Groundhog Day

May 2011: Play Ball!

2011-08-23T21:17:00.006-05:00

One of Jack's favorite things to do is to play ball! It looks more like golf than baseball at this point, but it's super-funny to watch!

His "stance" cracks me up!

Who knows ... maybe he'll be a famous baseball player some day! It's fun to imagine what he'll do when he grows up. Love this boy!

Sweet Friends

2011-08-23T21:12:00.002-05:00

We had dinner with our sweet friends the Fosters. Hailey Jane and Jack are only 1 month apart in age. At one point during dinner, they were sharing a chair. So sweet! I hope they're friends for years and years and years to come!

May 2011: Staycation

2011-08-23T20:13:00.010-05:00

We haven't had the best luck with planning vacations ... especially kid-friendly ones. So we decided this Spring that we would vacation at home ... a staycation! We took the whole week off and just spent time together.

We went to the Discovery Center in Murfreesboro. Jack loves the model train display. He likes to push the buttons that make the people move or the lights come on.

The fire truck is always a big hit as well!

Jack and I have been to the Discovery Center many times, but this was Jason's first trip.

Another day, we went to the zoo! Jack's favorite part is the carousel!

Yelling "HI, Daddy!!" (Jason's always the one behind the camera. That's why there are rarely any pictures of him. We need to work on that!)

We also went to the park and played outside! Jack went through a phase where he never went anywhere without a whistle around his neck!

We had such a great time on staycation. It was very restful and relaxing and a sweet time to spend together. I think we should staycation every year in the spring and then take a beach vacation in the fall!

May 2011: Mother's Day Out Program

2011-08-23T19:52:00.004-05:00

Along the same lines as the last post, the end of the school year also brought the end of Jack's Mother's Day Out program. Our MDO experience was a bit of a bumpy one so I (Jodi) for one was relieved to see the end of the year. We loved Jack's first teacher, but she passed away unexpectedly over the Christmas holiday. It was terribly sad. Then we just had minor miscommunications and issues with the new teacher the rest of the school year. But even with the bumps along the way, I'm so glad we put Jack in the program. His language development has grown by leaps and bounds and he enjoyed the social time with kids his age (outside of church).

So ... on to the end-of-the-year program. There was a patriotic theme to the program so all of the kids dressed in red white and blue and sang patriotic songs. It was very cute! Jack's class sang "Jesus Loves Me" and "Yankee Doodle" complete with motions. Jack did great! We were so proud. The amazing thing is that even though the program went over an hour, Jack sat with us and behaved very well for the rest of the program. That's not easy for a super-active 2-year-old!

This fall, Jack is enrolled in a new MDO program that starts after Labor Day. We are looking forward to it!!

April 2011: Awana Recognition

2011-08-22T21:43:00.006-05:00

Fall of 2010 was the first chance Jack had to be in our church's Awana program. He is a Puggle and he LOVES it!! We can hardly get his Puggle shirt off of him on Sunday nights because he loves it so much!

This spring, the Puggles had the chance to sing a couple of songs during the Awana recognition program. It was Jack's "big church" debut! I (Jodi) was so nervous because I had no idea how he would react to being on stage. He is so active that I had visions of him being the one to catapult himself (or one of the other kids) off the stage. But he did great! He is a natural. He sang the words and did the motions and really seemed to enjoy it!

He did do something really funny though. When the kids went on stage, it took the teachers quite a while to get everyone situated. At one point, I completely lost sight of Jack and had no idea where he was. Turns out, he had made his way straight to the grand piano and was sitting on the bench. (He takes after his mommy!) One of the teachers managed to corral him back to where he needed to be. So funny!

Can you tell he's excited to be in "big church?" He was excited ... but he also wouldn't let me leave him with his class. I was afraid at first that he wasn't going to go on stage without me. But when the time came ... he let go of me without any trouble.

Trying to reign in a bit of his energy ...

Getting into position ... a little unsure of what this is all about

A photo of the whole group to give you an idea of what a major undertaking this was for the teachers ...

Singing and clapping his heart out!! This was after they finished their first song and the audience was clapping. Jack couldn't resist clapping too!

It was awesome! A HUGE thanks to Mr. Jeff and Mrs. Kristi (as well as all of their helpers) for such a great year of Puggles!

Jason got video of the whole thing. If we ever get it updated an uploaded to YouTube, we'll add it here.

April 2011: Easter Egg Hunt

2011-05-29T22:32:00.003-05:00

Every year on the Saturday before Easter, my (Jodi's) family gets together and has our annual Easter brunch and egg hunt! It's always a lot of fun ... but this year was the best yet (except for the fact that Jason couldn't come because of an airsoft event)!

Jack had already hunted Easter eggs at Mother's Day Out, so he understood exactly what he was supposed to do. He was a man on a mission!

My mom is smart and color codes the eggs. Each child looks for a specific color of egg. Jack was looking for blue eggs.

Uncle Jason was sneaky and hid one of the eggs up in a tree.

After seeing the egg in the tree, Jack insisted on putting one of his eggs in the tree too. Then he promptly had me turn around and pick him up so he could "find" it in the tree! Funny boy!

The kids enjoyed the hunt and then had a blast opening all of their eggs. My mom is the best at finding neat things to go in the eggs. It was a great time of fellowship with family!

April 2011: Yummy!

2011-05-29T22:30:00.001-05:00

April 2011: Backyard Fun

2011-05-29T22:09:00.008-05:00

When we bought our house, one of the major selling points for us was the small creek that runs behind the house. Jason has been eagerly awaiting the day that Jack would be old enough to play in the creek with him. This spring ... they are having a blast!!

At first ... it took Jack convincing that it was OK to get his hands dirty.

But then Daddy taught him how to throw rocks into the water. The bigger the rock ... the better the splash! You can see the rock mid-throw in this picture!

Splash!

Jack quickly got over the urge to stay clean. Now he is willing to do whatever it takes to find the best throwing rocks!

Jack is also really enjoying the sand and water table that Nonna and Pipaw bought for him last year! You'll notice that we only put sand in it. There was just no good way to keep the sand and the water separated. He doesn't seem to mind!

Our backyard is fairly sloped. Last year we didn't play outside much for fear that it wasn't safe for an off-balance, clumsy toddler. But this year ... we are enjoying spending lots of time outside!

March 2011: Sweet Face

2011-05-28T22:05:00.003-05:00

This might just be the cutest face I've ever seen!

March 2011: A Day at the Park

2011-05-28T21:51:00.006-05:00

Boy were we ever glad when winter finally turned to spring! Jack LOVES to be outside and we had a serious case of cabin fever. We went to one of our favorite parks to play as soon as the weather was warm enough to enjoy being outside!

Jack went through a phase where he never went anywhere without his I'm-too-cool-for-you "shakes" (a.k.a. shades).

Checking everything out ... even the weeds ...

Thank goodness for wide open spaces to run and play! Can you tell he's happy to be outside?

Flashing his best gang symbol ... :-)

Jack really likes the "lello flowers."

We're trying hard to use every opportunity to teach Jack that God made everything. If you ask him who made the flowers or the grass or the trees, he'll tell you "God." Unfortunately ... almost anytime you ask him what color something is ... he'll also answer "God." I'm not sure he quite has the concept just yet!

Who Do I Remind You Of?

2011-05-28T21:48:00.004-05:00

"Yep! Not only do I look just like my Daddy ... I want to play Xbox just like him too!"

A Very Snowy January

2011-05-28T21:03:00.022-05:00

January 2011 turned out to be the snowiest month we've ever seen in Middle Tennessee! Several times during the month the snow was heavy and deep enough to strand us at home for a few days.

One day it started snowing while we were at work. It snowed so hard and so fast that we weren't able to get to Jack before the roads got too icy. It took me (Jodi) hours to get home safely from downtown Nashville! I've never driven on icy roads ... and needless to say I was exhausted by the time I got home. So Jack had an impromptu slumber party at Ma's house! We were able to finally get to him early afternoon the next day! It was an adventure!

Jack enjoyed the snow much more than the snow in 2009. He was old enough to really enjoy playing in it ... making it worth the hassle of getting all bundled up. We had a blast!

Our snow-covered house from the front ...

Our snow-covered house from the back ...

Say Cheese!!

Our ridiculous attempt at a snowman ... We didn't take the time to make it bigger than Jack.

Checking out the frozen creek with Daddy ...

Jason asked Jack to sit down on this tree branch to get some cute pictures.

You can see how that turned out. We still got some cute pictures ... just not quite what we were going for!

"Help! I've fallen and I can't get up!"

Jason had the awesome idea to break out his snowboard and use it as a sled. Our backyard is sloped just enough that it worked beautifully! Jack loved it!

Trying to catch a snowflake with his tongue ...

Jason figured out somewhere along the way that there was a better setting on his camera for snow. That's why the next few pictures look so much better!

This one is my favorite of the snow pictures!

Run!!

Jack would love to take Daddy's snowboard for a test drive ... but the boots just won't fit!

I even got in on the snowboard action!

December 2010 (a.k.a. The Longest Post EVER!)

2011-05-24T20:50:00.041-05:00

Every December, the Skulleys have a big event called the Skulley Dinner. It's a chance for all of us to come together at least once a year and catch up. It's gotten bigger and bigger every year. John and Shirley Bornstein host the dinner at their church in Brentwood ... which works out well because they have a great gym for the kids (young and old) to run around and play.

Jack had the best time riding around on a tricycle, chasing balls, and running around.

Who could ever resist this sweet face??

These little "cars" (for lack of a better word) are really neat. You have to turn the handles on the inside to make them go. Even though they were a bit too big for Jack, he still managed to make it work. I was amazed!

I had never seen a tricycle like this before, but it is really neat! Jack loved riding it around the gym!

Jason used his new fancy camera and tripod to take a family picture of our part of the Skulley family. It turned out fantastic!

Then he took a group shot of everybody that was able to make it to the 2011 Skulley Dinner. That's a lot of people!!

What a blessing to watch the family grow and change! I'm so thankful!!

Christmas Eve we went to Jason's parents (a.k.a. Ma and Pa's) to celebrate together.

