Hedges Adoption

New chapter, new blog

2010-10-27T22:34:00.000-05:00

Since this blog was originally intended to document our adoption journey, we've decided to start a new family blog for a new chapter in life. Check it out at GrowingHedges.blogspot.com.

Trick or Treat

2009-11-03T09:52:00.004-06:00

On Halloween night we took the kids trick or treating. They had a lot of fun and loved getting candy.

Hannah the Lion:

Joel the Horse:

Noah the Cowboy:

Out trick or treating:

Heritage Halloween

2009-11-03T09:30:00.000-06:00

On Friday evening we went to the Ranching Heritage Center for Heritage Halloween. They gave out candy and had some activities for the kids. Joel did the cake walk and the won his first time.

Show Me Your Muscles!!

2009-10-25T22:08:00.003-05:00

Our Kids

2009-09-02T17:18:00.002-05:00

Here are a couple of cute pictures of the kids from a couple weeks ago.

Camping

2009-08-10T15:43:00.006-05:00

We went on our first camping trip as a family of five over the weekend. We camped near Bonita Lake, north of Ruidoso, New Mexico. Jason had off Friday afternoon so we thought it was the perfect time to go. Due to some unforeseen circumstances we got a late start and it took longer to get there than we thought, therefore at almost sundown we finally found a campsite and rushed like crazy to get the tent and campsite set up before dark. The trip had its ups and downs, but overall we had a great time and are glad we went. The kids enjoyed hiking (short walks) and playing in the dirt. It is amazing how dirty these kids can get. Here are some pics:

Here they are during a hike up into the forest:

Jason and Joel took a hike up a mountain:

Noah and Hannah trying to sneak a marshmallow:

I had the marshmallows, graham crackers, and chocolate bars and everyone wanted some:

Joel roasting some marshmallows:

Playing in the dirt:

Our campsite:

Swimming

2009-07-27T10:12:00.005-05:00

We have gone swimming about twice a week this summer and we have had lots of fun. The pool we normally go to has zero entry, a sprinkler area for the kids, a playground, and is never very crowded. We went Saturday afternoon and there were only maybe 3-5 other families there. The kids have really progressed with the water. The first few times they would latch on tight and only wanted to stay in the very shallow water. Now they like to hang out in the water that is about chest deep for them. A week or two ago we managed to take a few pictures out at the pool.

Kid Quotes

2009-07-26T15:26:00.002-05:00

Bathtime:

Joel: "I hate soap."

Happy 4th Birthday, Joel!

2009-07-15T17:00:00.008-05:00

Sunday, July 12th, was Joel's 4th birthday! We had a lot of fun that day. In the afternoon we went to the pool for a couple of hours and then we had a picnic dinner at the park and played on the playground. After that we came home for cake and ice cream. Monday night we had Jason's family over for a party (pics later).

The morning of his birthday:

Opening his present - TAG from Leapfrog:

He loves it:

No pics from swimming - our hands are full enough with three kids.

Our picnic at the park:

Playing on the playground:

We brought Joel's bike:

All the kids love the park - the park is what Joel wanted to do for his birthday:

Noah had a little bit of a runny nose and fell into the sand:

Joel pulled this branch off a tree for me:

Time for cake and ice cream. Can you believe he is 4?

Hannah licking her plate clean:

Adoption Debt - PAID IN FULL!

2009-06-12T13:16:00.002-05:00

When we first decided to adopt we thought we would end up spending around $20,000. We thought we could at least come up with most of that money. Then we decided to adopt 2 at a time and really didn't know how we'd pay all the costs. Now it's approximately 2 years since we initially started the adoption process and our expenses end up at about $80,000 (considerably over a year's income for us). And we just finished paying it all off! We pretty well paid-as-we-went until the last $11,000 which we had to borrow. We were given about 10-12% in gifts and Jason's Dad generously gave us an interest free loan for the last $11,000. The rest we paid out of our pockets. We drained all our savings accounts, cashed out Shannon's retirement, used about half of the equity from our home sell in Abilene, sold Jason's sports car, and put most of our extra money over the last 2 years into it. Needless to say we feel relieved and excited to have it all paid in full. :) A huge thank you goes out to all those who financially helped us bring Hannah Faith and Noah John into our family!

San Antonio Vacation Day 5

2009-06-02T16:17:00.002-05:00

On the last day of our vacation we left our rental house and headed for Shannon's grandfather's house. It was "kind of" on our way home. We spent the afternoon with her Grandpa, Grandma, parents, aunt, and cousin. It was good to see everyone. Then we spent the rest of the afternoon and evening on our long ride home.

San Antonio Vacation Day 4

2009-06-01T16:52:00.004-05:00

On day 4 of vacation we went back to Sea World. Shannon's parents met us there. We were intending to spend the day in the water park part of Sea World, but about 1/2 hour after we got into the water park it started to rain. We ended up going back to our rental house for the afternoon and it was a good thing we did. It rained for several hours. Late in the afternoon it started to clear up so we went back to Sea World to see the animals and shows.

Our short stay at the water park-

Hannah loved the water and was a little water bug:

Noah just sat on Shannon's lap:

And Joel took a little time to warm up and then was just starting to enjoy it:

Pop playing water tricks with the kids:

Later in the day when we went back to Sea World we tried to pet the dolphins (here is Pop holding Noah with Joel next to them):

Anna watching the dolphins:

We went to see the Shamu show again:

Shannon and her Dad also rode the big roller coasters that night (they are in the second row - you can barely see Shannon on the outside):

San Antonio Vacation Day 3

2009-05-29T10:52:00.005-05:00

The next day of our vacation we spent the morning at our rental house recuperating and then in the afternoon we headed downtown. We spent most of the afternoon at the Children's Museum. All 3 kids really enjoyed it. The museum had a lot of fun hands on activities for the kids.

Here is Joel driving a trolley:

This is a bubble maker. The kids could actually step inside and make a bubble around them:

Here you could arrange a path for boats to flow in the water:

This is a large pipe organ type thing that the kids could play:

This airplane was one of their favorite activities. They could dress up like a pilot and sit in the cockpit, or sit in the seats, or be back in the luggage compartment.

Little Miss Hannah sitting in a Victorian style living room:

Joel riding a bike:

Noah at the dentist:

And here is where we spent the most time - at the supermarket. The kids could have their own size baskets, get things off the shelves, and then go scan their groceries at the checkout. Joel loved it, Hannah had a lot of fun, and Noah was on a crazy shopping frenzy:

And here was a crane Joel was operating:

San Antonio Vacation Day 2

2009-05-26T16:22:00.006-05:00

The next day we went to Sea World. Jason's aunt and two cousins from the Houston area met us there. We saw the shows, played in the kids area, and saw the animal encounters. The kids especially liked the shows. Jason and I loved watching them thru the kids eyes. On the way home from vacation I asked everyone what their favorite thing was and everyone that can talk said the shows at Sea World.

