Welcoming a best friend's new addition home!

So often when traveling through airports you can see other travelers being greeted by their family with posters made up for them and balloons and the looks on their faces after they just came off a long flight is always filled with emotion! This time it was Baby Emilio's first time getting off a plane to see where "HOME" would be for him.

Knowing that his new parents had been through so much in their efforts to adopt a baby into their family, their best friends had to make sure this was a special moment for them. After trying several options to have a baby, they chose to go through an agency and they finally would have the opportunity. They were chosen specifically by a birth mom in Arizona for her son; and she even had them fly in to be there in the room with her when he was born. After two weeks of AirBnB life with their newest addition, hiccups with paperwork and not getting the legal documentation approved from the lawyers until the day before departing Arizona, they finally boarded a plane and flew home to Tampa.

Knowing that this was a big moment for their family, their friends wanted them to feel special getting off the plane after their long trip. They designed a poster with vibrant colors, and made sure to use as many of the Sharpie colors as possible to make the sign adorable for Baby Emilio as well!

Once at the airport they made sure to get the poster and balloons ready, and they stood where they knew they would be seen. They posted up next to Phoebe the Flamingo, an art installment at the airport right next to the terminal that they would arrive at, and they were ready to greet Baby Emilio and his parents with open arms.

This was the moment that Emilio would be "HOME" with his new family and be able to enjoy his nursery that had been set up for him with care months before his birth in expectation of his arrival. The entire friend's group and family had been waiting for nearly 7 months since knowing that he would be joining their family, and they could not wait to meet him. The airport was quiet and every shuttle that pulled into the elevator section to dock, their friends held their breath in anticipation that they would be the next ones to come off the shuttle. They knew they had arrived an hour early but they were just too excited to wait any longer! At 8:15pm after watching the elevator doors open many...many times they finally saw them step off the shuttle and they jumped into action to greet them!

This is when the tears started coming down and the joy happened. Charity quickly and carefully ran to meet the friends holding Emilio in her arms. Rosa, crying and injured from an accident she had while in Arizona, walked up to them as well, and they enjoyed a group hug filled with happy tears. The moment had finally arrived, they had come home with their new addition, Baby Emilio!!! He was tiny, adorable, and absolutely perfect. He was already surrounded with so much love and he had no idea how much more love he was going to experience when he arrived home and met the rest of the family.

They all went to luggage claim and grabbed their many bags, the stroller, and loaded up the vehicle to head home. It was about an hour drive that was filled with conversations about their trip and experiences with a newborn baby and the memories they had already made in the two weeks since Emilio had been born. When they arrived in their driveway the emotions hit again, they were really home. They finally had the baby of their dreams and he was in their arms. They could now sit in the nursery with him and show him all of this new things! After all of the excitement and love while meeting the rest of the family, Baby Emilio was yawning and ready for his first sleep at home. He was a sweet, precious bundle of joy. His life in FL is just beginning, and he will have so many adventures, and so much love in his future!