Safety First!

Jack taking a nap today on the couch while watching Word World.

When we moved from Reno to Bend, the futon frame we had snapped in half during the move, so Kevin and I had been sleeping on a terrible futon mattress on the floor for a few months. To my delight, he surprised me with a new bed frame, mattress, and box spring! (He works for a company that not only does magazines but has a few radio stations, so he was able to do something called "trade" where he got a fantastic deal on a brand new bed by trading air time with the furniture store). Now that we are a few feet off the ground, Babycakes likes to sit on the bed, then scootch his way down. Then have us pick him back up, put him on the bed, and get back down. He exhausts me sometimes!

So, I remember when I was a kid, I used to love standing on my parent's bed. My mom and dad would tell me to sit down or I could get hurt. I remember thinking, "Pssh! I won't get hurt! They are so silly!" Well, this morning Jack was cuddling with me in our nice new bed and he decides he wants to play so he stood up and started walking around on it. I screamed, "JACK! NO! Get down before you hurt yourself!" And at that moment I realized, I am my parents. I know, I know, I'm very upset as well, folks. Who would have thought, right? Oh, and not only did I get all Ms. Safety with Jack, but I also put socks on him so his feet won't get cold. Look at me! What's happened? Socks? No jumping on the bed? I make me sick!

Hi, My Name Is Jack, I Enjoy Long Walks on the Beach, Candle Light Dinners....

This is Jack's match.com profile picture.

Now that my tot is practically an adult, he is walking like crazy! Yesterday we had a family barbeque where Jack and Will competed for the most steps. Will did take more, however, he has an unfair advantage with Pip always helping him! Today Jack walked all around the living room. I just can't believe my little angel pie is growing up. 

It's My Party, and I'll Cry if I Want To...

Have you ever seen a 1 year old cry at his own birthday cake? I have, and it was the funniest thing I've ever seen. Perhaps I'm getting a little ahead of myself, let me start from the beginning...

Yesterday was Jack's birthday (duh!). I got up around 7:30am and finished cleaning the house, followed by picking up balloons, and sending Kevin to get Port of Subs (which I was very disappointed in their food. It wasn't as good as it usually is). Ok, 11:00am comes, which is party time, and no one is here except for Kevin, Jack, Jess, and me, but we all live here!! Oh, but my dad was actually early, so Bob-like of him, I love it. Ok, I'm like, totally panicking that no one (not saying my immediate family is no one, but no one was here!) is here, but after about 10 minutes, the English party shows up. This includes my brother Nick, Pippa, Will, and of course Laura my sister-in-law, who is from England. Behind them is Laura's sister, Becca, and her boyfriend, Mort, who came all the way from England to see Jack! Actually, they happen to be in town the weekend his party was going down, but they still came to a one year olds birthday party in America and that's pretty awesome if you ask me.

After they show up, the Albertsons Party arrives (I work with them at Albertsons, hence the name). That included my friend Amy, her little boys Nathan and Noah, her husband Bobby, and my other friend Antoinette from work. Nate and Noah were such good boys; I was really pleased to see them so well behaved.

Then comes the Lynch clan. Oh my goodness, have you seen Lisa's new car? It is A-M-A-Z-I-N-G! It's a Honda Element and now I want one. You can hose out the inside of it even! Ok, Lisa's new car is for another time, but dang, it's awesome. Ok, so the Lynch clan (ooh, that sounds kinda bad now that I'm reading it over. "Lynch clan", like we're going to a hanging or something. How Western cowboy of me!) arrives, consisting of Jay, Lisa, and their daughter Stevi. I know I only saw them a month ago, but Lisa has lost like, 10 pounds and looks even hotter then she did before (is that possible?) and Stevi is growing up so fast! Like, I met her 2 years ago and she was just a kid, now I see her and she's more mature then most adults I know. She's also taller then me and we wear (or I like to pretend) the same size so I'm hoping to invade her closet one of these days. She's 11, by the way. But her clothes are so cute!

So, the party was a huge success. There was so much food, and all the kids and babies did were eat Cheetos! I should have just bought Cheetos and skipped everything else because that was a huge hit! I got the idea from my friend Kari to buy them and wow, she is one smart cookie. So, we all ate food, mingled, played football outside, and opened presents (I was way more excited then Jack was! I mean, I got to open them and Kevin and I spent last night playing with all of them while Jack was at Juniper pool with the Lynchs!). My favorite part though was when the cake came out. We brought it to him and all sang, and he burst into tears! Lisa was holding him and trying to soothe him but all he could do is cry! I felt so bad but I couldn't stop laughing! He's such a sweetie pie!

Before everyone left, they all wrote a special note to Jack for his scrap book that I'm making. All of his cards and messages are going in it along with pictures so that next year at his party, everyone can look at it and see what he was like when he was 1. Thank you, Target, for having adorable yet expensive ideas that mothers just can't resist.

The party ended up lasting until 2pm. Jack then went swimming at the pool with the Lynch family, followed by a lovely Mexican dinner. I have to tell you this one thing though. Before they went to the pool, they went to the store to buy Jack some water wings. The only color that was left was pink. So when they came over, I asked where the water wings were, and they said they didn't buy them because they only had pink left. I was like, "So?" And they were like, "They were pink!" Ok, it was a lot funnier when I was standing there. My sister will appreciate my humor.

I am so happy with how the entire day turned out, and so grateful for everyone who came. It means so much to me, you have no idea. And thank you to everyone who sent Jack text messages, sang him Happy Birthday on the phone, myspace.com messages/comments, and for all of his gifts! He may not know how much he's loved, but I know and believe me, I won't forget it. 

Now to get back to reality. I'm working 29 hours this week (which is a lot as I usually only work half that amount) and have a lot of leftovers to consume! 

"Muffin... No!"

Now that I'm a mom, I finally understand what my parents went through when they would call me "Jessica", and call my sister, "Christina". Even to this day, they still mix us up. We aren't twins, heck, we don't even look like sisters! Yet they still mix us up and call us the wrong name ALL THE TIME.

Well, that's been happening a lot lately with Jack. This morning I was putting away dishes and he reached for a knife in the utensil holder. I screamed, "MUFFIN! NO!" And now I feel terrible! How could I call that sweet little boy Muffin? And you know what? It's not the first time I've called him the dog's name, either. Whenever he's being mischievous, I automatically scream Muffin's name. The weird thing is, Muffin isn't even a mischievous dog. Like, I hardly have to raise my voice with her, so why is it I keep calling Jack her name?

Oh the things I contemplate.