We have one-year-olds!!!

"Hmmm..... what's this? They've strapped this funny thing on my head and now this strange thing is in front of me."
"Well, I've got up the nerve to touch it, and now it's stuck to my finger."
"Well, now that I've figured out it's food, I'm gonna shove the whole thing in my mouth!"
"I've really enjoyed my birthday cupcake. Most of it is in pieces on the floor, but I managed to eat some of it."
"The aftermath of the cupcake."
Madden managed to eat her cupcake and only get a few crumbs on her face and none on her shirt- such a girl!
Jackson and Grandma on Valentine's Day.
This is the typical "sharing" situation. Jackson plays with the toy and Madden looks like she can tell she has years and years ahead of her of being frustrated by her big brother.
Madden showing off her Valentine's Day dress and the gumball machine her great-aunt Tina sent for Jackson's Birthday.
Madden and Jackson enjoying time with Grandma and Grandpa. This is literally the only picture we have where they are both smiling at the same time. So difficult to photograph kids with no concept of posing for the camera.
Jackson spent an entire evening walking around with this flower in his mouth.
Madden hanging out with Mama. Later in the day Jackson would discover he could pull the headband down around her neck. Who would think a headband could be dangerous!
Madden loves to imitate her big brother! Note the exact same pose down to the toy.


We've been home about seven weeks now, and it seems like they've been with us forever. As you can probably guess from the pictures, Jackson had his first birthday on February 1, and Madden will follow soon on the 24th. It's so hard to believe we have one-year-olds!!!

Things have been going very well for all of us. Jackson is now walking like crazy and Madden can easily pull herself up and walk along furniture. She is so eager to walk just like her big brother! They both say "mama" and "dada" although we aren't completely sure they know what the words mean yet. They both love music and we really enjoy watching them "dance".

They are finally both getting some baby fat, and are growing every day. Jackson will be having surgery to fix his hernia next month, but other than that they are both healthy and happy.

I'm going to try my best to do an update every month from here on out. It's amazing to me that we are still hearing of people we don't even know who were following our website or who are considering adoption and have used our site as a resource. So, look forward to our March update. We should have some professional portraits done by then to post!