Jack's favorite Christmas gift was too big to wrap, so he got to enjoy it the second we got there!
Every boy needs a horse, right?

YeeHaw!!!

"Umm, Jacob ... My hat is cooler than your hat!!"

Hat silliness with Uncle Matt ...

Jack loves to look at the pictures on Daddy's camera.

Opening presents ...

Taking a break to cuddle with Ma ...

Christmas morning at home was a blast! Jack was definitely old enough to start grasping the excitement and wonder of it all. You can see it all over his face.

This dinosaur mountain was a huge hit!

He definitely understood the concept of opening gifts this year! Can you tell?

A musician in the making ...

Mid-Christmas morning, we packed up and headed to Nonna's house. There was actually snow on the ground, but luckily the roads were clear. It was the perfect kind of snow -- beautiful without messing up any plans and stranding us inside!

Nonna and Pipaw had a fire going ... on the TV! Jack wasn't quite sure what to think about that.

Autumn helped Pipaw read the Christmas story this year.

Allie loves Nonna. Look at the sweet smile!

Opening stockings ...

One of Jack's stocking stuffers was an octopus for the bath tub. It sprays water out the top like a fountain ... and it lights up. Jack loved it so much that we filled the bathroom sink with water and let him play in it while the rest of us opened stockings and presents!

After playing in the sink, Jack was soaking wet, so Nonna put his shirt in the dryer. We wrapped him up in his blanket to keep him warm!

Jack's great-grandma and great-grandpa in Texas got him a tricycle for Christmas! He was so excited. So excited that he crashed it and took a nose dive into the fireplace mantle. Needless to say, we bought a helmet for him before we let him ride it outside.

After a super-eventful Christmas Eve and Christmas morning, we headed home for a nap. Then that night, we headed over to Jason's aunt's house for a super-yummy dinner.

I love this photo of Shannon, Jim, and Brittany ... even if the boys (Matt and Jason) were being silly ... taking a picture of someone taking a picture! Goofy!

Winding down ... you can see the scrapes on his face from his crash on the tricycle.

It was a great Christmas! It's so much fun experiencing Christmas through the eyes of a toddler! Next year will be even more fun!

November 2010

2011-05-24T20:33:00.009-05:00

Jason was kind enough to post a few pictures ... since I had failed to update the blog in a while, but I'd really like to catch up. So ... here we go!

We had a Sunday School cookout at the Dew's house in November. Who knew it would be freezing!! Even amidst being cold, Jason got a few super-cute pictures of Jack!

This is Jack's serious, deep-in-thought face!

This next one is one of my favorite pictures ever! I love the expression on his face.

Thanksgiving Day was actually unseasonably warm. We want to Jason's parents house for Thanksgiving Dinner and it was actually warm enough to play outside without a coat before dinner.

Playing in the tons of leaves in Ma and Pa's yard!

As we were eating Thanksgiving dinner, the power went out. Jack was not a big fan of that ... until we broke out the flashlights. It was a Thanksgiving we'll always remember -- dinner by flashlight instead of candlelight!

Update long overdue

2011-04-20T16:13:00.008-05:00

Awana Recognition

Seems rather happy!

Hehe... Jack playing with my original Optimus Prime from 1984 :D

We have let this blog slip with the use of facebook... so I'll (Jason) just post a lot of pictures since that's what we all wanna see...

October: A Few Park Pictures

2010-12-12T22:06:00.004-06:00

Toward the middle of Fall, we found a great new playground fairly close to our house. Jason went with us one day and got some great pictures with the new camera. We had a lot more pictures, but we narrowed them down to our three favorites.

Such a serious face ... but so sweet!

Unfortunately, we found this playground only a few weeks before it became too cold to play outside for long. But we'll be back in the Spring!

Where Is Waldo ... I mean Jack??

2010-12-12T21:56:00.002-06:00

I love the little finger his is sticking up!

October: Our Little Musician

2010-12-12T21:39:00.006-06:00

We are all convinced that Jack is going to be a musician. He already loves to play the piano, the drums, and the guitar. Nonna's house is one of the best places to play music.

And for Jack ... everything becomes a drum! Here is drumming in the kitchen floor with Pipaw!

I know every parent thinks their child is talented and amazing, but I seriously think this boy is going to be talented. He already seems to have a great sense of rhythm and he loves to dance. Lately, he even wanders around the house singing. It's so sweet! Most of the time we can't understand what he's singing, but every now and then we'll catch familiar words and tunes. Some of his favorite songs are "Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star," "Jesus Loves Me," "Deep and Wide," "Head and Shoulder, Knees, and Toes," and "The B-I-B-L-E."

October: Pumpkin-Carving Party

2010-12-11T20:53:00.008-06:00

My friend, Candace, invited us to a pumpkin-carving at her Mom's farm one Friday night in October. At first I wasn't sure Jason was going to be able to come, but his plans changed at the last minute. I was so happy! Candace and her family know how to throw a great party. The setup was awesome, their farm is amazing, and the food and fellowship were fabulous! We had to leave (for a long drive home with a tired toddler) well before the pumpkin-carving started, but I'm so glad we were able to go!

Being a farm, they had lots of great "farm" toys for the kiddos ... and plenty of room for them to play. Jack enjoyed "driving" the tractor, pushing/pulling the wagon, and riding the tricycle! He had a blast!

Two of his favorite things in one ... pumpkins ... and lights!!

Anybody who knows Candace knows she is the picture queen. She made all of the guests pose for a picture when they first arrived. I'm so glad she did because this is one of my very favorite family pictures!

To see the amazing pumpkins that people carved at the party, stop by Candace's blog.

New Camera

2010-12-11T16:42:00.004-06:00

In October, Jason bought a new camera. It's a Canon T1i DSLR for those photography buffs out there. I was skeptical, but it is truly amazing! We'll never have to pay for professional photos ever again! Here are just a few he took to test it out!

Tackling his moose ...

Bath time ...

Playground Fun

2010-12-11T16:31:00.005-06:00

Jack loves to play outside. He'd spend every second outside if we'd let him. Unfortunately, our yard is not the most conducive for an active toddler ... way too sloped. So on pretty Saturdays, we like to head to one of several playgrounds in our area. I think our favorite is the playground at our church.

Trying to climb the monkey bars ... with a little help from Mommy ...

Round and round on the tire swing ...

He loves to walk along this railing that runs the length of the playground and count as he goes. We must have done four or five times. So funny!

Snack break ... It was getting pretty hot (as evidenced by his red face)!

Sliding is so much fun!

Trip to Cincinnati

2010-09-24T12:57:00.008-05:00

After our whirlwind trip to Texas in July, we decided for our family vacation (which we always take in the fall), we would stick close by. So we decided to go to Cincinnati, Ohio!

We took Jack to Mother's Day Out on Thursday morning, went home and packed up, picked Jack up right after lunch and headed north! We had an uneventful drive up. Jack did well, even though he only slept for about 40 minutes of the five-hour drive.

We found a great deal on a hotel that has two-room suites. So after the drive, dinner, and a quick trip to Wal-Mart, we put Jack to bed (a not-so-easy task in an unfamiliar place) and had time to relax and watch TV without disturbing Jack. We slept in Friday morning (even Jack). We actually had to wake the poor guy up because we were afraid we were going to miss the free hot breakfast! But he was happy when we woke him up!

Then we headed to the Creation Museum in Petersburg, Kentucky, which is run by Answers in Genesis. It is a beautiful facility with a gorgeous garden and nature trail outside.

The museum is well done and seems to have a ton of great information. However, it's not super-conducive to a toddler. Jack did well, but we weren't able to see the short movies, read all of the signs in each exhibit, or visit the special effects show and planetarium. It might be a neat place to come back when he's old enough to understand and appreciate the museum.

Check out this cool dragon above the bookstore entrance!

They had lots of neat dinosaurs!

Jack enjoyed looking at the fish and turtles they had a tank in the main hall!

We did take a nice stroll through the gardens and stopped at the petting zoo to see some unique animals. Jack seemed to enjoy that at least a little bit.

The outside grounds of the museum were amazing. They had a beautiful botanical garden and a petting zoo. I did finally convince Jack to pet this sweet mule!

These are called "Zonkeys" ... part donkey and part zebra.

Peering at the animals over the top of his too-cool-for-you shades!

Strolling through the beautiful gardens. Jason says he want our yard to look like this one day ... including the bridge and fish pond!

Lunch at Noah's Ark Cafe ... yummy! After lunch, we headed back to the hotel for naptime!

On Day 2 of our vacation, we decided to go to the Duke Energy Children's Museum (one of the best in the country)! We had all kinds of trouble getting there due to traffic, terrible construction, and an uncooperative GPS, but once we finally got there, it was amazing ... well worth the trouble. And unlike the creation museum ... it was perfect for Jack!

The first thing Jack saw was a big room full of balls and all kinds of things to do with them. He was so excited! He wasn't even sure where to start!

Driving a dump truck full of "rocks" ... He loves anything he can "drive!"

There were all kinds of drums to play. He LOVED this gong. He would hit it and then say "Yea!!!"

The water table is always a favorite at the Discovery Center ... and he loves it in Cincinnati too. Only this one is much bigger and more on his level! He looked so cute in his little blue rain coat!

Jack loves wheels! When you turn this wheel, it makes a windmill spin. Jason got a great, artistic shot from above.

The front of the museum center was amazing. It had a gorgeous fountain. We enjoyed running around exploring the fountain. Here's a great shot of the fountain! It was beautiful!

Sweet boy!

After the museum, we headed back to the hotel to take a nap ... but Jack never did fall asleep. I left him alone in the dark for over an hour and he just sang and played. Finally we gave up and decided to head back out to shop at Newport on the Levee ... a great shopping and dining area right on the river. He fell asleep in the car on the way there and was out like a light!

The Ohio River with the Cincinnati skyline in the background.

Jason enjoyed walking around looking at all the shops while Jack slept. The weather was great (and it was nice to not be chasing Jack around). Unfortunately, he woke up while we were eating dinner and then cried and whined the rest of the time. We couldn't get him to calm down at all. He was so exhausted! After dinner, we retreated back to the hotel to rest.

