Finalization Day (Finally!!)

After 15 months home, we finally finalized Jordan's adoption. Although we have been a family in every sense, it feels good to have it be official! Thats Daddy on the right collecting Jordans legal documents, No he's not a lawyer!

It's official! Here's the judge signing the document naming us as Jordan's parents.

The judge invited Jordan to hit the gavel and gave him this teddy bear as a gift.

Jordan was way too interested in his new teddy bear to look at the camera!

Now the teddy bear goes with Jordan everywhere and he even brings it into his crib at bedtime.

The following pictures are back from Halloween. My mom bought this pumpkin for Jordan a couple weeks before Halloween and he had so much fun watching Daddy carve it!

Jordan is always SO curious about anything we may be doing!

Didn't the jack-o-lantern turn out fantastic? Even the smile looks great. Great job, Daddy!!

Jordan dressed up as Tigger for Halloween this year. He liked to hop like Tigger when he wore his costume.
Here are Reily and Jordan holding hands before going out to trick-or-treat. Aren't they cute? Jordan didn't know what a sucker was until he saw Reily eating one here. He had his first sucker later on that night and he loved it! There's no turning back now!

Jordan's First Haircut

For the past year Luke has been giving Jordan his haircuts in the bathtub. Although this has worked out okay, Jordan has become increasingly wiggly when Luke tries to cut his hair which can make it pretty challenging! So we thought it was time for him to have a real, professional haircut.


When we arrived at the salon Jordan sat on my lap while he watched Luke get his hair cut. He was very still and attentive for awhile, but true to his personality, he was ready to move after about 10 minutes. He ran around the salon and found the broom saying, "Sweep!" while trying to push the broom and got into other mischief. Thankfully we were the only customers in the salon!


Here's a picture of Jordan getting ready to get into a lot of mischief!!



We had no idea how Jordan would do when it was his turn so I loaded my purse with snacks in case I needed to distract him. We also told him that he would get a cookie when it was all done. But surprisingly the snacks were not needed- he sat still during the entire haircut!

He looked a little scared as the apron was put on him, but he didn't whine or fuss one bit. He was very brave!

He sat on the booster without wiggling one bit! I was shocked!!

After he was finished with his haircut the salon gave us a coupon for a free tub of chocolate chip cookie dough that we could get at the pizza place next door. Jordan was so excited about the cookies and kept repeating, "chocolate chip cookie!" the whole ride home. He didn't quite understand the idea that we had to bake the cookies first, but once they were finally ready he was rewarded with a nice warm cookie!


Here's Jordan running around at home showing off his new haircut! I'm sure it won't be long before he needs another one!

Happy Birthday Jordan!

For the past couple of weeks we have been telling Jordan that his birthday was coming up and that he was going to be two. Every time we would ask him how old he was going to be, he would answer by saying, "Two!" and then give a silly smile. Jordan has been full of smiles lately and especially loves to smile for the camera. Whenever I take my camera out he will say, "pick" (picture) and give me a big smile. What a show off!! Jordan had a great birthday! We began the morning by going to the park to feed the ducks. Unfortunately it was a very cold and windy morning, so we didn't spend much time there, but Jordan had fun watching the ducks eat the bread we threw to them. We thought he would like to feed the ducks because he has a little stuffed duck that he carries around the house with him. He is always asking for his "ducky".

It didn't take long for Jordan to find the steering wheel at the park! He loves pretending to drive!

After the park we went to our public library. Jordan loves to go to the library because there is a playroom there full of toys for kids Jordan's age. Here he is playing at the lemonade stand.

When we came home from the library we had lunch and that is when Jordan really began to get excited! While playing at home he discovered the place where I hidden his presents. He started carrying them around the house and asking to open them. I told him he had to wait until after his nap. The second I went into his room after his nap he started jumping up and down in his crib and saying "ope, ope" (open). This picture of Jordan on his train was taken right after he woke up from his nap. He was SO excited all afternoon for his cake and his presents!


When the time finally arrived for Jordan to open his presents he yelled, "YEAH!" and ran right for the presents. Here he is opening a couple trucks for his new train set.

Here we are opening his bubble mower. He absolutely loves this mower. Jordan keeps repeating bubble mower over and over because he wants to go outside and play with it so badly!
Jordan's biggest gift was a train table and a beginning Thomas the Train set. He loves playing with the train at Barnes and Noble so we knew he would love this gift, and we were right!

Jordan has changed so much in the past year. He has gone from barely walking to running and jumping. A year ago he wasn't saying any English words and now he repeats almost everything we say! It is such a joy to watch him grow and change and we can't wait to see what the next year will bring. We love you Jordan!!

