Dear Pippa...

Dear Pippa,

I'm sorry I threw a toy at you the other day as hard as I could. I was just trying to practice so I can be a football or baseball star one day. Now that I have your cold as punishment and I've wiped my boogers all over my mom, the couch, and the clean laundry she was folding, I've learned the ere of my ways. Who would have known a 30 pound tot could produce so much mucus?

Love,

Jack

Barney

One of my favorite things about going to Laura's house is watching Pippa sing the "I Love You" song from Barney. She always grabs Will and forces him to hug her and to be a "happy family!" Sweet Pip, oh how we love her so!

Here's a few play dates with the kiddies last week. Will and Jack have this love-hate relationship. As long as there is no food, Jack loves him. But the second Will has something, Jack tries to steal it from him. What an angel pie!

Sherman Tank

Jack roaring like a lion!

Last night when I picked Jack up from his cousin's house, he had gotten a second wind and wanted to play instead of go to sleep (it was around 9:30pm at this point). Kevin and I decided that since we didn't get to see much of him yesterday, we would play for a little while. Here is the results of playing with Mr. Jack. Enjoy!

My mom likes to refer to Jack as The Sherman Tank. He learned early on that the shortest distance between to points is a straight line. With that said, he doesn't believe in going around people or things when he wants to get somewhere; No, Jackaford believes he can just go right through them. He learned last night if he wants to get through Kevin, he'll have to go around.

Other fun things my tot enjoys doing is taking his toys, my shoes, my cell phone, the remote, whatever, and tossing it over the baby gate. Oh yes, how many times have I been missing something and I'm throwing couch cushions everywhere looking for it, only to find that Mr. Jack threw it down the hall? I'd say 17 times since June.

And here he is pushing his car in a circle. He could push that thing in a circle all day and not think twice about it. Round and round and round... he must get very dizzy.

But who needs fancy toys when you have pillows to throw off the couch? One of Jack's favorite games is to sit on the couch, be buried in pillows, and then throw them onto the floor! YAY!

I didn't get any pictures, but Jack spent about 7 hours at his cousin's last night. They have a cool fort in their living room that he just loves! We are going to build one here for him. His Aunt Jessica chased him there, then he'd pop his head out, laugh, go back in... it was very fun for everyone.

Cousins!

Last week we had an awesome play date with Will and Pip. Here's a ton of pics!

Muah!

Pippa... Pizza... Playdate... I love the letter "P"!

My mom, Jack, and I are getting ready to go over to Will and Pippa's house for a play date. We are bringing pizza over for lunch. Granted they had pizza last night for dinner, but can you ever really have too much pizza? My answer to that is no, no you can't.

Pippa Spin!

Yesterday we had a play date over at Pippa's house. Will was quite tired when we got there so he was napping for most of the play date, but Pippa was quite awake and very entertaining for Jack! There were a few times Laura had to remind Pippa that Jack doesn't have a big sister so she needs to be gentle. Jack loves having her and Will around, though. I can just tell that him and Will are plotting for something big. Cookies? Candy? Who knows, but whatever it is, it will be big.

So, we enjoyed a nice afternoon there, followed by some Oreo cookies and Aunt Jessica spinning Pippa. I had brought some french fries over to their house as well. Remember that scene from "Night of the Living Dead" when all of the Zombies are attacking the main character and he's trying to fight them off? That was me yesterday with the three kids. They kept sneaking up on me and jacking my fries. Not cool, man, not cool.

Jack has his doctor's appointment this afternoon at 1pm. Will tell you all about it tomorrow.

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!