Show Me State

Jackson and I had a really nice trip to see my side of the family last week, although we did miss Bill/Daddy a lot!

As you see from the pictures above, we were busy, busy! Jackson met his Grandparents, Great Grandparents, Uncles and Aunts. He also met his cousin Conner, and although they were not too interested in each other at first, they soon became friends (they even shared their snack!).

Since American Airlines wouldn't ship our crib for free, Jackson had to sleep with Mommy. WOW! That is all I can say about that experience. I cannot count on all my fingers the times he almost knocked me out cold with a head butt or kick to the throat in the night. He is a wild sleeper. He also talks out loud in his sleep, and sucks his thumb (loudly) when he sleeps (both of which are super cute).

Jack did well on our flights (4 total). On the way there, he was too excited about being on the airplane so he wasn't about to fall asleep. On the way back, he was knocked OUT on both flights! He was so exhausted from our long weekend that he just couldn't hold his little eyes open any longer :)

Jack socialized well, and interacted well with everyone. He always came back to me after interacting with others, which I was very pleased with. Since I had to go back to work right away after we brought him home, and I also work long hours - I have questioned how bonded he is to me. This trip made me feel much better overall about it. Not just his behavior, but the fact that we were able to spend some good quality Mommy/Son time together. Even though I couldn't keep my eyes open on the plane rides coming home either, my heart was smiling :)

Happy Easter!

Happy Easter weekend from the Currans!

Michelle and Jack left on Wednesday night for their trip to visit Michelle's family in Missouri. She had a bunch of skymiles from her business travels and was able to get tickets for herself and Jack for peanuts. We never could find a decent ticket price for me, so the two of them took off on a trip together and I stayed home to take care of the four furry kids.

Michelle reports from the road that everything is going very well on their trip. Jack is really enjoying meeting his Grandma and Grandpa from Missouri as well as his uncles and Great Grandparents. I think that everyone is enjoying meeting him too! While they are staying at Grandpa Tony's house, Michelle and Jack are sharing a bedroom, to which Michelle tells me that Jack talks in his sleep all night, sucks his thumb loudly and rolls around too much. Sounds like she is getting about the same treatment from him that she gets from me at home!

While Mommy and Jack are in Missouri, I have realized that a quiet house is kind of boring! I miss hearing my little guy saying "hi" to me in the morning and calling me "Mama"! I might have to read the dogs to sleep tonight since I am going through "Goodnight Moon" withdrawal. I can't wait until they get home on Sunday. I will be waiting for them at the airport and I hope Michelle is ready for me to hog Jack that night. Something tells me that she'll be ready for a break after travelling with a toddler for 5 straight days.

The pictures above are from our early Easter celebration. Jack loves his Easter basket. The Easter Bunny gave him some cool stuff!

6 month post placement visit + more

Tonight we had our first post placement visit since Gotcha Day. It was a few questions, a home visit and filling out a couple of forms. Not a big deal at all after going through the initial process. This report needs to be in Russia fairly soon so our two agencies will work on this over the next couple of weeks and send it to Russia.

We are still struggling with getting a SS# for Jackson. Since the local SS office is making me feel (very) angry, Bill and Jackson will go down there in person tomorrow and try to work everything out. Keep your fingers crossed.

In other news, we were visited by Carolyn, Jeff and Emily last weekend. Emily turned 3 years old, so we had a bit of cake and just enjoyed each others company. As you see in the pictures, Emily is a pro at blowing out candles. Also, since Jack never had a 1 year old birthday party, we sang to him and he blew out a candle and got a little messy as well. The kids really enjoyed each others company. They were always holding hands and playing together. It was really cute. I wish they lived closer so we could be with them more often.

We also recently conducted a birth family search for Jack's biological family. The search was successful and we now have photos of his parents and siblings. I feel that this will be a true gift for Jackson as he gets older and explores who he is. Other than photos, we do not have a lot of information because the searcher is in process of moving out of the region. As a side note, Jack's biological Mother looks a lot like me, and the similarities in our features are very surprising. I guess this is why everyone thinks that Jackson looks a lot like me. Pretty cool really.