We had considered staying one more day and going to the zoo. But after the rough evening, we decided trying to keep Jack strapped in a stroller at a crowded zoo would probably not go over well. We opted to head home and enjoy the rest of our vacation days at home instead.

All in all, it wasn't the most child-friendly vacation, but it was still really nice to get away from the day-to-day routine and have a change of scenery.

ParentLife Cover Photo Shoot

2010-08-21T14:44:00.010-05:00

For anybody that might not know, I (Jodi) am the editor of ParentLife magazine. I was shocked (but completely honored) when our Graphic Designer, Claire, asked me if we could put Jack on an upcoming fall cover of ParentLife. Knowing that he's the cutest child in the world ... I couldn't say no, right?

So in mid-July (in 100 degree heat I might add), we layered Jack up in long sleeves and overalls and headed out to Jason's parent's farm for a photo shoot.

Melanie of The Velvet Trunk took some amazing photos, especially since Jack was hot and not in the mood to smile. He wasn't cranky ... just subdued. I can't say that I blame him considering I was sweating to death in shorts and a tank top. Poor guy! He did great! And Melanie was so good with him and was so patient!

Melanie does a lot of our ParentLife covers. She has an amazing talent and I would highly recommend her to anyone! Be sure to check out her Web site and blog!

There were a lot of photos ... so I just picked my favorite ones to post!(It was hard to narrow them down!) These photos are priceless to our family. Jack is wearing his dad's overalls (from when he was a toddler) sitting on his grandfather's tractor on his great-grandfather's farm. Amazing ... is all I have to say!

Enjoy!

Jack's 2nd Birthday

2010-07-17T15:13:00.007-05:00

Jack's birthday fell on a Sunday this year. We decided to have his family party on the following Tuesday so that the majority of our family could attend. So on Sunday evening, we went to Wal-Mart and picked out a couple of toys to celebrate his actual birthday!

He loved the dragon that we bought ... until we realized it was messed up! Something was wrong with the gears inside that should have made it walk. We ended up taking it back! :-( But I don't think he misses it! He got too many other cool things at his party!

We also bought him a tractor ... to remind him of his family in Texas! "Tractor" is one of his newest words! And of course ... it had to be John Deere!

He likes to hold on to the tiny steering wheel and pretend like he's driving! So funny!

Then on the Tuesday after his birthday, we had a house full of family to officially celebrate! We were so busy enjoying Jack and family that we didn't get a lot of great photos, but we did get a few to help us remember the special occasion.

Since "fish" and "octopus" were some of Jack's earliest words, we decided to have an ocean themed birthday party ... complete with a Finding Nemo cake ... and a super-cute inflatable turtle (that we didn't get a picture of).

I was happy with how the cake turned out. The fish on top are actually water toys and he loves them. He carries them around all the time ... both of them together, never just one at a time!

Jack really, really liked the cake. So much in fact that before most of the party guests arrived, he had already taken a chunk out of it with his hand! The funny thing was, he wasn't trying to eat it. He just wanted the fish off the top! We quickly moved it to higher ground ... out of his reach ... so that it would survive for the main event!

We didn't get a pre-Jack attack picture. Notice the nice chunk out of the bottom?

He was really good at opening presents this year! He got some much-needed clothes and pajamas and a Mega-Block truck!

Jason and I got him the basketball goal you see in the background. It's still a little big for him, but he likes for us to pick him up so he can "dunk" it!

Nonna and Pipaw gave Jack a sand and water table earlier in the month. So for the party, they also got him the newest Llama Llama book ... called Llama Llama Misses Momma. He loves it! We read it almost every night at bedtime!

This present from Ma and Pa has Jack's name written all over it ... literally!

It's a Magna-Doodle!! He loves to draw!

The biggest hit though was the Star Wars umbrella from Ma and Pa! He was so excited! He loves umbrellas and now he has one that is just his size!

Jason did get a little bit of video of the cake, candles, and singing. I assumed Jack would dig in to the cake this time since he knows what cake is. But I was wrong! I think he was a little intimidated by all of the attention! He starts getting excited toward the end though!

It was a fun party and Jack loved having everyone over to his house! Thanks everybody for coming and for the wonderful gifts!

Happy birthday, Jack-man! We love you!

Texas Trip -- Family Pictures

2010-07-08T21:20:00.012-05:00

One of the best things about the trip to Texas was the family pictures we were able to have made! I was nervous at first because I knew it would be a lot of people and a lot of work to try and get Jack to cooperate, but the photographer turned out to be amazing. He was funny and great at getting people to look and smile. Jason did the hard work of chasing Jack and then making him laugh right before they snapped the picture! He was awesome! The photos are amazing and the photographer gave each family a CD with full rights to use them however we want to. I pulled off a few of my favorites.

My grandparents ... celebrating 60 years of marriage! Amazing! They are leaving an amazing family legacy through their godly examples. I love them!

Gradma Liz and Papaw with their four children -- Craig, Bruce, Steve, and Cheryl (my mom).

My mom and dad and their children and grandchildren

My sweet family of three ... love, love, love this picture!

The grandkids

The great-grandkids

The whole group ... four generations

I'm so glad we have these amazing pictures to remind us of our trip! Thank You, God, for my amazing family!

Texas Trip -- Day 4 -- July 4th

2010-07-08T21:09:00.007-05:00

Sunday morning we all headed to my grandparent's church. It's a tiny little country Lutheran church that doesn't have a nursery so Jason decided to play with Jack in their "cry" room and then outside on the playground rather than attempt to make him sit through the service. That was a very wise decision. However, I must say that it was a busy service since there were so many kids present. The parents did a great job keeping them occupied ... but Jack never would have even stayed in the pew!

The Lutheran church worships in such a different way than I am used to, but I love it! It's very traditional and ritual-driven. I wouldn't want to worship that way all of the time, but I enjoy it when I get the chance. It is so reverent. It was a nice change for one Sunday.

After church we headed back out to the farm for lunch, dinner, and 4th of July festivities. We had an wonderful time hanging out with family. And my artistic husband got some fabulously awesome photos!

Runnin' from Uncle Jason

Playin' in the backyard with Daddy! I love their backyard! It's a wonderful place to play with a great porch to sit and relax. Not sure I appreciated that when I was a little girl ... but I do now.

I love this picture!

We were actually able to get Jack to sit in one of the train cars for a minute or two ... just long enough to get a couple of pictures!

Another awesome shot of Jack and the West Texas horizon. I love that you can see the sprinklers in the background.

View from the front porch! It was hot ... but a gorgeous day!

Jack "driving" the tractor again! His hair is out of control!

"What's this knob do?"

Autumn and Allie playing hopscotch ... great action shots!

Jason LOVED this barbecue sauce! He took a picture so he could remember the name of it once we got home. Turns out ... Aunt Carla had an unopened bottle that she insisted we take home with us! Jason was ecstatic!

The fourth of July festivities included a pinata for the kids, fireworks, and sparklers. We figured the pinata was a bad idea for Jack. We knew he wouldn't want to give up a big stick to hit things with ... so taking turns wouldn't have worked out. That was fine by him. He just did his own thing most of the time anyway.

Happy Fourth of July!! Grandma had these cute little flags in the front yard. Before we left, she gave Jack one to take home. He loved it!

We decided Jack was doing well enough that we would try to stay through the fireworks. It doesn't get dark until really late in West Texas. I think it was after 9:00 before they started the fireworks (keep in mind that Jack is usually in bed by 7:30 or 8:00). My Uncle Steve and his kids Daniel and Chelsi lit off the fireworks in front of the barn. The first one was a fountain that lit up but stayed on the ground. Jack really liked that one. He was sitting on Jason's lap doing the sign language for "more." But the next one was a big huge one that was loud and flew up in the air. At that point he freaked out! He didn't like the noise at all! I had fingernail marks in my back for days! So I took Jack in the house and we played with Brinkley who is only 4 months younger than Jack and was afraid of the fireworks too.

After the fireworks, we decided it would best to get Jack back to the hotel and in bed. He had reached his limit after a crazy, busy weekend! So we went to the barn to say our good-byes. The older kids were getting ready to light some sparklers and Uncle Steve, Chelsi, and Daniel had a few more random, simple fireworks they were firing. Jason was getting something out of the car with my sister-in-law JoEllen when one of the fireworks went astray and headed straight for them. It went under the cars and bounced off Jason's leg! Luckily, it didn't hurt Jason, JoEllen, or the cars! Jason was so funny. He came out from behind the car with his hands in the air saying "I'm OK. I'm OK!" He had a great sense of humor about it and everyone laughed!

It was hard saying good-bye. The time flew by and I don't feel like I got to talk to everyone as much as I wanted to. But it was a priceless time with family ... and even though it was a long drive and was exhausting for all three of us ... it was worth it!

We left out around 7 a.m. the next morning and headed home!

Texas Trip -- Day 3

2010-07-08T20:54:00.006-05:00

After a good night's rest, we headed back to the farm for a full day of fun with family. For as long as I (Jodi) can remember (and probably way before that), my grandparents have had these deer in their front yard. I think every child in the family has had their picture taken riding one of the deer. So we had to get at least one of Jack!

The inflatable bounce house in the barn was a huge hit with the kids! This is the only decent picture we got of Jack enjoying it, but you can tell he's having a blast!

Jack was enamored with the weather vane. Reminds me a of a line in one of his favorite books -- Big Red Barn by Margaret Wise Brown: "And on top of the barn, a weather vane of course ... a golden flying horse." But this weather vane is even better. It is a tractor!

He also loved this broken thermometer that hangs on the barn (and has forever). He kept calling it a clock!

Playing dominoes in the barn with our new best bud ... Hailey! Love her!

I didn't get an "after" picture, but can you guess what happened right after I took this picture?

Jack thought the perfectly-manicured lawn needed some mowing! Can you believe how beautiful and green their grass is? It is amazing! Jason couldn't get over it and threatened to cut squares out and fill our trunk with it to bring home. It felt as good on bare feet as it looks ... as soft as a carpet! Awesome!

