Jacob Is 21 Months Old

Adoption Day!

One year ago today I officially became a mommy to a wonderful, sweet, funny, adventurous little boy when the judge in Shymkent said yes you can be Jacob's mommy! I can’t believe it’s been a year.

Re-Adoption Day!

Today I went to court in Annapolis, MD to stand before a judge to re-adopt Jacob. This was a vastly different experience than my appearance in Shymkent where they asked me a bunch of questions. Rather than the stern, somber experience, the re-adoption was a joyful fun occasion (they even let us take pictures in the court room). And this time was made even more special because I had my friends and family there with me.

Jacob is 20 Months Old (well yesterday)

I can't believe it's August already. Where did the time go?

What's new with Jake:
He can now go down the stairs on his behind (with a little help from mommy)
He knows that a dog says "ruff", a lion says "roar" and a snake says "ssssss"
Other new words include car, boat, and auntie
He can point to a few pictures in a book himself and tell you the word (especially if it's a picture of a dog)

One Year Ago Today

I can't believe that one year ago today I was in Shymkent, Kazakhstan meeting my beautiful, amazing little boy. I was so nervous when we walked into the baby house. I didn't know what to expect. They ushered us into the Baby House Director's office and we sat there for a few minutes in silence. The Baby House Doctor came in and began to tell us about Jacob then a few minutes later they brought him in and sat him in my lap. It was so hard to pay attention to what the Doctor was saying once I had him - thank goodness my sister was with me so she could take notes. In the middle of going through his information a man and a woman came in and began to yell at the doctor - it was very surreal. My sister, Jake and I just sat there and didn't know what to make of it. Our coordinator later explained that the man and woman had a sick child and were upset that they couldn't leave the child at the baby house (the doctor didn't want this child to make the other children sick). After they left we finished getting Jake's information and then they let us take Jake to a small room just outside the Director's office for a few minutes to take some pictures.

Here he is then:


And here he is now:


I'm so happy that I've know you for one whole year. Mommy loves you very much!

19 Month Pictures

I'd had these pictures taken a few weeks ago but I kept forgetting to post them.

Look How Big I've Gotten

Boy has he grown! I found a few pictures that show Jake at different times near the coffee table. Check out the difference.

October 11, 2009

March 7, 2010

July 21, 2010 (edited to add - he doesn't look happy because he wanted to play and I wanted him to stand next to the coffee table so I could take his picture)