The entrance to Sea World:

Anna with her cousin, Mikaela:

Joel next to Aunt Darla and cousin Tim at the Sea Lion show:

Joel insisted on using his zoo map at Sea World. He was showing it to Hannah while we were waiting for Shamu:

Watching Shamu:

Jason and Joel climbing on nets:

A soft play area for the kids:

Noah is in there:

The dolphin show (Noah slept during most of it):

San Antonio Vacation Day 1

2009-05-26T10:17:00.008-05:00

We recently got home from a 5 day vacation to San Antonio. We had a great time. The kids did wonderfully and really enjoyed it. Jason's sister, Anna, went with us. We rented a house and loved it. We had several bedrooms to spread the kids out and a living room and kitchen to use. We drove down on a Tuesday afternoon/evening. The next day we went to the San Antonio Zoo. All the kids loved seeing the animals. There was a lot of pointing. Hannah and Noah point and grunt until you acknowledge what they are pointing at. First we rode on a train that is just outside the zoo. Joel loves riding on trains. Noah also really enjoyed it. Hannah wasn't too sure about it. It was very hot that day (I think 98).

Us on the train:

At the zoo:

This is a tunnel play area for kids:

Family Outdoor Expo

2009-05-05T14:38:00.005-05:00

This past Saturday we went to another free event called the Family Outdoor Expo. It was put on by a local church. They had a lot of activities for kids, such as a petting zoo, jumpers, rock climbing wall, fishing in pools, barrel trains, and other activities. The weather was cloudy and much cooler than it had been. While we were there it was in the 50's. The day before it was in the 90's. I think the weather kept a lot of people from coming out which was great for us. Joel loved the jumpers and spent hours on them. Hannah and Noah did not like the jumpers and spent most of the time in the stroller, but they were mostly content with just watching what was going on around them. Here are some pictures:

Hannah wasn't too sure about the camel:

Noah loved the camel:

This is about how long Hannah and Noah stayed in the jumper:

Jason & Joel waiting for a fishing pole:

Joel decided the fish were too big and he did not want to catch one:

Ranch Day

2009-04-28T23:04:00.005-05:00

Last Saturday we went to Ranch Day at the Ranching Heritage Center. It had a lot of ranch and pioneer type activities for kids including horseback rides, rope making, stick horse making, stick horse rodeo, and more. Our kids did not participate in many activities, but they enjoyed watching. Joel and I made stick horses for him and Hannah and Noah. (Hannah and Noah seem to think of them more as brooms.) There was also some live entertainment including Jason's brother, Andy, performing cowboy songs. We enjoyed the day out there.

Joel showing Hannah the stick horse he just made:

Hannah and Noah using their stick horses as brooms:

Andy performing:

Joel riding his horse:

There is a train out at the Ranching Heritage Center that Joel really enjoyed:

An Evening at the Park

2009-04-22T16:08:00.006-05:00

One night last week we met Jason's brother and his wife at the park and ate pizza and played. I think Alissa took several of these pictures for us with our camera. Thanks Alissa! Here are some pics:

Noah and Hannah love slides:

Our latest family pic:

We thought this one was funny (notice Joel under the bench):

A Day Out With Thomas

2009-04-21T17:04:00.003-05:00

On Saturday we took Joel to "A Day Out with Thomas." It was the first thing that both Jason and I took just Joel to since Noah came home. Jason's sister stayed home with Hannah and Noah while they took a nap. We rode on the train for about 25 minutes and there were a lot of other activities to do also. Here are some pictures:

Joel had a lot of fun in a maze made out of hay bales:

Here we all are on the train:

Here is a tattoo that he got:

This is the car that we rode in. Our seats were way up at the top where the windows are:

One of Joel's favorite things were using ink stamps of all the Thomas characters. He did 5 sheets of them:

After we left we drove and saw Thomas on his next run:

Easter Pictures

2009-04-21T10:57:00.004-05:00

Since Joel was sick last weekend and we did not go to church on Easter, this Sunday we dressed them in the clothes they were going to wear last week. We also took some pictures. Here are our cute kids:

3 Days

2009-04-12T23:00:00.000-05:00

Happy Easter! You may think this post has something to do with Easter, but it doesn't. Three days is the length of time that our family was well, before getting sick again. Thursday was the first day everyone was well after over 2 weeks of a serious cold. Last night in the middle of the night we woke up to Joel throwing up in our bed. He then told us that he had thrown up in his bed also. We had big plans for today. All our Easter clothes were ironed and everything was out and ready for us to be gone all day, but everything was canceled and we all stayed home. It seems like since Hannah came home we are sick for about 3 weeks then all well 1-2 weeks before it all starts over again. This time it was three days. As I have said before we are sick of being sick!

Easter Activites

2009-04-12T22:54:00.006-05:00

Although some of our Easter activities were canceled due to sickness, we were still able to have some fun.

Friday we went to an Easter egg drop. They dropped Easter eggs from a helicopter. There was supposed to be 50,000 eggs. We thought the kids would enjoy the helicopter and and the eggs. When we got there they said no parents were allowed on the field. Joel did not want to go out on the field without us and we did not want him to, so we ended up just observing the event. In the end the parents flooded the field too.

Yesterday we dyed Easter eggs with the help of Jason's sister and parents. Joel really liked it. He spent a lot of time on each egg dipping it in colors again and again.

Here are the kids with their Easter baskets. Hannah and Noah got their first coloring books and crayons that they really seemed to like. They all also got some brownies from Grammy and Pop that they were quite excited about.

We had lots of Easter egg hunts in our living room today. Hannah and Noah were better at it than expected. Joel loved it and want to "hunt" for them again and again. He also liked to hide them for the rest of us.

Our Beautiful Children

2009-01-19T15:16:00.006-06:00

In December we took some pictures of each of the kids. Here are our favorites:

Here is the family pic we used for our Christmas card:

And here are some outtakes of the kids:

Christmas Time in Missouri

2009-01-17T16:45:00.010-06:00

Thanks for the comments! Since we still do have some readers I will post some more pictures from the holidays.

Two days after Christmas we took our first road trip as a family of 5. We were headed to Shannon's parents (Grammy & Pop's) in Missouri. We did not know how the two little ones would do in the car for so long, especially since Noah tends to be a screamer (especially in situations like being in his car seat). We left our house at about 4:30am and arrived at their house at about 6:30pm. The kids did better than expected although there was some screaming.

We had a good visit, the kids all did very well, and Joel and Pop had lots and lots of fun spending as much time as possible outside riding on the tractor, walking on the trails, and throwing sticks in the stream.

In the car on the way there:

Joel in his favorite seat at Grammy & Pop's:

We went to the St. Louis Zoo:

The gangs all here (at Nicole and David's):

Spending time outside at Grammy & Pop's house:

Hannah is with Aunt Sarah:

Uncle Jason and their dog Rusty (Yes, Shannon's sister is also married to a Jason):

Grammy with Hannah:

Grammy & Pop:

Daddy and Noah:

Around the bonfire on New Years Day:

Christmas Catch Up

2009-01-16T16:48:00.006-06:00

I know it has been a long time since we have posted. Christmas time is a busy time. Since we have slowed back down a little I have been reluctant to post, not knowing if anyone keeps up with our blog anymore. If you do keep up with us I would love for you to leave a comment to let us know to keep posting!

We were sick most of December (and all Fall for that matter), so we did not get to do as many Christmas activities as we would have liked. The kids did pretty well with the tree although the ornaments kept moving up the tree. Here are some pictures from Christmas week!