On a clear day, you can see for miles and miles. Very different than what we are used to in Tennessee! I love it! Makes me want to bust out singing "Wide Open Spaces!" It was a much-needed change of scenery for me!

Love this shot ... very patriotic!

I don't know the name of this game, but I remember playing it as a little girl. You blew up a balloon and put it under the box. Then you proceeded to take turns hammering plastic nails into the box. Whoever popped the balloon lost! We didn't put a balloon under the box, but Jack had a great time just hammering nails. I bet they don't make the game anymore, but if they do, we will buy it for him. It allowed us to sit still for at least a few minutes every now and then!

My cousin Daniel has a friend (Meredith) that has a horse. She brought the horse to let the kids pet, feed, and ride. It was very sweet of her, and the older kids especially loved it! Jack didn't seem to care. He didn't even bat an eye when we pointed the horse out. He just kept running around doing his own thing. He did however learn to say "neigh-neigh" before the end of the trip.

Amber was enthralled with the horse ... and with Meredith. (You can see the amazement on her face in this picture.) After feeding and riding the horse, she decided that she wants to be a vet when she grows up! It will be cool if that's what she ends up doing one day. We'll be able to look back and remember the exact moment that impacted her future. Meredith quickly became Amber's best friend (and Meredith was a great sport about it)!

Autumn riding the horse

Another awesome photo of the cloudy, stormy Texas skyline

Jack said another new word while were there ... "tractor." Here is "driving" the tractor ... a John Deere of course!

It was a great day full of new experiences! Great memories for sure!

Texas Trip -- Day 2

2010-07-08T20:32:00.004-05:00

After spending a second almost-full day in the car, we stopped at a rest area/welcome center just outside of Amarillo. It was really nice and had lots of room to run around. It also had artsy metal steers that made for a great photo op! It was really windy and looked like it could storm any second so we didn't stay long or we would have had even more cool pictures.

You can see some of the ominous-looking clouds in the background!

He liked the sound the steers made when he knocked on them!

We were so thrilled that we were able to make it to Farwell in time to drop stuff off at our hotel (actually in Clovis, NM) and head out to Grandma and Papaw's farm where all of the festivities took place. It was so wonderful to see everybody and to watch the kids run and play. My Aunt Carla and Uncle Steve (and their kids Chelsi and Daniel) had worked so hard preparing everything! It was an amazing set up. The barn was cleaned up and had tables and chairs and a food buffet. They rented an inflatable bounce house (which was a huge hit with the kids). There were three or four tricycles and other push toys for the kids as well as balls and frisbees and other outdoor toys. Jack had so much room to run and play that he didn't know quite what to do with himself! I'm not sure he every stopped moving!

They even had a train that they pulled behind the tractor for the kids to ride in. This was the closest Jack came to actually riding in it. He wouldn't sit still long enough and jumped out right after we got this picture! It's probably just as well. With our luck, he would have tried to climb out while the train was moving ... and that would have been bad!

There were other small tricycles in the barn, but this is the one Jack liked the most. It's a little too big for him, but toward the end of the trip, he was starting to actually pedal a little bit! Jason and I tended to hover ... being in an unfamiliar place ... which meant a lot of time standing and chasing Jack. But Jason was amazing and did most of the hard work! He's the best husband (and father) ever!

After a busy day of traveling and hanging out at the farm, we headed back to the hotel for some rest. Jack immediately latched on to the pad and pen in the room and sat in the floor drawing while we unpacked and got settled in. He loves to draw ... just like his daddy! (Notice his lion, Lars, looking on.)

Texas Trip -- Day 1 (Part 2)

2010-07-08T20:17:00.005-05:00

After being in the car all day, the pool was a wonderful treat! The whole family came to the pool. It was a blast watching the kids play together.

Jack loves to just sit on the steps and splash around. He's like his momma ... it takes him a while to decide he actually wants to get in the pool!

Autumn, Amber, and Allie ... relaxing in their floats!

The water was pretty cold! Allie had to get out for a while to warm up. Who could resist this adorable smile?? So sweet!

Jack did eventually get in the pool ... and he was glad he did. He had a blast with his daddy, Uncle Jason, and Pipaw! Hopefully it took his mind off of the long day in the car (which was the whole point of going to the pool)!

Flying through the air ... and laughing his head off at the same time!

After playing in the pool, we headed to dinner at a place called Big Jake's. It's a local place with lots of atmosphere ... similar to Logan's. In the main room, it had all kinds of things on the wall ... including a train track with a working train going 'round and 'round and a wagon with real wagon wheels that were spinning. Jack was fascinated with all of it. We were there for quite a while, but it was one of the easiest times eating out we've ever had! It was a lot of fun -- a nice break from traveling!

Trip to Texas -- Day 1

2010-07-07T22:40:00.008-05:00

My (Jodi's) grandparents will be celebrating their 60th wedding anniversary this fall. We decided that was a great reason to get the whole family together to celebrate. It had been years since most of us had seen each other and their were at least a few great-grandkids Grandma and Papaw had never even met. So ... since summer was a better time for everyone to get together, we decided to celebrate over the July 4th weekend. My whole family (including my parents and my brother's family) packed our bags and headed to West Texas. It is about an 18-hour drive so we broke it up in to two days of travel! Jason and I were a bit nervous about how Jack would travel, but he was a trooper! He did a great job! We are so blessed!

We headed out around 6:45 on Thursday morning and arrived halfway (in Van Buren, Arkansas) around 4:30 that afternoon. That gave us time to swim and play for a while and then eat a nice leisurely dinner before heading to bed. It was a long day, but it went better than I could have asked for!

We made sure to stop about every two hours and let Jack get some "wiggles" out. One of the places we stopped had a great grassy area where we played ball for a while and Jason got some cute pictures!

"Wanna play ball?"

We're so mean ... we kept throwing it as far as we could and letting him go get it so that he would move around and get some exercise! I think he caught on fairly quickly and was less-than enthusiastic about going to get it.

Great action shot ... throwing the ball over the table

More pictures to come .... but that's all I have time for right now! Stay tuned!

Adventure Science Center

2010-07-03T14:28:00.005-05:00

Nonna and Pipaw were brave and decided to take Autumn, Amber, and Allie to the Adventure Sceince Center. And Jack and I (Jodi) decided to tag a long.

Jack playing with the trains on the train table.

"Choo-Choo!"

At this exhibit you built something with the blocks and then pushed a button that would simulate an earthquake! Well ... who needs an earthquake when you have a Jack-man. He would knock over the buildings before you ever even had a chance to push the earthquake button!

Beautiful Autumn!

All four of the kiddos had a blast on this piano ...

... but Jack especially loved it! He probably could have played on it all day!

Vroom ... Vroom! Beep ... Beep! This was another one of Jack's favorite exhibits! He loves to "drive!"

Autumn and Amber playing with static electricity.

Learning about bones and joints

Jack was mesmerized by some of the exhibits ... even though they were way over his level of understanding! I love the look on his sweet face in this one!

Allie ... prepping for some serious surgery!

Amber the Super Scientist

It was a great day ... and everyone had a fabulous time! Maybe they even learned something at the same time!

Like Father ... Like Son

2010-07-03T14:25:00.001-05:00

Nonna and Pipaw's Backyard

2010-07-03T14:14:00.004-05:00

Since my mom keeps Jack two days a week while I work, she decided that they needed some toys for the backyard. Now ... Nonna and Pipaw's backyard is like a toddler amusement park! And Jack loves it!

Playin' in the sandbox ... crazy hair and all! (For the record ... his hair was more out-of-control than usual on this particular day!)

Swingin' ... back and forth ... back and forth

Climbin' and slidin' on the Kangaroo Climber

Now they even have a big-kid swing set (which my neices love too)!

He even has a water table to play, which has come in handy this crazy-hot summer!

Drawing with sidewalk chalk is one of Jack's favorite things to do. I hope he got his daddy's artistic genes. It sure is looking that way!

No wonder he is sad every time we leave. He has so much fun with Nonna and Pipaw in their awesome backyard!! Thanks, Mom and Dad! We love you!

Just Playin' Around

2010-07-03T13:52:00.002-05:00

Sorry that I've been so bad about blogging lately. I'm going to do my best to catch up and do better! (I know ... I know ... I've said that before. But this time I really mean it!) Here are just a few funny pictures from some playtime with Jack.

"Yummy! Frog legs!" ... Notice the cool tent Jason built for Jack in the background!

Everybody knows it's more fun to play IN the toy box than to play with the toys that are stored in the toy box!

"Say hello to my little friend!" Ma gave Jack a marshmallow shooter for Christmas last year and he still loves it ... even though it doesn't have any marshmallows in it!

Playin' with my laptop in my tent. Maybe he's sending me a Facebook message reminding me that I need to update the blog!

Jack playing mom's gameboy.

2010-05-26T10:52:00.004-05:00

Took Jack to my (Jason) mom's house this morning and it would seem that my mom lets him play on her Nintendo GameBoy... Dr. Mario to be exact... gamer in the making.

Easter Dinner at Our House

2010-04-18T15:48:00.004-05:00

We had a great time of worship at our church on Easter Sunday. Since we weren't having services on Sunday night, we decided to invite Jason's side of the family over for Easter supper. I made roast, carrots, and potatoes in the slow cooker. We really ought to do it more often. Jack loved having people over to his house.

Waitin' on the family to arrive ...

My first attempt a homemade cheesecake. It was pretty good if I do say so myself.

After dinner, we broke out DJ Hero.

Jack enjoyed showing his train table to Pa!

Then he wanted to help Uncle Matt play some guitar!

Dinner and video games were fun. We put Jack to bed and then Matt, Shannon, and Brittany stayed for a while and we had a great chance to talk. We rarely get to spend time with them ... so it was great! We absolutely love having our extended families so close! We are blessed!

Easter Eve at Nonna and Pipaw's

2010-04-18T15:41:00.005-05:00

The night before Easter Sunday our family got together at Nonna and Pipaw's house to eat waffles and hunt Easter eggs. It was a great time!

