Jedi- 3 months old

The other evening the girls were home with me and we tried to have a mini photo shoot with Jedi (Jed, Jeddy, little Buddy, cutie,...you choose the nickname that's right for you) to try and capture his cute little 3 month old smiles. The girls were trying to be so helpful but had him looking in every direction but at the camera. I tried to keep my cool and ask them to not be so distracting, I mean helpful. Unfortunately my request crushed them and I needed to ask for forgiveness. I was able to redeem the time together and we ended up having a good time while getting some cute pictures. I then gave the girls the camera so they could give a try at taking their own pictures of Jedi.

Could he be any cuter?




Any time his hands are free, Jed tries to get them into his mouth. I've tried pulling them out, putting a pacifier in its place but to no avail. I'm fighting it desperately because we are still working hard to get Miriam to stop sucking her thumb. Ugh!

Eliza's photo:

Miriam's:

August 2011

I'm gradually going back and trying to catch up on the events from the last few months. Since life was hectic, for various reasons, I didn't post pictures of birthdays, pre-baby, fun times... so I thought I'd give our families (and friends) a little glimpse into life from August.

This year Eliza had a hard time deciding on a Birthday theme that was anything but princesses. Last year's princess cake took forever so I was trying to see if I could help her think of different theme that she would enjoy and I could manage with a little less effort (I just didn't feel well with the kidney stones and didn't think I could spend hours on a cake this year). After we talked about going to Thailand (for the birth of Jedidiah) and the different things that we could do there, she decided on an Elephant Theme.

Eliza's Party- this year we had the rare opportunity to have English speaking friends in the area. Eliza was excited to have them join her in celebrating her special day a few weeks early- actually at the end of July before we left for Thailand. (All these friends, but the baby girl, are no longer in the area- so sad.)


Eliza and I scanned through pictures of Elephant Cakes on the Internet and this is the one she chose- I was pleased with her simple option.


Daddy was responsible for party games. One we played was "Feed the Elephant Peanuts"- kinda like "Pin the Tail on the Donkey" but we tried to get the peanuts as close to the elephant's trunk as possible.


Below are pictures from our time at the Chiang Mai, Thailand Zoo. We had a great time. I didn't do much but ride the tram from one section of the zoo to the next and then sit and wait for the family to view the animals in that area of the zoo and then come back and meet me- but it was great to be together and enjoy the sunny outdoors. We loved the baby elephant- so cute!



While in Thailand CJ had some strange reaction to something that made his face swell. The doctors thought it was an allergic reaction but after allergy testing we were all shocked to find that he is NOT allergic to ANYTHING. He woke up one morning with puffy eyes- I noticed it but we just let it go- not too serious. The next day a bit more puffy. After a few days of the same pattern we took him to the pediatrician. She prescribed allergy medicine. 4 doses of meds later and it was getting worse. We went to an allergist. After 3+ doses of "heavy duty" antibiotics and no improvement (it was actually getting worse- his throat was now swollen and he would cry to even swallow water) he was hospitalized for 4 days/3 nights. We are all still stumped by what caused his swelling but are thankful that the IV medication finally helped and he is healed.


Mommy & Jed- the night before his big arrival.


Daddy and Jed- when Jed was just hours old.


A picture of Mom, Dad and baby Jed the day that we went home from the hospital- August 30th.


Here is a picture of Eliza riding and elephant with my aunt. Aunt Janet, my Mom and a friend visited us in Thailand. The three ladies took the kids to the Elephant Park when we were in the hospital with Jedidiah.

Last week we attend a friend's birthday party. The had a traditional ancient Chinese celebration. To help get us in the mood the guests were dressed in ancient Chinese clothes. Here are a few shots that one of the other guests took.

Miriam playing with an abacus.


Eliza looks on as the birthday boy opens a present.


Serious CJ- he was trying to play the roll of a Chinese Emperor from the Tang Dynasty.


The whole crew.

Our Four Treasures!

I had wanted to get a good shot of the kiddos all together before we left Thailand for our home. We were hurrying to get these shots done before church one Sunday. It was a bit hectic and sorry to say, not so pleasant for all involved... but I thought that some of the pictures turned out O.K. It was even more fun for me to see them all together- the combination of the poses made me giggle.

Our kids are such a blessing in our lives and I'm trying to learn how to enjoy them even more. With my "check things off the list" desire I want to learn to slow down and enjoy my "four treasures" and not just hurry them through my check list for the day.

Thank you Father for these sweet children.

Which photos do you like the best?
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Jedidiah- Part 2

Jedidiah has been a pure joy to have in our house hold. He is a pleasant baby and a blessing to us all. CJ told me just yesterday that he was so glad that we had a baby in our family. I think his sentiment captures the heart of our family.

The last week or so he has been smiling on a regular basis but is not very willing to share them with the camera. I'm thankful for digital cameras- otherwise we would have oodles of "almost" pictures.

So, due to popular demand- photos of Jedi:

3 weeks old:



5 weeks old:

July 2011

A little back tracking to catch up on the summer's events.

July was not so eventful. I was feeling pretty crummy after the whole Kidney stone thing and stuck around the house quite a bit. To help get the kids out & about we were able to schedule some play dates with some foreign friends in our city that we recently met. It has been such a blessing for our children to have some English speaking friends- we had been praying for such a thing for more than 2 years. Our kids loved being able to play in "English" and I appreciated the ability to plan things in advance. They were also able to play with some of their local friends when they had some breaks from their summer studies.





The kids also enjoyed some small little activities like making home made pizzas with our American friends that live here and assembling & painting some wood projects.








Another great activity was a trip to the Water Park. We were shocked to see that our city has a great Water Park. We were looking forward to going for weeks after we had told the kids that we would go there to celebrate CJ's completion of 2nd grade and the girl's completion of Chinese kindergarten. We were finally able to go and had a FABULOUS time. I was able to sit in the lounge chairs and float around the lazy river quite a few times- this helped me to manage a huge day event like this one.

Baby Jedidiah is here!

We're excited to announce the arrival of:

Jedidiah Cannon Hanley
August 27, 2011
8:30 am Bangkok time
7 lbs. 5 oz.
19.5 inches long

Name meaning:
Jedidiah- “friend of God” or “beloved of the Lord”
Cannon- The Biblical canon is the set of books Christians regard as divinely inspired and thus constituting the Christian Bible

Our prayer is that Jedidiah would grow to know the Lord and choose to be a follower of our Savior (a Friend of God). We also pray that as he grows that he would learn to love the Bible and use it to guide his steps day by day.

Join us in Praising the Lord for our precious gift!


Jedidiah's first passport photo:


Jedidiah is pulled from Mom's belly:


Jedidiah and I meet for the first time:


Jedidiah and his proud Daddy:


Big Brother and Baby Brother cuddle:


We're so glad that Grandmom was able to come and join us in Thailand on Jedidiah's arrival. She has been such a blessing to us as I recuperate.


Eliza enjoys holding Jedidiah... but just a few seconds is long enough before she says, "Mom, can you take it away now." :)


Miriam couldn't wait to hold Jedidiah and now can't wait for him to come home from the hospital. I'm glad that I'm nursing him, otherwise I may never be able to take him away from her.