Yay! We're free!

It's noon, and we just got a phone call from our awesome FL social worker who says we're free to leave the state. We already made reservations in Dothan, AL to meet Dave's parents, which gives us 2 days to make the long trip with a new baby. Piano recital is on for Friday, Dave will be back to work on Thursday, and we can get back to normal! Well, with a new baby...

Still here

We found out it took Alabama only 24 hours (starting Thursday) to receive our papers, complete our approval, and get it in the mail to Florida. FL got it today (Monday), hopefully to finish it Tuesday or Wednesday, so we might drive back to Florida Tuesday or Wednesday.

We were planning on Dave flying back on Saturday, so he could back to the Elder's Quorum after a month's absence, and work after a 2 week absence. But I was pouting at the idea of spending my birthday on Sunday alone and driving back without him. Dave placated me to give the ICPC process a few more days. Friday we bummed around the mall, bought some shoes and dessert, called our moms, and watched a comedy (Complete Shakespeare Abridged).

Now it's Monday, and there was no word, and it's Dave's turn to go bonkers. He can swing 2 weeks of vacation if his family's around, but going to the store and on a walk is not enough to block out how unproductive he feels. And worse, we are both powerless to do anything. I can take disappointment if there's an explanation, an action, or a time limit.

So we may drive down Alabama to Dothan or Mobile and stay a little closer to the "border". Dave's parents are driving over from Houston for a quick hello to their newest grandbaby. Dave has to get back to work on Thursday.

This morning we met most of the birth family at Waffle House for a goodbye breakfast. Funny story: Dave choose the onsie that said "Daddy Loves Me", and about 4 hours later, she had her first blowout on herself, the couch and "daddy". He just held her by her armpits and looked disgusted and confused about which mess to start with. I thought it was pretty funny! That's how babies initiate dads, I guess. Now every time we saw that phrase today, I laughed and Dave was like "Oo, look out."
Our rubber-necked contortionist in her yellow Sunday attire, faithfully slept through the whole high counselor's talk.

Sunday we went to a small branch in Birmingham. And Jessica lasted the whole time. We're thinking (if baby gets her interstate immigration status approved in time.) we'll bring her to church on Sunday. And to my piano recital Friday night. If, if, if.

Dave spots a cocoa pod inside the tropical plants greenhouse, (which was less interesting to us than the Japanese, cactus, and outdoor gardens, since we see those plants everyday in Florida.)

To celebrate my 32nd birthday, we walked through the other half of the Birmingham botanical gardens; ate Cheetos, strawberries, egg rolls, and fudge poptarts; and I watched all 4 hours of Gone with the Wind, (love it!)
(I thought I kept seeing rose bushes around the city, and thought "That's odd, roses bloom mid-summer." But the botanical gardens are full of camellias, Alabama state flower, which look like old-fashioned roses.)

Saturday we visited the famous World's Fair colossal ode to Birmingham's steel heritage: Vulcan. (He's holding a spear point, and only the front half is covered by a blacksmith's apron, so there are a lot of jokes about south Birmingham being mooned.)

We learned the city sits on top of all 3 ingredients for steel: iron ore, limestone, and coal, but nowadays its a hospital city. It was cold and a little scary on the observation deck (why do they make the floor see through?), but it had a really high tech visitor's center.

Big feet, small feet.

Our birthmom came with us, and I found out why my daughter's long fingers all bend backwards. Birthmom was using a computer touchscreen and I smiled. (I mean, look at her long graceful hands in the pic below; she could TOTALLY be a hand model. ;] ) It's been wonderful to have an open adoption and learn about Jessica's family. It sneaks Dave and I a look into her future, which we're thinking will be very good. : )

Progress, Finally

We heard this morning our paperwork has been delivered to the state of Alabama. HALLELUJAH! If it's correct, baby & I may be home next week. After talking with several people, we're finding out every adoption has a snag, but applying for interstate adoption should not take as long as it has (10 days). The LDS Family Services Atlanta social worker is not the speediest or easiest to track down, much to our chagrin. Gratefully, others in the process have been more helpful.

We meet with the lawyer tomorrow to start her AL court finalization application, which should take about 60 days. Dave flies home this Saturday, regardless of what happens.

