Jackson's 1st Sleepover Away from Mommy and Daddy!

What a fantastic day yesterday was! We had a lot of plans for our Thursday, but it was going to be a lot of fun!

While growing up I had a girlfriend named Hannah. She was a wonderful friend, we did lots together like any good girlfriends do; play at each others houses- which included sleepovers of course, went to church with each other’s families, shared secrets, all that good stuff. We were close for a number of years and then in high school I transferred to Lutheran West, Hannah stayed at Berea High and we gradually lost touch. No real falling out, just two girls doing different things at different schools. Well thanks to a silly website called MySpace, we got back in touch after many years apart. The Internet is such a wonderful tool! We discovered that we had both just gotten married quite recently and also we were both pregnant at the same time! How exciting! Another girlfriend to share the joys of motherhood with! Well, unfortunately about a month or so after getting back in touch, Hannah and her husband Tim had to move to North Carolina for his job. Back to emailing, I guess! And email we did! We tried to get together over Christmas, but with all of the hustle and bustle (and Hannah's knee surgery!) timing just didn't work out. So when Tim had to go out of town in January, Hannah and TJ (their adorable little boy) decided to come back to Ohio to visit some family, of course I jumped at the opportunity to visit! This time we were going to make it work!!!

On Thursday Jackson and I met Adrianne (no Nathan unfortunately, he was in school) over at Hannah’s moms’ house for a play date. It was such a lovely afternoon! Although it has been so many years since we had last seen each other, it was like no time had passed. We caught up on what is new in our lives, talked a lot about our kids and just enjoyed being together again. TJ and Jackson had so much fun together. They are both walking now, so it was so cute watching them get into stuff and play with all the fun toys. TJ is 14 months old, just a little bit older then Jackson (so I am sure he learned a thing or two from him!) I am so looking forward to when they are in town again- only this time we will have to plan for a day when Nathan can join us too! Lucky for us, Hannah, Tim and TJ will be moving back to Ohio- but not for a few more years. So we will have to rely on email and phone to stay in touch until then. So worth it! I have posted pictures from our playdate in the Baby Albums section. Check them out!


For my birthday, Scott got us tickets to see a truly incredible show. It was Patty Griffin, Emmy Lou Harris, Shawn Colvin and Buddy Miller performing at the Allen Theater at Playhouse Square. We thought we would take this opportunity for Jackson to have his very first sleepover away from Mommy and Daddy! We took him over to my mom and dad’s for the night while us parents went out for a night on the town.

Scott and I had so much fun! We went for dinner before hand at the Hanna Restaurant in the Hanna Building and then off to the show. We had 4th row seats- AMAZING! The 4 musicians all sat on the stage, surrounded by their guitars and each took turns singing one of their songs while the rest of the group backed them up. It was such a special performance- definitely one I will never forget. After the 2 ½ hour (!) show, Scott and I went up to the stage to see if one of the roadies would give us a set list or something. But even better- Buddy Miller came out to collect some of his things. Scott called to him “Hey Buddy! Can we have a guitar pick, it’s her birthday?!” He said sure and gave us one of the picks he used to play that night and then he even signed our program! It was so cool! What a special night!

The next day after SLEEPING IN (something we haven’t done in a very long time!) I went over to my parents to pick up the little man. He had such a fun time! He ate super good for my mom. She even got him into Whole Milk from a bottle. This is something we have been working on for a little while now. I am so proud of him! Now I feel so good about doing this again from time to time. I very much remember how special it was for me when I was growing up to spend the night at my Grandma’s. I am happy Jackson will get to enjoy this too. So huge success for all of us! Go Kanengeiser Family! :)

Happy Birthday Mommy

This weekend I celebrated my 29th birthday- wow, time flies! Hard to believe that I am that grown up already :) The morning of my birthday Jackson woke us up nice and early because he was so excited to give me my birthday gifts. And they were very cool at that! Jackson got me some awesome kitchen stuff- a cool knife sharpener for my Santouko, a new red spoonula (I use my old one constantly and it is getting beat) and also the new Cat Cora cookbook. She is one of my favorite chefs on Iron Chef America on Food Network and her recipes are so cool. I can't wait to try them out! In her book Cat was talking about her 8month old son. She said that she wants to encourage his pallet so he will be open to new tastes as he grows. She puts cinnamon and nutmeg into his cereal in the morning. I thought I would give it a try and added it to Jackson's oatmeal. He loved it! This might be a good trick to get him to eat his squash too...hmmmmm.

