Building Castles in the Sand...

Jackson's first attempt at a sandcastle.

Alan touching it up a little.

Not too shabby for a beginner!

Jackson loves his Auntie Megan so much!

And a family picture!

This is what vacation looks like:

The Janney family enjoying vacation.

Jackson's cage...err...kiddie pool to keep him from crawling off. He obviously enjoyed it!

Jackson getting a little more comfortable with the waves...until a big one hit him.

Back into Mommy's lap.

Lunch break.

And the verdict...

DANG, that's cold!

First moments at the ocean...

We went to Virginia Beach with Alan's family over Memorial Day weekend and it was gorgeous weather and a very enjoyable trip! Here are Jackson's first moments at the ocean:


No, Alan's not walking on water here.


Checking things out while clinging VERY tightly to me.


Setting his feet (well, his crocs) in the sand.

Chillaxin...

The day before we left for the beach we decided to get some sun in so we'd have our base tans! Well, Jackson was wearing SPF 50, so he didn't get much of a tan.


Frankly, Jackson didn't feel like Drew Barrymore was really deserving of the cover. He thinks her lips are an odd shape and that she always seems a little bit high in interviews. I'm inclined to agree with him on this subject.


He never sits very long these days.


I'm in love with his eyes in this one.


And this one.



Jackson listening to his Dad's iPod. Where are these voices coming from!? He's not totally sure if he's loving this song.


Wait, he DOES like "The Killers" new album! Just like his Mom and Dad!

Just Jackson.

Here's my sweet baby. I can't believe he's 9 months old. These have been the longest and the quickest 9 months of my life all at the same time. If you're a parent, you understand.




He's the same sweet and easy-going baby he's always been, but now he's on the go. If there is anything to pull up on, he's standing in a half second. And he crawls everywhere.



Also, he has a tooth! It's really small on the bottom.

Rhododendrons (I had to google that word to find the spelling).

The Rhododendrons are in full bloom right now at the front of our house and they are SO stunning. I wish they always looked like this. Here are a few of Jackson with his parents. As you can tell, he's smiling and laughing in the ones Alan took. He's so much better at getting Jackson to laugh during pictures. When I try the same tactics, Jackson usually tilts his head to the side and looks at me like, "why are you being so stupid, mom?" It's great. But here are some pictures from our first spring with our Rhododendrons:

Jackson had been hitting Alan and thought he was very funny:

Tricia's Wedding

One of my old roommates from college (and one of my best friends) got married this last weekend. She looked SO amazingly beautiful and Patrick looked like the happiest man alive! I'm sort of a sucker for weddings. =) She's moving away to Minnesota (brrr) now but I know she'll be back to visit so I'm not going to get sad.
Here they are at the church:

And cutting the cake:



Here's my other college roommate and best friend, Amelia. She's holding Emma (the baby previously mentioned as Jackson's bride-to-be). I can't believe Amelia and I are all grown up and mommies. It feels like just the other day we were moving into our dorm room and apartments. Sometimes. =)


And here's Amelia, Jill, and I. Jill is another college roomie and good friend. Jill got bangs. I like them:



This is Amelia's husband (and Emma's Dad) Jon with my husband, Alan and Jackson. They have been best friends since they high school (they went to the same private school). It's pretty cool he married Amelia. Very convenient for our friendship. We're planning on going on a Disney cruise together sometime in the (not so near) future! Yay!




This is the beautiful bride and I:



Here is a family picture from the wedding:

My Best.

This is Stephanie and I at the end of the year Young Life picnic a couple weeks ago. She has been my best friend here where I live for almost five years now and she's moving away and leaving me. Okay, she's only going to be like 35 minutes away but still. I'm REALLY excited for her (she's going on Young Life staff) but I'm also really going to miss having her so close. We led Young Life together, she lived with us for awhile, we've gone on lots of trips together, she's my happy hour girl, and we can hold record length conversations. I love her! =)

Jackson and his G-Pa

My Dad came up to visit for a couple days while he was moving my sister out of her dorm room and back home for the summer (I miss her). Jackson got a BIG smile on his face when his G-pa came out of the guest room that morning. He definitely remembered him and was so excited to play with him.
Here they are having fun together:


And here they are both drifting in and out of sleep because I was taking too long to get ready for the lake:

While I was home...

I got the chance to hang out with two of my very best friends while I was home. My best friend from high school, Maryam came by for a brief visit and she brought her boyfriend, Matt who ALSO came as her date to my wedding 5 years ago. I like him and I hope she marries him. =)
Here's Jackson and I with my bff:


I also got to meet up with Katie for a long lunch. I met her 6 years ago at a YL camp and she's been one of my closest friends ever since. She's due next month and is such a cute pregnant girl! The summer before last was all the craziness of her bachelorette party and her wedding and now she's joining the new mommy club!

Hooooome

I went home for a week while Alan was on a business trip and it was so wonderful...

My parents in front of their lovely house.

Jackson and his Gpa playing on the front lawn.

Mom and Dad's "bistro" where they sit most nights enjoying a glass of wine and each other's company.

They SO don't look old enough to be grandparents. I love my parents!

My very cute sister, Anne Marie and her husband, Danny!

My sweet sister, Liz.

My baby sister, Becky.
I loooooooooove my family.