Welcome Baby Hall #3!

It’s been a while, intentionally, and it’s oh so good to be back! We are OVERJOYED to share what we’ve been up to the last 7 months! We’ve grown, by TWO FEET! Our family welcomed our baby boy Rhett Isaiah Hall into the world July of 2021. We have spent every second since his birth delving deep into the depths of parenthood to 3 babes…and wow… have we been busy falling deep in love with this little guy!

As most of you know, our dreams of adoption began to be fulfilled when we connected last March with our birth mother, and a whirlwind of events carried us to his birth in July. We took a step back in July and focused on bonding with our little guy and settling in as a family of FIVE. It’s safe to say, he is so well loved and the most perfect piece to complete our family. We are incredibly grateful to all of you who supported us during our fundraising campaign, praying over our adoption, and supporting us through this journey. We will forever be grateful to our dear birth mother. We were able to be present for Rhett’s birth, an amazing experience. There are not words to describe the adoration you have for another woman birthing your son so bravely, and there will always be a special place in our hearts for Rhett’s birth mother. We instantly fell in love with our little guy, and after a few nights in the hospital for special care, we were able to bring him home to Addisyn and Josiah.

I will never forget the emotions of introducing Addisyn and Josiah to their baby brother. Watching their little eyes, both filling with tears, hearing Addisyn say, “I didn’t think I would feel this way, I love him so much!” Hearing Josiah say, “Hello Rhett, I’m your big brother, Josiah.” Those are the things that make your heart explode. After a long journey in our adoption already, from dreams of adoption, to the never-ending paperwork, to the year of praying for guidance, we finally brought home our son.

The newborn days were just as wonderfully exhausting as we remembered. We rounded out the summer making family memories, working on gaining weight for our tiny little guy, and living that lovely, exhausting, newborn life. Fall came and we started back to school with the older two, learning how to juggle a new schedule with a newborn. Rhett enjoyed sleeping through his first Halloween, but he looked fantastic with the other two. We made our first trip back home to introduce Rhett to family at Thanksgiving, and time quickly passed to celebrating his first Christmas. In between we watched this little guy grow and develop, and got amazing news from doctors. There was a 50/50 chance that Rhett would inherit the DMD gene, which would have ultimately meant he would have muscular dystrophy. We had prayer warriors praying over our little guy, as we truly felt he was not to be burdened in this life, but were prepared our hearts for whatever needs our youngest son might have. After multiple doctors visits, and testing, we received notice at the end of 2021 that Rhett was perfectly healthy. He gained weight within his curve, finally, after successful relactation for adoptive nursing, additional donor breast milk, and finally adding formula. Currently, he’s in the 50th percentile for weight, and the 75th percentile for height! Go buddy!

2022 brought with it a new level of exhaustion in our adoption process. Admittedly, the courts system and navigating adoption in general is quite consuming and overwhelming. There are so many factors unique to our personal situation that ultimately made us realize the need for changing our focus and taking care of ourselves emotionally. For the month of January, we felt like we were emerging from that newborn haze… waking up and realizing that at least one of you had slept through the night, or at least for a solid stretch of hours. It was glorious. We decided we would begin the New Year focusing inward on our family. We enjoyed low key days, built routines for all the babes, and carved out much needed down time. We focused on rest, we played, we snuggled, we played in the snow, we celebrated Josiah’s birthday, we reveled in those sweet baby moments and it was just what our family needed.

Somehow, we’ve said goodbye to February and welcomed March, in the last month Rhett has gotten four new teeth, we’ve celebrated Justin’s birthday, we’ve spent time with our closest friends and fam, we traveled to celebrate the older kids shared birthday celebration (and they all 3 had a blast) and we’ve kept the kiddos busy with indoor rock climbing, playdates, enjoying the warm weather when we can, and lots of fun in between.

We are so grateful to be on this journey, and thankful to all our people who continue to support and love us. Rhett Isaiah, we waited so long to love you, and cannot wait to watch you grow with your sister and brother. Just don’t grow too fast, please. Welcome home baby Hall #3.