Heading home!

Every good and perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of lights with whom there is no variation or shadow due to change.
James 1:17


We have all been doing very well. We have been taking it easy in our hotel room and taking in some of the sites around New Orleans. The baby continues to be laid back and easy-going about most of life. The parents are still trying to get into a good sleep routine. Most days require recovery naps for me and Ed. The baby naps almost all the time with a break every 2 to 3 hours for a "meal". She eats 1 to 2 ounces of formula at a time, then is usually back to sleep.

We've had some great times visiting with my good friend Wendy. She and her family are moving to Baton Rouge at the end of the month, so she has been in LA this week on a house-hunting trip. It is amazing and wonderful to all be here at the same time.

Friends of Ed's sister took us around the French Quarter yesterday. They took us for cafe au lait and beignets (pastries) and then showed us some of the historical sites of the city. We've also been enjoying some of the local parks for mini-outings. The plant-life here is wonderfully lush and beautiful. Flowering crepe myrtle trees are everywhere. The baby gets a lot of attention when she makes an appearance outside the hotel room, being so small. Some people, you can see they are trying to figure out if she's "mine." One man told Ed that she looks just like him! We couldn't tell if he was joking, but I laughed anyway.

The latest on the ICPC paperwork is that it made it through LA Tuesday. Yesterday it got through Utah, and this morning it got to WI and within a couple of hours, we got the OK to come home! Whoopie! Seemed like a real stretch for it to get processed by both UT and WI by 5 pm Friday, so we were preparing for me to have to stay with the baby through the weekend into next week. But no more! We'll all be getting on the plane tomorrow night. Karin will meet us at the airport in Minneapolis to take us home.

When we left the hospital, Jane gave us 2 garbage bags full of little girls' clothes that she had saved from her older daughters. It was very sweet. We can't take them all home, but we will take what we can. Ed went out to a thrift store to buy a suitcase so we can get our growing collection of baby things home. He also found a second-hand miniature guitar to play while we're here.

We had a doctor visit today for the baby's first check up. All is well. She's already surpassed her birth weight and is up to a whopping 5 pounds! She looks a lot bigger to us already. For her name, we've settled on Audrey Louise.

We've enjoyed seeing the Big Easy but we are so ready to come home. Ed suggested packing tonight and sleeping at the airport. What a great gift, to all get to come home together. Thanks to God. It is so much better than we expected. Thanks for all those faithful prayers. We have been well provided for.