I thought hunting Easter eggs would be lost on Jack ... but he actually got into it more than I thought he would. After finding the first egg, he picked it up, looked at me, and said "Ball" after which he proceeded to throw it on the ground, dumping its contents all over the driveway! I laughed so hard! Then he went on to find a few more ... until ...

... he found a big stick. If you've followed our blog for long ... you know that Easter eggs packed with goodies didn't stand a chance once Jack found a stick!

The rest of the fam ... hunting eggs ...

An artsy photo that I wish I could take credit for -- Jason takes great photos!

Allie found all of her eggs and helped point some out for Jack. My mom color-coded them for each of the grandkids!

Jack and Allie enjoyed opening the eggs and finding all of the fun stuff inside. My mom always finds the coolest little things to put in them.

Autumn was excited about the candy. She's growing up way too fast!

My brother and his family recently went to Dinosaur World in Kentucky. They were so sweet to bring Jack back a dinosaur. He LOVES it!

I love his sweet smile in this one.

Nonna gave each of the kids a pinwheel. Jack loves it! He's still carrying it around weeks after Easter. It's so funny to watch him try to blow it. It's even funnier when he holds it up to your mouth for you to blow!

Love, love love this boy!

It was a great time with family. We have so much to be thankful for ... but most of all, we are thankful for the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ!

The Zoo

2010-04-18T15:34:00.003-05:00

My (Jodi's) mom and dad were so sweet to buy us a season pass to the Nashville Zoo. We are so excited! Having a pass makes going to the zoo so much easier and worth it. You don't have to stand in a long line at the gate and you can stay as long or as short as you need to without worrying if you've gotten your money's worth out if it! It's perfect for a family with a toddler.

We've been twice already this spring. I was hoping Jack would be very excited about the animals this year ... but he's not so much ... yet! But it's still lots of fun! He enjoys being outside! He likes the animals that are loud and move around a lot. The others, he doesn't seem to care about yet.

Lookin' for some elephants ...

Meerkats ... believe it or not ... "meerkat" (or something that sounds kinda like it) is one of the words in Jack's limited vocabulary!

Checkin' out the tigers with Daddy ...

His teeth must have been bothering him because we couldn't get him to take his fingers out of his mouth for this picture for anything!

He does get at least a little bit excited about the ducks.

Nonna came with us on one of the visits and snapped this photo of our close-up encounter with the meerkats. He liked being in the bubble so much that he threw a fit when we had to get out. But he got over it quickly!

In the reptile house, Jack was more fascinated with the signs that were lit up than the snakes and lizards!

Watchin' the zebras and ostriches with Mommy ...

In our two visits so far we haven't had a chance to play on the awesome playground, go in the petting zoo, or ride the carousel. I'm looking forward to lots more trips over the next year!

First Trip to the Discovery Center

2010-04-01T21:47:00.007-05:00

Last weekend, Nonna, Pippaw, and I took Autumn, Amber, Allie, and Jack to the Discovery Center in Murfreesboro. It is the neatest place! We had such a great time. It's got something for everybody ... and Jack loved all of it! I did manage to take some pictures of the trip ... but I'm realizing now that I need to brush up on my photography skills. Jason takes much better photos than I do. :-) It doesn't help that the kids were in constant motion ... Jack especially! Regardless ... enjoy the pictures anyway!

We started the trip off by playing on the playground, going for a walk around the pond/nature trail, and enjoying a picnic lunch before heading inside. This is probably the only time that we were all in one place for any length of time! It was a beautiful day for a picnic!!

The Discovery Center has a water play area with boats and switches that turn things on and off. They have stools for little guys (like Jack) to stand on. It was the first thing Jack went for and he loved it! I eventually had to drag him away (kicking and screaming ... and soaking wet ... I might add) just to convince him that there were lots of other fun things to do.

I love my nieces!

This was a place that you could "dig" for fossils! Jack enjoyed playing in the rocks!

Allie has the sweetest smile! She had fun playing in the rocks too.

Row, Row, Row Your Boat ...

If you saw my last post, you'll probably remember Jack's obsession with sticks! Well ... he loved these really big sticks! :-)

Amber lookin' rugged in a 'coon-skin cap ...

Autumn "driving" an old truck ... I wish Jack had made it around to this. He would have loved to drive. There was also a big firetruck that you could sit in and even fireman gear you could wear. Jack and I never made it to that section though!

We were too busy ... delivering mail in "Tiny Town," the toddler section of the Discovery Center. Jack could have spent hours playing in all the little shops. He's really into imitating what he sees everyone do these days so this was a blast for him!

Cooking away ... not a skill he learned from me!!

Checking out the groceries from "Kroger"

Looking for just the right tool at "The Home Depot"

Playing an oversized guitar and xylophone in the music store

Once we ventured out of Tiny Town, Jack found a new obsession ... a train he could "drive." I'm pretty sure I had to drag him away from this eventually too!

My girls ... shopping at the "Farmer's Market"

A grand time was had by all. Jack was toast and fell asleep in the car on the way home. It was definitely worth the drive to Murfreesboro. If you leave in Middle Tennessee, it's a great place to go. I highly recommend it! I'm hoping to go back very soon. It's also a great way for Jack to get to hang out with his cousins! I'm so thankful that my parents and my brother and his family live so close!

Pippaw's Birthday Celebration

2010-03-22T21:26:00.006-05:00

On Saturday, my (Jodi's) side of the family all got together at my mom and dad's house to celebrate my dad's birthday! It was the perfect opportunity to show off Jack's new haircut. We had a great time! The weather was beautiful, which meant we actually got to play outside ... great news for Jack who has had a serious case of cabin fever! Jack had a great time running around with his cousins Autumn, Amber, and Allie.

A photo of the new hairdo!

Jack loves to play with the rope on Pippaw's flag pole! Pippaw says that it means he may be an upright bass player one day!

Jack and Allie are almost exactly 1 year apart! I think they will be great friends as they get older! They are starting to interact more and more at each family get-together.

The boy loves sticks for some reason! He finds the biggest ones and carries them around. He tried to take this one down the slide, but it wouldn't fit through the doorway so it snapped in half. But that didn't bother him. It just meant he had two sticks to carry around!

Jack was getting tired by this point and I guess he thought it was more comfortable to read the book laying down!

Reading books (or maybe working a puzzle) with Nonna ...

We had so much fun! I do realize that we need to start taking more pictures than just pictures of Jack! I promise there were other people at the party. To prove it, I snatched this super-cute photo from my mom's Facebook page!

Pipaw and his girls ....

Another Haircut -- Before

2010-03-22T21:14:00.003-05:00

We've been saying for weeks now that we needed to cut Jack's hair. It's not that it wasn't cute as it was ... it was just so long that it was starting to get in his eyes! And it was so wild that it looked like bed-head all the time. A shorter hairdo will be more comfortable for Spring and Summer too.

So last week, we decided to do it. Jason cut it using the clippers. It took two tries. The first time did not go well. Jack screamed and wiggled the entire time. We got it shorter, but it didn't look very good. So the next night, Jason insisted that we brave it again. This time we distracted him with a DVD. He was a champ and sat super-still! We'll have to remember that the next time we decide to cut his hair.

Anyway ... here are a few before pictures. The after pictures will be in the next post! :-)

I'm working on the next post right now ... so I won't keep you in suspense for long!

Little Bookworm

2010-03-07T14:55:00.000-06:00

Jack loves books. He doesn't so much like to be read to unless it's bedtime, but he'll climb up in the chair and go through book after book by himself. I hope this is a trend that continues for the rest of his life!

Snuggle Time

2010-03-07T14:53:00.000-06:00

My two favorite boys getting in some snuggle time right before bed!

Peekaboo!

2010-03-06T20:36:00.000-06:00

Here is my super-cute big boy waiting ever-so-patiently while I finish getting dinner ready.

He decided to play peekaboo with Daddy while he was waiting!

Where's Jack??

There he is!!

"OK. I'm tired of this now!"

"Oooo! Cool camera!"

Patience is starting to wear thin!

"OK, seriously! When are you going to feed me?"

Future Gamer

2010-03-06T20:29:00.000-06:00

One of my favorite Christmas presents this year was Super Mario Bros. Wii. Jason and I have been playing it a lot after Jack is in bed and during naps. We finally beat it a week or two ago! We beat it during Jack's nap. After he woke up, Jason continued to play for a bit. Jack was perfectly content to sit under the TV with his own controller (without batteries) as well as random objects while Jason played!

While Jason was playing, he got to the very end of the game where you have to defeat Bowser. At one point, Bowser lets out a loud "Roar!" That immediately got Jack's attention and he promptly "roared" right back! It was the funniest thing ever! Now if you ask him what Bowser says, he will roar at you! So funny!

XBOX 360 - The Nightmare from Micro$oft

2010-02-10T09:08:00.009-06:00

I'm (Jason) playing Call of Duty - Modern Warfare2 when out of the blue, the graphics begin to look degraded, almost like it's in the 16 bit gaming world (Super Nintendo)... it flickers back and forth and I didn't think TOO much about it. The next day, I look up the symptoms online and come to find out my GPU (Graphics Processor Unit) is going out.

The next day I go to turn on my XBOX and there's no video. I try different cables, only to find out I have the typical issue that plagues the XBOX of "Audio but no video." I look up information about warranty service and Micro$oft has extended the warranty of their XBOX 360s to 3 years for certain issues. I have read many people's comments about them getting this fixed under the extended warranty. I bought this XBOX October of 2007 (which was my 2nd XBOX due to disk read errors), so I should be good until October of 2010 on the 3 year extended warranty.

I first contact M$ through email. After 4 "run around" emails telling me it's my TV or my cables, I decide to call customer support. I must say, I was VERY pleased to speak to an American that can speak English clearly. After 10 minutes on the phone with this northern sounding lady, she tells me this is not covered under the extended warranty. Grudgingly, I thanked her for her time and hung up.

While I'm contemplating my options, someone on an airsoft forum I belong to PMed (Private Message) me to inquire about an airsoft gun I have for sale, asking if I would accept trades. I reply to him and tell him that yes, I would accept trades, especially an XBOX360 since mine has recently fried. In his reply, he says "That's exactly what I want to trade."

