Day Seven: (has it already been that long?)

This morning was rather quiet. We just stayed for a couple of hours and then we left to go to Newtown so Mat could visit with a client. It took us about an hour or so to get there. The weather was beautiful, it hasn't been this nice since the very first day we were here.

Newtown was originally established by William Penn, who obtained the charter for the town from Charles II. We are talking 1862. The town had a walking tour that I enjoyed, Isaac also enjoyed it, wrapped up in the sling, he slept the entire time. Just being outside in the sunshine was wonderful. Hence the pictures of flowers and such. On the way back to where we are staying (Dennis and Ruth, wonderful people, thank you so much!), we decided to take the back roads. It took us about two hours, but we saw some wondrful country and some really old farms and houses.

We appreciate everyones input on what to see and do, we hope to see some of those sights in the next couple of days.

Finally, we finish up with a few pictures of Isaac, having his pre-bed time nap.

A day in haiku

Rainy Windy Sleep
Mat works - Katie, baby drive.
Day closer to home.

Day Five..............

This is Isaac's temporary bed for our stay in Philadelphia. It is a top drawer from a dresser, with a blanket for padding. We told Matalyn and Jacob about the bed last night, and they thought it was hilarious.

Today was a rather boring day, and to think that right now we are just wasting time until papers are signed. That will now be on Wednesday that Kenya signs over the baby. As of right now we are baby sitting.

Isaac slept very well during the night. Even today, all he has done is eat, have his diaper changed, then he pees all over everything while having his diaper changed, change of clothing, and finally he goes back to sleep. Mat and I keep thinking that this can't continue forever, but we will sure enjoy the quiet while it lasts. He hardly cries at all. I keep joking that he better enjoy the quiet now, because it won't be all that quiet once we get home!

We did make it out of the house for a short outing to have a bite to eat. It has been a rather rainy day and lots of flooding around Philadelphia and New Jersey. It will be rainy tomorrow and then by the weekend it should be almost 80 degrees. That sounds great and I can't wait to see the sun again and enjoy the nice weather.

Here is a picture of Isaac just before we got ready for bed. (Just another picture to post for your enjoyment.)

One more question (if you are still reading), if you have been to Philadelphia or the state of Pennsylvania what have you seen and done? What is fun to do and see and what is not worth it? We plan on spending some time down in Center City and seeing all of the history, but what about Lancaster (Amish country)? What about Hershey, PA? Any input would be great, since we (meaning mostly me) have alot of time to fill.

Day Four: Lots of Emotions

So today can be split into two parts: before baby and after baby.

Kenya called first thing this morning saying that they were going to release her today. Keep in mind that she just had a c-section two days ago! So when we left this morning, we made sure to pack baby clothes and blankets.

We found a chapel to attend sacrament service at, so we were there at 9 am. It was just half a mile or so, down the street from the hospital. Being the very inner city part of Philly, I have to admit that I was a bit leary. The chapel was just like the ones that you see throughout the US and different parts of the world. The only difference would be the lack of parking, gated fences all around the church and white bars on the windows. There was a really good mix of people attending. It appeared to be about half locals, and maybe about half young families (they are here attending school). Of course everyone knew that we were not a regular and were hoping that we had moved in. The friendliness of people that you don't know, but you have the common bond of the gospel, is often amazing. As usual, Mat found someone that he knew! What are the chances of that happening? Amazing. The meeting was very good, they changed the Bishopric and the new Bishop was someone that Mat went to high school with. Isn't it amazing that the Lord trusts someone with so much responsibility, when that individual is barely thirty?

We got to the hospital at 10:30am and Kenya was dressed and ready to go. We had to wait around for just a couple of things to be finished up, but we were all out of their by 1pm. I called Jane (our adoption agency contact) when we got to the hospital. I was a little concerned with not knowing exactly how things were going to work out. Jane was really surprised and a little annoyed that the hospital was releasing Kenya, and we had to do several back and forth phone calls. Kenya has still not signed the papers, and won't be able to until Tuesday. The social worker at the hospital kept saying, "I don't want to know the plan, don't tell me a thing". So we essentially handed the baby off in the parking lot. Just kidding. We took Kenya to get her prescriptions and then took her home. It seemed to pass in such a rush and before we knew it, we had a baby!

It has been a rather emotional day for me. I am now ready to head home, but since Kenya can't sign papers until Tuesday, the official papers that we are waiting for, can't start the long process until Wednesday. Those are the papers that have to be signed by the state of PA, sent to UT, and then sent back to PA. We have been told to expect 10 business days, and with the state of Utah having a four day work week, that could take even longer! So pray that it will hurry up and that things will work out so we can come home soon!

