Already over 2 weeks old!

I have so much to post about! I finally have a few minutes to blog and I will try to post as many pics as possible.(note: skip through all the writing if you just want to see pictures.)

I will start with describing the last two weeks. Jacoby was discharged to Christina (we have her permission to use her name) on Monday, Feb 13. She signed the papers surrendering her parental rights with the attorney that morning and we signed placement paperwork with the caseworker separately. Then we all waited for Christina to be discharged, which was supposed to be at noon, but wasn't until 3 p.m.! We were so famished and drained, as it was an emotionally trying day. We were officially handed Jacoby outside the hospital doors and instead of saying good-bye to Christina, she came in our car with us to the mall, where we met her kids and her boyfriend, Ray. We all had "lunch" at Ruby Tuesdays inside the mall and then went to Sears to get pictures together. Cameron and I had bought everyone 'I love NY' shirts, even Jacoby, so that is what we wore. Our photographer did a good job and said Jacoby, at 3 days old, was her youngest customer so far. They turned out good and I will post pictures when we get the cd in the mail. We got pics with Christina and her two boys and several with all three boys together.

We still didn't really have to say good-bye when we left the mall because we planned on seeing her at least one more time that week. We headed back to the hotel, exhausted, but oh so happy. I said to Cameron, "Just so you know, there is a baby in the backseat." That night was so fun to just get to know each other in the comfort of our hotel room. That night, I naively crawled into bed with Jacoby asleep in his bassinet, thinking he would wake up in a few hours, eat, and then go right back to sleep. Ha! Wrong! It was a long night. He was wide awake for five hrs straight. It was quite a shock to me, but at the same time so sweet to have him all to myself while he looked into my eyes. He didn't fuss; he was just wide awake. The next few days were a repeat of that, and needless to say, we didn't look too good as we stumbled downstairs to breakfast at 9 am each morning.

A few days later, we picked up Christina and went to the grocery store where she works so she could show Jacoby off. We also went to her grandma's house and her friend's house for pizza that night. We finally said good-bye at her friend's house on Friday. It wasn't too emotional for us as we knew we would see each other again and would keep in touch. We just felt so much love for her and it was so fun to spend a few extra days with her outside the hospital. She gave us the most amazing gift and I am so glad we have an open adoption.

Backing up a little, the day before, Thursday, we got the okay to fly home. Wow, it had only been four days and they told us 7-10 days! We were so happy. The flights were booked until Saturday and we had tickets lined up just in case for Sunday, so we decided to just fly home then. Saturday we checked out of our hotel in Chester, NY and drove to Newark, New Jersey to turn in our rental car and get a hotel close to the airport. We had to be at the airport at 5 am the next morning. We were up at 4am (2 am Mountain time) and we each only had 3.5 hrs of sleep. We made it through security without a hitch and lots of people looked longinly at my little bundle in my MOBY wrap. Definitely the way to go, because I was hands-free to carry luggage.

We had a four hour flight to Denver and he slept the whole time! The flight attendants kept coming over to "ooh and awh" over him. We then had a layover in Denver and a two hour flight to Boise. My friend my college, Jamie, lives in Boise, and her and her two boys met us at the airport to meet him. Then, Brooklyn, Cameron's sister, picked us up and drove us to Mountain Home where our car was. We finally arrived home at 5:30 p.m., practicially sleeping on our feet but happy to be home. My friend, Brie, put a sign by our door that said "Welcome Home Jacoby! We Can't Wait to Meet You!" My parents were waiting for us with Oakley and dinner. Such a sweet reunion.

After they left and the house settled down, we went to bed. Well, Cameron went to bed, and I laid down for about 2 minutes before Jacoby was wide awake. Ahh! I was so tired! He was up all night! Thankfully Cameron took over at 5 a.m so I could get some sleep.

My mom came to stay the next day for a few days and I loved the help at night as well as both of us getting to bond with him after Cameron left for North Dakota on Thursday. He was so sad to go and I was sad to see him leave. I have such a wonderful husband and am thankful he is supporting our family.
We also had lots of visitors last week and three dinners were brought into us. I love our ward! We have such good friends.

Finally, on Friday, I went to Firth for the weekend, as I had a baby shower on Saturday. It was a fiasco getting out of the house with Oakley and Jacoby. I forgot my bottles and formula and had to go back after getting 20 min down the road! Packing will definitely take practice! The shower on Saturday was so fun and I got to see high school friends I haven't seen in forever. So many people supported us and joined in the celebration of Jacoby being in our family. He slept through the whole thing as people passed him around. Babies have such a rough life!

Now I am home and I look forward to more adventures in the coming weeks and getting used to my "New Normal." I feel so blessed and humbled to be Jacoby's mommy and I am loving every second! Enjoy the pictures.