Wednesday, July 30, 2008

HANNAH IS COMING HOME!!

We got our email from the US Embassy in Guatemala this afternoon saying that our Embassy appointment for Hannah is next Wednesday, August 6th. That means that we will be picking her up forever next Tuesday. Her visa will be ready Thurday afternoon, so we would be able to travel home Friday. Travel plans are still undecided, but we will let you know. It is hard to believe she is finally coming home!

Hannah's DNA Results at Embassy

I emailed the lab here in the US that ran the DNA test and they sent me a tracking number that verified that the results were delievered to the Embassy yesterday afternoon. That should be the only thing the Embassy was waiting on in order to issue us an appointment. We are now expecting an email with our appointment information any day now. Several people were issued their appointments yesterday, one day after the Embassy received their DNA results. So, it is possible we could get it today or tomorrow. Our appointment will most likely be for 1 week from when they send us the email. We are getting so close! We are finishing hanging things on Hannah's walls and we will post pictures soon of her room. We also received pictures this morning of a surprise visit from July 25th. Here they some of them:




Saturday, July 26, 2008

Hannah's 2nd DNA Test - Finally!

We got an email yesterday that Hannah finally had her 2nd DNA test taken on Wednesday. That took about 10 times longer than it did for Noah to have his test done after receiving his new birth certificate. We still do not know why it took so long, but are very glad that it has been done. We got notified of Noah's Embassy appointment a week and a half after the test was taken, but we have learned we can not plan on that. So, hopefully in the next couple of weeks we will be notified of Hannah's appointment and should be picking her up within about a week after that. Here are a couple pictures taken last Wednesday (9 1/2 months) while she had her test. I also included a couple of pictures of when she had her first DNA test on October 30th at 4 weeks old.





Thursday, July 17, 2008

Noah is 8 Months Old

Yesterday Noah was 8 months old. He has been home for about 2 months and he is adjusting so well. He is very happy to play and crawl around on the floor or jump in his jumperoo. He eats well, both drinking his bottle and eating his baby food and cereal. He usually takes a 1 1/2 - 2 hour nap in the morning. Right after lunch he goes down for another nap. Sometimes it is 1/2 hour up to 2 hours. He often takes a short late afternoon nap. Noah has had trouble staying asleep at night. He was waking up 3-4 times a night. For a while he had a stopped up nose and then he was teething. He went a couple nights of just waking once, but he is back to several times a night. We think he is getting ready to get in a few more teeth. He was getting in his first two bottom teeth when we picked him up. A couple weeks ago his outer two top teeth started coming in. Here are several pictures we took today.

Noah is his jumperoo this morning:



Noah gets in this position often - on his hands and feet:


Eating baby food:


And feeding himself Puffs:


Joel and Noah helping put clothes in the dryer:


Look at that smile:


Noah is pulling up a lot:




Noah has started crawling on one knee and one foot:


He likes to play with balls:


Most evenings include Daddy wrestling with the boys:



Daddy & Noah:


Big brother Joel & Noah:


Time for bedtime bottle and off to sleep:

Wednesday, July 16, 2008

Broken Toe

I (Shannon) was cleaning up after breakfast last Saturday (on Joel's birthday) when I hit my toes on Noah's jumperoo. It hurt pretty bad over the weekend, but there was not much swelling and I could still walk on it so I assumed I had just really jammed it. Well, it has continued to hurt some and started bruising up on my foot. I thought I better get it checked out to make sure my foot was not broken. I knew there was not much they could do for a broken toe, but a break in the foot could be serious. Sure enough I did break my 4th toe. They told me to keep it taped to the next toe and try to keep weight off it. Great timing!

Tuesday, July 15, 2008

Hannah Still Waiting on DNA Test

Hannah has still not had her DNA test done. We thought it would be done about a week ago, but still no word. There are quite a few families from our agency waiting for this test and we do not know what the hold up is. Finally today a couple of families were approved by the Embassy for the DNA test, so hopefully we will be soon. For Noah it took 2 business days from receiving his new birth certificate. This Friday will be 2 weeks for Hannah. At this point we are probably looking at picking her up the first part of August. We are ready to get her home!

We got some pictures recently of a surprise visit of her on July 1st. Here are a couple:


Sunday, July 13, 2008

Happy 3rd Birthday Joel!

Saturday, July 12th, was Joel's 3rd birthday. We had a wonderful day. It started with balloons and cinnamon rolls (Joel's favorite breakfast). Then Grandpa and Grandma came over (Joel has more fun with smaller groups right now) and we went to Legacy Play Village. It was very fun, but also very hot. Then back to our house for a lunch of soft tacos (one of Joel's favorite) and cake and ice cream. Joel's main gift was a train set. He loves it! He spent hours playing with it each day. Joel is such a joy in our life. Happy Birthday Joel!

Here are some pictures:




Legacy Play Village:











Tuesday, July 8, 2008

Hannah's 9 Month Check-Up

We got a report and pictures from Hannah's 9 month check-up. She turned 9 months and had her appointment on July 2nd. The report said that she is alert and active, appears to recognize simple words, sits unsupported, tries to pull to standing, makes many different vocal sounds, and plays with the different sounds she can produce. She weighed 15 lb 14 oz. She looks so grown up. Here are some pictures:



Monday, July 7, 2008

4th of July

We had a very good 4th of July weekend. It started by Anna (Jason's sister) staying the night with us on the 3rd. Then on the morning of the 4th we went to a parade. Joel loved talking to Jason about each thing he saw. After the parade we went out to Jason's parents house. We had lunch with his family and grandparents and then later in the afternoon went swimming in his parents backyard. We then stayed the night and all day Saturday at his parents house. Here are some pictures.

At the parade:








Noah with Nanah & Zan Zan (Jason's grandparents):

We went swimming both Friday & Saturday. On Friday Joel fell asleep in the pool floating on this tube (while someone was also holding it) so we just lifted the whole thing out of the pool and set him on the sidewalk until we finished swimming.





Joel & Grandpa on his motorcycle:

Noah & Grandma:
Joel wrestling Grandpa:
Aunt Anna feeding Noah: