Can I just say that I’m so glad we have our first Living Proof Live event of 2008 this weekend? It is going to be in Vancouver. After the last event of 2007, I felt like the blog’s right arm was in a sling. We’ve had no commissionings, no video recaps, and no before and after comments from the local siestas! I’m ready for my mom to get back to doing her thang!
Since the conference is still a few days away and my mom is getting ready for Bible study this afternoon, I will share some pictures from Jackson’s second birthday. (Well it looks like we were blogging at the same time!) When I wrote the date in my prayer journal this morning, I realized it was my old due date. I don’t think about it much because 2/17/06 was The Big Day, but I did cling tightly to 2/26/06 for nine months. It will always be special to me. It was also the date of a very large, sold-out conference in Birmingham, Alabama. Lord, help us! Well, He did help us! God worked it all out and everyone was there for Jackson’s birth. I can’t complain!
We had a birthday feast for Jackson at Pappasito’s the afternoon after Melissa’s wedding. The servers brought out a sombrero and a brownie sundae to celebrate. They even sang him a song. At the very end when everyone clapped, he looked at me and said, “Mommy? Mommy? Whaaaaaaa!” It was so tragic. But he bounced back.
Then we played in a park.
You can walk a bit taller when you’re two.
Here are some pictures from Jackson and Ella’s joint birthday party at Pump It Up on Saturday. They are only two days apart and have all the same friends, so it worked out great!
Me and my boy in a bounce house. 
Curtis and Jackson shooting hoops.
Jackson on a slide.
Janelle and I got a sneak peek of the party room before it was taken over by toddlers.
Do I even need to tell you who this is? In case I do, it’s Pablo from the Backyardigans.
A toddler birthday party takes a lot of moms working together.
Ella and Jackson having a snack.
Jackson really just wanted to play with the balloons.
We couldn’t wait to take a picture of the Tods in this fun chair. They were not as enthused about it.
Janelle and Ella, Jackson and me, and Sunni and Ava
We played hard.
Tags: Jackson
Amanda,
Yes! LPL Season!! I love and miss it, too!!
Sadly, I won’t be able to be in San Antonio, but I will be in Louisville and I can’t wait! Sure wish you were going to be there because I would love to hug your neck. This blog prompted me to start my own blog almost a year ago and the fruit of this is astounding!! I just got off the phone with my precious friend Holly — we were just boasting in the LORD and praying together. That would have NEVER happened if we hadn’t met here!! So for that, I am extremely grateful to you and your Mom.
Speaking of Louisville, any other Siestas gonna be there??? Please tell me I’m not the only one!!! Let me know because I would love to meet you. Please tell me all the fun is not going to be reserved for those blessed enough to go Texas!!!
Blessings,
Dori
P.S. Loved the pics — Happy Birthday to a sweet boy with the most beautiful eyes I’ve ever seen…except of course those on my own children!!
I was in Birmingham that year!!! I remember your mother showing us a picture of Jackson and she sat flat down on the floor with her legs a little apart like she was getting ready to do toe touches or something – all while in a skirt!!! LOL She was so precious. She said “can we just sit here and look at him a while?”. Sweet memories.
Rebecca
How precious! Hang on to these years and these times — they go by in a flash. My ‘baby’ is 14 and it seems just yesterday we were having these tod birthday parties. Now we’re beginning to think about collages. Too fast…..
What cute pics! Looks like everyone had a blast. Amanda, I LOVE your necklace. Where did you get it, if I may ask?
I am so excited for this weekend! A group of around 50 or so from my church (Christ the King) are coming up to Vancouver from Bellingham, WA. Look for us in matching green shirts!
We love you Beth and will be praying that God gives you a special Word from Him for this conference!
Betsy
http://www.h2os.org
It just occurred to me that I guess this is the reason that we no longer sing at birthdays at our house — my now 12-year old daughter used to FREAK when sung to! She HATED people looking at her, etc. — she would be a mess. I guess after a few years we just quit…
You actually did have to tell me who the blue penguin is. You won’t believe how quickly you’ll get out of those days!
Too fun!! Aren’t 2 year olds great? There’s so much discovery going on. Have a great year Jackson!
Happy Birthday, Jackson and Ella! What a blessing other moms are to each other. Seeing you and Janelle with your Todds, makes me think of what a blessing my other mom friends are!
Oh how funny that you mention the Birmingham, AL conference. That’s where I live and I went to that conference (awesome, awesome, awesome…beside the point…moving on). I remember for about a month before that conference being diligent to check the website for a baby announcement because we were all afraid that the conference would be cancelled if the baby came on time. Thank goodness for early babies!!! We were thrilled that Jackson was here and healthy and also thrilled that we got to share an amazing experience with a brand new grandmother! Beth was ECSTATIC and we all shared her joy. I cannot believe it has been 2 years. At that time, I had a 4 year old, a 7 month old, and just found out I was pregnant with baby girl #3. Yes, chaos was the name of the game. Now they’re almost 7, 2 1/2, and 16 months and I feel like I know you and your family. Thanks for the pictures. Jackson is precious and SOOO looks like his mommy! See ya at LPL San Antonio!!!
