I was in heaven the moment I laid eyes on him yesterday.

We only had 4 hours together, but it was the best four hours I could have imagined.  He just ate and slept in my arms (and we changed a couple diapers), and he was just the happiest baby ever.  As long as he’s dry and fed, he was just so content.  Man, he is such a STRONG sucker!  And big!  And fat all over 🙂 .  At one point, he just pulled back and studied my face so seriously!  He has such beautiful eyes and a very expressive face.

He even has fat on his forehead – your finger sinks in a little bit when you touch it.  And his hair!  His hair is SO THICK and SO SOFT and SHINY!  And he has a giant wave on the top of his head that curls back over his head and is the cutest thing I’ve ever seen.  And the cutest little newborn furry ears.

Unfortunately, most of the pictures Mom took were fuzzy.  Blerg!  We need a better camera, and the lighting was so dim in the nanny’s house!  Still, she did get a couple good shots:

Leaving him asleep in his bassinet at 3 o’clock was so incredibly hard.

Katie, Kyle and the kids had to leave town a couple days early, so they drove by the nanny’s on their way out.  I brought him out into the front yard (today’s weather was amazingly beautiful!) and we took pictures and visited for about 10 minutes.  She got lots of great shots on her camera, which I can’t WAIT to see!

He was 19″ and 9 lbs 1 oz at birth, we found out.  I’ll get the rest of the medical paperwork for him today, and that’ll tell us what weight he was when he was released.  He was breathing a little fast when he was born, so they brought him to the NICU for observation for a couple hours (hence the IV bruises in yesterday’s photos).  He was perfectly fine next time they checked him out, so luckily he was released back to the nursery very quickly.  He does have a giant blue mark across his bottom that we’re all trying to figure out if it’s a bruise or a birthmark, so W. set up a pediatrician appointment for us today at 1:30 back in Lafayette.

Yes, you read that right!  They are releasing him to us TODAY!!!  YAY!!!  They told me as we were driving up to the nanny’s that the surrender isn’t going to be signed until Tuesday, when it was supposed to be done by today (really yesterday) and then they were saying Monday, and of course I started crying and felt like I would do ANYTHING to be able to take him home before then.  They took pity on me and decided to let me bring him to my mom’s house early :).  I am OVER-THE-MOON excited!

Four hour visits just weren’t going to cut it!  Once I had him in my arms I never wanted to let go!

We pick him up at 9 am this morning, drop by the attorney’s office to sign a release (a yes, I realize the birth mother hasn’t signed the surrender yet document), and then back to Laffy and the ped appointment.

Hands down, this birthday was the best one I’ve ever had.  EVER.