First birthday and such

Jackson's first birthday was about three weeks ago...we had a great day! I flew home from a business trip in Utah on Wednesday evening and was happy to be home with my boy on his first birthday. We made some cake and had all the grandparents over for his first birthday dinner. He smashed and threw his cake around, but did not actually put any in his mouth on his own. He likes to have a clean face when he eats and smashing cake into his face just wouldn't go with that.

We had Jack's party on Saturday, August 30th and had a great time! We had lots of company and Randy's barbecue for dinner. It was great. The cakes for the party were from Publix-we had a Nemo themed party and cake to go with it. The small cake for Jack was decorated with yellow and blue frosting trim. He smashed it around and made a horrible green mess. The worst part was trying to clean him up-it left a really funky ring in the bathtub. The cleanup from the homemade cake was MUCH easier!!

We have been pretty low-key for the last few weeks. I am being laid off at the end of September, so we are trying to prepare for that. I am actually somewhat excited about staying home with Jack for a while and getting some things done around the house. We'll see how the projects go...Jack will certainly keep me very busy. However, he does nap at least once a day, so I hope to do some sewing while he's snoozing. My mom will certainly be at our house a few days a week. She's going to go through Jack withdrawl, I'm afraid. I am grateful for the help, honestly.

Other than my layoff, there's not much news around here. Jack is walking around like crazy and we swear he's on the brink of talking...he jabbers a lot but hasn't even started calling us Dada and Mama yet. He is teething again...poor kid only has four teeth, so it's about time!! Jack is also back in ISR swimming lessons. We are hoping it will last for another few weeks or so. The teacher has been incredibly gracious and is comping the lessons to make up for our last experience. Jack went through six weeks of lessons and was not remotely ready to save himself if he fell in the water. It's a terrifying thought, but at least we are fixing the problem. Jack has bonded much better with this teacher and we are going to her house instead of her coming to my parents' place. The change in enviroment plus a heated pool have done a great deal already. Instead of him screaming bloody murder the whole time, he only fusses a little bit while in the water and afterwards. Keep your fingers crossed that this time we are successful!