The kids in their Christmas jammies:

Cookie decorating at our house (Joel really enjoyed it):

Christmas Eve at Jason's grandparents:

Christmas morning at our house:

Noah with his new tunnel and tent:

Hannah with her new kitchen:

Joel riding his new bike:

Christmas afternoon Jason's parents, sister, brother & sister-in-law came over to our house:

Back to Jump N Jungle

2008-11-26T15:58:00.004-06:00

We went back to Jump N Jungle with Grammy &Pop and had a jumpin good time! (Jason missed out - he was at work.) By the end, Noah fell asleep bouncing with Grammy.

Christmas Came Early This Year!

2008-11-26T15:08:00.010-06:00

Shannon's parents decided to bring Christmas early to our house. We are planning to go to their house right after Christmas, but we are not sure how much space we will have in our van for gifts. (That will be the first big trip for us as a family of five.) Grammy & Pop got a big item for each of the kids for Christmas, so they decided to come and deliver them. They got here on Noah's birthday and stayed about a week. So, one morning while they were here we had "Christmas morning." The kids were all in their Christmas jammies and got to open their gifts. (Shannon's sister gave the kids their jammies last Christmas before Hannah and Noah were even home.) We had a good time.

Joel's gift-

a workbench:

Hannah's gift-

a shopping cart:

Noah's gift-

a ride-on car:

Happy Birthday, Noah!

2008-11-24T15:36:00.006-06:00

A week ago Sunday, November 16th, was Noah's first birthday! We have had company since then, so we are just now posting about it. We are so thankful for Noah and the bundle of energy and joy that he is. We had a small party on Monday night with Shannon's parents (Grammy & Pop), Jason's parents (Grandpa & Grandma), and Jason's sister. We opened gifts, had dinner, and ate cake and ice cream. He loves balls, so we went with the ball theme. Noah had his own little cake. He was a little slow starting in, but then he was able to make a big mess and eat a little cake. It is hard to believe he has been home for over 6 months now. Noah has now been home with us longer than he was in Guatemala. He runs all over the place and is always checking everything out. If a cabinet is left unlatched or a door is left open he is there in a hurry. He is also full of smiles and personality. Here are some pictures from his party.

Opening gifts:

Football cake:

Fall Leaves

2008-11-03T10:50:00.006-06:00

Some of our leaves have started to fall so Jason blew them into a pile for the kids to play in. Here are some pictures:

Our Munchkins

2008-11-01T09:55:00.004-05:00

Last night we took the kids out to trick-or-treat around our house. We had a good time and a couple of neighbors invited us in their houses for a few minutes. It took Joel a few houses to warm up, then he liked to get candy. He was anxious to get home to eat it. Noah was the first to walk up to the door and he walked part of the way between houses holding our hands. Hannah was happy to just have Daddy carry her. Here are some pictures:

Here is Dorothy (this was Shannon's dress when she was little):

And the Scarecrow:

And the Lion:

We tried for a good pictures of all 3, but this is the best we could do (we may try again today):

Hannah's Referralversary

2008-10-17T16:02:00.006-05:00

It was 1 year ago today that we received the referral for Hannah. We knew that we were near the top of the list and that they had not given out any referrals in a couple of weeks. We heard they had several to give out, so we had been waiting anxiously. The reason they had not given out any referrals in a couple of weeks was because of some turmoil in Guatemala. They were on hold. We got the call around 8:00pm. They asked to talk to both of us. Shortly after that we received several emails with pictures and information about Hannah. We left for Guatemala about 11:00am the next day. Here are some pictures we got with our referral (the pictures were taken when she was 1 day old) and a couple of pictures from today.

Pumpkin Fest

2008-10-13T10:45:00.007-05:00

Saturday we went to a Pumpkin Fest at a local apple orchard along with Jason's sister, Anna. It was fun and all the kids enjoyed it. We got a pumpkin and some squash. Here are some pictures:

Noah climbing over the pumpkins:

We went on a hayride through the apple orchard:

It's pumpkin carving time:

Our happy jack-o-lantern:

Here is a picture taken 2 years ago when Joel was just a little older than Hannah and Noah and Anna helped us carve our pumpkin and Jason, Joel, and Anna were all looking in the pumpkin:

Decorating My Office

2008-10-07T21:54:00.003-05:00

I (Jason) moved into my own office at work a few months ago and haven't hung anything on my walls. I've finally decided on a picture I took in Antigua for one wall and pics of the kids for another wall. Here they are...

Antigua, Guatemala

The kiddos...

Reception for Hannah & Noah at Jason's Work

2008-10-05T20:33:00.003-05:00

Just over a week ago there was a reception at Jason's work for us with Hannah and Noah and for another employee who recently had a baby. It was at the end of the day on Friday. It was very nice and so thoughtful of his company to honor their employees and their families.

Here are some pictures:

Hannah's 1st Birthday!

2008-10-03T17:36:00.006-05:00

Hannah's birthday was yesterday, October 2nd. It is hard to believe she is already a year old. We are so thankful for Hannah and the blessing that she is. Last night we had a small party at our house with Jason's parents, sister, and brother and sister-in-law last. It was a lot of fun. We had dinner, cake and ice cream, and opened gifts. Hannah had her own little cake. She was a little cautious at first, but she dug in and ate almost the whole cake. Noah also got a small piece of cake. Hannah and Noah are not used to sugar and I guess it really did them in. Neither one slept very much before about 2:00am. I spent over 4 hours rocking and trying to get kids to sleep and Jason spent quite a bit of time too.

I made a butterfly cake and a small flower cake for Hannah:

Hannah blowing out her candle with Joel's help:

She is feeling the cake and not quite sure what to think:

Noah enjoying his cake. He tried to shove the whole piece in his mouth:

Hannah finishing up her cake:

She needed a quick bath after cake and before gifts:

Welcome Shower for Hannah and Noah

2008-09-25T16:11:00.003-05:00

A woman from our church, who is also a long time friend of Jason's parents, hosted a wonderful shower for us on Saturday. Several ladies and young women from church along with Jason's mother, grandmother, and sister were there with Shannon and Hannah and Noah. They showered us with many adorable and useful gifts. Thank you all so much for the gifts you gave!

Here are some pictures:

Grandma feeding Hannah a bottle while Nanah feeds Noah one:

Matching baby girl and baby boy (notice Hannah watching from the side):

Nanah & Noah:

By the end of the gifts all the girls were helping Hannah pull the paper out of the gift bags:

Home Update

2008-09-17T17:21:00.006-05:00

I know I have not been good about updating and posting pictures, so here are some favorites from the last month or so. All the kids are doing well. Joel is usually busy cutting and coloring and playing with his train. Hannah is crawling and pulling up, sleeping through the night, is talking a lot (dada, mama, no-no), and seems to be adjusting well. She really loves her Daddy. Every time he walks in she cries until he picks her up. Noah is as busy as ever. He is walking up to 20 steps at a time, is quick to smile, wakes up at least once a night (but it is getting much better), and is always getting into something.

All 3 in Hannah's crib:

Joel feeding Hannah and Noah Cheerios:

Noah & Hannah enjoying fruit in their meshes:

Sweet Hannah:

Hannah in the morning (talk about morning hair!):

Daddy with his kids:

Bathtime:

Joel and Noah like to play in the box:

Fun outside:

Jason mowing while carrying Noah on his back:

Grammy & Pop Were Here Again

2008-09-09T16:27:00.009-05:00

Grammy & Pop (Shannon's parents) came back to visit again and to meet Hannah. They were here a little over a week and left on Sunday. We had a great visit and did lots of fun things. Both of them were so helpful with the kids and taking care of things around the house. All the kids warmed up to them quickly and really enjoyed them. We took lots of pictures.