Up at the Cabin

Last week we spent time with Luke's family in northern Minnesota. Jordan had a blast despite the 10 hour drive. We wish Luke's family lived closer, but we sure enjoyed the time we were able to spend with them!

Before leaving for the cabin we spent a couple days in the twin cities. Jordan was suprised with an early birthday party. Once he heard we were having cake it was all he could do to contain himself! See how excited he is?

What a difference a year makes! Last year Jordan dug right into his cake and had it all over his face and even in his hair. This year he ate most of the cake with his fork and made very little mess!

I think this picture is hilarious. Luke told Jordan to give a big smile right before he took the picture. Jordan definitely followed Luke's directions!

We had to take time to see a Twins game before heading up to the cabin. Luke was so excited to see the new stadium! Jordan wasn't quite as impressed.

He fell asleep before the game even began! But once people started cheering he woke right up and was on the move. I was pretty tired by the end of the game!

Jordan loved going in Lake Michigan so we were surprised at how hesitant he was to go in the lake at the cabin. Doesn't he look scared? He would hardly let us get his feet wet!

Jordan spent a lot of time in this gazebo which is really a big sandbox. He loved playing with his cousins in here.

Here are Jordan and Daddy walking up from the lake.

Here's Jordan hanging out with some of his cousins.

Jordan liked going for canoe rides and went on a couple with Luke and me and with my parents.

One afternoon the kids spent time making bubbles. Jordan didn't blow any, but he loved chasing them!
Jordan spent so much time pushing around this little truck. It looked tiring to me, but he couldn't get enough of it!

Jordan Goes to the Beach!

Today my mom and I brought Jordan to Lake Michigan for the first time, and it was a hit! When we first arrived Jordan spent a lot of time running between the sand and the water. He would fill up a bucket with water and then run to pour it on the sand.

He loved to pour the water onto the sand or into his little dump truck.

Jordan is all boy and loves playing with trucks no matter where he is- even at the beach! He has even learned to say some of the names of trucks- he can say tractor, dump truck, bulldozer, and backhoe loader. But he can only say the words well enough for Mommy and Daddy to understand! Everytime he says backhoe loader we laugh- he pronounces it "back koh" and makes a really big O shape with his mouth when he says "koh". It is very funny!
It wasn't long until Jordan discovered how fun the water can be! He soon ventured in without any fear whatsoever! I'm glad that he isn't scared of the water although a little bit of healthy fear might not be such a bad thing! He was so quick to run into the water that I had to quickly run in after him. I think he was trying to walk all the way out to the boats!
Jordan was very interested in the hole that this family was digging. He was pretty hesitant to join in and became really shy but he couldn't help himself from walking over there and checking it out!

These pictures are back from the weekend of the fourth. Here is Jordan on our deck experiencing his first S'more.

First, he checked out the candy bars. He has never had a Hershey bar before but he always seems to know when something yummy is around!

We decided to take off his shirt before giving him his S'more. This proved to be a smart decision as he was covered in chocolate by the time he was finished!

Jordan loved his S'more, but he didn't seem to understand the concept of biting into it. He spent the whole time sucking out the marshmallow and chocolate!

My Little Helper

Now that I am home all day I am realizing how much Jordan loves to help me with whatever I may be doing! If I am dusting, then he has to have a little duster as well. If I am sweeping the floors, then he also wants something to sweep with and follows me all over the house with it. If I am doing laundry, then he puts clothes in the hamper while I am sorting the clothes. Whatever it is, he thinks that he needs to help too! Although it is very endearing, his desire to help can make it very challenging to get anything done while he is awake!

Jordan's favorite "chore" is watering the flowers. He loves to follow me around the yard with his little watering can and repeats, "more, more" whenever he runs out of water. The day before I took these pictures we had a lot of rain so Jordan's little kiddie pool was full of rainwater. He discovered that he could put his watering can in the pool and fill it up with water. He then proceeded to water all the flowers on the deck. I don't know how many times he did this, but he was busy at it for probably close to a half hour!
These petunias were Jordan's favorite flowers to water! I didn't want to stop his enthusiasm but those poor flowers were getting drenched with water!

Whenever Jordan realized that his watering can was empty he would say, "more" and then run to his little pool to fill it up again. It was very cute!

Here is Jordan trying to play the piano. He insisted on having the piano music up on the piano while he was playing. That made me laugh. I don't know how he would even know that because I play so rarely now that he his home with us!

Last Saturday we brought Jordan to the zoo. Here are Jordan and Daddy looking at the animals.

For some reason Jordan is fascinated with my sunglasses. See how he is eyeing them?

This is usually what comes next! He tries to pull them off and put them back on again!