Free at Last...

On Wednesday at around 4:30 (3:30 CST), we received the call from our social worker, Cherie, in Cincinnati, that we had been granted our ICPC (Interstate Compact for the Placement of Children) clearance from both Texas and Ohio (after some diligent work and advocacy/agitation on the part of Cherie, and our amazing legal assistant, Elizabeth).  Leaving Waco, we still had five hours of Texas between us an the Arkansas border. Never in my wildest dreams could I imagine how elated I would feel to spot the "Welcome to Arkansas" sign (Love ya, Texans!).  

Arriving in Little Rock at 10:00 pm (making good time, adrenaline-pumping, reveling in the freedom of the road), we fueled up the car at Citgo and our bodies at the Waffle House, feeling like we could easily pull-off another two hours, placing us in Memphis at midnight where we'd check-in and get a little sleep before Thursday's final push.  That's when our momentum was thwarted as we sat in traffic-no-man's land suspended above the Mississippi between Arkansas and Tennessee for two hours because of a pretty serious accident on the DeSoto bridge.  Quinn slept through the whole ordeal, and actually allowed us to get a little sleep before we got on the road the next day...Fear not--he wasn't stuck in his car seat during our two hours at a complete standstill, and fear not, he was secure in his seat well before the traffic was moving again.

The drive on Thursday was quite smooth until we ran into driving rain that lasted from about Mammoth Cave through a very sluggish Louisville rush hour and all the way home.  Never before have we been so overjoyed to pass through the "cut-in-the-hill" and to cross over the Ohio on the Brent Spence Bridge.  

We arrived home to a house that had been very thoroughly cleaned and prepared for our arrival by our families, with Quinn's room set up, our bedroom retrofitted for nights with a newborn.  We could not be more overwhelmed and grateful for all of the generosity, hospitality, kind words, grace, and understanding that have been rained on us over the last several weeks by so, so many of you...