Jack's 2nd Birthday

Today is Jack's 2nd birthday. It's hard to believe he's already two! Yesterday we had a b-day party for him, and we had tons of fun celebrating. We hung out in our backyard, ate burgers, played some lawn games, and ate tasty cake and ice cream. It was close to a perfect day. Jack was in a good mood all day long (a small miracle for a 2 year old!). He loved all the attention, and had fun playing with his little friends in the pool and blowing bubbles. He also ate his first hot dog, and loved it.

"The haul"

Jack and friend Halle in kiddie pool with diving rings and bubbles. He almost could have taken a bath with all the bubbles he dumped in the pool.

Jon in the background playing ladder-ball, a fun but frustrating game!
Mimi and Jack chillin'
Synchronized smiles!

B-day cake, yummy. Idea came from Playhousedisney.com- cute site for preschoolers.

About to sing "Happy Birthday"...

Video of the tail end of b-day song

Jack about to "open" his presents. (Meaning I opened them while he pawed at his new b-ball hoop box) His presents this year were mostly sports related: b-ball hoop, pop-up soccer net, tee-ball, and golf clubs. He LOVES the basketball set...and I confess I enjoy it too! He also got much-needed summer clothes, yea!

LOVE this video. Jack playing with his new b-ball set. How many swishes do you count? Impressive, no?

What a fantastic weekend! Great party and company. It's so amazing to see Jack grow and learn. He's becoming more and more curious about the world around him. It's one big adventure to him, and I find myself envious of that quality at times. Happy Birthday Jack! 'Til next year!

Rascally behavior

The other day I was at the kitchen sink washing dishes, when I see Jack driving his tow-truck into the adjacent laundry room. I continue with my chore and notice the laundry room lights flicker on and off. Hmmm, how in the world? I go into the room and find Jack, not only standing on his truck........ BUT standing on the steering wheel of his truck, flipping the light switch! He pushed it against the dryer and door, and somehow managed to stand on top of it without the wheels taking off on him and leaving him splat on the floor. He's super coordinated, but jeez, no more standing on the steering wheel of your tow-truck Jack!!
And here he is in all his rascally glory. Cuddling his bunny while on his tow-truck. After hearing me tell this story, my mom said that Jack is going to give me gray hair. Hope not, but probably so! Oh well, I'm happy that he is such an adventurous and courageous boy.

My weekend

Dear Journal,

This past weekend was full of activity! Friday was an especially happy day since the IRS sent some money our way! Thank you to Jack for helping increase our return. I'm starting to understand the appeal of having more children, (she says jokingly). So the start of the weekend was spent shopping for a dining set, and my favorite--a new stove, yea!. My weekend ended with my giving a talk in Sacrament meeting, yea?. Actually it went pretty well and I needed to learn what I taught, so it was a good experience. I made sure to comment in my intro that since we've moved several times these past few years, I have spoken in sacrament meeting one too many times, so the trend better stop here! Luckily with our house, we will not be leaving in the foreseeable future. Sigh of relief.

But, the middle part of my weekend is what I'm most excited about. In case you didn't realize I have the cutest kid in the world. Seriously, the cutest. He melted my heart for about an hour one evening when he came up to me every 2-3 minutes, stretched his little face up to mine, and kissed me! Words cannot describe. Jack, please don't ever stop kissing your mother, even when I'm old and wrinkly. He is so sweet, and honestly, just the perfect mixture of sweetness with boyish mischief. An example: Jack knows not to climb up on the kitchen table and crawl around on it. He knows not to. While I was sitting down eating, he climbed up on the table and crawled over to me, blinked his innocent eyes at me, and kissed me. Then he turned around, crawled across the table and got down. Now you tell me- how am I supposed to tell him to get off the table when he is giving me kisses?! And I tell you, that is exactly why he kissed me, so he could get away with crawling on the table. As of yet, I am not immune to these mischievious kisses.

