No News is Good News

That is what I tell the kind people who take care of Jackson so I can work.

I function best knowing that if I have not heard anything, everything is fine.  It works for me.  Of course, I love the little photos of Jackson texted to me sometimes during the day.  Those are always fun to see. :)

I can't believe I have not blogged since before Thanksgiving!  I guess that is a testament to how busy things got after that.  The past six weeks have been very eventful, but all is well.

No news is good news!

In the spirit of blogging so Jackson has something more than his baby book (which, I am desperately trying to keep up with) and photos posted on Facebook, here is a quick recap of the past 6 weeks.

We had a great Thanksgiving at Suki (MayMay) and Randy's (Grandy) lovely home, as usual.  It was the battle of the Traeger v. Green Egg this year.  Both turkeys came out delish, of course!!  Timing was off as always, but that is what keeps the holiday fun.  We have learned over the years that we just need to have the sides ready to go at any time.  It works for us.

Jackson got his first stamp on his passport when we took him to Mexico in December.  I have to admit, I was a little nervous about traveling with him.  He proved my worry to be completely unnecessary.  He was an angel on the plane!  He was so good the flight attendants were saying "Best baby ever!" as we deplaned in San Jose del Cabo.  Guess the treat bags with candy and ear plugs that I placed in the seats around us were not needed.

We stayed in an amazing home off the beaten path (literally, the roads were torn up!) in El Cardonal, Baja.  We were about 1.5 hours north of San Jose del Cabo.  It was super-relaxing and Jackson enjoyed wearing only a onesie most of the time.

I had a brilliant idea for our Christmas card!  Feliz Navidad!

I know what you are thinking.  "Hey!  I didn't get an awesome Christmas card!"  Well, don't feel left out.  No one did.  I did not get around to making them this year.

Here's why.

We got home from Mexico and I started back at work less than 48 hours later.  It was a whirlwind, but I was so glad to be back in my classroom.  I handled being away from Jackson much better than I expected.  I never cried, but I did have a few moments when I really missed him.  MayMay took care of him for the first two days.  Then Papa and Grandma came to town and took care of him for a full week!

 Word on the streets was Papa and Grandma were having a good time, but boy were they tired!  This kid has some energy!!

We went on our annual Christmas tree hunt and Jackson got to ride on mommy through the woods.  Extra special care was taken to not trip on anything and fall.  We came out unscathed!

 Jackson started sitting up in his Bumbo chair and loving his exersaucer.  He has lots of "stations" around the house to keep him busy.  Not only has he grown so much, he is so engaged in everything around him.  He is a super-smiley boy and very interactive now.  So much fun!!

The holidays were upon us.  We had 14 people plus two babies for Christmas.  Even more family came to meet Jackson after Christmas.  It was chaotic, exhausting, and fun.  What a blessing to have so much family around Jackson for his first Christmas.

He did not find Santa very exciting.

No offense Santa, you showed up during nap time.

Auntie BaBa had a party and Jackson got to spend some time with Aunt Vanessa.

Jackson had a very fancy Christmas eve outfit from his distant family in New York.  It was Ralph Lauren and purchased at Nordstroms.  I told him not to get used to such fancy duds.

The family has some pretty fun traditions.  On Christmas eve we pop crackers and all wear paper crowns.  Jackson had his own baby crown!

Santa came to our house for the first time.  Jackson was not super-impressed with his bounty, but he appreciated all the gifts he was given by his Aunts and Uncles.

Jackson had a fun time meeting Cousin Sienna on Christmas day.  She gives open-mouth kisses, but we will let it slide, for now.

Aunt Beth with the baby cousins.

The family has another fun tradition - eating dinner at the Chinese restaurant and wearing ugly Christmas sweaters.  Mommy and Daddy each won first and third place in the contest, respectively.

Baby Christmas sweater.  Winner for cutest baby boy!

At the end of the crazy Christmas week, we celebrated Daddy's birthday with a bowling party at the 300 Club.  Jackson got to spend special time with Grandma and MayMay while everyone bowled. 

After the holiday madness, I spent a week enjoying my time with Jackson.  He is 5 months old now and so much fun.  He loves smiling and he has just started to laugh with some consistency.  It was so nice having an extra week of alone time with him.  It is also so nice to be back at work.  He is really thriving at his official day care with our neighbor behind us.  Jackson spends his days in a nurturing home environment surrounded by a small group of young children and toddlers who love engaging him and playing with him.  He seems to really enjoy being around other people and the new toys and experiences.  He has been napping really well and sleeping through the night, which is super-helpful for mommy.  He also spends Wednesdays at MayMay's house, which gives him some variety in his week and special bonding time with her.  We could not be more pleased and blessed with our day care situation.

Special day care collage put together by his new friend, Andrea.

That's our happy little man.  Here's to 2014, which is sure to be a year full of changes, laughter, and lots of love.

If you don't hear from me for a while, no news is good news.