Some more pictures (I can finally upload)

making brownies! yum!

Go Blue!

AJ loves his big sis!

Isn't he cute?

AJ turned 3!!!

AJ turned 3 on March 20, 2009. He had so much fun. He loves Mickey Mouse so I made him a cake with Mickey on top. I hand drew it with a knife and frosted it by hand too. It looked pretty good. AJ recognized Mickey so I think it was a success. He got balloons and horns and bubbles and sidewalk chalk. We asked him what he wanted for his birthday and he said,"CAKE". It was sooo cute. All of his cousins were here for his party and it was a beautiful night (50 degrees and sunny) so they blew bubbles and drew on the sidewalk. We had cake and ice cream and tons of fun.

AJ is doing wonderfully. We still can't believe he's ours. His receptive language is very good. He understands almost everything. He is speaking more and more. We were in the grocery store and he was rattling off everything I was puting in the cart plus picking out chocolate milk and donuts and pickles. He's difinitely Americanized already. He loves the outdoors and will stay out as long as he can. We can't wait for warmer weather. He is a complete joy and we are so blessed to be his family. Happy Birthday, AJ!!

Potty Training and Driver's Training

Jared's basketball team

Well, I must say that potty training is much easier than watching your 15 year old child get into a car with a total stranger and drive away. I pray for Jared every time he gets in the car and then tear up. I can't believe my precious boy is driving!! It's crazy!! He did inform me that his instructor is "mean". I told Jared that you'd be mean too if you had been driving with 15 year olds for the past 20 years. He's a crusty old fella with a white beard and permanent frown. I like him. He makes me feel like if he's hard on the kids they will learn more and take driving a 55 mph death machine seriously. Jared did complete his 6 hours of driving with the "Meany" with little scolding and he passed his written test last night. Soooo... today we headed to the Secretary of State and got Jared's level 1 driving permit. It was incredibly surreal and SCARY handing the keys to him. I told our other 3 kids to BE QUIET! Jared has to concentrate. I grabbed that OS bar and said a prayer. Jared started up the van and off we went. He is pretty funny... he talks to himself... like OK he's turning left... or there's a semi... or look left and right and left again. Hearing him I respond, "check left and right and left again, then right and left one more time just to make sure no one is coming". He thinks I'm overprotective I'm sure, but he doesn't understand that just yesterday I potty trained him. That the last 15 years have gone too fast. That having him pee on the seat was a heck of a lot easier than having him in the driver's seat. That tomorrow my baby will be gone. So, over the last several weeks, I cherished every "accident" AJ had being potty trained. I laughed and said, "oh well", and changed his pants for the 5th time that day because I know that soon he will ask me for the keys and drive away.