So 4 days after my XBOX went out, I was able to get one by trading an airsoft gun that was worth far less than even repairing my "paper weight."

So, now I contemplate many avenues of resolution for the ol' troubled XBOX... one of which includes taking the XBOX apart (which is the most likely option).

UPDATE: I was able to fix it using the "X clamp mod" that's floating around the interwebz... $14 later. Nice.

January 2010 Snow

2010-02-06T20:30:00.003-06:00

In early January, we got a good bit of snow. It amounted to somewhere between 1 inch and 1.5 inches. It wasn't much but it was enough to snow us into the house for several days due to slick, icy roads.

We were anxious to get Jack out in the snow to play, but we weren't really prepared. We did have a thick winter coat for Jack, but all of his hats were too small and his gloves were mittens which barely fit and he didn't love since he couldn't use his fingers to pick things up. We didn't have any snow boots either, but we just did the best we could with what we had. It took a while to get bundled up and ready to go. We played outside for 10 or 15 minutes. He didn't love it ... but he didn't hate it either. Oh and by the way ... did I mention the temperature was in the 20s?? It was crazy cold!

The view from our back deck

All bundled up and ready to explore

I love this picture (below)! Jason got some great shots!

He loves to swing and desperately wanted to swing while we were out, but it was freezing so it wasn't much fun!

So over the cold and ready to go in!

The funny thing is ... just three weeks after this we got a much bigger snow (somewhere around 4 inches). It put this snow to shame! Unfortunately, Jack was running a fever during the three days we were snowed in that time, so we didn't get to play in the snow. But Jason did get some pictures. We'll post them soon!

A New Year ... A New 'Do

2010-01-01T10:59:00.004-06:00

Jack's hair has been out of control for months now. But it had gotten to the point where it was in his eyes so something needed to be done! Jason was sure we could cut it with the clippers ourselves. I wasn't so sure, but I agreed. So New Year's morning, we decided to try. (That way if we really messed it up, we'd have a day to go get it cut before church on Sunday!

Surprisingly ... it went very well. Once he got used to the sound of the clippers, he did great as long as we kept him distracted with snacks, books, and toys! I think Jason did a great job!

Here's a reminder of what it looked like before ...

We cut it in our master bath tub to make the cleanup easier.

And here it is after ... He looks like a little boy ... instead of a baby! It's going to take some getting used to for this momma!

From the back ... after a bath ...

Messy ... but cute!

It really is a relief to have it shorter. I'm sure it feels better for him. And I'm thrilled that it was not devastating like his first "official" haircut was.

Christmas Night with Extended Skulley Family

2010-01-01T10:54:00.003-06:00

After a not-long-enough nap, we headed to Jason's aunt's house for Christmas dinner! Jack was not so thrilled about being awake at first, but once he fully woke up, he did great. I love this picture!

Lovin' on Ma right before the blessing ...

We spent lots of time going up and down Auntnette's stairs! It kept both of us busy!

We opened even more presents and one of Jack's was a stuffed moose! He loves it ... as you can see!

It was a great day! Jack was exhausted, but he had a blast and did such a great job! It was so much fun to experience Christmas through his eyes!

Christmas Morning with the McCleskeys

2010-01-01T10:47:00.004-06:00

After hanging out at home for a while on Christmas morning, we headed to Mom and Dad's house to celebrate. We ate breakfast first and then sat down to read the Christmas story before opening presents.

Autumn helped Pipaw read the Christmas story this year! So sweet!

Jack spent most of the story playing with Nonna's Little People nativity scene at Pipaw's feet. Such a sweet memory!

Then we started opening more presents!

The boxes are always fun to play with!

It was a great morning! And Jack did great playing with his cousins. We headed home around 2 or 2:30 to try to let Jack catch a quick nap before Christmas night activities!

Christmas Morning

2009-12-29T21:18:00.003-06:00

Jason and I stayed up on Christmas Eve night and put together Jack's "big" present ... a Step 2 train table. It's a bit out of his age range, but we took away all of the age-inappropriate pieces and are saving them for when he gets older. We left it out in the living room for Jack to "find" on Christmas morning.

The train is kind of loud, so Jack wasn't sure what to think at first. It took a bit of coaxing to get him to get close. But it didn't take long before he was exploring it for himself! He loves it! He especially loves the plastic trees that came with it. A couple of times he leaned in so far that his feet came off the floor. I wasn't fast enough to get a good picture of it!

Notice his adorable Christmas jammies!

Jack also got a big bag of MegaBlocks for his birthday. So Jason and Jack sat in the floor and built for a while.

It was a nice leisurely morning. Jack slept until 8:00 (which is almost unheard of). We ate breakfast and then opened presents and had plenty of time to play before heading over to my parent's house for the McCleskey family get-together. It was a great morning!

Christmas Eve Festivities

2009-12-29T20:44:00.005-06:00

The night before Christmas Eve, Jack started running a fever. He had no other symptoms ... no cough, no runny nose. He was eating fine and slept all night despite the fever. But we decided to take him to the pediatrician Christmas Eve morning ... just to be safe! We were praying that it would be an ear infection instead of something like the flu that would cause us to miss all of the Christmas festivities. Turns out ... it was an ear infection that we caught very early (number 5). We were so thankful! And Jack did great with the changes in routine (staying up late, shorter nap times, etc.) despite the ear infection. You'd have never known he had an ear infection!

Christmas Eve we went to Jason's mom and dad's house to celebrate Christmas! Jack was a tad confused when we came in and all of his toys had been moved to the playroom and out of the living room. Then he had to go check out the presents under the tree. He loved Ma's tree. It had an ornament that played music that he liked to push and several with pictures of family members that he liked to look at!

Jack did great opening presents. He would rip the paper off and then genuinely be excited about the toy inside! It was so much fun. But of course, nothing was more fun than the wrapping paper itself. We used a laundry basket to bring in all of our presents, but of course the laundry basket is one of Jack's favorite places to hang out!

Ma and Pa gave Jack a piano. Now he can play along with me!

Love his expression in this one. I also love the bow on his head. It's not officially Christmas unless someone is wearing a bow!

Matt and Shannon watch as Brittany opens a present!

Ma opens her new sweater ...

Jack tears into another present! Looks like he's really getting into it now!

Ma and Pa gave Jack a marshmallow shooter for Christmas! It is one of his favorite presents ... no joke! He walks around with it pointing it at stuff. He doesn't know how to shoot it. He just knows it's cool! Meanwhile ... I'm enjoying the marshmallows!

Jason cheeses for the camera!

The big hit of the night was a "tent" with a tube. We converted the tent into a ball pit by turning it upside-down. (The tent didn't have a floor to contain the balls.) Needless to say ... Jack loved it. The pictures say it all!

Jack's cousin Jacob hanging out in the bean bag reading one of his new books
Rachel was there too. But somehow we didn't get any pictures of her. :-(

Brittany strikes a pose for the camera!

More serious ... but still funny!

Since the tent is upside-down, it's a bit hard to get in and out of, but Jack can do it all by himself. I think it makes it even more fun for him!

We had a great time. Jack was up way past his bedtime, but he did great! We put him in Christmas jammies and headed home. He was asleep not long after we pulled out of Ma and Pa's driveway!

Random Playtime Pictures

2009-12-29T20:39:00.004-06:00

Jack loves to just sit in the floor and read books. He still doesn't love for me to read them to him, but he's very content to just look at them himself! Hope that's a sign that he will love to read!

He's such a big boy!

I love the expression on his face in this last picture! I don't love the fact that it makes him look bigger than he really is!

Christmastime Is Here

2009-12-29T20:34:00.003-06:00

I know this is technically Jack's second Christmas, but it felt more like his first. This year he was actually able to experience a lot more of it. He was only about 5 months old last Christmas.

We put the Christmas tree up one night after Jack was in bed. We decided not to put any ornaments on it so that we wouldn't have to say "No" very often and Jack could explore the tree without hurting anything! (Not to mention the fact that is was easier to put up and take down! We'll aim for ornaments next year!)

When we brought Jack down the next morning, he was in awe! He loved the lights. He would touch them and smile! Turning the lights on was the first thing we had to do every morning when we came down the stairs. He loved the tree and the lights!

Playing With the Cousins

2009-12-29T20:14:00.006-06:00

In November, we went to Murfreesboro to celebrate our niece Amber's birthday. Jack got lots of playtime in with the cousins! He had a blast!

Allie "Cake" and Jack checking out the toys together. Allie's middle name is Kate, but she likes to be silly and say it's Cake. So that's what I call her!

Allie and Jack are almost exactly one year apart so I anticipate that they will be great friends. It's fun to look at Allie to see what Jack will be doing this time next year!

Our nieces have this awesome tunnel. Jack and Amber spent a lot of time playing in it! Jason was able to get some fun pictures of it!

Amber at the end of the tunnel ...

"Ready or not ... here I come!"

Traffic Jam!

"Let's go through together!"

"All of this fun is wearing me out!"

Jack also discovered another toy he instantly loved ... a light saber. I believe he's a Star Wars fan in the making! Every Jedi needs a light saber, right?

I bought this shirt in honor of Jason. Jack is destined to be a gamer. As one of my good friends says, "It's in his DNA!"

A good time was had by all, and if I recall correctly, Jack slept really well that night! He may be outnumbered being the only boy on the McCleskey side, but he can hold his own!

This Photo Needs a Good Caption!

2009-12-29T20:11:00.002-06:00

Love this photo! Feel free to come up with your own caption!

Catching Up - October 2009 - Halloween

2009-11-16T21:25:00.005-06:00

We opted not to go trick-or-treating with Jack this year since he's too little to eat the candy and we certainly don't need it. Not to mention the fact that it would be a whole lot of work! But we still got Jack and costume. He was a lion ... and the cutest lion I've ever seen! I was afraid he would hate wearing the costume, but he loved it! He would just look at himself in the mirror and laugh. Even now (almost three weeks later) he still carries the costume around like a soft, fuzzy blanket!

Checking himself out in our full-length mirror ...

