Adoption Day!

Today we were in Chicago for Jack's official adoption custody court appearance in Illinois. We stayed at the Hard Rock Hotel on Michigan Ave. last night and it was a great time. The hotel sent up champagne to congratulate us on the great day! We took it home instead so we could celebrate another time. We went to the Daley Center at 7:30AM and were done by 10:00! We have official custody of Jack and will recieve final paperwork in July or August with his new birth certificate, etc. It was a great day ending with a stop at IKEA for some items for Jack's new nursery.... pictures of the nursery to come!

Daddy, Mommy, and Jack with the Deputy Sheriff getting Jack's Jr. Deputy Badge and court summons!



With our Illinois Lawyer, Kathleen Hogan Morrisson





Some more pics of Jack!

Jack continues to change each and every day! It amazes me how many expressions and funny things he does! He is the light of my life and the joy in his Daddy's heart! We can't even begin to express how much love we have for this little guy and a special love for his birthparents! This is the greatest gift anyone could ever give and we will forever be thankful!

Doctors Visits and more visits....

Once we got home the first person who really needed to check Jack out was our pediatrician Dr. Rauch! We had a visit that first Friday and Dr. Rauch gave Jack a clean bill of health. He was so excited for all of us because he too had been praying for a baby to join our lives! Jack gained weight reaching 6lbs. 3 oz. and 20.5 inches!! WOW!



Dr. Rauch



Dr. Morrisetty



We also visited Dr. Morrisetty today for the circumcision consult. We are planning to do the circumcision on Thursday at 2:00. YIKES! Mommy isn't looking forward to that at all.... but then again neither is Jack.

Visitors Visitors

Today was the day we could finally travel back to Illinois. Grandma Wurmnest and Aunt Jenna drove us home - we had a packed Enclave that's for sure! We took it easy on the way home stopping every 2 hours to get Jack out, feed him, change him, whatever he needed, etc. Then we arrived home from Tennessee on Tuesday, February 2 around 5:30PM. Around 7:00 Jack had his first set of visitors.


Zachery, Lindsey, and Issac with Jack!




Sarah and Missy with baby Jack - They brought balloons!

 Mitzi met Jack for the first time and they were fast friends. Mitzi sniffed, licked Jack's forehead and left. She will do great with the baby as I knew she would.

Jack and Mitzi - fast friends!!

Chad came home from his workshop tonight so we could be a family in our home for the first time! It was the best feeling in the world and I can't wait to see what the next part of our journey is! But for now... goodnight! A midnight feeding is close at hand! :)

Meet the Grandparents!!!

The first time grandparents are in town and boy they are excited!!! Grandma and Grandpa Wurmnest, along with Aunt Jenna, arrived yesterday around 4:30pm. They were just so amazed at how tiny and cute Jack was! We ate Backyard Burgers and just had a great time admiring little Jack!




Grandma and Grandpa Wurmnest




Your "favorite" Aunt Jenna!

 Today Grandma and Grandpa Waughop arrived and there were lots of tears! They have both been praying for a little one for so long and here he is!!! We had a great day just hanging out in the hotel room and enjoying life with little Jack in our lives at last!


Grandma Waughop




Grandpa Waughop

 For dinner tonight we got Corky's BBQ and had a feast to celebrate Jack's arrival and it was a great family time! It was also Grandma Wurmnest's birthday so Mommy surprised her with a cake and TCBY frozen yogurt! YUM!

A Day at the Courthouse

Today we will be traveling to the courthouse in the birthparents hometown. They will be signing over rights to us and we will get custody of Jack. The ride took around 2 hours and Jack did wonderful!
we met our Tennessee lawyer at the courthouse along with the birthparents. They were doing a little better today however we knew it still was very emotional for all involved. They signed papers first then we went in to sign. I wanted to give them time with Jack while we had to do paperwork and I think they apprciated that! I wanted them to spend as much time with him as they could since they were giving him to us for a lifetime! After papers were signed we officially had custody! The birthparents have 10 days to change their mind which is scary! But we all felt very good at the end of the day so I hope they feel the same. Jack feels like he is a part of us now - I couldn't bear it if they took him from us!!
When we returned Mommy and Jack stayed at the hotel hanging out and bonding while Daddy went to get dinner. We ate dinner and hung out with Jack! Jack is now an American Idol fan. LOL.
We went to bed around 9:30 and Jack slept after each feeding for about 2 1/2 hours each time - whoo hoo!!! We got 7 hours of sleep tonight. Very good baby.... I think it was the new Snuggabunny bassinet we bought him while we were down here!

Jack is discharged from the hospital!

I went back to the hospital early the next morning and was so ready to hold Jack. During the day it was a lot of coordinating with lawyers while feeding and changing Jack. Jack was to be discharged that afternoon and there was a lot of information coming our way. The nurses were awesome with loading us up with several packages of Pampers, formula, supplies, etc. Then finally it was time for Jack to leave with us.

New Family of 3!!!

The lawyer came to the hospital because the birthparents had to sign Jack over to be discharged to the lawyer. He walked out with us and saw us put him in the car. The lawyer then put us in charge of Jack.

 We drove back to the hotel and made a list of things we needed for our stay. I went to Target and came home with $200 of stuff for Jack and food for us.
After a while we throught we would try sleeping after a feeding. However Jack had other plans. Nighttime for us was daytime for Jack. So we were up until around 3:30 and Jack finally slept once we put him in his carseat (which he loves)!!! We got about 3 1/2 hours total that night but not bad for night #1.