Isaiah Love Arnold

Our sweet baby boy is here!!! I can barely believe it, but he's here. He was born at 3:33pm Mountain Time weighing in at 6 lbs and 13 oz. He is 19" long...and his birthmom Cheri was absolutely amazing! She allowed me to be in the labor and delivery room with her and even cut the umbilical cord. It was the most amazing experience ever. And Cheri was so calm and peaceful the whole time. She is truly an amazing woman. After he was born we went and bought her some dinner from Olive Garden (broccoli cheese ravioli because she is a vegetarian) to give her some time with this sweet baby. When we returned we got our time in the nursery to hold him and watch him get his first bath. His lungs got a good workout during his bath (o: But look at all that fluffy, curly hair...I love it!

Now we are back at the hotel trying to love up on Olivia, who got really serious and very quiet after seeing the pictures. She would start a sentence, then stop and lapse into silence. I could really see the wheels turning...I think she is a little overwhelmed.

So his name...Isaiah we chose because we love it. It means "God is Salvation." Love we chose for two reasons: 1. It is a family name on my dad's side...it's my dad's middle name and his grandfather's last name, 2. I liked that it is "parallel" to Olivia's middle name Hope. I guess now we just need a "faith" (o; Of course, Olivia is still insisting his name is Twist from her new favorite TV show "The Fresh Beat Band." This is a battle I'm not going to fight...so if you hear us refer to him as Twist...that's why (o:

So, where do we go from here? Well, we get some rest tonight...our last baby free night for a while (o: Tomorrow will flow minute by minute as we wait to see what Cheri desires. Then at 4:30pm Mountain Standard Time we do the signing placing him officially in our care. At that point Cheri cannot change her mind. Please pray for all of us over the next 24 hours. These are the most emotional hours of a placement and we could all use prayers.