First Steps!!!

Jackson took his first steps today!!!
We were in the bathroom getting me ready for work. Jackson was standing holding onto the vanity. I needed to go down the hall, and I casually said, "Jackson, want to walk down the hall?" Well, I guess he wanted to, because he turned and let go of the vanity. Then he took 2 little shuffley steps before getting on his hands and knees. Jason said he shuffled a bit later in the day, too. Hurray for Jackson!!

Congratulations, Mr. & Mrs. Kibalo!!

Last weekend, Nicole and Ben [finally] tied the knot!! Congratulations you guys!

As a tribute, I thought I'd pull out some of the better pictures I have of the 2 of you, enjoy it!

Just Engaged

Cheerful

Nicole Chillin' with Jackson

Ben and Jason wearing the molesty pillows

Ben throwing Rocks

Nicole and her Mom

By the way, Andrea took some great pictures at the wedding and rehearsal. You can see them here (let me know if this doesn't work):
http://www2.snapfish.com/share/p=217241206380415599/l=361125225/g=123311388/otsc=SYE/otsi=SALB

Easter in Annapolis

Over Easter Weekend, we made the trip to Annapolis to celebrate Nicole & Ben's marriage (see above post). Here are a few of the highlights:

Thursday March 20th. This is Jason and my 6th anniversary. What better way to celebrate than to head south for a weddin'. Jackson was very good in the car, but he didn't sleep much (a theme for the trip). We went out to dinner with Nik & Ben, and my Mom and Grant. My mom also opened up her suitcase of presents. No cinnamon bears this time. But she had a fluffy stuffed duck for Jackson. For me, she had presents from Ellis's trip to Hawaii. Macadamia nuts, a pineapple (I requested this one. When I talked to him last week, he said he couldn't bring it on the plane because of the threat of fruit flies since he was flying through California. I totally bought it), and a carved coconut monkey bank to add to my collection (yup, now I've got 2!) Happy Anniversary to my wonderful husband, Jason!

Friday March 21st. Jackson is 11 months old!! I went to "Spa Day" with the ladies while my family toured downtown. They had breakfast and Chris and Ruth's, getting there right after the morning Pledge of Alliegance. Then they walked around, visited the navel academy in time to see the sailors formations, and went down to see a tomb of John Paul Jones. Jason said that Jackson whoo'ed like a howler monkey the whole way down. So much for being reverent. I had a fabulous massage! This was also my first day in a long time without either work or a baby, thanks Jason and Mom. That evening was the rehearsal party. We had a great time and ate yummy food.

Saturday March 22nd. I spent the day with the bride, the maids, and the mothers getting ready. It rained, so we had to forego the outdoor pictures and the outdoor wedding. That's OK though. It was seriously the most fun I've ever had at a wedding. The couple looked fantastic, and soo happy! The vows were nice, and the food and party was wonderful. I will say that the couple had a lot of really white people dancing out there (I can't exclude myself). Flat Jake worked his way into lots of pictures. Oh, and look how adorable my boys are in their suits!!

Sunday morning I awoke with the realization that I had way too much to drink the night before. Tom and Debi (Ben's parents) threw a brunch. Andrea (Ben's sister) almost succeeded in stealing my baby. When we came in, Jason went into the living room, and I went to get some food. We sat down to eat together, and Jackson wasn't there. So I looked all over upstairs for him, and didn't find him. Andrea had run away to the basement to teach him to play pool. She'd been plotting all weekend to steal my boy.

Monday, my family and I went to see the battlefield at Antietam. Here's a synopsis of what happened. The South and General Lee had control of the bridge, the Union General McClellan wanted to keep the South from gaining ground in the North. The battle had the largest single day casualties--23,000 mostly Union soldiers. In the end, a couple of Union soldiers were able to get across with the motivation of whiskey. The crazy thing is that so many people died over this bridge that crossed a river smaller than the Ogden River in the fall. They could easily have waded across it. Nuts. That evening, Nik & Ben treated us to dinner. My mom and I had the lobster. Mmmm.

Tuesday, we said goodbye to my parents and headed back home. Jackson was such a trooper the whole trip! But by the end, he was really sick of being strapped into things. Poor Jason had to work that night.

Playing with food.

Here's a little video of Jackson laughing at the absurd. Enjoy it.

A bit of luck

Yesterday, a man at the bank inquired about the mileage I get with my car. I told him "mid-50's". He said, "Ooohh. You're sooo lucky!"



It's really not a matter of luck, though, is it? It's more a matter of choice, and perhaps making that choice 5 years ago, before it became a necessity.



Anyway, I'm taking some space to rave about my car and how much I love it! A year ago, I was soo bummed about having to sell it and get a "family car" instead. You know, one that I could actually strap a carseat into the bagseat. (Doing so would require a backseat.) The one piece of luck I had was finally going into labor the day I was supposed to sell it. Then having Jason drive it for 2 months while I was home with my little munchkin. During that time, Jason drove it like a video game, become a hyper-miler http://wikicars.org/en/Hypermiler . After 2 weeks, he insisted we not sell it. Of course I agreed. Now, I drive it to work, and hand the keys off the Jason for an evening trip to work. Whoever is in charge of the little one keeps the other car.

All the time, I hear people talking about their cars. Someone always asks how they do on mileage, and they always say, "Pretty good. Like 28". In what world is 28 mpg good?!

Did I mention I LOVE my car?

Crunchy, Red with Black Spots.

Major Breakthrough, Folks. Jackson has for the first (and maybe the last) listened and done what I told him to do. You see, in the fall, on the rare sunny days, the ladybugs flock to our warm, windowed, South facing home. They navigate the labyrinth of siding, ridge vents, and window screens. All winter long, we're infested. I desperately want to vacuum them up from the corners, cobwebs, and light fixtures, but I can't bring myself to do it. It's bad luck to kill the ladybugs.
Then, all winter long, when it warms up enough, the ladybugs reinervate and trade places. Finally, one by one, they die and drop to the floors. Which brings me to Jackson and his love of picking up little specs from the ground and placing them in his mouth, just as I'm shouting "Jackson, No, Yucky" in my crossest sounding voice. Sometimes he will voluntarily try to remove the ladybugs from his tongue. This is no easy task, and I have to reach in for either a whole bug, or the remaining head.
So, I am overjoyed that today when I shouted "Jackson, No, Yucky", my boy quietly put his hand to his side and gave me the same "What? I wasn't doing anything" look he offers when I catch him slipping food to the dog at the side of the high chair.