Growing

The other day at pre-school, Jake had "Hawaii Days". Katie helped volunteer for this event and as a result, Zac got to participate. The cool part was that Zac was actually better behaved than some of the pre-school kids. (Zac will start pre-school next year). Katie and I continue to be amazed as to how well-behaved and smart Zac is. I have no doubts that he'll do great in school.

I thought this picture below was a bit funny as you may notice Jake as the tallest in the class and Zac as the shortest in the class. Don't be fooled though. In a brotherly battle, Zac is most often the one that comes out on top. He's a freakishly strong little dude!

Boy story

No pictures tonight.  Go ahead and read the following story and you'll get a better idea as to WHY I will not be posting any pictures tonight.  

Life with two boys:

Tonight, I overheard Katie yelling at the boys, "Hey!  Don't put toys in your private parts!"  

Naturally, this caused me to look up from what I was doing.  Out of the corner of my eye, I spotted one of my boys running down the hall, naked, with a toy giraffe protruding from his butt crack.  Within another 3 seconds, the other boy was close behind.  Emerging from his butt, was a Yak... I believe.  

That's pretty much where the story ends.  Shortly thereafter, Katie had both boys (and the animals) soaking in the tub.  

NOTE TO OUR LOCAL FRIENDS WHO HANG OUT AT OUR HOUSE:  You may not want to let your kids play with our Fisher Price Animals.... ever again.

Announcement

It seems as if I'm losing my blogging mojo. Therefore, I want to make an announcement that sometime around Mid-April, this blog will go dark. April 22nd is exactly the 1 year anniversary from Zacs Gotcha Date. Like many who have gone before us, our journey of adoption has simply evolved into a journey of life.

I've said it many times, but Zac is simply our son. Yes, he's adopted - but no, there is no difference in how I love him and my other kids. I have 3 children. It's that simple.

So anyway - I'll probably post a few pics and/or videos throughout the next few weeks - just because it's fun.

I suppose I could just end it now, but it makes for a more climatic ending when it's announced in advance. Sort of like the last episode of M.A.S.H. But not really...

New Hair

Readoption

Some of you may be aware of the "readoption" process that most International adoptive parents have to go through.

In short, we adopted Zac through the Russian courts and not the US courts. As a result, we don't have a US birth certificate or a US adoption decree. This makes it difficult (near impossible) to get things like a Social Security number.

Well, yesterday we finally had our readoption court date. I'll tell you, it was a much different experience than our court date in Russia. (Less stressful) The best part was that our kids Hallie and Jake as well as both sets of grandparents were able to come! Although it was just a formality, it was a wonderful family day for everyone. It's always a good feeling to put extra "stamps of approval" on this wonderful son of ours!

Interesting factoid: Our attorney informed us that being adopted by US born parents makes Zac a "natural born citizen" by definition given. Therefore, contrary to anything I've ever heard before, Zac CAN indeed be president of the United States. Who knew?


Hallie and Jake - Happy for their brother!

Zac - swearing in along with Mom and Dad

The whole family - and the judge (hiding next to Zac)