Grammy and Pop usually come bearing some gifts. Joel loved this weed eater. He loves to mow with Jason, but was not able to weed eat with him in the past, so now he will be all set. He kept the carpet in the house short all week.

Noah has become a very messy eater at times.

We went back to Legacy Play Village while they were here. Hannah and Noah loved swinging and Joel loves running all around.

Around here you have to learn to be able to hold two kids at a time.

A trip is not complete unless Grammy takes them to Chuck E. Cheese so just her and I took them one afternoon.

We took the kids to a place called Jump N Jungle. It has a lot of places to jump and slide. As usual it took Joel a little time to warm up, but he had lots of fun. Adults and non-walkers are free so we got 6 people in for the price of one (Jason was at work).

We took some walks around the neighborhood.

Grammy taught Joel how to play memory and he really enjoyed playing it with them.

Jason's brother, Andy, was performing at the Cowboy Symposium here over the weekend so we went to see him perform.

After the Cowboy Symposium we went to McDonald's for lunch.

Another gift for Joel was this guitar. He loved it and put on quite a show for us.

Grammy & Pop went ahead and gave Hannah some gifts for her birthday since they will not be back again so soon (she will turn 1 in 3 weeks!). They gave her some "girly" toys since all of ours are boy toys. One gift was a purse. All the kids loved it. In the second pictures Grammy is putting play lipstick on Hannah.

Noah starting walking when they were here. He took his first really steps the first Sunday they were here in front of all of us including Jason's parents. By the end of the week he was walking up to 10 steps at a time.

Grammy & Pop with the kids:

Our family:

And Now the Rest of the Story

2008-08-26T23:09:00.007-05:00

Finally, here are some pictures from the rest of our trip to Guatemala. On Thursday we went to breakfast, took some family pictures, spent some time out at the pool, then Jason went to the Embassy to pick up Hannah's visa. On Friday we went to Antigua, Guatemala. It is a beautiful town about 45 minutes from Guatemala City. It is surrounded by mountains and volcanoes. We hired some people that we had met on our previous trip to drive us and show us around. It was a great day. We spent the day taking in the sites, taking lots of pictures, and going to the market. Saturday we flew home and arrived in Lubbock about 10:30pm.

Now on to the pictures.

Noah in his crib:

Noah & Hannah in their stroller:

Joel controlled the clicker during family pictures so we never knew when the picture would happen. We had lots of laughs, but we thought the second picture here turned out well.

Antigua:

This is Sandra our tour guide for the day with Joel:

At the market there were many, many booths like this one:

Diapers, Exhaustion, and Sickness

2008-08-17T20:52:00.003-05:00

Diapers. That's all we do. Really. That's the post. We do diapers.

...

and then there's the getting up sometimes 9 times a night between the 2 of us and the 3 kids (not counting the times you wake up and remind your spouse it's their turn).

...

and then there's the teething, diarrhea, and general not feeling good shared by some of us. No one is all out sick yet but several us are on the fringes of it.

...

Yet, we're all together as a family and despite it all, we love it. We're so thankful for each one of our 3 kids. We're learning them, they're learning us and each other, and we're sure things will settle down in a week or two (or at least we hope). Last night was actually better...only 1 waking between 12:00am and 7:00am. So, there just hasn't been a lot of time of posting. Once the kids go down, we're exhausted, so we've been watching some of the Olympics. We now call putting Noah down in his bed (with minimal rocking) a Phelpsian feat (you have to keep up with USA Olympic swimmer Michael Phelps to get that). :) We haven't even sat down together to go through all our trip pictures. Hope to do that soon, hope to post more soon, hope the kids sleeps good tonight.

Home Forever!!!

2008-08-10T21:45:00.002-05:00

Hannah Faith is finally home forever! We arrived safely late Saturday night in Lubbock. Jason's parents, sister, brother, and sister-in-law were all waiting at the airport to welcome Hannah home. The last few days have been really busy so we've fallen behind on our blogging. We had some "free time" when all the kids were asleep the last couple of evenings in Guatemala and decided to spend the time enjoying dinner together and a movie (all in our room). We'll catch up through the week with more pics from our trip.

Embassy Day

2008-08-07T10:07:00.003-05:00

Yesterday was Hannah's Embassy appointment. The day started early as everyone in the room was up at 5:45am. We decided for Jason to stay at the hotel with the boys while Shannon took Hannah to the appointment. It was a long morning for Shannon and Hannah (and not neccessarily short for Jason) as they had to be in the hotel lobby at 6:30am and didn't get back until about 10:30am. There were 6 other families from our adoption agency there. Surprisingly, the US government didn't charge us an additional $670 that we thought we would have to pay for doing a second adoption (paperwork fees). All in all, it went well and Hannah is officially ours in the eyes of the US goverment. We spent most of the rest of the day at the pool. Everyone had a great time. Joel has become quite the little fish (in the shallows - not a deep sea fish). We called it an early night since everyone was tired. The kids all went down and we actually got to enjoy dinner (reheated pizza) and a movie. Here's some pics from the day...

Joel is pointing at an airplane with his chicken finger

Shannon washing baby bottles

Cinco de Hedges

2008-08-05T22:04:00.008-05:00

The Five Hedges - probably not proper Spanish grammar but you get the idea - we're all here now! We picked up Hannah Faith this morning at 11:00am. It's hard to believe that we never have to give her back! It's been a wonderful day having all our kids here together.

Joel is asleep on the bed, Hannah is sleeping in her crib, and once again, Noah is wide-eyed, smiling, spitting, laughing, and jumping in his crib. Noah's been asleep, woke up, and we've tried off and on for the last few hours to get him back to sleep. We finally gave up and decided just to let him jump...and spit (as I'm typing this). :)

We just hung around the hotel today. Joel really wanted to swim but it rained off and on this afternoon so we didn't get to go. We just spent the day getting reacquainted with Hannah and enjoyed having the whole family here. She seemed a little cautious at first about coming to us but has warmed up as the day progressed. She stills seems really content and rarely cries. She has sooooo much hair! Shannon spent some time this evening playing with different hair ideas. We ordered in Pizza Hut for dinner (no, we're not very adventurous when it comes to food). That's really about it for today. Now for lots of pics...

Noah in the crib this morning

Joel and Hannah weren't in a real picture taking mood so they have stuff in their mouths - Noah is smiling behind the lid :)

Hannah gave Joel a Thomas the Train toy

Joel has his lion, Peheh, wrapped up in the blanket. He's bouncing him to sleep like we do Hannah and Noah.

Nap time this afternoon. :)

Joel enjoying Pizza Hut pizza

Shannon fixing Hannah's hair

We Beat the Storm

2008-08-04T23:36:00.003-05:00

We arrived safely in Guatemala and are in our room at the Westin. Joel is sleeping on the bed and Noah has been wide-eyed, laughing as he turned his bed into a jumperoo. We made all our flights fine however we had a bit of a problem in Lubbock. We've had some intermittent problems with our van's driver side window not rolling up. Probably a short in the switch. So of course today, after rolling down the window to get a parking slip, the window would not roll back up. We didn't have time to do anything but just leave it in the parking lot with the driver's window mostly down. Thankfully, Andy and Alissa (Jason's brother and sister-in-law) were able to come and pick it up this evening. And funny enough, Andy said it rolled right up when he came and got it! Oh well. :) So, we're glad we came early and beat the storm and we're super excited to be picking up Hannah Faith at 11:00am tomorrow. Praise God from Whom all blessings flow! Stay tuned for pics tomorrow.

