On the Mend!

quick update for everyone: cruz is on the mend! he actually slept really well last night and only woke up one time. we ended up using a humidifier in his room and also put vicks baby rub on his chest and back (thanks for the recommendation cyndi!). when he woke up at 8:15 this morning (wow!), he was fever free and has been all day! he's in much better spirits and has been playing, smiling and babbling like his normal, easy-going self. i'm wondering if maybe he just had a nasty cold and not RSV?? we'll see what the doctor says tomorrow morning. thank you for all of your thoughts & prayers!

ang

Home Sweet Home?

well we've now been home for 5 days and it's been quite a ride so far! poor cruz came down with what we thought was a nasty cold and fever on sunday night. as of today, he still hadn't shaken it and we were already scheduled to go to the doctor for his 9-month checkup, so the doctor fully examined him. he thinks cruz has RSV! they did numerous tests and checks on him and even put him on a nebulizer for a while. his white counts came back normal, but his heart rate was really high...high enough that the doctor was trying to decide if he should send us home or straight to childrens hospital in saint paul! he decided to give us a prescription and sent us home with instructions to give cruz a dose of ibuprofen and his first dose of the antibiotic and then put him down for a nap. after his nap we were to bring him back to the doctor's office where he would then check his heart rate and oxygen level again. he ended up sleeping from about 5:00 until 6:30 and when he woke up he was much more himself again! we took him back to the doctor's office and he rechecked him and both his heart rate and oxygen levels were significantly better. thank you god! he does want to see him again on friday morning just to make sure everything is still looking ok, but thankfully we didn't have to make a trip to saint paul tonight. cruz is certainly training us in quickly!

other highlights of the week:

auntie melissa and jeff stayed overnight on friday night and heath made us all yummy breakfast burritos on saturday morning. on sunday afternoon, mel came back to hang out with us (well, really to hang with cruz!) and stayed with us til monday afternoon. monday morning, our friends courtney and val stopped to meet cruz on their way home from laughlin and our friend kevin dropped off a johnny jump up for cruz to borrow (thanks avery!). on tuesday grandma and grandpa johnson came up to spend the day and today our friend cyndi brought lunch over. despite cruz being sick, we've had a pretty fun week!

oh, before i forget, the doctor also gave us updated stats on cruz. at 9 months he is 17 lbs 10 oz. and 27" long! these numbers put him between the 5th and 10th percentiles...he's now on the charts! yippee!

a few pics from week one:

hanging with tia mel:

snuggling with grandma johnson:

daddy's back in the kitchen!

our beautiful welcome flowers, signs & balloons!

good night!

Homecoming! (16 photos), by Angie Reedy

on friday, march 25th, we got up at 4:45 am so we were ready for freddy to pick us and the jaenischs up at 5:30 am for our shuttle to the airport. as you will see, heath had a little run in with the colombian policia at the airport! luckily they just wanted to practice their english with him! cruz was a rock star on both flights and we landed in minneapolis right on time at 7:05 pm. we were so surprised to see so many of our family members waiting to greet us! thank you so much for the warm welcome home! now if only the temperature would warm up...cruz isn't much of a fan of the winter coat, hat & mittens!
Click here to view photos

Last Days in Bogota (76 photos), by Angie Reedy

we thoroughly enjoyed our last few days in bogota before heading home on friday! here are some memories through photos. (i even included some pictures of our room at hotel paris...can you believe we lived in that room for 6 weeks?!)Click here to view photos

Hasta Luego Bogota!

just a quick note before i go to bed one last time here at hotel paris...we had a wonderful last day here in bogota! this morning we got up and the sun was finally shining (at least partially!), so we ate breakfast and headed to monserratte about 9:30. i'm so glad we went as it was beautiful up there! we arrived back at the hotel about 12:30 and then walked to lunch at azzerro's for some italian and it was delicious. (mary & brian had been talking it up, so we figured we better try it on our last day!) after lunch, we came back to the hotel and found out some fabulous news....the jaenischs were able to get jack's visa so they are flying home to minnesota with us tomorrow! we are so happy for them and are very excited to leave together. heath headed to the embassy around 2:30 to pick up cruz's visa while i started packing. he was back in less than an hour as he had an awesome driver. we then quick ran to nicolukas to pick up some desserts we had ordered to celebrate our last night and i made my last stop at the juan valdez i frequented. yum! dinner was delicious ajiaco soup (traditional colombian soup) followed by our desserts. after dinner, we passed out thank you gifts to all of the staff and took some fun pictures with them! we will certainly miss them all - they treated us so well and took such good care of us. we are now all packed up and ready for bed. freddy is picking us all up at 5:30, so it will be a very early morning. our flight leaves here at 9:30 and we should be in atlanta at 3:30 (eastern). wish us well and think good thoughts as we all go through customs and immigration! :)
will write more and post pictures from our last few days after we return home!

signing off from bogota for the last time...
ang

Fiesta Fotos!

here are a couple of fun fotos from the fiesta for juliet's 15th birthday party!

family foto

jaenisch family minus ben

there was even a band!

the singer was on 'colombian idol'!

the birthday girl & cruz

ben & lauren

mary & i with our boys

cruz & luz stella, our representative

beer boys! brian, heath & ryan

the ladies with their babes: ang & cruz, mary & jack, lisa & vivi

FIESTA!

Moving Right Along....

just wanted to let everyone know that things have been moving right along this week! yesterday we applied for and received cruz's passport (wait til you see how cute his picture is!) and had his medical exam in the afternoon. he currently weights 16.5 lbs and is 25.5" long...he is continuing to grow and has definitely developed a buddha belly and chubby little cheeks! the doctor said everything looks good and is certain he will thrive in minnesota. :)

this morning we headed to ICBF and picked up one final form and then proceeded on to the US embassy to apply for his visa. everything there went smoothly and we can pick up his visa at 3:30 tomorrow! that is our final step before we can leave. yippee!

it was also an exciting morning for me as cruz has been babbling quite a bit and seems to have figured out how to say "mama"! heath is very jealous and is trying to get him to say papa...so far it hasn't happened!

last night we celebrated juliet's 15th birthday here at hotel paris (she is one of the group of 4 siblings that has been adopted by a family from frazee, mn). 15th birthdays are very important for colombian girls and it was a BIG deal here. we celebrated with a live band, cake, flowers, balloons, etc. i will post pictures as soon as i can.

time to head to lunch. hasta luego!

ang, heath & cruz