Weekend Celebrations!

Last Friday was Jackson's birthday! He and I spent the day together and I spent most of my time trying to figure out how to help a 1 year old figure out that this day was special and different than the rest. We ended playing with some balloons I hung a few streamers, tried a few new fun foods and he watched a little soccer with his dad after school before we headed to Grandma and Grandpa's in Morehead for the weekend to celebrate his birthday and Easterwith family.

On Saturday we went to the university farm and saw cows, pigs, and some horses from a distance. Jackson liked the cows the best. It was fun for him to get a trip to the farm just for him with his Grandma Pam and Grandpa Bob.

He discovered quickly that afternoon how fun it is to be pushed around in the little tykes car. We had to be a bit creative because sometimes his foot would drag just enough to get caught underneath the car, so put a bungi cord around the car so he had a foot rest.

Of course Jackson's first Easter couldn't come before we dyed eggs. He was pretty exhausted from the day without much of a nap but the show must go on. So we had him dye one egg and one hand. It was worth it!

After egg dyeing I made Jackson's birthday cake. He is really into dogs right now, so I decided to a puppy dog theme. I tried something new with the icing. I melted it and then just poured it over the cake. It was sooo much faster and came out pretty smooth. Adam helped with the artistic stuff... staight lines, carving the cake, and making sure the eyes were even. It was a fun little cake to make. I did an extra little loaf cake and made a bone so he had his own personal cake to have fun with. Brittany woke up with a bad dream so she came and helped and put the dog's tongue on.

Sunday afternoon we celebrated Jackson's birthday. He and his cousin Ashely are going to be great buddies! They are almost ready to acknowledge that the other one exists:) Ashely put on a hat for Jackson to help realize it was fun to wear hats at a part! What a good cousin!

Jackson thought the party blowers were pretty cool. He never figured it out, but he loved the "woof woof" on the outside and tried to do what he saw the big cousins doing.

Jackson favorite part of his birthday party was by far being sung to. He was beaming from ear to ear during the whole song. It's always a good feeling to feel special!

He wasn't really into his cake all that much. I broke off a few pieces for him to eat after he attempted to do a small pinch and just got crumbs. I gave him some icecream on a spoon. I think he liked it, but only had a couple of bites after getting frustrated that it was so cold. He liked doing it by himself though.

Although I truly don't think Jackson "needed" any presents, he sure got some great ones that we will put to good use. He was of course most excited about his balls and puppy car, and I was most excited with his Little People song CD, Signing Time DVD, and Leap Frog fridge barn. The first picture below is him being so excited because he can already hear the dog car making "woof woof" sounds. The next one is him being excited (kicking his feet and waving his arms) watching the shake-n-go dog drive around. The cousins all crowded in because they loved it too!

Easter morning was beautiful! Slightly chilly, but beautiful! Jackson woke up just in time to eat get dressed, grab a few pictures and head to church.

Are the Reynolds boys handsome?

We had Jackson open his Easter basket after church, nap, and lunch so he could at least enjoy it a little bit. Again, his favorites proved to the the car and balls.

After Jackson' birthday party we had a HUGE GIGANTIC Easter egg hunt in the back yard. The cousins loved it and we tried to Jackson into it. He figured out how to put the eggs in the bucket so I thought that was pretty good. Grandma must have had around 200 or so eggs to be hidden. Crazyness... and sooo fun!

The Dicken's from our Lexington ward were able to come and spend Easter with us again this year and Greg got to spend his first Easter with us as well. Isn't he darling... I know you can't tell by looking, but Jackson is actually about 4 months older than Greg. That gives you an idea of how lil' our Jackson is:)