Tropical Storm and Travel Plans

2008-08-04T12:27:00.003-05:00

Our plan was to leave for Guatemala in the morning but after checking the projected path of Tropical Storm Edouard this morning we decided we better leave this afternoon. Needless to say, we've been scrambling around trying to get ready to leave. Thanks to Shannon's foresight, we had alot of packing already done. Please pray that we make our connecting flight in Houston this evening and miss the storm!

Guatemala Here We Come!

2008-08-01T16:01:00.002-05:00

We have our travel plans set for next week. Many of you know that we considered Shannon and the boys staying home and just Jason going to pick up Hannah, but we decided that this is too big of a family life changing event for all of us not to go. Joel is very anxious to go get Hannah and make her laugh. We leave our house next Tuesday morning about 6:00am for a flight from Lubbock to Houston and then Houston to Guatemala City. We should be arriving just after 1:00pm and then picking up Hannah at the hotel at 3:00pm. Wednesday morning we leave our hotel at 6:45am to go to her Embassy appointment. One of us and the boys may stay at the hotel for that. Thursday afternoon one of us goes back to the Embassy to pick up Hannah's visa. For Friday we have scheduled a trip to Antigua for the day. There is a couple that drove us to the Embassy appointment and visa pickup for Noah that will be taking us to Antigua. This is where both Hannah and Noah lived while they were being fostered and it is supposed to be beautiful. Then Saturday afternoon we fly home. We do not fly in until about 10:30pm. This will be our first trip that we are allowed to leave the hotel, so we are not sure if we will venture out much or not. We are looking forward to the trip and to finally having Hannah with us forever. We are very busy packing and finishing up things here. If we don't blog again before we leave - Adios!

HANNAH IS COMING HOME!!

2008-07-30T16:16:00.002-05:00

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

2008-07-30T13:45:00.004-05:00

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:

Hannah's 2nd DNA Test - Finally!

2008-07-26T12:10:00.004-05:00

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.

Noah is 8 Months Old

2008-07-17T22:35:00.008-05:00

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:

Broken Toe

2008-07-16T22:21:00.003-05:00

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!

Hannah Still Waiting on DNA Test

2008-07-15T20:21:00.006-05:00

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:

Happy 3rd Birthday Joel!

2008-07-13T08:17:00.004-05:00

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:

Hannah's 9 Month Check-Up

2008-07-08T14:18:00.005-05:00

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:

4th of July

2008-07-07T16:22:00.006-05:00

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:

Hannah's New Birth Certificate

2008-07-04T20:36:00.002-05:00

Happy 4th of July! We have had a busy day of a parade, grillout, and swimming. I will post more and pictures later. We also received an email with the wonderful news of Hannah's new birth certificate today. It was issued yesterday, 8 days after the request. This is very quick for that region and we are very excited to get it. It now has Hannah's birth name with Hedges as her last name. We will legally change her first name after she gets home. With Noah, we picked him up 3 weeks after we received his birth certificate. So, that is about what we will expect for Hannah, but we will not know for sure until about a week before we pick her up. The next step we will be waiting for is for a DNA test to be done to ensure everyone that she is the same baby that we started with (not that we have any doubts, but to keep bad people from switching babies). Hopefully we will see that happen within the next week!

June in Review (Part 3)

2008-07-02T14:31:00.004-05:00

Here is the last of the June pictues!

Playing outside in the back yard. Notice the cowboy boots with the shorts.

Noah loves to sit in the grass and play with toys.

He also loves to hold your hands and pull to the standing position.

Joel loves playing with his cars, trucks, and trailers.

The boys were given these matching shirts. Don't they look cute! It didn't work too well trying to get a picture of them together.

June in Review (Part 2)

2008-07-01T15:14:00.007-05:00

Here are some more pictures from the last month!

"Cheese" (or as Joel says it "Chuck E. Cheese")

Daddy just fed Noah.

These pictures were for a father's day project.

Daddy likes to feed Noah his bedtime bottle and put him to sleep.

Playing in the living room.

Bathtime - Joel and Noah enjoying their baths together!

June in Review (Part 1)

2008-06-30T14:39:00.012-05:00

There are a lot of pictures that were taken in June that have not been posted. I may try to do a couple of posts this week of various pictures from June.

Noah sitting in his chair. Look at that smile.

Joel water painting. Thank you Aunt Susan!

Mommy & Noah:

Joel eating refried beans with his hands:

Going for a walk in the triple stroller. There are 2 seats and a place for Joel to sit or stand in the back. Since Hannah is not here yet, Joel usually rides in a seat.

Joel is helping to clean the windows.

Joel playing with his cars and trucks.

And in a diaper box:

Noah in the exersaucer. He is just recovering from being sick so his face looks pretty thin.

Joel often covers his face so we can not take a picture.

The Many Faces of Joel

2008-06-30T10:25:00.005-05:00

Joel loves Noah and is excited to get Hannah home. Almost daily he asks "Is Hannah ready to come home?", or "Can we go get Hannah?", or "I am ready for Hannah to come home." A few days ago we were talking about Hannah coming home soon and he said "There are going to be a lot of us!" This made us smile that he knows that Noah and Hannah are part of "us."

Joel does not like to have his picture taken very often, but one night he wanted to make lots of faces for the camera. This is only a sample of all the faces he made and pictures Jason took.

Hannah Is Legally Ours!

2008-06-29T14:45:00.002-05:00

We got an update today about Hannah's progress since she has gotten out of PGN. Her birth mother has signed off for the final time and the adoption was registered on June 2oth. This is when she legally became OUR daughter. Our file was submitted to the civil registry from the region where she was born on June 25th for a request of a new birth certificate with our last name on it. That particular region sometimes is very slow to issue the new birth certificates. Hopefully it will not take too long for Hannah's. We are still guessing she will come home at the end of July, but still are not sure.

Look Who is Starting to Crawl!

2008-06-23T10:43:00.004-05:00

Noah is getting on his hands and knees a lot is is starting to crawl. If you put something he really wants out of reach he half crawls half falls from his hands and knees and pushes with his feet. Before long he will be taking off.

Grammy & Pop Were Here

2008-06-21T12:01:00.007-05:00

Grammy & Pop (Shannon's parents) came last Sunday and stayed the week with us. They were planning on coming sooner after Noah came home, but because we were all sick they postponed their trip. They were supposed to stay until tomorrow and then go visit more family in the Austin area, but Mom (Grammy) thinks she is getting sick and did not want to spread it to other family members and wanted to get home before she got worse. We do not know if it the same thing we all had or something different. Hopefully she did not catch it from us or our house. We had lots of fun while they were here. Dad (Pop) did a lot of projects around the house and it was a great help. While they were here we went to a petting zoo at our library, went to Chuck E. Cheese (although Joel wanted to leave pretty quickly), went swimming, went to a great playground/fort, and played a lot at home. Here are some pictures:

At the petting zoo at the library:

At the pond at the library:

Mama and baby ducks:

At Chuck E.Cheese:

At Legacy Play Village:

Swimming at a public pool in Lubbock:

Around the house:

Joel, Daddy, & Pop made a cool ramp for Joel's cars:

Eating some of Grammy's yummy cinnamon bread:

HANNAH IS OUT OF PGN!!!!!

