Jack's First Birthday Party

We were on a family vacation at the beach the actual day of Jack's first birthday, so we had his party the Sunday before we left.  That way, Bech's family could celebrate with us.  It was just family, and we had a great time.

I wanted to do a sweet blue and white themed party.  Every summer for the past few years, Bech and I have gone to my Uncle RJ's to pick blueberries with my Nana and Papa.  We went the week before his party and got TONS of blueberries, so we ended up using those with the food.

The birthday boy's seat.

I made this birthday banner with scrapbook paper.  We will reuse this for many birthday's to come!

This fabric banner was on sale at Michael's.  I used stick on letters so that I can remove them (because I don't think I can call him "Baby Jack" for much longer!).

The food table.

Blueberry chicken salad (gotta love pinterest!)

The chicken salad and hummus with crackers and bread.

Lots of fresh blueberries to snack on!

The tarts are filled with strawberry fruit dip and fresh blueberries.

Jack's smash cake (from Cakes and Candles).

Blueberry cupcakes with cream cheese icing...these were yummy!

Drinks

Mason jars with blue ribbon and blue striped straws.

Bech made some really good blueberry lemonade for everyone!

The birthday boy with his two grandmothers.

Jack had a great day, and we had fun celebrating with our families.

On Jack's First Birthday

My sweet Baby Jack,

I cannot believe you are already a year old!  I know this is trite, but it really does feel like just yesterday that we were bringing you home from the hospital.  You were so small and helpless, and now you are running around the house like a little wild man.

I have loved this past year so much.  Everyday you do something new or I am able to see a new facet of your personality.  You are an absolute joy to be around.  Your dad and I delight in you—your smiles, your laughs, each little noise you make, every new thing you discover.  You make us laugh every single day.  There have been many nights where we have put you to bed, opened up the computer, and looked at new and old pictures of you.   Even when you are sleeping, we can’t get enough of you!

 

You have the sweetest personality.  I know I am biased, but you really do have such a sweet little heart.  You love to cuddle.   You will just curl your little head on my shoulder and snuggle with us.  And recently you have started to give kisses.  Sometimes they are open-mouthed and a little sticky, but they are still so precious to me!

We have had a busy last year (school, work, moving), but through it all you have been so flexible and easy going.  At a year old, you have been on 17 flights and have driven 1700 miles across the country.  Even this past Tuesday, you spent another 10 ½ hours in the car on the way to Florida.  You have had your fussy moments, but have mostly smiled and taken it all in stride.

You love to have the attention of others.  If we are out in public, you look around at everyone, wait for their smiles, and soak in the attention!  If someone dares to not pay attention to you, you look at him quizzically.  I can almost hear you thinking, “What, you don’t love me?  But I’m Baby Jack!”

The older you get, the more we get to see your personality.  You are so like your daddy!  You are a perfect mix of serious and goofy.  When you have a new challenge or new toy, you are transfixed, barely taking your attention from the new task at hand.  You are shy in new surroundings, and seriously take in everything new.  And, boy, can you people-watch!  (One of your dad’s special talents)  You love to see what everyone around you is up to.  But when you are comfortable in a place, you let your goofy side out.  You make funny noises and dance.  You can be so silly!

Baby Jack, I cannot wait to see what the years will bring.  I am sad that you aren’t my little newborn, that you have lost your newborn smell, that you don’t need to be held all of the time, that you aren’t my little baby anymore.  But I am excited to see how you will continue to change in the coming years.  I am excited to hear you speak more, excited to see your imagination at work.  I am ready to play with you, to take you to school, to share so many new experiences with you. 

But most of all Jack, I am excited to see you grow up because I pray that you will love God.  One of my favorite Andrew Peterson songs says, “Now we’re counting stars and counting sand, little feet and little hands; we’re counting joys.  We pray You’ll know them as you knew us when you wove us.  As you hold us, hold them, please hold them.”  That is my constant prayer for you.  I pray that you will know God, that you will love Him, that you will be a man after His own heart. 

And as we wait for you to grow into that man, we will continue to count all of the many joys you bring to us.

We love you, Baby Jack.  Happy 1^st Birthday!

Midweek Confessions

I haven't joined in on "Midweek Confessions" in a couple of weeks because of moving and everything, so I thought I would join in with "E, Myself, and I" this week!

* While we were getting packed, we definitely stuck Jack in a pack and play, threw some toys in, and threw in some puffs whenever he would fuss.  Oh well...it worked!

* Few things have made me happier lately than the return of Abby and "Dance Moms."

* We are having a family party for Jack on Sunday for his birthday, and I really haven't done much for it.  I had lots of grand plans, but the fact that we are just so exhausted from the move has sort of deflated my enthusiasm.

* I have had 5 snow cones since I have gotten into Mississippi.  And they were all really good.

*  But I have not had any sushi from Little Tokyo yet.  Seriously, who am I?  That is so not like me.  But we are going to Jackson tomorrow so I will get some soon!