Another reason I would like to come home is: that I miss my children! Yesterday Matalyn asked if we knew when we could come home. Joseph didn't miss a beat and told us we could stay another month or two! Can you believe that? You would think that he is enjoying time with the Petersen cousins.

So here is another round of pictures for the day. We love you all and are grateful for your prayers and your support.

Look what we found on our way home from the city? The country is a wonderful place!

A Name, A Name, He has a Name!

After months of discussion, and several rounds of QA, we are pleased to announce the release of Isaac James:

Day Three: Another day with Richard, Kenya and Baby

We got a good nights sleep, first one since we have been here. I am sure that our nights of good sleep will soon come to an end. We got to the hospital about 10 am and stayed until about 7:30 pm. For lunch, Richard bought us Caribbean food. Mat and Richard were going to get curry goat. They couldn't figure out if that's what they actually got, or if it was chicken. I guess there is something to be said about "it tastes and looks like chicken'. Kenya and I got jerk chicken. It was really good, but spicy. To obtain the food, they ventured off the campus of the hospital by a block into inner city life. It was quite the experience for Mat. We spent an enjoyable day with Kenya and Richard. It is amazing to me how open they both are about this whole adventure. They are wonderful people and we look forward to continuing our friendship with them. I found it interesting how many little odd things that I had in common with Kenya. She is amazing and I worry about how she will handle life when she hands over her baby. She has never wavered on her decision, but it will be very difficult for her. We pray for her often, and hope that by spending time with her, that it will put some of her concerns to rest.

So for those who are tired of words....here are some pictures.

Look at that hair!

Tiny Feet

Isn't Kenya's hair cool?

He's already giving Mat the "eye"

What is his name?

Many people have asked us what we are going to name the baby. We just wanted to let you know that we have a couple of release candidate names, but we are still doing QA. We hope to have the final release within the next 24 hours or so.

Pictures of Kenya, Richard and Baby

Kenya and Richard

Baby

Baby (with hair)


Kenya with baby

Kenya with baby

Kenya and Richard with baby

He's here!

He was born at 10:39 am. Kenya is doing as well as can be after having a c-section. He have seen the baby through the window. He is 6 lbs. 13 oz. 18 inches long. More to come.

Still Waiting...

For those of you following our adventure, here is an update. We have been at the hospital here in "Philly" for almost three and a half hours. Kenya has been waiting and starting to feel a bit frustrated with all the wait. Every doctor and nurse that comes to see her tells her something different. The hospital will only allow one visitor in with her at a time. I was able to spend about half an hour with her. Hope fully with in the next hour or so we will have news.....

Dinner with Kenya and Richard

So the next big step in this entire process was going to dinner with the birthparents. Let me be the first one to tell you how involved and nerve racking this entire process is. We met at Richard's apartment and had a good chat with him while we waited for Kenya to come.

Richard is about my height, medium skin color. He was really friendly and between him and Mat, kept the conversation going on several occasions. He is a sanitation worker, which he enjoys, he says it gives him quite the workout. He has two children. A 16 year old girl that lives with her Granmother and a 13 year old son who is also named Richard. Both Richards live together. Just a fun side note: the elder Richard has a four foot long Python.

Kenya is about 5"1'. She was rather reserved, which I can understand. Because she is so small, she really looks pregnant! Although from the back, it is hard to tell. She has worked as a CNA at a nursing home and is planning on starting nursing school in July and returning to the nursing home. She has four children, two girls that are older and no longer live at home. She also has two boys, a 12 year old and a 4 year old. She really enjoys spending time with her boys and doing lots of fun activities with them.

At dinner we gave Kenya a bag that I made that was full of goodies from Utah and a few supplies for when she starts school. She seemed to really enjoy it, and was very appreciative of the gesture.

After we left to take them back home, we all started to talk and laugh about how nervous we all were. Thank goodness that is over! It went well, despite everyone being very nervous.

Now its back to our room and an early morning to the hospital. For all of you curious minded people, we do have pictures of these wonderful people, we will post them later.

First Day in Philly

We made it on the flight from Salt Lake City (we were flying standby). The flight was rather uneventful (which is good as far as flights go). We did not get to sit next to each other, but we were only a few rows apart. As we were waiting to get on the plane I saw a guy I new from OGI (Mark Wong) and chatted with him for a few minutes. Katie had a good chat with the lady sitting next to her, who lost a 7-month old baby about a month ago.

After getting our bags and rental car, we made our way to the hotel (near the airport, but not the Airport Tower :)). It was close to 1:00am EDT by the time we got to bed, but with the time change, that wasn't to bad. The time change in the evening won't be too bad - its the mornings that are hard :).

More later ...