2008-06-18T13:59:00.005-05:00

Hannah was approved from PGN this morning!! What exciting news! We are so very glad to have her out of PGN. This means that the Guatemalan side of the adoption is complete and that within a couple of days she will be legally ours, but it takes several more weeks to get her new birth certificate with our last name and get all the things done for her to enter the USA. We posted a list of all of the steps on the blog on April 15th when Noah got out of PGN. If you would like to see the list you can find it there. We picked up Noah exactly 1 month from when he got out of PGN, but everything went very quickly for him. We will be expecting more like 6 weeks for Hannah, but it could be longer or shorter. It is too soon to tell. It is such a relief for her to be out of PGN. YEAH!!!

P.S. After almost 3 weeks of being very sick around here, we are finally all well.

Hannah's Birth Mother Interview Complete!

2008-06-09T21:13:00.004-05:00

We got an email this evening that Hannah's birth mother's interview was completed on Friday. We are so relieved to have this step completed. Her case is now just waiting for a final signature to be released from PGN. We have no idea how long this will take. They have just started releasing files again after about 6 weeks. It does not seem like they are necessarily releasing them in the order of the interviews. There are also no guaranty that when a file is released that it will be approved. It seems like there are still giving a lot of cases previos (kickouts). This will be a very gut wrenching wait until we hear that she is approved by PGN.

Update on Hannah

2008-06-05T17:06:00.009-05:00

A couple of days ago we got 2 sets of pictures of Hannah. One set from her 8 month doctor's appointment and one set from a social visit (where all the foster mothers get together and one of things that happens is taking pictures of all the kids). Both sets of pictures were taken on the same day, June 2nd, and you can see she is wearing the same outfit. At the doctor's she weighed 15 lb 4 oz. The report said that she is very alert and shows interest in all that goes on around her, appears to understand some simple words and turns to things that are named, she also imitates some of the movements she sees (rising eyebrows for example), is able to keep the sitting position and will try to pull herself to the standing position, she also puts herself in the crawling position.

As far as her case, we are still waiting for the additional birthmother interview to take place. We are not sure why it is taking so long. Many people from our agency have already had this done. It could be that the birthmother can not get off work or can not get to Guatemala City for the interview or something else. We are not sure. We are very anxious to have this done. She can not exit PGN (Procuradoria General del Nacion) until this is completed and even after it is completed it could take a while to exit. The first case from our agency to exit from PGN since the new requirement of the additional birthmother interview just happened this week. Their interview happened about 3 weeks prior. Hopefully this process will speed up. We are very ready to have Hannah home.

Here are the pictures from June 2nd-

Social visit pics:

Doctor's visit pics:

P. S. Noah and Shannon are both still sick, but they may be doing a little bit better.

Still Sick!

2008-06-02T17:03:00.003-05:00

Well, we are still sick at our house. Joel finally seems to be doing better today. He is acting much more himself although not quite 100%. Yesterday evening Noah started with the sickness. He has had a pretty hard day. If he does not seem better tomorrow we may need to get him into the doctor. I am a little concerned about him staying hydrated. He will drink, but it is hard to keep it in him. Jason & I have not necessarily felt our best, but have not felt too bad. Hopefully things will not get worse for us.

Home with Noah

2008-05-29T15:57:00.005-05:00

Well, we have been home with Noah for just over a week. Surprisingly we have not taken very many pictures since we have been home. That is not like us and we will try to do better. Noah seems to be adjusting very well. He smiles and laughs at us often and makes a lot of eye contact. When we first picked him up in Guatemala he had trouble taking his bottle. He would barely get down an ounce or two at a time. We think it was mostly due to the fact that he was just getting in his two front bottom teeth. He just chews on the bottle. He is doing much better now although he still throws an occasional fit during his bottle. He usually eats 6-7 ounces at a time. He is also eating up the baby food. I have made quite a bit more and he is eating about 10 ice cube size servings a day not including two servings of baby cereal. He is sleeping well at night. Sometimes he wakes up and fusses, but he normally just needs a little tummy rub to go back to sleep. His foster mother said he was taking two bottles during the night, but we tried to give them to him at first and he did not want them, but just a little comfort. That is great for us. We have not been out and about a lot, but Noah seems to do well around others and seeks us out to smile at us. Unfortunately two days ago we were on our way into Sams for diapers and formula and Joel threw up in the parking lot. He threw up probably another 10 or so times throughout the night and next day. He has stopped throwing up so hopefully that is all for him and I really hope that the rest of us do not get it. Joel has continued to do great with Noah. As you can see in the pictures he reads to him, drives him around in his tractor, and loves on him. Joel has been very helpful around the house and in understanding that I need to take care of Noah (except when he is sick). We are very proud of him.

Here are a few pictures. The last one is Jason's parents and sister with Noah.

A Very Special Thanks!

2008-05-21T00:02:00.002-05:00

When we walked into our home this evening with Noah for the first time, we found this tree sitting in our living room. It was filled with notes, cards, and gifts from family and friends. The tree was meant to represent our expanding family tree. We are so thankful for the 40+ notes of encouragement, prayers and support, and the approx. $4000 that was generously given for the babies and adoption costs! A very, very special thanks to Andy and Alissa (Jason's brother and sister-in-law) that organized the surprise for us. We were definately surprised!

Hedges, Texan, American (in that order)

2008-05-20T23:46:00.004-05:00

Noah John is now a proud Hedges, proud Texan, and a proud American! Because we had visited Noah in Guatemala before his case exited PGN, he entered the USA with a special visa that made him a US citizen when we touched down on US soil. We still had to go through an immigration process with Noah when we arrived in Houston but it basically amounted to Jason and Noah sitting in a room for 30-45 minutes waiting for an immigration officer to hand back Noah's passport after they verified his paperwork.

We gave Hannah back to her foster mom this morning and left Guatemala around noon. After going through immigration in Houston we flew home to Lubbock. We arrived just before 8:00pm where Noah (and the rest of us) were welcomed by Jason's parents, sister, and grandparents. We were really excited to get to show off Noah right away! :) We didn't have a lot of pictures today since we were traveling but here are a few. Joel really enjoyed listening to music on the airplane today.

Coming Home

2008-05-19T23:41:00.005-05:00

Our stay is almost over in Guatemala. We are leaving Hannah tomorrow and flying home with Noah. We'll be arriving in Lubbock at about 7:50pm. We hope the long day of traveling goes ok with Noah (and the rest of us).

We had another fun day at the pool today. This afternoon we had to go back to the US Embassy to pick up Noah's Visa. I (Jason) went to pick it up while Shannon stayed with the kids at the hotel. We feel really blessed by our agency's people here in Guatemala. They have been so helpful. They really made sure that we knew what to expect at the Embassy. They had people to pick us up, drive us to the Embassy, walk us through the process there, help us check our documents, and drive us back to the hotel. We saw lots of families from other agencies that didn't know what to do or what to expect. Our agency's people were actually answering questions for them too.

We are sad to be leaving Hannah and ask you all to pray that her case exists PGN soon so we can bring her home. We really don't have any new information about her case right now.

