Jack's Birthday Bash!

It is still a little hard for us to believe, but Jackie B. turned the big two years old on Saturday! We had a big celebration in honor of the little guy and we were so happy to share his special day with our wonderful friends and family. Jack loved every second of his birthday and put on quite a show for all of his guests. He made the rounds from the ball tent to the trains to the swimming pool to the slide to the racing course to the school bus...and of course all of this was at break neck speed. We were also really proud of him for making everyone feel welcome... he was often seen attacking his guests with unabashed affection! Luckily, none of his hugs left permanent marks on any of the kiddos! Jack even liked his birthday cake and the happy birthday song this year (much improved over last year and much to his mothers delight). We're not quite sure if the difference was his birthday high or the fact that we invited some better singers this year! Oh, and thanks again to those few singers from last year who we politely asked to only hum along this time. It really made a big difference! :) After all was said and done, we couldn't have dreamed up a better day and Jack is officially a big fan of his birthday which is again much to his mothers delight.

The Festivities Begin!

Jack's great aunts and his great-grandmother came down for a weekend visit and to help us celebrate Jack's big birthday. I have really been missing my family lately (must be the hormones) so the visit came at just the right time. It was so nice to spend some time together just talking and hanging out. Of course, Jack loved all the attention and had a big time showing them all of his many tricks. I asked Jack today if he had fun with Becky, Barbara, and Granny. He said "uh, huh" and then said "they love Jack." I just laughed and said "yep, you're right...they love Jack and we love them."

A Weekend with Gigi and Grandad!

Jason was out of town this weekend so Jack and I decided to spend the time at my parents house. Unfortunately, Jack ended up coming down with a cold on Friday night which kind of threw the weekend off a bit. The poor guy was so stuffed up he had a lot of trouble sleeping. He and I were bunking in the same room so we ended up having some pretty cute conversations in the middle of the night. Of course they would have been cuter had it not been two in the morning. : ) Somehow even with the sleepless nights and early mornings, we still managed to have a lot of fun and even were able to get some things accomplished. Jack was excited to tell Jason all about his weekend when he got home. He was especially thrilled to tell him about seeing a frog up close and personal. Jason decided that the best part of the story was that the frog peed on Grandad while he was holding it for Jack!
Between the lack of sleep, diarrhea diapers, and temperamental toddler...I think our visit definitely wore Gigi and Grandad out! But I'm almost positive that they would agree it was all worth it...haha! Let's just hope we can all recover in time for the birthday festivities next weekend...

Happy Early Birthday, Jackie!

We like to get our presents early around here or at least I do so as long as I can continue to talk Jason into it then Jack and Hayes should continue to luck out. : ) In keeping with this hopefully soon-to-be family tradition, Jack's birthday present is complete and being used a full two weeks before his big day. This is all thanks to my sweet husband's diligence and persistence as well as the help of some very good friends. Amazingly, this is a project that Jason actually enjoyed! I'm not sure why he can't embrace curtain hanging with the same gusto, but whatever. : ) Jason and company finished up on Sunday, but it has been too hot to actually check it all out much less enjoy it. However, Jack and I were able to take advantage of the overcast day today and really spend some time out there. Jack absolutely loved it!! He couldn't quit giggling especially when I put him on the "big shot" swing for the first time. Jack was having such a good time that I had to grab Jason to show him how happy his little guy was with his birthday present. Good job dada and thanks again to those who helped out with this labor of love.

Look out, Van Gogh!

Jack has been taking an art class this summer and I can't say that it has been the most enjoyable experience for me. I have thought that this was either because of the paint fumes in the room or because the class is at 4 o'clock in the afternoon and since Jack goes to sleep around 6:30 or 7 p.m., it is just too late in the day to expect him to act civilized much less quietly engage in an art project. Most of the 45 minute session is spent with Jack doing about 5 minutes of painting and 40 minutes of running around the room, climbing the stool to wash his hands for the 10th time, saying "hi" and "bye" to the cars in the back storage closet, opening and closing the office door, and (if it is a really good day) throwing art supplies from the different stations on to the ground while I try to quietly discipline him without disrupting the other seemingly normal toddlers. : ) Sounds like good times, huh?
Well, at class last week the teacher put out some shaving cream colored with paint and Jack couldn't get enough of it. As Jack sat in his extremely messy spot for the majority of the class, I soon realized that he had finally found his medium! All of my previous theories to explain away my child's erratic behavior were thrown out the window as it became clear that he had just been searching for his niche! Luckily, it only took him seven classes to find it! : )