The First of Many Firsts

Today was Chase's first real outing. Since we are temporarily living out of a hotel, things are a little bit different.... sadly, his first trip was to Wal-Mart, Target, and Babies R Us. (Haha) They may not have been exciting trips for him, but he was a tropper and did great!

We gave Chase his first bath at home/hotel. He didn't like it very much, but it was cute.

First adorable mohawk!

First full day at home/hotel.

His eyes are finally starting to not be so swollen, and he is able to open them more often. Today as he layed on my chest, we spent some time just looking at each other....very sweet moments.

Last night was our first night with him. I had high hopes that it would go really well....but it didn't. Needless to say, nobody slept.....at all until 6:30-7:30 this morning. We have now ended up switching him to soy formula and it has made a world of difference. When he is feeling good, he is such a sweet, laid back, and calm little guy. We love him so much!

It's Official!!

Today is a glorious day! Legal paperwork was completed and signed...meaning baby Chase is ours!!! We have waited a very long time for this, and it still feels very surreal, but we are thrilled beyond believe and can't believe this day has come! Thank you Lord for bringing us this precious bundle, and showing us your plan!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY CHASE!

We just hoped that the hurricane would bring him to us...and we were right! We arrived in PA on Wednesday because the birth mother started having contractions that we thought was the beginning of labor. We hopped on a plane, and when we got here....the contractions had stopped :-( Thursday we met with the birth mother, father, and her mother for lunch. It was wonderful!

Saturday after noon we began to get updates that her contractions had started again, and they were alot stronger and closer together......this was the night the hurricane was moving it's way across our area. We received updates all night long, and we went to the hospital at 8:30 Sunday morning. The birth mother was gracious enough to allow me to be in the delivery room with her which was the ultimate honor. She pushed for one hour, and at 11:37am on Sunday, August 28th....out poped our beautiful baby Chase! Luckily, up to this point, he is as healthy as can be...and extremely adorable! We have spent quite a bit of time with his "birth family" and we could have NEVER imagined this experience would be going this perfectly. We have formed such an incredible bond with this family, and we all really get along very well and plan to stay in contact. Chase is so lucky to have so many people who love him.

Chase is 7. 15oz and 19inches long....a little ball of perfection, made by God!

Baby Chase!

Here are some photos of the cutest baby in the entire world over the past couple days! Wednesday is the big "official"day for signatures, so we will rest a lot easier when that is done. For now, we were given physical custoday of him and we were released from the hospital today. We are now back at the hotel room, our home away from home, enjoying every second with him.

Philly

Hurricane Irene about to make her debut!

While we wait for baby to make his debut into this world, Brad and I decided to take a quick trip to Philadelphia to see some of the historical sites. As you know, Hurricane Irene was headed this way, so we knew it needed to be a quick trip. We got downtown at 8:30 when everything opened and visited Independence Hall, where our country's first government was formed, the Declaration of Independence, as well as the Liberty Bell......can't forget the famous "Rocky" steps at the Philly Museum of Art. As we finished up around 11:30, the rains were definitely making their entrance, so we hurried back to the car in search of some yummy Philly cheese steak!

I have to admit...PA was a state that I never really thought about visiting. It is absolutely BEAUTIFUL here....the first few days it was cloudy and rainy, then we got the hurricane.... after the storm it has been clear, 80ish degrees during the day, 60ish at night and sunny. There are tall gorgeous trees everywhere.

PA or Bust!

We are officially in Pennsylvania! It has been a bit of a roller coaster ride...but we are here. Last Sunday we got a call that the birth mother was having contractions every 20 min. We planned on flying out to PA on Monday afternoon, and by Monday morning the contractions were consistently every 10 minutes.....they were not painful though, so we decided to wait. On Wednesday morning at 5am I got a call that the contractions were every 7 minutes, and much more painful, so we planned on taking a 12:30 flight out. Around 8am I got a call that the contractions were then 5 minutes apart and very painful, so we decided we needed to get there as soon as possible. Got to the airport at 9:30, and got on a 10:30 flight. Landed in PA at 5:30, only to find out that the contractions weren't as close together or as painful.

We are here now, and had a wonderful lunch today with the birth mother (who is 15), father, and birth mom's mother. They are a very sweet and loving family, and we all got a long very well. Contractions have virtually disappeared for the time being :-/ The doctor told her that he will NOT induce until she is one week past her due date, which is two more weeks from today (she is 39 weeks today).

To top that all of.....hurricane Irene is headed straight toward this general area....so we are preparing for LOTS of rain and wind. We are hoping that this baby boy will make his debut before the big storm. The birth mom's next doctor appointment is Monday afternoon, so let's hope that she is progressing....

For now....we wait!

On another note...it is absolutely GORGEOUS here. It is sooooo lush and green, in fact it rained about 2 inches this morning, which was lovely to watch (from a hotel window). Definitely not used to seeing and hearing it, so I love every minute of it! Please keep us in your thoughts and prayers!

On your mark....get set.......???

Ok...so for all of you who ever had to go into natural labor...I FEEL SORRY FOR YOU! I am not even the one pregnant, but this whole waiting game is starting to make me go CRAZY! So our birth mother is officially 38 weeks today, and her doctor has no plans of inducing quite yet. As of last week's appointment, and this week's appointment, things look great and she is 1cm dilated. There are two things we reallllly want.... 1). A healthy baby, and 2). For him to hurry up and be born!

In case you are wondering...nesting still happens, even if you don't birth the child, haha! I think I have cleaned and organized every nook and cranny of this house, and we are as ready as we can be. I have the baby's suitcase packed and ready, but I haven't packed mine and Brad's yet. We are going to be gone about 7-10 days, so I don't really want to pack things that we might still want to wear right now. I will be sure to post some pictures, and let you all know how things are going as soon as we know anything! Hopefully we will be on our way there sooner than later. Please keep us in your thoughts and prayers!....and be ready for the last minute invitation for the baby shower/sip and see!