It's My Party And I'll Cry If I Want To!

What a fun summer this has been! I know it's not even August yet, but we have reached the end of our traveling (at least for a little while!) I just sat down to look at my planner and realized we have had one busy summer! Man, have I gotten good at packing our car?! My new packing skills along with the fact that the older J gets, the less equipment we haul with us has made traveling more fun and less stress! :) I'm trying to start back at the very beginning of our summer with Blogging. Maybe I'll get caught up this weekend!

Our summer got kicked off with Jackson's very 1st Birthday Party ever, which was on May 17, 2009! I will not lie to you and tell you it was a perfect day full of wonderful things. It was most certainly a wonderful time with family and friends, but it wasn't Jackson's best of days...or mine either, for that matter! I was stressed to the MAX because of how Jackson behaved at JBC (our home church) and MORTIFIED that he whined every time someone spoke to him! It broke my heart because I hate that all the people we love and miss so much did not get to see the real Jackson! I was so upset and had an emotional meltdown 30 mins. before the party started. I'm just keepin' it real, y'all...I was a nervous wreck! I have no idea why. J's whining continued during the party, so we did the presents and cupcakes right away. We had done all the present opening, cupcake eating, and bathing/changing Jackson 30 mins. into the party! Whew. I didn't get many pictures, which I regret, but those of you that know me know that I can't do two things at once when I'm NOT in total meltdown mode!

At the end of the day, I was feeling bad about Jackson's behavior at his party and telling mom that I was just sure the guests were miserable. She assured me that J had fun and that was all that mattered! ;) We felt so much love from both of our families and felt privileged to be with them for his first birthday. Mom and I sat on the porch talking for a while and finally came to the conclusion that Jackson does not like much attention. He gets nervous when there are a lot of people speaking to him or watching him. I think it's hilarious because he's VERY social, but he is just not into large crowds of people. There are so many people in Baton Rouge that love him, and I know that eventually he will know and understand that. It's just really hard for me to handle because I want everything to go perfectly every time we go home, and that just hasn't been the case! If it hasn't been an ear infection or cold, it's been his mood. My son has been sick 3 times in his entire life, and they have ALL BEEN IN BATON ROUGE or right before we left for Baton Rouge! Insanity! The good news is, we've done a good bit of traveling since his party, and all of that went really well! Maybe it was his age. Who knows.

I know I already posted pictures of the birthday party when I did a little post about his First Year, but since I've waited so long to write this, I might as well post some of the few that I got.

This was on the way to Baton Rouge. J "read" his animal book a lot on the car ride there and made his little animal sounds. So cute!
The snack table.

It was my bright idea to make blue cupcakes, haha. Never considered what it would do to everyone's teeth/lips/tongue! Haha! They were good sports and ate them anyway. It was fun.

He had fun opening presents.

My little "1" year old! Don't you love the precious little shirt my friend Jaime made him? He loved the cupcake and ate the whole thing. He was funny during the Birthday Song. He just sat there and looked around, very puzzled. This was after, and he still looks puzzled. And slightly cross-eyed. Oh well.Our little family of 3. This is a horrible picture of me, but I'll be a good sport and post it anyway. ;)Excited about his new ride-on toys. This was after a wardrobe change. :) Sad that this outfit is almost too small...*sigh*This was later that night. He was bound and determined to go up and down the stairs at my mom's house like a big boy. She must have gone up and down with him ten times. He loved holding on to the rail. This was also when the phone obsession started! Did I mention that he started walking the week of his party? Big week for Jackson!
Kyle went home Monday morning to Houston to work a couple days before heading back to Baton Rouge for our Beach Trip. J and I had lunch at Las Palmas with my mom, dad, brother Mitch and friend Matt James. It was good to have some LP salsa! J had to bring one of his toys from his party, and rocked out pretty hard in the restaurant! Two cool dudes. Check out J's face...haha!Swinging on the JBC playground after lunch with KK.Monday was a fun day! He also got his First Haircut after we left the church and spent the rest of the day hanging out with the Silvio Family at Maw & Paw's house! Fun times! I was happy to have my happy little boy back, and it was a great day.

Next up to Blog about: Beach, Beach, Beach!