Not much Russian Left

I'm not sure how these things come about, but sometime in the last 24 hours, Zac has stopped saying "Da" and started saying "Yeh".

He really only had 3 Russian words left. (1. Pasha - his name that he still calls himself. 2. Da - which is "Yes" in Russian, for you novices out there. 3. Ah-Boo-Doo - Which he only uses once in awhile. (See previous posts about the story of Ah-Boo-Doo) Thankfully, he lost the Nyet (No) thing really fast. We decided that Nyet is a much nastier sounding word than No. (Especially coming from a 2 year old).

So now, I guess we're down to just Pasha. Even though he responds when we call him Zac, he chooses to refer to himself as Pasha.



Here's picture of his latest and greatest funny face. He does this face and pose usually right before he puts a wrestling move on his big brother.

Cheyenne Frontier Days

This weekend we spent time in Cheyenne with my whole side of the family (Katie). My sister and her family lives out there so we stayed with them. We had a great time at Cheyenne Frontier Days riding the rides, watching a parade, seeing the Indian Village, climbing and hiking in Arapahoe National Park and roasting marshmellows in the firepit that was recently added to my sister's backyard. We were definitely in Cowboy country and loved it!

Every time we do something new like travel to another state, go to a fair, watch a parade, hike up some rocks or even roast marshmellows I marvel at how Zac seems to assimilate to his situation like he is familiar with all these things. He is so adaptive and enjoys new experiences so much. He has only been home with us three months...sometimes I can hardly believe it!

Hallie and Jacob also had a great time! Jake made it to the top of the rock with his uncles and we finally got to see Hallie after she had been away with her grandparents for a week.

Here are some pictures and video from our trip to Wyoming.

Funny Story, Great Bonding

This is Katie with a funny Zac story.



Yesterday I was drying my hair in the bathroom and Jake comes into my bathroom laughing. Zac follows him in with a wet head. I said, "Boys, don't play in the water," thinking they had turned the water on in their bathroom and were making a mess.



They leave and due to my incredible parenting decided to keep playing in the water (Grrrr). A few minutes later they come back both laughing and this time Zac's head in drenched in water. I ask Jake, "Jake, is Zac playing in the water in the sink?" Jake says, "No, the toilet!" YUCK!

Needless to say, I didn't kiss him on the head a lot yesterday!

Speaking of kissing...this kid is so affectionate. Each morning I wake to kisses on my arm and a sweet snuggle. Throughout the day he loves to be held and often wants to pretend he is a baby. I sing to him and he just rests so sweetly in my arms listening. When I finish a song he often says, "More please." We have come so far from our beginning with Zac three months ago. He even wants more comfort from us when he is sad or in trouble. Before he tended to isolate himself and try to deal with it on his own. So much progress in such a short time! We are blessed.

Busy Summer Days

We've been so busy having fun this summer that there isn't much time to blog. Nevertheless, we try to keep people up to date with pictures.


We are so thankful that the "adoption drama" is winding down and we are settling into "normal". The following are some pics from a day at the zoo.

A changing face

I thought it would be fun to post some pictures that capture Zac's changes.  Everyday we simply marvel at how much this little guy has changed.  

Check it out:

His databank picture:  (Approx 10 months old)

His referral picture:  (Approx 19 months - The first picture we saw of him)

Trip 1:  20 months old.  

Gotcha Day:  30 months old

Today:  33 months old.  Home for less than 3 months. 

Surgery, Attachment Disorder, Post Placement Visit, Summer and Too many Dishes

You can tell by the title that we have a lot going on these days. Let me start with...

1. The Sugery. Zac had a surgery. You can guess what elective surgery that was. He is doing very well post operatively all things considered. He was a trooper at the hospital and didn't even complain that he was hungry after going all day until 2:30 with only some clear liquids in the morning. That leads to...

2. The Attachment Disorder. Not to mock anyone that is dealing with a real attachment disorder at all, but we are thrilled that Zac's Attachment Disorder is being too attached. Before the surgery and even more so since then he shows SO MUCH attachment to Ryan and I as his parents. He loves to kiss (on the lips) and hug with his whole body. He loves to be carried and rocked and is constantly saying, "Mama, Mama, look. Mama, Mama up please, no whining. Mama, Mama, ummmm I want __________. Mama Mama, I love you." It really is great! That leads to..

3. The Post Placement Visit. We our first PP visit today and it was so much fun to talk about Zac and how well he is doing. He was great to begin with, but each day we are more and more impressed with his language development (he has over 100 understandable English words), attachment to us (see #2) and physical development. We are beginning to see his humorous side more and more (he likes to copy his brothers antics) and even though we can still get a big tantrum from this kid his affection toward us is more than we thought possible. So, since he is doing so well, we have had lots of opportunities to try fun , new and creative things this...

4. Summer. With help from Family Fun magazine (all moms should get this magazine) and a little ingenuity we have come up with some fun activities this summer. Our latest was using a $3 white full size sheet, hanging it on the fence with duct tape and using sidewalk paint to make a messy mural. This kids were so messy when they were done but it didn't matter because we just got out the slip 'n slide to wash off. Jacob was sneaky and got me in the back with a water shooter and that's when the real fun began. All the kids ganged up on me and I was a soggy mess by the time Ryan got home. The kids would have nothing to do with a dry parent and proceeded to drench their dad too. We used the $.94 spray bottles and $2.48 water pumpers to have a fun outdoor water party! Well, after that we were hungry and headed inside for baths and dinner. Ryan and I instituted a new after dinner routine because there always seems to be...

5. Too many dishes. We all picked our favorite color of kid plate (yes, Ryan and I are now using children's plates at our family meals) and after dinner each person is responsible for dumping the excess in the trash and cleaning the dish in the sink, then putting it away. It is the ONLY plate they ever use. It has cut down on dishwasher loads tremendously and so far the kids think its fun (that probably won't last forever). Just an idea for those of you who hate doing load after load of dishes.

Well, that's about enough for now. More random thoughts on another day! I'll leave you with a fun video...

Happy Fourth of July

Here's a picture update:

We're moving forward on the potty training. He's actually showing interest this week.
Yeeah Yeeah BOI!!! Waddup Brotha!!!!

He isn't afraid of fireworks. Even the big ones don't seem to phase him.

This blog is evolving into a "Horner webpage" rather than an adoption blog.... It's kinda nice actually. Here's the other 2. They also seem to really like the fireworks. This is the first year that any of our kids have shown a positive interest in fireworks. This makes dad smile!