Two weeks old!

Can you believe it? Evan and Ari are two weeks old already. We are still in Georgia, awaiting permission to take the boys home. The paperwork took one business day to clear Georgia and get sent off to Kansas. It got to Kansas on the 23rd. Of course the Thanksgiving weekend slowed things down so the packet hadn't made it from the mail room to the correct person's desk by the 29th (three business days and counting). Our adoption counselor scanned and emailed the documents today in hopes they would start reviewing them before the papers found their way to her desk. We have extended our reservation here at the hotel for another 4 nights. Hopefully that's the last time we have to extend it!

The boys had check-ups last week and today. Last week their weights were down to 5 pounds even and the NP started them on a higher calorie premie formula. Today their weights were back up, only 2 ounces shy of their birth weights. They will be on this higher calorie formula for awhile to make sure they stay on track.

We have been trying to stay busy during our time here. Thanksgiving saw us sharing dinner with BM and her family at Golden Corral. The line was out the door and across the parking lot at 3 p.m. It took us 30-45 min to get to the food. it was good, but there was no pumpkin pie or Chinese food. Mike was sad! Yesterday we traveled into Atlanta for a day trip. We went to church at First MCC, then had lunch at Fat Matt's Rib Shack (really good), and went to the World of Coke. it was a little chilly walking around, but a good adventure.

Mike's older sister and his niece and nephew came down for a quick visit last week. They arrived on Thanksgiving, joined us for dinner, and went shopping with Mike on Black Friday. it was awesome to have them visit!

Thanks for all your positive thoughts! Please pray that Kansas doesn't drag the process out and we get permission to journey home tomorrow!

Sleepers

Papa and his pair of sleeping commas. Ari is on the left and Evan on the right. A afternoon of shopping makes a baby tired!

4 days old

So we've taken up residence at the Hilton Garden Inn here in Cartersville. It's our 3rd hotel here, after 1 night in a dumpy motel and 2 at a Microtel, which was nice, but too small. We were going to get a suite here with 2 separate rooms, but it is booked until next week. They offered a regular room, which has 2 beds, fridge, microwave, etc for tonight, then a junior suite for the rest of our stay. But that has 1 bed and a sleeper sofa with only minimal benefits, so we're staying put. The boys have been out of the hospital for 24 hours now and are doing great! Trip to Wal-mart this afternoon gave Mike and BM a chance to try out their quippy comebacks when someone asked if they were twins. "No, triplets, but we left one in the car" was the most popular.

We don't have a good idea of when we're going home yet. The paperwork was supposed to go from IAC to Georgia state today, then hopefully be sent to Kansas Monday. Hopefully they get something back by Wednesday. if not, we'll be here until at least the Monday after Thanksgiving, thanks to the holiday shopping weekend. Ah well. The hotel has a pool and fitness center, as well as a restaurant for breakfast. And they offered free breakfasts since they weren't able to get us in the original suite. Sweet! :)

Thanks for all your thoughts, prayers, and love. They are greatly appreciated!!

11/14-11/15

A brief recap of the last 10 hours or so....

11:52 p.m. BM calls and reports she is having contractions. Can't decide if she should wake up her mom to go to the hospital. We encourage her to go in and get checked. Contractions are about 15 minutes apart and regular. Chris can't fall asleep so he gets up to sort through some papers that were shuffled around over the weekend, some of which we need to take with us.
12:50 a.m. BM calls back and they are just on the way to the hospital.
1:55 a.m. BM has been admitted for observation. Baby B was playing hide and seek with the nurse trying to place the monitor. Everything looks OK and they are going to monitor her for awhile.
2:02 a.m. BM calls back and reports she is dilated to 3. She wants us to start our trip.
2:40 a.m. We are packed and out of the house, on the way to pick up Mike's mom, who will be making the trip with us. We are also swapping our Escape for their larger TrailBlazer.
3:30 a.m. or so We are on the road from Independence, MO to Cartersville, GA. Only 12 hours to go!
6:30 a.m. BM is scheduled for a c-section. We are somewhere around St. Louis
A little after 6 a.m. BM gives birth to two healthy baby boys. We are crossing from MO to IL.

It's now 10 a.m. and we still have 6 hours of driving to do! Oh my!

Chris

Update 11/11/10

A quick update for our family and friends:

BM had a doctor's appointment yesterday. She is officially 34 weeks and everything looks good. She starts going to the doctor weekly now. In addition she goes to the hospital twice a week for a non-stress test. She has monitors placed, then has to sit still for 30 minutes while they monitor the babies. The sitting still is the worst part, she says! All of this is normal for twins.

She is officially due 12/18 and is scheduled for a c-section on 12/14.

She told her mom that they need to start saving their pennies because they will be coming to Kansas in a year for the boys' first birthday.