The Wednesday before Halloween, our church had a Fall Festival of sorts. We braved it and had a pretty good time. There wasn't much for the little guys, but there was a bouncy area and a pit of balls! Jack loved it, but it was very hot in his costume so we didn't stay very long! Here we are after all of the excitement!

I really wanted to try to get some cute pictures of Jack on the front porch with our lone Halloween decoration -- a foam Jack-o-Lantern! As usual ... Jack was perpetual motion and was not in the mood to sit still for pictures, but we got a few cute ones! (We obviously should have had a longer power cord for the Jack-o-Lantern, but just pretend it's not there!)

Jack loves Jason's flashlights so we bought him his very own to play with. That's what he's holding. It's a tiger that when you squeeze its tail he growls and opens his mouth and the light comes out! It's a light ... so of course Jack loves it!

A couple of not-so-good attempts to get a good picture with my little lion ...

Hangin' out on the front porch ... a caged lion ...

And of course ... he cooperated for Daddy! Love these last two pictures!

November 2009 - Wagon Walk

2009-11-15T14:35:00.000-06:00

This fall has actually been unseasonably warm so we went for a walk with Jack's wagon one Sunday afternoon. He loves his wagon! It was a birthday present from Nonna and Pipaw!

16 month checkup

2009-11-15T14:21:00.003-06:00

Jack was officially 16 months old in October. He had a very good checkup with the pediatrician. His weight gain is slowing down (not surprising since he is so active) and holding at about 26 pounds. His height is also leveling off some. His head is still at the top of the charts. He's just gotta have lots of space for all of those brains! :-)

He's gotten old enough that he knows the doctor's office is not a fun place to be. He cried a lot while our pediatrician checked him out ... and the shots were almost unbearable for this mommy!

The pediatrician is still a bit concerned about his language development. He's saying 4 maybe 5 words ... but he doesn't say them much and only close family can understand him. His words right now are:

Moo
Light
Eye
Uh-oh (but it's more like a grunt)
Cat
Turtle (more like tuh-tuh)
He says Ma and Da, but we're not sure yet if he means Mom and Dad.

Even though the doctor's a bit concerned, I'm trying not to worry about it. He's grown leaps and bounds in his comprehension skills. He really understands most of what we're saying and he communicates his needs well most of the time.

He's begun to give up his morning nap. It's been a struggle some days and other days it's easy. He's a good eater most of the time and will eat any fruit you set in front of him. I'm convinced he's eat his body weight in fruit if I let him.

He has a grand total of 6 teeth now with a few more on the bottom that I really think will be coming in anytime.

As I mentioned before, he's super strong. The doctor commented on his strength and joked that if he gets much stronger ... he might have to give up!

He's very independent and plays very well by himself. He has days where he's clingy and cuddly, and he can be a bit strong-willed at times. He has tons of personality and always makes people smile and laugh. He's our little charmer! Can't believe he's growing up so fast!

Sorry there's no picture to go along with the post. I just wanted to be sure and document his growth ... even if just for my own benefit!

Catching Up - October 2009 - Trip to Park

2009-11-15T14:05:00.004-06:00

We really wanted to take Jack to a pumpkin farm this fall. We did all of the planning and headed that direction, but the weather looked a bit iffy, so we decided to go another day. Since we were already dressed for the cool weather, we decided to head to the park instead. One of the community parks in Lebanon has a great playground. Jack had an awesome time walking, running, climbing, sliding, and swinging!

We were bummed about not making it to the pumpkin farm, but we had a great time. We planned to go again, but unfortunately the second day we planned to go ended up being a rainy day as well. Maybe next year!

Catching Up - October 2009 - Serious Bed Head

2009-11-15T14:04:00.003-06:00

Jack's hair apparently grows as fast as mine does. It's getting to the point that he needs another hair cut. Every morning (and nap) he wakes up with a serious case of bed head!

This happens to be a very mild case ... we've yet to get good pictures of the best bed head examples!

Catching Up - October 2009 - Who Needs Toys?

2009-11-15T14:01:00.003-06:00

Jack is a strong boy and he loves to push the furniture around. I'm sure that's what he was trying to do in this picture. The high chair is on wheels so it's easy to move, but he also pushes around the bar stools and table! The workers in the church nursery like to call him Hercules!

This is what it looks like when Jack says, "Moo" ... one of the four or five strange words in his vocabulary!

Who needs toys when you have things like paper towel tubes and laundry baskets??

I'm afraid our baby is quickly growing into a big boy! It is even more evident in these pictures!

Catching Up - September 2009 - Swingin'

2009-11-14T13:08:00.001-06:00

One of Jack's best birthday presents was a swing from Ma. Jason figured out a way to hang it from our top deck. Can you tell that Jack loves to swing? It's written all over his face!

Catching Up - September 2009 - Reading Books

2009-11-14T13:06:00.000-06:00

It took a while, but Jack has definitely developed a love for books. It used to be that he wouldn't sit still long enough for anyone to read to him, but now he enjoys it! He loves to sit at this basket of books and just look and look and look.

Catching Up - September 2009 - Playin' in PJs

2009-11-14T13:01:00.000-06:00

After his bath, Jack likes to play! He loves sitting in Daddy's chair in his office.

He also loves Daddy's Nerf guns ... which makes Jason a happy Daddy!

Catching Up - September 2009 - Labor Day Cookout

2009-11-14T13:00:00.000-06:00

For Labor Day, the Skulley family got together at Ma and Pa's house for a cookout! It was great to spend time with family.

Jack LOVES to be outside. I'm convinced he'd spend every waking moment outside if we would let him! He loves to carry things around (like sticks ... or in this picture a plastic bat). He also loves BlowAway ... Ma's cat!

Guess we should have gotten more pictures with the rest of the family in them. I promise there were lots of other people there!
It was a fun day!

Catching Up - August 2009 - Fall Softball

2009-11-14T12:30:00.000-06:00

I've obviously fallen quite behind on the blog these days. So the next few posts are "catch-up" posts. One of our favorite things about fall is fall church league softball. Every Monday night we would go hang out with friends and watch the guys play ball. It's always a lot of fun. This season, Jack was actually able to get out of the stroller and enjoy some time outside. He had lots of fun walking around, smiling at people, and playing with lots of other kids. He is constant motion which means I had to watch him and follow him constantly. I didn't really see many of the games, but it was nice just to be outside!

He loved banging on the bleachers!

Hanging out in the wagon for a few minutes ... a brief moment of rest for Mommy!

My Airsoft team's video intro

2009-10-07T09:04:00.003-05:00

I went to operation Irene 7 a few weeks ago and shot a lot of video. I made a trailer and finished the final video, but only have the intro part of it up on youtube.com, but wanted to post it up for others to see.

Enjoy!

Video Here

Gulf Shores Vacation -- Days 3 & 4

2009-10-06T21:59:00.000-05:00

Day 3 of our vacation was by far the best day. I felt completely back to normal on Wednesday morning. So we had breakfast and then headed straight to the beach. These next two photos are strange, but I was proud of Jack and so had to share them. We usually have to cut or tear Jack's food into little pieces, but now that he has more teeth, we were thinking he might be ready to tear bites off himself. Here he is eating a blueberry waffle like a big boy! A silly milestone ... but a milestone nonetheless!

The weather was better on Wednesday. The sun was out full force so we put on Jack's shades! It took him a while to decide to keep them on, but once he did he was stylin'.

Digging in the sand with Daddy ... "Hmmmm, which shovel should I use?"

After some time at the beach, we headed back to the condo for a nap. After Jack's nap, we made a tent on the king size bed. He loved it and had so much fun playing under the "tent." He looks like such a big boy in these pictures! I can hardly stand it!

After lunch, we headed back out to the beach again. This time, Jack wasn't afraid of the waves. He even let Jason take him out farther and eventually he wasn't afraid to stand in them. After a while, he was laughing after every wave hit him!

Our good friends the Guys ended up being in Gulf Shores the same week we were and their condo was very close to ours. So Wednesday afternoon, we met them on the beach sort of halfway between our condos. (We didn't quite make it halfway seeing as Jack weighs a ton and is not easy to carry on sand!) We had a good time hanging out with them for a while.

We spent about an hour on the beach before heading in for a nap. It was by far the longest time we spent on the beach. The only downside was that I forgot to put sunscreen on my back after I changed tops, so in that hour, my back was fried! Very uncool!

We met up with the Guys for dinner at a place called Franco's Italian. It was yummy! Then we headed back to the condo, where we put Jack to bed and then watched Iron Man. Not long after the movie, Jason got terribly sick with the bug I had on Monday night and Tuesday. He was up most of the night and then spent most of Thursday in the condo. I was brave enough to take Jack out to the beach twice on Thursday, but it was a lot of work by myself and Jack didn't seem to enjoy it as much without Daddy. Since my hands were full, I didn't get any good pictures of Jack to share from Thursday. I did enjoy however spending lots of time on the balcony watching and listening to the waves (while the boys napped). It was so relaxing!

By Thursday night, Jason was feeling better and somehow Jack seemed to escape getting the bug. (It's only by God's grace and lots of prayer I'm sure!) Friday morning we packed up and headed home.

All in all, it was a good trip. We've been telling people it was the best and worst vacation we've ever taken ... all at the same time. The parts that were bad were really bad. But The parts that were good were really, really good! We loved the condo and really enjoyed the beach, so I'm sure we'll go back someday ... and hopefully next time we'll all stay well!

Gulf Shores Vacation -- Day 2

2009-09-24T11:19:00.014-05:00

Sorry to have left you hanging for so long. I know you were all just waiting on pins and needles to hear about the rest of our vacation! :-)

So after a long night of being sick, I thought I felt better on Day 2 of our vacation. After breakfast, we headed out to the beach. Jack was definitely more comfortable this time around. He played in the sand with his new sand toys. The sand didn't seem to bother him this time.

While he warmed up to the sand this time around ... he didn't so much like the waves! It's hard to see it in this picture, but he's screaming! He didn't like being in the waves at all at first. He didn't even like it if I stayed on the dry sand with him and Jason went into the waves. He would cry as if the waves were going to carry Jason away!

