only Chad. I even threw up on Chad once in a plane if you remember! Gavin has not thrown up once since we have been here. Not even spittle. Fast forward to the night Chad gets home from being gone for nine months. We walk into The Hobbit and Gavin immediately throws up all over Chad. So back home we go. We got them cleaned up and Gavin had a slight fever. He then commences to throwing up all over me. And our wonderful homecoming night began. It was horrible. Gavin was up and down all night. His fever finally broke sometime during the night but he still wasn't feeling that great. And his sleep pattern was completely disrupted. Which made for a not so great next day. Welcome home, Chad!!!

 

But Gavin is doing wonderful now and enjoying every minute that he has with his daddy. They have been bonding over the last few days and it has been amazing to watch. I cannot express to you how much in debt we are to Skype. That is the sole reason that Chad and Gavin have been able to bond as fast as they have. It did some amazing things for their relationship. Of course, it isn't all smooth and we all have some things to learn together but we will get there. And Skype has made that SO much easier.

 

 

 

We are in full birthday mode, getting ready for Gavin's birthday party this coming weekend. Chad's parents are coming down for it which I am so excited about. I know his parents are just dying to see him and they will be so amazed when they see Gavin. Then we are taking Gavin to Disney World next week which keeps me up at night I am so excited about it!!!! It is going to be so much fun!!

 

 

 

So I finally have my little family back. Now that the first night is over with, I look back on it and think about how appropriate it all was. You can daydream, plan and imagine how you would want everything to go but you really have no control over it. Chad has been waiting so long to come home and be with his family. He was tired of being a soldier first. He was ready to get back to being a daddy. And all his fatherly skills were put to the test night and he did great. It just goes to show, you never stop being a parent.