Matt had his pictures taken for his Birthday!!!!

At 1st he was not crazy AT ALL about the idea.....in fact, he cried and cried and Mama did not know what to do!!! Once he decided it was ok.....he became a big Ham!!! Here are a few of the favorites!!!! We just love all of them.......our whole house will be covered with pictures of our little angel!

A couple more........

Father's Day

We had a wonderful 1st Father's Day......Daddy of course enjoyed every minute!!! We had a very relaxing day....Matt and Mommy took Daddy out for lunch and then we just enjoyed the day watching the US Open!!! Matt just thinks his Daddy rocks!!! Attached is a picture of one of the 1st times Daddy held Matt on our 1st trip and the other is from Father's Day. As you can see, Matt is not always a fan of getting his picture taken especially when he is outside and just wants to run!!!

Matt loves helping Daddy!

I think Matt will be a handy man just like his Daddy!!!! Daddy is building a small little barbecue deck in the back our our house for our grill and our smoker and Matt wanted to be right there with him to build it!!!! Poor little guy, he sweats so bad but loves to be outside!!!



Side note....to all the AP's out there - We had had no issues getting Matt's SSN and so in turn in we applied for his US Passport....when we originally applied with the USPS....they told us that all we needed was his "Certificate of Citizenship" and we were ok with sending that in the mail.....we figured god forbid they lost it that we could get another one.....BUT...after 4 weeks of processing, we got a letter in the mail stating that they could not confirm who Matt's parents were and we needed to send his Russian Birth Certificate....well, of course we were quite afraid to send that as that is our one and only birth certificate to our son.....after hemming and halling......we ended up having to send it and we sent it Fed ex with a Return Label that they promised us ALL of our original documents would be sent back with.....Low and Behold....our goverment...that we were very afraid of....sent back to us TODAY.....within only a few days of receipt.....ALL of our original docs and Matt's US Passport!!!!! To say the least we were Thirlled!!!! So if you want to get a US Passport....it is not that difficult!!

Opening Weekend at the Pool

The weather here in Northern Alabama was not very cooperative for Memorial Day weekend but finally late monday afternoon the sun came out and we were able to make our way to the pool. We had no idea what to expect with Matt since he still does not like the bath tub AT ALL....we figured we will probably last only a few minutes at the pool but we would give it a try!!! Well, as you can see from the pictures, he loved the pool!!! He was not afraid at all and wanted to get in right away....at 1st he was a little bit cautious and stayed close to the side but in no time he was walking around getting further and further away from Mommy and daddy!!! We just looked at each other in utter disbelief!!! Kids are amazing and always always surprise you!!! Even though it was very warm out, Matt's little teeth were chattering away but he still did not want to get out....we ended up finally leaving with him not a happy camper and kicking and screaming all the way to the car!!! We are going to sign him up for swimming lessons at our local YMCA as that will make him feel even more comfortable!!! It is great to know we will be hanging out alot at our community pool this summer since Matt really enjoyed it!!!

Other updates.....Matt has been going to school now for a few weeks.....he is doing very well and his teachers really enjoy him. We are told that he has become a leader in his class and the other kids are starting to follow him (whether doing good or bad! :) Right now he is one of the older kids in his class so we imagine once he moves up this might change but for now he is enjoying being the leader!!! He gives the biggest bear hugs and now when you ask him for a a kiss he gives you a big wet one right on your lips....he is such a little lovebug!!! He loves loves loves when Daddy comes home and fights with the dogs to see who can get to Daddy the quickest!!! He loves to read books and has a few of his favorites but enjoys them all!! He is becoming quite a monkey and is climbing up on anything and everything...can't take your eye off of him for a minute!!!! He also loves our long bike rides on saturday and sunday mornings riding along in his chariot attached to Daddy's bike!! We love to take rides around our neighborhood lakes and always have a little bread so we can feed the neighborhood ducks!

We are so thankful for our little angel every single day and can't remember what life was like before him!!! We are so looking forward to summer and spending lots of time outside and especially are looking forward to July 4th weekend when we will have a big giant celebration for Matt's 2nd birthday!!!!

Attached are some pictures from our 1st weekend at the pool!!!