Can't imagine life without Jake!

Well, there isn't a lot to update! Jake is doing great and just goes with the flow! He seems very comfortable with our family and very happy. I wonder sometimes if he even remembers his former life even in this short amount of time. I am sure there are things he thinks about and that probably go on in his little mind but from all appearances he seems to be so content and happy with his new life.

He is getting closer and closer with each of the kids and loves to play and interact with them. He can't wait for them to all get home from school. He has so much fun at all the basketball practices and games and is doing great at church. He even stayed in the church nursery today! You should see him put his hands together and close his eyes to pray!....it melts my heart. He doesn't really say anything ...just makes sounds...but he says them in this barely audible whisper....it is so precious. We have kept him on a very good routine so that he knows what to expect each day and I think this has really helped him adjust. He LOVES his bath and will even lay on his back now (remember when he would only squat?) and tries to swim! He loves to brush his teeth...even tries on his own now. Then he goes to each of the kids rooms and gets in bed with them and says "nightnight" and kisses them and when he leaves he says, "ssshhhhh" in a whisper.

We rarely have any behavior problems ...nothing other than typical 19 month old stuff...and that isn't very often any more. He is sooooo smart! He knows when he is doing something he shouldn't be doing and after he does it he looks at it and says, "no no no" and runs to give me a hug (with that big cheesy grin) as to say..."oh mommy, you don't have to correct me!"

I took him up to the girl's school Friday b/c Nadia had forgotten one of her novels. Everyone was so excited to see him up there. He is so comfortable and confident in new environments...it is truly amazing. He was telling her class "HI" and blowing them kisses. We ran into Mia in the hall and she asked if I could bring him in her class for "Show and Tell". Her teacher and I got the biggest kick out of it. She stood in front of the class and told them all about him and Vietnam. He was quite the little flirt in front of everyone which made it even funnier. He may have been the first brother to have been THE show and tell at school.

We took our first family picture last week and it was quite an adventure. It is amazingly difficult to get 6 people all looking at the camera and smiling at the same time. I think it took us 2 hours to try to get the "perfect" picture and just as we almost got it....RICK raised his hand in the picture to keep Jake from raising his hand. Our photographer just about died! He told Rick he would ground him if he could! Needless to say, it was less than perfect and by the time we got a decent picture, we were all sweating and our hair was a mess! It will work for Jake's announcement...it has to!!! I am not doing that again for a while! It was way too stressful!

As you can see, life is busy and great. We can't remember life without Jake. In just a few weeks, it is like he has been with us forever. He brings so much joy to our lives. If you would have told me we would be at this point in just a few weeks I would never have believed it. God is so good! Have a great week. Natalie