Then in the afternoon I went to the salon for some pampering. I got a fun new haircut and also highlights. They turned out so pretty! I haven't colored my hair since my wedding- so I was wayyyyyyyyyy overdue. Plus the fact that Jackson turned my hair brown when I had him, I have been dying to get some dimension to it! It was a wonderful relaxing way to spend my afternoon.

That night we dropped Jackson off at Sandy and Don's so he could get Grammy and Pop time and Mommy and Daddy could go hang out with Bonnie and Neil without having to worry about trying to get him to bed (he doesn't really like to sleep at their house- too much fun going on there!) Bonnie made a yummy bruscetta and we got this delicious bbq for dinner. We decided to have our own wine tasting at home instead of going out and got to try some really great wines (a few not so good ones too, but that is part of the fun!) Bonnie and Neil also got me an adorable apron and this super cool necklace. It is called "Teething Bling". Babies who like to tug on mommies’ jewelry inspired teething Bling. It is made from the same material as many teething toys so it is safe for curious babies to handle and chew. Plus it is super cute looking too. I love it! And I am sure Jackson will too! No more worries about beads going flying! I have added their website to my "Favorite Links" page if any of you are interested in them.
Thanks again Bonnie and Neil, it was such a fun night!

On Thursday Jackson is having his very first sleepover away from Mommy and Daddy. For my birthday Scott got me tickets to go see one of my favorite musicians, Patty Griffin. She is touring with Emmylou Harris, Shawn Colvin and Buddy Miller so it will be an outstanding concert. We can't wait! To make it even better the concert is at Playhouse Square, so we are doing dinner before hand at the Hanna Building. It should be a very special night. I hope Jackson will have fun too being a big boy! I will be sure to tell you all about it after we get back.

Jackson's reweigh and check up

The last time we were to see Doctor Biglow she was a little concerned with his weight. He has always been on the smaller side, which is just fine seeing that neither Scott nor myself are big people. But this time he was lower on the scale then she was comfortable with. He is still gaining weight with is a total positive, and he is an amazing eater so we knew that wasn't a problem. Our guess was that his metabolism has just sped up with all this new activity of crawling and now walking. But just to been on the safe side she wanted us to come back and have him reweighed when he was in the office for his second flu shot.

Yesterday was his appointment and it went GREAT! We were to see a different doctor because Dr. Biglow is still on maternity leave (she had a little girl by the way- Allison Grace... awwww.) We got to see Dr. Karyn Abdalah, who is not only in the same practice as Dr. Biglow but also a good friend to hers outside of work. Good to know they are on the same page as far as their doctoring goes. So first off we measured him and in 6 weeks he grew 2"! He is now 29"long and his head is measuring the same at 17". Next was off to the scale. Jackson now weighs 17lbs 11oz- he gained just 2oz shy of 2lbs. Definite progress and also definite proof that his lower weight last appointment was indeed due to his new found independence and activity. Dr. Abdalah sent us away with a good bill of health and told us not to be concerned- he is one happy and healthy baby boy! Yay! --Although we could have told them that ourselves!

Jackson is Officially a Walker Now!!!

How cool is that?!! At about 9 months Jackson started cruising furniture pretty good and started taking one or two independent steps before plopping on his butt. So we knew that walking wouldn't be too far off. We just didn't know just how soon it would be!