Baby is great. She smiles so wide after a bottle and first falling asleep I can see her dimples. I love to play and tease her and swing with her, and watch her little brain try to process it. What a cutie, and growing every day. Thanks for mailing her a new girly wardrobe, Grandma E!



To entertain ourselves, we went to the Southern Museum of Flight in Birmingham. I thought it would be boring for me and Dave would just walk around and drool over airplanes turbines and engines, which he did. But it was worth the admission.




The WWII plane room had heavy loudspeakers replaying engine startup sounds, and great mannequins. The museum also had plane artwork, weather explanations, models, an experimental plane room, "make your own plane" kids' center, wall of women pilots, nifty helicopters, huge murals, tables and fence posts made from propeller wings, and a flight library.



But my 2 favorite things were the plane simulator games (we crashed and laughed a lot) and the children's airplane playroom. The picture only shows a third of it and all the toys. If only Jessica was older . . .

"Peas Porridge in the Pot, Nine Days Old"

So it's Tuesday, one week after we brought Jessica home ("home" read: hotel in Birmingham) from the hospital. The hotel provides breakfast and lunch, we go on walks and putter around the hotel room working (Dave), making phone calls & writing emails, napping, and holding our precious bundle. There's a SuperWalmart and a Babies'R'Us across the street, and we have books, movies, birthfamily visits, and things to do. But we are getting a little antsy.



When are we coming back to Florida? Although all the paperwork was sign last Monday, and we had a hitch with resigning paperwork last Thursday, we tracked down our LDSFS caseworker today (& everyday), and she STILL HAS NOT SENT OUR PAPERWORK to the Alabama government for approval to take the baby across state lines. (Best scenario: back on Saturday for work/tennis/piano lessons next week.)

{She's newly transferred from Utah to the Atlanta office, and we're her second Alabama interstate adoption. She said her first took SIX WEEKS. She promises us everyday that today she will FedEx overnight-it. Her excuse was she is "busy" and she had to "make copies" (even though we all signed 4 copies of everything). She didn't have our background check from Florida (although our Florida caseworker called & emailed several times 2 weeks in advance of the birth.) She admitted she doesn't read her full email in-box, her voicemail is full, and 4 times she remarked about sending our stuff to Georgia, not Alabama.}

If we call tomorrow and she hasn't sent it, Mr. Diplomatic will had the phone calling over to Ms. Get-This-Done. We don't mind the vacation, as long as we're not losing $400/day waiting on a disorganized whim.

Anyways. Jessica & her family are great. J.K. is slightly bigger, pays attention a little better, needs lots of holding, and really charms us. She sighs in her sleep, sometimes between every breath, and she sounds like a baby bellows. (huh)"hmm"(huh) "nnn"(huh) "yunn"(huh)"aaiiaa? "(pause) "hhhhh hhhu" . . . Sometimes she sounds likes she's a baby pig, sometimes like she's quacking with her mouth shut. There's no music in the world to compare.

We drove over to the birthgrandparents house last night (Monday). The birth great-grandparents drove down from Tennessee to meet us and the baby. Picture Colonel Sanders and Janice Kappy Perry--and so nice. They told hunting and baby stories, and we had another good chat with the birthmother while getting lost in Birminghan on the way home. Great people that we are happy to be linked to now.

Sunday we went to church in a ward full of kids and babies. We did not pay a lot of attention to the thankimonies/storimonies/repeatimonies when we had children to dream about and admire. (We kept Jessica covered and just went to 1 meeting--Jessica's immune system in mind.) She started to wimper for milk with 10 minutes left in the meeting, and Dave wanted to split. But I said we had to learn to cope eventually. We made it through the longest prayer ever with a pacifier and rocking her carrier. Whew!

After baby's first day of church, one week old, and hungry.

Saturday, to get out, we went with the birthparents to see Avatar 3-D; grandparents were awesome and babysat. My brother describes Avatar as "Fern Gully meets Pocahontas". It's visually very rich; I loved the ocean/prehistoric plant theme, the computer technology (when do I get to have that?), the lead actors, and the music. The plot has 10 different angles: technology v. culture, colonizing nation v. natives, war v. diplomacy, secularism v. pagan religion, military v. business v. anthropology, romance, disabled vets, and a lot of action. Dave liked it too.