A Whole Lotta Blog...

Well, we are sporadic bloggers for you - weeks of nothing, then a big blog like this. Chris picked an assortment all the way back from Christmas up till now...

We hosted both sets of grandparents over Christmas (plus 4 dogs...), and if you look at the picture below, you can clearly see that Jacob was not at all spoiled this, his first Christmas home with us.

Here is Jacob, nestling in with a good book into his new chair he got from Great Aunt Jan & Great Uncle Mike.

One of Jacob's favorite gifts was a stocking stuffer from Paw Paw and Bushe - his very own tube of chapstick, so he can be just like his Daddy! Only, he kept reapplying it over, and over, and over again!

Grandpa Willie, a well-know afficianado of duck tape, got the award for receiving the most creatively wrapped gift!

Much to my dismay, as well as to the rest of our entire family, all Cardinals fans, my parents (trying to be the cool in-laws) gave Chris an assortment of Cubs paraphenalia for Christmas... (don't worry, since Christmas, an equal amount of Cardinals items have been purchased so as to balance out)

Here is Jacob, enjoying a ride on Daddy's shoulders.


We've had a lot of snow here in Michigan since Christmas. Luckily, Jacob is very good with a snow shovel... and a snowblower!

We've been continuing to try and keep potty training in Jacob's mind... (but as you can see, the newly purchased potty ring wasn't in his mind - it was ON his mind!) ha ha

Here are pictures of Jacob with Paw Paw and Bushe from their recent visit this past week.

Here are some videos I took of Jacob recently - Chris has edited them down. Jacob is really turning into quite the talker, so I was thrilled when he cooperated on video and sang some of his favorite tunes!

Adoption Day!

A year ago today, a judge in Kemerovo City, Russia, officially named us parents of Jacob! And, coincidentally, we received his Michigan Birth Certificate for Foreign Birth today (no readoption needed in our state). He is talking more and more, developing quite the vocabulary. One of his clearest words is "Donald's", which is where I took him for dinner tonight to celebrate Adoption Day. I would not have believed it possible a year ago that I could possibly be happier or love someone as much as I did our new son. A year later, I know that both of those things are possible! And, seeing Chris in his new role as "Daddy" has also made me see him in a new light, and love him even more!

Here's a cute recent picture to go along with the post - he's enjoying his new Hess truck & loader that his Great Great Aunt in Boston sent him.

Jacob's First year Home.

Ok, we're a couple weeks early on the year and many weeks late on the blog but here you are. It's a little long, but hey it was a year!

Let it Know, Let it Know, Let it Know!

Well, the weather outside today was a bit frightful - snow all day, thanks to the lake effect we get being on the east side of Lake Michigan. But, it was just the big wet snowflakes that are kind of fun: pretty, but not too much downside, like having to shovel or drive in bad conditions. We took advantage and took Jacob outside to play in the snow. He's still having a bit of trouble making "s" sounds, so after we identified the white stuff as "snow", he kept shouting and pointing the rest of the day: "know, know, know!!!". Cute, yes, but is sounds conveniently like his other favorite word lately, "no, no, no". Here are pictures from the day out in the know, I mean, snow!

Belated Trick or Treat...And More!

Yes, I have been informed by our avid blog followers that we are very behind in posting Jacob's first Halloween trick-or-treating pictures... sorry, we got lazy & emailed the grandparents directly. We've also been feverishly working to finish our basement before the last major step - carpet & tile installation, which were completed last weekend. Here is a picture of Jacob "helping" Daddy re-install the toilet after installation:

We've come to realize that Halloween these days is not just a one-day thing anymore, like it was when we were little. No, now it's a regular season! Jacob had more that 3 different "invites" to trick-or-treating events in the weeks leading up to Halloween, and he participated in 3: I brought him to my work for trick-or-treating the Wednesday afternoon before Halloween, then the next night, there was "Trunk"-or-treating in our church/daycare parking lot. Finally, we hit our neighborhood with friends & their kids on the actual Halloween night.

Jacob had several costume options that were passed down for friends. So Thursday night, he was a kangaroo (complete with joey in his pouch), and Friday night, he was a race car driver. Lots of candy was collected - he even said "Trick or Treat" when prompted, and "thank you" - even sometimes without prompting! Here are pictures of the kangaroo & race car driver:

After Halloween, Jacob's Daddy got bitten with the hunting bug, and has been bow-hunting for deer practically in our backyard (which backs up to a farm field). He has already been successful, getting a buck. (which I named "Chuck the Buck"). Here is a picture of Jacob & Daddy posing with Chuck. (Jacob liked to pet Chuck... he kept pointing & saying "deer"...)

Since Chuck, Chris has been closely following an even bigger buck, which we've named "Hank" for fun. (easier to talk about than "that really big buck I want to get"). Well, Chris hadn't had any luck getting Hank so far, and had passed up several smaller bucks & does holding out for him. This past weekend, we had our friends Erin & Ed over to visit. Ed is also a big hunter, so Chris wanted to take him out hunting over here, and hopefully get him his first deer with a bow. Well, it seems beginner's luck prevailed, and Ed actually ended up getting a buck that was even bigger than Hank... Karma, right Chris? Good fortune will come your way, too...

Here is the hunters before, and Ed after. Note Ed's big grin on the after shot.

A Year Ago Since We First Met Jacob...

Referral Picture - Received 10/1/07

First visit at Prokopyevsk Baby House - 10/17-10/18/07

Jacob Now

Blame Pa Pa Mueller for this one.

Fall Fun, Puking, Has it been 5 years, and as always, wait till next year

Just wanted to add a quick update, and some pics. We took Jacob to a orchard/farm thing that had a bunch of fall activites. They had a huge culvert that you could slide down, which Jacob absolutely loved, except for the time he somehow came down upside down on his back. But he ran right back up the hill and kept going down again, pretty much nothing scares this kid. We also picked some apples and he rode in wagon train behind a tractor.

Grandma and G'pa Wolters came up to stay with Jacob over the weekend while Carie and I got to get away for our 5 year anniversary. Jacob had lot's of fun with them as always, they took him to Chucky Cheese and and the orchard/farm thingy again, which he loved again. Carie and I went up near Traverse City and went hiking in Sleeping bear dunes national park. Crazy hike, over 9 sand dunes several hundred feet tall apiece up and down about 4 miles round trip through deep sand. We came back a day early because we both had big games on Sat night, Carie wanted to watch Mizzou beat up on Nebraska, (Sorry Kathy), and I had to see the Cubs crap out again.

Jacob got sick last night, and has been puking nonstop it seems like since then. I think I've been puked on about 4 times now since yesterday, and Carie has only got it once, doesn't seem fair. Lots of Laundry though.

The big slide

Jacob in Action, he must have done this 30 times

Good Landing

Being Cute for the Camera

Our Family picture, he was done being cooperative by this point!

The big bouncy pillow

His buddy Carson, They love Bob the Builder and Tools

That's right 450 foot drop, and Carie posing with her rock