* I have been doing cartwheels across my parents foyer, just like I used to in high school.

I guess that's all I have for today!  Check out the others.

Summer days...

We have been enjoying our time back home.  We have been home for almost a week and have lazed around and enjoyed Mississippi.

We have:

* eated snowcones (notice it's plural!)

* laid out and swam at the pool--Jack is a little water baby!

* picked blueberries

* baked yummy food with said blueberries

* baked and eaten yummy food in general

* gone to Jackson so Jack can visit with his great grandmother there

* cuddled with his great grandparents here

* eaten watermelon...lots of watermelon!

(notice the salt...my Nana loves salt on her watermelon, and so do I!) 

Yup, I think he likes it!

He's such a mess!  

The Trip Home

After a long week and a half of packing, saying goodbye, and moving, we finally made it home!

The last couple of days were SO stressful.  There were multiple times that one of us would look at the other and say, "There's no way we can get this all done," and the other would assure him/her that we would get it all packed and finished!  Luckily we never had this thought at the same time or we might still be curled up on the floor of our ABF truck.

We used ABF to move...such a good idea!  The cost for us to pack an 11 foot section of a truck and then have them drive it to Baton Rouge was actually several hundred dollars cheaper than renting and driving a U-Haul would have been (plus waaay easier!).

I told Bech to smile in this picture.  I think his face sums up what we were both feeling.

You can sort of see how tightly packed our space was.  But we got it all to fit!

We finally headed out from Burlington Thursday at 5ish (to give you some reference, we planned to leave 10 or 12ish...so a little later than we thought!).  We had to drive to Alfred, New York that night--about 7 1/2 hours away--so we didn't get in until after midnight.

We spent that first night and the next day with our good friends, Mike and Laura Ashley.  They went to Ole Miss and are both ceramicists, so there was lots of "clay talk" during our trip.  We love them and had fun visiting with them and introducing them to Jack.

We left there and headed to Pittsburgh to see one of my best friends, Courtney.  Courtney and I make an effort to visit each other in each place we live.  I flew to Laramie, Wyoming, when she was getting her MA in Chemistry there, she spent our first Thanksgiving with us in Vermont, so it was our turn to head to Pittsburgh.

Courtney and I have been friends since Governor's school, the summer after 11th grade, and we have no cute pictures of us!  We always forget to pull out the camera until last minute and then the pictures aren't great.  This time, we tried to remedy that, and I think we did.  This one is a framer, for sure!

We went up the incline in Pittsburgh and checked out the view.  Jack had a blast.  And let me just add, Pittsburgh is absolutely adorable.  I loved this city!  It's set in these beautiful hills, and there is so much character!

Jack got called a girl in this outfit...really?

Mr. Goofball!

Yup, I love him!

Okay, dorky picture, I know.  But my friend Amy is from Pittsburgh and she LOVES Rita's.  So we got some...I have to admit, it's really good.  Not as good as a Brookhaven snow cone, but pretty close!

We spent Friday night and all day Saturday with Courtney, then headed in the car for Canton, Ohio, to spend some time with my Aunt and Uncle.

Jack had fun making a mess on their patio.

And we all had fun spending time with them.  We visited their church on Sunday morning, ate lunch and dinner out, drove around Amish country, and swam in the pool.

Jack loved his Aunt Teri.

And he especially loved his Uncle Bruce, or as we call him, Uncle Booboo!

More snuggles with Aunt Teri.

Monday morning, we hit the road bright and early.  We had planned to drive to Chattanooga and spend the night there.  But after we had been driving for an hour or two, I got the crazy idea to drive the whole way (15 hours) that day.  So Bech humored me (and made me drive the last leg, since it was my idea!) and we did it!  We stopped several times to eat and when Jack was getting antsy, but we made it into Brookhaven about 11:15 that night.  

 

Bech and I took turns driving and entertaining Jack.  These pictures are of Bech's attempt to entertain Jack.

We had a great trip home.  We loved visiting with friends and family, and Jack did great in the car.  There were a few times were he got fussy, but he mostly slept, ate, and played.  And we are so glad to be back in the South!

Jack update

We are currently on the road, heading back down South.  But I don't want to neglect my blog too much, so I'm scheduling a post for while I'm traveling!

Jack's little personality just keeps coming out more and more, and I love it!  He is a mixture of so many things--he is serious and shy when he meets people, he is such a people watcher, he is so goofy and fun when he's comfortable, he is a cuddler and snuggler.  He is just a joy to be around and I love him so much!

We have been trying to add more and more "table" food into his diet.  He LOVES scrambled eggs.  He loves all food, but he especially loves eggs.

He's showing off his baby sign language.  

Jack loves all of the packing going on in our house...more toys to play with!  He especially loves the boxes.

Yup, I think we'll pack him up and take him back to the South with us!

We love our sweet Baby Jack!