And of course, here's pictures from the day...

Sunday in Guatemala

2008-05-18T23:16:00.009-05:00

Here are some pictures from today. We went to breakfast this morning, did some souvenir shopping in the gift shops, took lots of pictures, and spent some time out at the pool.

This evening Joel had Hannah laughing so hard. First of all he undressed down to his diaper, then he got on the bed and jumped onto pillows around Hannah. This was all his idea. Here are some pictures of it:

While all of this was going on I was getting Noah ready for bed.

Saturday in Guatemala

2008-05-18T22:38:00.006-05:00

Here are some pictures from the rest of Saturday. We spent quite a bit of the afternoon at the pool. Joel did not want to get in the water, but when he finally got in he was quite a little fish. He did not want to get out. The pool here at the hotel has a section of very shallow water about 6"-8" and Joel would crawl all around on his elbows. Hannah and Noah also seemed to love being outside. They both also liked being in the water. Noah took a nap while we were out there (he is quite a cat napper). The weather was in the mid 80s and very pleasant. Here are some pics from the day:

Hedges Photography Studio at the Westin

2008-05-17T13:13:00.003-05:00

We set up our make shift photography studio in our hotel room this morning and started trying to get a family picture and studio type pics of the kids. The kid's pics came out especially good today. :)

and for fun...here's one where Noah is watching Joel, Joel is watching Hannah, and Hannah is staring at the ceiling.

and here's one where Noah is upset, Joel is still smiling, and Hannah has decided we're not being that funny anymore. :)

Finally All Together

2008-05-16T21:20:00.007-05:00

We've waited a long time to have all our family together and we're finally all together now. It's the most wonderful thing!

Our day started early with Noah's Embassy appointment at 7:15am (we had to leave the hotel at 6:45am and we actually made it down for breakfast before that!). All went well with the appointment. We will be picking up Noah's Visa on Monday afternoon. After our appointment, we went shopping for a while and ate at McDonalds (aren't we adventurous - Joel's choice :P) in a mall a few blocks from our hotel.

We picked up precious Hannah Faith this afternoon and she is absolutely adorable! She is such a beautiful little girl! She is so content and smiles all the time. We are having so much fun with all our kids together. Joel is being the perfect big brother. He's so interested in both Hannah and Noah. He loves seeing what their doing and giving them hugs and kisses. After Shannon put Hannah's hair up in pigtails, Joel said "That's silly!" and then decided she looked like Boo from the cartoon Monsters Inc. so he called her Boo the rest of the night. Noah has had a long day and we've had a hard time getting him to eat. He finally ate better this evening so we're hoping his eating will go smoother tomorrow.

Hope you enjoy pics from our day. It doesn't get any better for us than having all our kids together with us!

Noah is ours forever!

2008-05-15T22:36:00.007-05:00

We made it to Guatemala this afternoon with little delay. We got in a little after 1:00pm local time. We got to our hotel about 2:00pm but our room was not ready so we had to wait in the lobby until about 2:45. We were supposed to be called in our room at 3:00 to come pick up Noah, so we were quite anxious to get to our room. Shortly after 3:00 we were called down and Noah was placed in our arms forever. The afternoon and evening have been very good. Noah seems like he is a very happy baby overall. When we first got him and we were still with his foster mother he was all smiles. He laughs often. He has been some fussy this evening, we think because he is with unfamiliar people in an unfamiliar place, but he seems quite content now. We will be getting Hannah tomorrow afternoon, after our Embassy appointment. Joel is doing so well with Noah. He could not wait to get to Guatemala to "take care of Noah and Hannah." He checks on Noah often and says "Noah is great," "he sounds beautiful," and "I love him." On to the pictures:

Noah is Coming Home!!

2008-05-08T16:27:00.003-05:00

We got our pink slip this afternoon with our Embassy appointment. Our appointment is next Friday, May 16th at 7:15am. We are sooo excited! We should be able to pick up Noah's visa from the Embassy on the following Monday afternoon. We need the visa to get Noah into the USA. Our tentative travel plans are to fly down to Guatemala next Thursday (5/15) and to fly home the following Tuesday (5/20). We will keep you updated. May 16th is Noah's 6 month birthday. We are also very excited to get to have Hannah stay with us while we are in Guatemala. Now if we could just get her out of PGN!

Hannah's 7 Month Check-up

2008-05-07T23:20:00.002-05:00

Hannah has her 7 month doctor's checkup on May 2nd. The doctor said she's a "bright little girl". :) Sounds like she's doing great. She weighed 15lbls 6oz. We learned today that cases are still being processed in PGN (but none are exiting) and that some cases may require an additional interview with the birth mother, foster mother, baby, and attorney. We don't know for sure if our case will require this additional interview but if it does, it could happen as soon as tomorrow. We're hoping she'll get out of PGN soon, but we really have no idea how long this delay will last. Please pray that she does get out soon! Here's some pics to enjoy of our beautiful little Hannah Faith!

Noah's DNA Results at Embassy

2008-05-06T17:14:00.002-05:00

The results from Noah's DNA test arrived at the US Embassy in Guatemala this afternoon. The Embassy now will issue us a pink slip (an email) with our appointment day and time. It could come at any day now, but as always we never know for sure. Most pink slips come between 1 day and 2 weeks from when the Embassy receive the results.

Garage Sale Finds

2008-05-04T20:31:00.006-05:00

We went to a neighborhood garage sale Saturday and had some great finds. Here are pictures of all the baby/kid stuff we bought. We have been looking at buying this same jumperoo (1st picture). It is $80 new. We spent $31 total on everything.

Making Baby Food

2008-05-02T13:04:00.002-05:00

A few days ago I (Shannon) started making some baby food for the babies when they come home. I think that they waited until Hannah was 6 months old to start her on food and I do not think that Noah has started yet. (He will be 6 months on May 16th.) Making the baby food will be much cheaper, allow me to know for sure what they are eating, and give them a bigger variety of foods. I started with bananas and avocados. These are supposed to be good first foods. I just peeled them and mashed them with a fork and then added some water to make them thinner and smoother. I then spooned them into ice cube trays, froze them, and then popped them out into freezer bags. They are now frozen in serving sizes and should be good for 3 months. I used 4 bananas and 4 avocados. I got 54 cubes. This is probably the same amount of food as about 22 jars of 1st baby food. I paid about $2.65 for the bananas and avocados. Baby food costs about .40-.50 cents a jar for 1st foods. I think it was well worth the savings. I might do sweet potatoes and squash next. A great web site I found about making your own baby food is http://www.wholesomebabyfood.com/ .

Pictures of Hannah and Noah

2008-05-01T21:36:00.006-05:00

We just received some new pictures of both Hannah and Noah taken yesterday. Here they are:

Noah's second DNA test

2008-04-28T22:39:00.002-05:00

Noah had his second DNA test today. The test is performed to make sure that he is the same baby that was tested at the beginning of the adoption process and that he has not been swapped out for a different baby. (Obviously Noah has not been swapped, but it is done to keep corrupt agencies from swapping babies.) Guatemala should have sent the sample to a US lab today and when they receive the result they send it to the US Embassy in Guatemala. The US Embassy then will send us an email (known as a "pink slip") with our Embassy appointment time on it. We should get our pink slip in about 2-4 weeks. At that time we will probably have about 1 week until our appointment. It is getting close now! Here are some pictures of Noah today getting his DNA test done.