The second example of Jack's sweet mischief involves hamburger theft. On Saturday, I picked up burgers from Wendy's on the way home from shopping. Jon stayed home with Jack while I was out, so Jack had just finished his lunch by time I got home. Here we are, Jon and I enjoying our cheeseburgers when Jack pops around the corner with a certain look in his eye. I ask, "Jack, would you like a french-fry?," (he loves fries, can't get enough of them). No, he could care less about those. "Jack, would you like a bite of my burger?," as I hold the burger to his mouth. He takes a timid bite, and then walks away satisfied. Not more than a minute later he returns, wanting another bite. Only this time, he wants to hold the burger himself. Hmmm, I'm not too sure about this idea. What if he lets everything fall out?, I'm thinking to myself. Turns out he held it together and took a successful bite. "Tasty, isn't it Jack?...Give it back to Momma." (another bite). "Okay, give it back...Hey, stop!...Where are you going?!...Bring back my cheeseburger!!" Jack has stolen the burger, leaving me with the rejected french fries. Thief.

A Cuddly Boy...

I am so blessed to have a cuddler. My boy loves a good cuddle, and I am always happy to oblige!

His Mimi and Pappaw came over today and brought him a big, stuffed Easter bunny-- pictured above. I don't think he let go of it for hours, just held on tight, laying his head against its fur. On another occasion while watching him, my parents took Jack to the mall where he saw the Easter bunny (re: person in costume). Jack's reaction?? Run straight toward the giant creature and hug it. He refused to let go even though other children wanted to see the Easter bunny. He thinks all things furry and soft are made for him. Precious.

Birthday Weekend

Last weekend was my birthday and I had tons of fun celebrating! First off, my parents were kind enough to take Jack for the weekend! So Jon and I enjoyed alone time and, most of all- sleeping in! For dinner we went to this really cool restaurant downtown called Reata. It literally occupies 4 floors of a building, all filled with seating areas. We were fortunate to get a spot on the rooftop patio. Below are views of the FW skyline. Pretty, no? The food was to die for- we started off with tenderloin tamales, yum, and then I enjoyed quail enchiladas which were also yum. And we couldn't help but split the apple pie dessert. The tragic part is that after taking my 3rd picture of the evening, my battery died! SAD. We took some pics on our phones, but they aren't featured here...

Isn't this building charming? I love the blue with the red brick. One of the more modern bldgs in downtown- where Jon works

I'm kicking myself for not charging the camera before our outing. Oh well. The next day we were lazy and slept in, ah...it was wonderful. And then we went shopping where Jon graciously obliged me in holding my purse while I tried on clothes. Got some shorts and tees for the approaching summer heat. That's about it on my b-day weekend. On Sunday the spell was broken and I turned back into Mommy, but that's okay because I love my baby. Isn't it funny how when you are home with your kid(s) all you want is a break, and then the second they leave, you miss them?! How is that fair? Jon always thinks I'm crazy when I miss Jack when he's at my parents'.

And before I forget, my awesome present from my parents is below. I am so excited! I haven't had a bike since my 10-speed way back when. Can't wait to take Jack on bike rides. And kudos to Jon for hanging it on the garage ceiling. I don't have the patience for such things.

I'm super lucky to have such caring family. Many thanks to Jon's parents for my b-day gift- I can't wait to use it for my patio set! Well, I suppose that is enough about me.... for awhile. Heck, it's only your birthday once a year, right? ;)

Ironic, I know

Ironic because of my post directly below this one. While Spring is nearly here, I still have some catching up to do on my Winter activities. The video and pics are from the snowstorm we got here in February. I think we got around a foot of snow here, which for Texas is unheard of. We'll get snow "flurries" which melt once they hit the ground, so for snow to stick and stay was, well, cool. For AWHILE. Then it melts, and freezes into ice, and then it's no longer welcome here. But we had fun with Jack- making a snowman, throwing snowballs, and just enjoying the picturesque white scenery. FYI, about 5 seconds into the video Jack gets tackled fairly hard- don't be alarmed, to him it's all fun and games. What a boy.

Are you wondering what this picture's of? It's my, Jon's, and Jack's footprints in the snow. Jack's are in the middle, in case you didn't figure that out. Ahhhhhh.

That snowstorm was crazy, it literally snowed for 24 hours straight, non-stop. It must be global warming.

Can you feel it???

Can you feel the weather changing and bringing with it the breezy, warm days of Spring? I am SO excited because once Spring is here, Summer is not far behind. Can't wait to be at the pool and beach!