After a short morning trip to the beach, we went in for a nap and some lunch. Then it was back out to the beach again!

It was really windy ... and for some reason, Jack decided he liked the sand so much he would lay in it! So funny! I'm still not sure what that was all about, but we got some funny pictures.

I call this one movie star shot #1!

And this is movie star shot #2.

Staring out at the waves ... probably trying to decide if he hates them or loves them

He finally felt comfortable enough to wander around a bit. Notice me in the background trying hard not to hover!

This is one of my favorite pictures!

Sand art ... by Jodi! Trust me ... it would have been cooler if Jason had done it!

The fountains were actually on in the kiddie pool this time!

I love the look of delight on his face in this one!

After his afternoon nap, we hung out on the balcony for a while and got some super cute pictures. This one makes me want to cry because he looks like a big boy and not a baby! Neither one of us can believe how quickly he has changed.

Love this one! Jason took it upside-down through the rails of the balcony. I flipped it so you could see his sweet face!

I started running a fever that afternoon and spent most of the rest of the day sleeping and just resting in the condo. Apparently I wasn't over the bug like I thought I was. I never got sick again, but I felt awful! Jason was so wonderful to take care of Jack during that time and let me rest. And after a good 10 hours of sleep that night, I felt like a new person the next morning!

Gulf Shores Vacation -- Day 1

2009-09-21T21:13:00.012-05:00

We decided it was about time for us to take our first trip with Jack. And I (Jodi) thought the beach would be a great choice! It's relaxing and beautiful and I really thought Jack would love it. It took a little bit of effort to convince Jason, but we finally decided to take the plunge. I did my research and found a great condo right on the beach in Gulf Shores, Alabama. So late September, we headed out on the 8-hour drive.

We decided to leave as early as we could in the morning so that Jack would sleep a good chunk of the trip. We left about 5 a.m. Jack woke up when we put him in the car, but he was asleep not long after we hit the Interstate.

After stopping for breakfast and to change out of PJs, we decided to let Jack take a turn at the wheel! :-) Check out his perfect 10 and 2 hand position!

"Mommy, are we there yet??"

It took us about 10 hours when you count the stops we made ... one of which was simply to kill time before we could get in the condo. Jack did great. He got a bit cranky in the middle, but once we gave him some toys to distract him, he settled in for the rest of the trip.

Here is the view from our condo balcony! I'd say it's definitely worth the 10-hour trip!

An inside view of the main living space of our condo ...
The place is a great size ... 2 bedrooms, 2 baths, a bunk room, and a laundry room. It's perfect! Plenty of room for Jack to play/roam.

After getting all our stuff into the condo, we headed out to see what Jack would think of the beach. He was a bit timid on the first trip out. He wasn't real sure about the sand and definitely didn't care for the water. But he slowly warmed up.

You can see how nervous he is in this picture. I was standing less-than-ankle deep in the waves, but he just wasn't sure about it.

After visiting the beach, we headed to the kiddie pool ... one of the main reasons we chose this particular condo. It is a good size with zero entry and several cool fountains/water features. Jack LOVED it. It didn't matter to him that they turned the fountains off only minutes after we got in. He enjoyed just sitting in the water and splashing!

We counted our first trip to the beach and pool as a success and then headed back up to our condo for dinner and bedtime. That's when things really got interesting.

Being in an unfamiliar place, we definitely weren't letting Jack out of our sight ... even for a moment, but we didn't stick quite as close as we should have. Not long before bedtime, Jack managed to pull one of the nightstands (including an alarm clock, lamp, and porcelain coaster down on top of him.) I saw it all about to happen (in what seemed like slow motion I might add) and just couldn't get to him in time. Luckily, the dresser was empty and none of the heavy stuff seemed to hit him, but he did have a nice bump on his head. I felt awful, but was so thankful that he seemed to bounce back really quickly and be OK. (BTW ... the next morning, you couldn't even tell anything had happened ... no bumps or bruises.)

Then ... around midnight or so, I got hit with a terrible stomach bug and spent most of the night getting very familiar with the bathroom. Not a pleasant experience. It's never fun being sick away from home. Jack didn't sleep the best either. I'm sure it was because of the different surroundings. It was a rough night, but I felt quite a bit better in the morning and we decided to hit the beach again.

To be continued ...

Blasting in Mt Juliet

2009-08-28T08:18:00.006-05:00

They are widening the road in Mt Juliet and I caught some blasting on my new Canon still camera (but using the HD video setting) :D

I thought some people visiting our blog would enjoy this video (note: it's in front of the library)

ALSO, sorry about the embedded video... it's taking over the blog!!!
You can click the video to see it in youtube.com as well.

Walking

2009-08-20T13:00:00.000-05:00

When Jack first started walking, he would walk with his hands up in the air. It looks funny, but it makes perfect sense if you think about it. For months before he was walking on his own we would hold his hands up and help him walk. For the record ... he walks much better now and doesn't need his hands in the air anymore. But this was too cute not to share!

Our Favorite Game ... A-Boo!

2009-08-20T12:00:00.000-05:00

This is just a short clip of one of Jack's favorite games. Most people would call it peek-a-boo, but for whatever reason, in our house it got shortened to A-boo!!
He gets so tickled with this sometimes that he falls over! It's hilarious!

The Best Tickler

2009-08-15T11:06:00.001-05:00

We've taken lots of videos of Jack and just never taken the time to post them. So I have a few of my favorites I thought I would share!

Daddy is by far the very best tickler in the world. And Jack has the best laugh in the world! I wouldn't trade it for a million bucks!!

Random July

2009-08-15T11:04:00.000-05:00

Here are some random, cute photos we took of Jack in July.

He loves this fuzzy blue blanket!

It's so soft. Here you can see Jack's footprints right next to Daddy's footprint!

We love pajama playtime!

Playing in the Water

2009-08-15T11:00:00.000-05:00

Our friends the Happys always through rockin' parties! At Daniel and Olivia's birthday party, they had this fun kiddie pool. It's hard to tell in the pictures, but he loved playing in the water. And the water was COLD!! Trust me ... I know ... I got plenty wet!

Birthday Party .... Take 2

2009-08-15T10:58:00.000-05:00

The Monday after Jack's birthday, we had another birthday party. This one was just for a few of our close friends. Here we are opening more presents!

I love his facial expression in this one!

Jack playing with Hailey Jane! She loves Jack. She calls him "Ack!" So funny!

We had cupcakes. We didn't have to show Jack how to eat it this time. He just dug right in!

Staring to get that glazed over look from all the sugar!

Thanks to everybody who came! We had a great time! We're so blessed to have great friends!

The Big First Birthday Party

2009-08-15T10:55:00.000-05:00

OK. So I'm embarrassed at how behind I am getting these pictures up! But better late than never, right? On July 11th, Jack turned 1! We had a "small" birthday party with family that evening. The afternoon had a bumpy start. Jack decided not to take his afternoon nap until about 3:20 and we had guests arriving at 4:30. We had planned on decorating and setting up while he napped so we ended up decorating at top speed. We got most of it done. We had to wake him up and give him a super quick bath (a rude awakening to say the least), but he did great through the whole party even though he was sleepy!

I was afraid he would be clingy around so many people and so much excitement, but he did fantastic!

We tied a helium, foil balloon to his high chair! He would hardly eat dinner because he was so fascinated with it! (It stayed up for over two weeks after the party! He loved it!

Stealing a kiss from the birthday boy ...

Opening presents .. with Daddy's help of course!

Playing with Uncle Jason!

The main course -- yummy barbecue!

The cake ...
Funny story about the cake. I ordered it from our local Publix. I had the option of requesting 1/2 vanilla cake and 1/2 chocolate cake. I assumed that meant the left side would be one flavor and the right side would be the other flavor. Boy was I ever wrong ... or maybe the bakery goofed! But the cake's top layer was vanilla and the bottom layer was chocolate. Too weird!

Jack's very own cake!

We tried to get a good picture of all the McCleskey cousins ... not an easy task. This is the best photo we got. Right after this ... Jack proceeded to do a nose dive off the couch. He was not a happy camper, but he was OK.

Digging into the cake. It took him a minute to realize he could eat it, but once he did, he was determined not to let any of go to waste. He was licking his fingers to get it all of. It was cracking us up!

After the cake, we gave Jack a quick bath and clean clothes. Here he is wresting in the floor with Uncle Matt!

It was a lot of fun! And I was proud of myself for not crying. I just can't believe he's already 1! Time flies by so fast ... especially when you're having fun!

New Camera - now here

2009-08-06T15:28:00.003-05:00

I (Jason) watch dealnews.com daily and happened upon a good deal. There was a CANON SD780 IS for sale at dell.com for $150 with free shipping. Everywhere else it was $220+ for that camera and the kicker for me was it shot video at 720p.

After viewing some HD video it was capable of at vimeo.com, I ordered it, only to find how good of a deal it was an hour later when it was sold out.

I was rather excited, expecting it to arrive in the next few days only to have my hopes smashed to the ground when I got an email from Dell today saying that the "expected delivery date" is August 24th, while initially it was the 11th.

I can be a patient person and wait, but if Dell oversold something and doesn't come through with the purchase, I will be rather upset. I guess there's not anything that I can really do if that happens, but they can rest assure I will never order from dell.com again.

Update: It actually arrived yesterday (Tuesday) and after a few test shots, it looks like it's gonna be a winner. HD video from something smaller than my company cell phone... excellent.

First Haircut

2009-07-12T21:27:00.002-05:00

Jack's hair has gotten so long and thick. It was starting to hang into his eyes so we knew we were going to have to get it cut. Jason was confident he could to it himself ... and he did. I was so nervous, but he did a great job. I confess ... I cried. It changed him from a baby to a little boy.

This is how much hair we cut off.

And here's the new big-boy haircut! A little more like a bowl-cut than we'd like, but it's much better than having it in his eyes all of the time.

Playtime With Daddy

2009-07-12T21:14:00.002-05:00

Jack loves to play with his daddy!

He's almost completely mastered the stairs. He can go up easily and is learning quickly to back down them.

Helping Daddy play Super Smash Bros.