Last week we spent a lot of time with Bonnie and the girls playing of course and just enjoying each other’s company. Jackson and I even got to baby-sit Sophie while our Anna had a photo shoot to be in Highlights Magazine! How special that is for her. We are so proud! Well like I said in my last journal entry, Sophie is a pro at walking- she is so sure of herself and FAST! We think that spending so much time with her and trying his darndest to keep up gave him inspiration to walk. Because all of a sudden last week he went from taking about 5 steps at a time to walking across the room! Go Jackson Go!!!! He's not solely walking yet because his "Wounded Knee Crawl" and one legged scoot is so much faster. But he is on his way. It is so exciting! Good job little man, we are so proud of you!


**On a side note, Jackson got this adorable rocking horse from Aunt Debbie, Uncle Bob and Sara. He loves it! When Sophie was over the two of them played with it forever. They love making it sing and Sophie can't just help herself from dancing along. I have posted pictures, so be sure to check them out- too cute!

What a Wonderful First Christmas!!!!

I know it has been a while since my last update. We have been so busy the past few weeks with all of the holiday excitment, parties, and we have even decided to take on a repaint/switch around of rooms in our house. So I have been a bit preoccupied. But things have been great with all of us!

The Saturday before Christmas, Grandpa and Grandma Kanengeiser came over to our house for our own little family exchange. Jackson got his first taste of opening gifts and made sure to help us tear up tissue paper and chase bows around the room. He got so many cute clothes and this awesome wagon. I can't wait for the weather to be nice enough to use it. It will be so great with all of the walks we go on. It was a relaxing afternoon, and Jackson had so much fun crawling all over Grandma and Grandpa- and I am sure they loved every second of that too!

Jackson's first Christmas was just as special as we thought it would be. Christmas Eve we went to church with my mom, dad, Grandma, Bonnie, Neil and the girls. Afterwards we all headed to my parents house to celebrate. Sophie is a pro at walking now and Jackson scoots like crazy to keep up with her. We had to actually put up baracades to keep the kids where we could see them. Sophie loved looking at the Christmas presents and wanted to pull off all of the bows and tags. And well, if Sophie thought it was fun then Jackson thought he better get in on the action too! They are the Dynamic Duo! What one doesn't think of the other already is doing it. We had a very special dinner and opened all of our gifts. Santa even came to see us- we must have all been VERY good boys and girls this year! Jackson and Sophie were so much fun to watch- although they seemed to love the tissue paper, boxes and bows much better then the actual gifts (at least in the moment!) Anna also had a great Christmas, "the best Christmas ever" actually. She performed many of her special "Shows" and danced and sang us all of her Christmas songs. It was a great night!

On Christmas morning Jackson woke us up bright and early- I am sure it was due to Santa excitment ;) We all sat infront of our pretty Christmas tree and exchanged our gifts to eachother. Jackson again had a blast and loves all of his new toys. After we cleaned everything up he had so much fun discovering all the new things he can play with. Jackson got to take a great nap and then it was off to the Kanengeiser Family Christmas at Great Grandma K's. Jackson played with everyone, smiled at all the family and even let everyone hold him. Even though he hadn't seen this side of the family in a little while- Jackson wasn't the least bit afraid! He had FUN! Also, he showed off and even took some real steps in front of EVERYONE! How cool is that?!

After the Kanengeiser bash it was off to the Lepley Christmas for a lovely dinner and gifts. Both Granma Lois and GiGi were there to party with us too. The little man showed off lots and was doted with tons of attention- which he loved every second of! It was a wonderfully relaxing and fun way to end the Christmas celebrating.

This Christmas was definatly a special one and Jackson was such a good boy. By the time Christmas night came he was zonked out! So much fun and excitment, but he took it in stride and partied like a champ. Everyone was so generous to him!!! (to us too of course!) Thank you, thank you!

And for all of you family members out of town that we didn't get to see- we miss you guys!!!!!! I don't think we can say it enough- Come home already.

We love you!