Uncle Jared & Aunt Missy Visit

Jack's Uncle Jared and Aunt Missy visited the other day. We went out to Red Lobster (of course) and then over to their hotel for swimming. After the dip in the pool with Daddy, Jack lunged for Uncle Jared and spent most of the night playing with him. I guess Stranger Danger doesn't apply to Uncle Jared! Jack REALLY liked him.
Getting into the pool with Daddy.
I'm okay with the water now...
Liking it more and more all the time. And kicking like a pro.
Okay, at this point, Jack officially loved the pool.
As witnessed here. I love this picture.
Up we go, skinny boy.

Ahhhh, do we have to get out?
Hangin' with my uncle.
And now a brand new diaper so I can get busy crawling around.
Missy helped me up on my feet. We played a bunch too.
And I went for the (empty) trash can.

Catching Up

Jack gets caught up on the news from his cousins' town.
Daddy, daddy! I just read in the Social Scene that Zora had another visitor!
Now that the paper is read, it can be played with.

Plans For The Birthday Boy...In Two Months...

We've had a lot of requests for information on what we're doing for Jack's 1st birthday.

After mulling it over and trying to figure out the best, easiest, funnest and fairest thing to do, we've landed on the plan that is fairest for everyone--since we have family and friends on all sides of us near and far.

We decided to host his party here at our house for several reasons.

First, it is central to most of our friends and family, especially those who live in other states and on the eastern part of our state.

Number two, the entire weekend of Jack's birthday will be a massive celebration here in our town. It is the 150th celebration of the county we live in and there are many different celebrations all over town, including at the state park a block from our house.

We had already planned on making a massive campground of our yard, complete with a contained bonfire, tents, RV's, plenty of shade, etc... Now, since there is a massive celebration a half-block away from us, we thought we'd definitely take advantage of that as well. Live music, barbecues, celebrations, a wading pool for the kids, and all that good stuff at the park. That, and the museum is having a really awesome celebration out there as well. It will be a great weekend, filled with all sorts of wonderful activities for every age group. We'll just rename that weekend "Jackstock". We guarantee a great time, so make plans to be there. (June 8-9)

So, everything remains the same as far as the party is concerned. We'd considered moving the party to the homeland because of community celebrations that weekend, but it just isn't feasible or fair. We wish we could be in both places at the same time, but it's not possible.

We just wanted to make sure everyone knew early on so that they could plan accordingly. (You will receive invites in the mail also.) We look forward to seeing you there and sharing this enormous milestone with all of you!

Thanks!

The Management

Daddy & Jack

It was a lazy Sunday so we were just hangin' out, bein' dudes...

Around The House

Big Wide World Out There

Jack's First Bike Ride

Mommy got daddy a new bike and trailer for his birthday. On Sunday, he and Jack went for a ride.
Pulling in.
Peek-a-boo!
I love my bike trailer. It's fun. I don't, however, like it when my daddy wears his helmet. It freaks me out. I'll have to get used to that!

Thanks for the photos, Tori!

Time With Tori

Due to my clinginess to Mommy and Daddy lately, they were worried I'd have trouble dealing with Tori putting me to bed during Daddy's surprise birthday party. Obviously they didn't need to worry, as these pictures show. Tori captured a lot of photos of us hanging out and having fun before I went to bed.
My daddy also does this. He holds the camera in front of us. I don't ever look at it when he does that, so he's going to have to talk to Tori to see how she did this.
BEST. PHOTO. EVER.

Could this one be #1 in next year's Top 52 Photos? Let's just say it'll be a strong contender.
So much fun this babysitting thing is! Stay away, Mommy and Daddy.
Giggles and wiggles.

Grandma and Grandpa Visited

I showed Grammy Tami and Gramps how well I get around now.
Me and Grams hung out a lot last week.
Gramps enjoyed watching me get around the house.

Two Birthday Parties In One Day! How Did Mommy Do It?

Jack (third from left, sitting) wasn't as excited about the group photo as the others. Stranger Danger has officially become an issue.
Dax and Jack covet their buddy's permission to have his cake and eat it too.
Two little buddies. Always glad to see each other. Making sure Cara got the floor clean.

Cam's mommy is very creative. She had the idea to have all the little ones from the party put their handprints on a frame so Cam had a record of all the little ones at his first party. We'll definitely steal this idea for Jack's party! Here, Jack leaves his impression in green.
CamMo and O Dawg mess around.
Cam and his parents get some help opening gifts.
"Hey Dax, watch what I can do now!"
Jack, Amy, Jen and Owen.

(O was trying to escape, hence Amy helping out.)

Cam's mommy and daddy open presents for him, delighting in his loot.
Craig, Becca and Dax were in town for both parties.

Dax didn't attend Dave's party though. :-)
The birthday boy loved his special cake and is quite handy with a spoon.
Diggin' in!
Owen played on the lawn for a while.

On Saturday, Amy and Jack headed over to Camden's house for his first birthday. If you remember, Jack's buddies Ryan and Owen have already had their parties, so it was Cam's turn (Jack is next, but that's for another update). His 'rents put on quite the party and we have tons of pictures to share of all the kids having a great time! It's so strange to think of Camden as a one-year-old. It seems like only yesterday we were going over to see that tiny little baby after he was born. Jack's mommy was really pregnant at that point! Now, he's already been with us all for a whole year!

Then, after I got off work on Saturday, Mommy surprised me with a huge birthday party at Bullwinkles here in town. Aunt Heidi, Tori and Mindy were in town for the weekend (presumably for shopping and hanging out...LIARS) and we all went over to Bullwinkles after I lollygagged around getting ready to go out to eat. When they got there, cars were lined up all the way to Locust Street, so I freaked out and didn't want to eat there, saying the service was gonna stink and the food was going to be awful because of the busy rush. Lo and behold, when we got inside, a crew of about 30 family members, friends and co-workers (who also happen to be friends) were awaiting our arrival. Talk about a shocker. Well, Tori went back to the house with Jack (we also have cute pictures of that to post as well) and the adults stuck around. Overall, we counted 47 people who showed up at different times for the soiree. It was an absolute blast and I am still on cloud nine! We don't, however, have any pictures, which is an okay thing. Really.

So, obviously, Jack and his mommy have been really busy lately. Last week with O's party and this week with Cam and Daddy's. Crazy. Thanks, Mommy and Jack for all your hard work. And thanks everyone who showed up and made my birthday AWESOME.

Best birthday. EVER. I'm humbled and blessed.

Dave

Birthdays Galore!

Jack's buddies are having birthdays this time of year, so it's literally PARTY time. These photos are from Owen's birthday party last weekend. This weekend, it's Camden's turn to celebrate his first birthday. We'll post more photos of his celebration this next week and update you with information on what we're doing with Jack's party coming up!