A slightly gross post!

The picture of the well dressed guy above is from the day Michelle took Jack into meet her coworkers. Several of her coworkers have gone above and beyond with the things they have given us for Jack. From clothes, to toys, to food, to sidewalk chalk (also pictured above), her coworkers have been great and we truly appreciate their contributions.

Okay, now for the gross part! Last weekend we were at Walmart in the baby section when we walked past the potty training potties. We couldn't resist the little frog potty they had despite the fact that we probably are nowhere close to starting potty training. Anyway, Jack enjoys sitting on it but tonight before bath time he actually used it for the first time! I will spare you the major details, but watching Michelle try to hide her feelings about the smells associated with this momentous occasion was hilarious. Believe me, if we had taken a video of her during this, it would be on youtube right now. Anyway, he didn't use the potty out of a need or on his own inclination, it was just a "right place, right time" type of situation right before bath time so Michelle plopped him down on his froggy seat and the rest is history. So, the three of us were high fiving and hugging all amidst a smell that could have peeled the paint off of a battleship. That's our little guy!

Not much new is going on with us these days. We are really enjoying the nicer weather and it's nice to be able to just put a light jacket on Jack for a walk around the neighborhood rather than spend 45 minutes bundling him up for frigid weather. Jack and I took a walk on the beach the other day and we can't wait until we can play in the water when it really warms up.

Speech Therapy and his play group are still going very well too. Jack loves to learn in both of these settings and at play group this week he ran from one activity to the next in the gym. I couldn't keep up with him!

Guess that's all for now. You can all thank me for refusing to take a picture of the frog potty after Jack was done with it tonight. My better half wanted to take a picture of it which probably would have ended up on our blog which would have undoubtedly cost us many followers!

Harmonica Baby Blues

Jackson has the Harmonica Baby Blues! He found a Harmonica in a drawer and has not turned back. He LOVES it! At first, he just blew on it like it was hot, but quickly caught on. Since this video, he has started tapping his foot and bobbing his head when he plays it. This behavior is night and day from the little guy we met in the orphanage. We took him a musical toy for him and he was so afraid of it he cried. Now, music has become a daily part of his life and he really enjoys it.

In other news, we are happy it is Saturday! This morning, all 3 of us went to a Dentist appointment (for Bill and I), then we went and had a slice of pizza at a local pizza place for lunch. Jack loves food, and almost always eats a large portion of my meals. Well, needless to say, today wasn't any different and he is certainly a fan of pizza too.

Last night I was finally able to finish our taxes too. We qualify for the adoption tax credit, but the refund is split over the next 2 - 5 years. I hate to say it - but that sucks. We certainly would like to have it all this year but it just isn't going to happen. Anyway, the website I am using is requiring that we have a SS# for Jack prior to filing. Guess what - he still doesn't have one because the office here in VA had lost the paperwork a couple times, and now isn't returning my calls. Bill is optimistic and says that we should have the # any day. I (on the other hand), think that they lost the paperwork again and we will have to start from scratch. It seems I read once that we could use an alternate # to file - does anyone know??

Tomorrow we are hoping the weather is nice, and we may use our new sidewalk chalk outside. We are also considering going to the park and having some nice family time.

Enjoy the video!

Come on people!

Yet another case of potential child abuse. Lets hope this does not affect those families that are closing in on a court date.

http://www.themoscowtimes.com/news/article/adopted-boys-death-in-us-stirs-russian-anger/400923.html

"Hi"

Not much new to report from the Curran camp. Jack is still doing well in his speech therapy and play groups. Something new that came along just yesterday was him saying "Hi". We took a little video of it during dinner time yesterday (we were done eating when the dog licked his hand). Anyway, we hope you enjoy the video. We sure do!