Here is Noah at his first DNA test on December 12th:

Hannah is not happy :(

2008-04-28T22:22:00.002-05:00

There have been some hopefully slight delays with Hannah's case. Last week the head of PGN was let go. In the short term this will mean some delays as a new person takes his place, but it should be better for the long term of PGN. Once again we were in just the wrong place at just the wrong time. Hannah's case was almost at the top of the list to get out of PGN so instead of getting out we will have to wait until things settle down again. There was a meeting with PGN today and the new director is hopeful that cases will be exiting PGN again next week, but our agency feels like that may be a little optimistic. We recently got some pictures of Hannah from a surprise visit on April 15th. She looks sad that she is stuck in PGN.

Noah's New Birth Certificate

2008-04-24T15:44:00.003-05:00

We received an email today with Noah's new birth certificate. It has the first name that was given to him in Guatemala and his last name that is now officially Hedges. He seems to be moving through the steps very quickly. Our best guess would be that he would be ready for pickup in about 4 weeks, but there are still several things that could affect it. This is very exciting and we will be so glad to have him home, but it looks like we may not be able to bring Hannah home at the same time. We will still just need to wait and see.

Noah's making progress

2008-04-23T21:49:00.002-05:00

Noah's case is moving right along! His birth mother signed off for the last time and the adoption decree was registered on April 16th. We're assuming that we're now waiting on his new birth certificate. That means that were on step 6 on the list below (Post PGN Steps). Here are pictures from his 5 month doctor check-up on April 18th. He weighed 17lbs 10oz. The doctor says he's a "bright little lad" and he seems to be doing well. We're so anxious to get him home!

Noah's happy to be out of PGN!

2008-04-16T21:53:00.001-05:00

Here's Noah's latest surprise visit pics. He looks like a happy boy!

Post PGN Steps

2008-04-15T22:30:00.003-05:00

Here are the steps that will be taking place over the next several weeks so that Noah can come home:

1. Attorney picks up the file from PGN
2. Attorney arranges the birth mother to come and sign (same week usually)
3. The Final Escritura (final adoption deed) is drafted
4. The Final Escritura is dropped off to be registered in the general archives
5. The Final Escritura is ready and picked up (48 business hours later)
6. The new birth certificate is requested from the civil registry where your child was born
7. The new birth certificate is ready and picked up (varies greatly – two days to three weeks)
8. Baby is taken for new passport
9. The new birth certificate and the entire adoption file of documents are sent for translation from Spanish to English
10. After translation, the final file is submitted to the Embassy for pink slip and the lawyer is given a second DNA authorization slip and an authorization for the Embassy doctor exam.
11. The child is taken to the Guatemala lab for a second DNA test. The Guatemala lab sends samples that same day to the US lab. The Embassy medical exam is also done on this day.
12. When the Embassy receives the results from the lab in the U.S. indicating a match with the first DNA test, it issues the pink slip (probably about 2-4 weeks after the second test).
13. Pink slip is emailed to parents - embassy appointment day and time will be printed on the slip.
14. You come for Embassy interview appointment (M, T, W, or Fri, currently one to two weeks after pink)
15. Next business day – Visa is ready (3:00 pm M-Th; 11:00 am Fri.)
16. Next Day – you can fly home

Noah is OUT of PGN!!!!

2008-04-15T15:28:00.003-05:00

We got a call this afternoon that Noah is out of PGN! We are very excited! That is a great milestone to be past. Now we are hoping that Hannah gets out of PGN soon and that we will be able to pick them up together. There are still several things that still need to happen in Guatemala before Noah is ready to come home. We will post a summary of those steps later, but it will probably take 4-8 weeks.

Hannah had a Surprise Visit

2008-04-04T21:53:00.003-05:00

We got some pictures from a surprise visit of Hannah and her foster mother done on March 25th. You can really see her teeth in some of these pictures. The report also said that Hannah is eating cereal and vegetables.

Basket Liners

2008-04-04T12:45:00.006-05:00

Shannon has finished making some basket liners to go on the changing table in Hannah's room. Here are some pictures!

Here is the bedding that everything Shannon has been making is supposed to match:

And here is Joel while I was trying to take the pictures:

Hannah has Teeth

2008-04-04T12:41:00.002-05:00

We have noticed in our latest pictures that it looks like Hannah has at least two bottom teeth!

Guatacuties!

2008-04-03T22:09:00.002-05:00

We just received some pictures of both Hannah and Noah. The pictures were taken on April 1st. Enjoy the Guatacuties!

Hannah is six months old

2008-04-03T13:56:00.010-05:00

Yesterday Hannah turned 6 months old. She is growing up without us. We wish that she was here so that we could celebrate her life with her. She went to the doctor yesterday for her 6 month check up. She is weighing in at 14 lb 15 oz. The doctor's report said that she has mastered rolling over to either side, that she is trying hard to sit up, responds to the sound of her name, continues to smile socially, and is very vocal by making cooing and some babbling noises. Here are some pictures from her appointment yesterday along with some pictures from her first 6 months.

6 months:

5 months:

4 months:

3 months:

2 months:

1 month:

2 1/2 weeks (our visit):

1 day:

Pictures of Noah

2008-03-28T09:43:00.007-05:00

We have recently received two updates of Noah with pictures. The first was a surprise visit at his foster mother's house on March 11th. The second was his 4 month doctor's check up on March 18th. He was up to 16 lb 3 oz. The doctor's report says that Noah is quite vocal, laughs out loud, and is developing well. Here are the pictures.

Surprise visit on March 11th:

Doctor's visit on March 18th:

Easter

2008-03-27T23:08:00.004-05:00

This year in preparation for Easter we dyed eggs with Joel. He had a great time dipping the eggs in all the colors. On Easter day we went to church in the morning and Jason's family, along with some visiting friends, came over for the afternoon/evening. It was a good day. There was a three year old boy for Joel to play with and he had a grand time.

Hannah's Valance

2008-03-27T23:00:00.002-05:00

Here is a picture of the valance that Shannon made for Hannah's room. We have received and put together some of the furniture for Hannah's room, but we are still waiting on one piece.

Getting Rooms Ready

2008-03-12T16:55:00.005-05:00

We have been getting the rooms ready for the kids to come home. We have set up Joel's old crib in his room for Noah. We have ordered furniture for Hannah's room that we hope will be in this week. Last week Shannon made a lampshade for Hannah's room out of receiving blankets that match her crib bedding. This week she is working on a valance for the window out of the same material. Here is picture of the lamp shade and we will post more as we finish things.

New Pics of Hannah

2008-03-11T23:18:00.002-05:00

Here's the latest pics of little Hannah Faith. They were taken at her 5 month doctor's appointment last week. She now weighs 14lbs 8ozs which was the exactly the same amount as Noah at his 3 month appointment. The doctor's report said she can now roll from her stomach onto her back and that she tries to roll over completely. She attempts to grab whatever is nearby and tries to put it in her mouth.

Hannah's Back in PGN!!!

2008-03-03T18:40:00.002-06:00

Hannah's case went back in PGN this afternoon! We're so excited! We're hoping we will get through it quickly now without anymore problems. Hannah's case is about 1 week behind Noah's case now. Hannah turned 5 months old yesterday.