Robyn, Birmingham
Darling pictures of all the Tods. Did you feel like the end picture. There is a reason to have children when you’re young. When you get older, you forget how much work (and fun sometimes) that they can be and just want to go to sleep in the car on the way home. Unfortunately, sometimes I’m the driver, (Yikes!) so I have a tendency to look for the Starbucks !(which literally is on almost every corner here in Kirkland, WA)
God bless all of you and your beautiful children!
Lisa in Kirkland, WA
Thanks so much for shareing this, hes so cute & sweet.wish I could be there to help you all if you need a day out , but I am in NC, My grandkids are in VA I would spoil them all ha ha. enjoy thises years they go by so fast.God bless love your sister in christ Victoria NC
Thank you Amanda for your faithfulness to us Siesta’s. How we love seeing all of you and “connecting” with you. I so wish I could be at the LP event this weekend. Will look forward to a full report on the blog next week. I will be praying for all involved and all that attend that God will reach each and everyone (as He always does)in a VERY special way. Much Blessings and Love to your family.
Just wanted to say that the very first pic of you and the Tod on the jumpy thing looks straight from a hair color commercial…you know, all bouncy, super lush, shiny, and perfectly unlike anything you could every really re-create in real life?!?!?!?!
Well, now the secret is out…those “super” models must be on a jumpy thing too.
April
Lauderdale MS
He is BEAUTIFUL!!! Glad you had a memorable and fun time.
Love,
Linda
These pictures make me miss this stage…..So precious..
looks like Jackson had a blast for his birthday celebrations.
Precious!! Thanks again for sharing. What a fun party & what a huge slide for that fellar to be on all alone. At that point he looks tiny in all the rest of the photos he seems so grown up. Happy Belated Birthday Jackson & Ella.
What fun!! And you are right. It takes A LOT of moms to make a toddler party work! But be blessed by the time. You can already see how fast it is going!
And thank so much for sharing your sweet family with us. That little man is adorable and blessing to all of us.
Cindy
I LOVE IT!!!
He is so CUTE!
Thank you for sharing all the wonderful pictures.
Oh, how fun!!! I am super excited to tell you my not-so-little baby boy turned 2 on Feb. 17 too! Caleb enjoyed his VeggieTale birthday party with lots of family and friends. It has always been fun to see your posts about Jackson because I knew he and my boy were close in age, but I never would have guessed they shared a birthday. It just amazes me how fast they grow up – talking in sentences and wanting to be so independent. Well, Happy Birthday Jackson! Amanda, God bless you this coming year with extra patience with your own “terrible” two! It’s a good thing they’re so adorable, amen?
It has been one of those days for me so I decided to check the blog…was not disappointed as I found the Birthday photos!
Also,I was reminded how close the Vancouver conference is and I am so excited as I am going with my daughter!! By the way, there are several Starbucks near the arena, as my husband keeps reminding me.
Amanda,
Wonderful pictures of an obviously very happy young man! What a rare and precious thing these days to have a godly mom and dad raising their children in the faith!
Jackson will realize how blessed he is and thank you one day!
He’s also blessed to have a gorgeous face that’s almost too pretty for a young man 🙂 Those eyes are too die for!
GOD bless your family,
Teri
What a fun party! Looks like all had a good time and were all tuckered out!
Jackson gets cuter everyday!
We so love that you share this with your siesta’s.
He is precious. Time literally seems to fly and there you are with grown children. Enjoy! But, I don’t think I have to tell you that because you look like you love every day with him. He’s fortunate to have a mom who loves being with their child. That in and of itself is a sweet birthday gift you give him everyday. Blessings.
Excited to hear details from the conference! I want 2008 to be the year I finally get to go to one, for goodness sakes. 🙂
And, I might have mentioned this 1,003 other times, but just in case, that kid is too cute for words.
Which, actually, says a lot.
I live in Birmingham and was at the conference you mentioned. I remember Beth was so excited that Jackson had arrived. She put a big picture of him up on the screen and sat down on the floor to look at him! She is such a proud momma and grandmomma! It was exciting to share in the joy of Jackson’s birth that evening. Happy Birthday to both Jackson and Ella (a bit late!)
I too was at Birmingham when Beth made the announcement and showed us the pictures of precious Jackson. I was totally amazed at Beth. I echo what Rebecca said. It was amazing. This was my first LPL event and what an AWESOME time I had!!!!! Can’t wait to go again. This event really got me going and I really got in-touch with God that weekend. I try so hard to keep that feeling. What a “high” I was on. Praise the Lord!!!!! God Bless you and your family.
That second picture with him drinking from his sippy cup broke my heart. All children are lovely, but that is truly one beautiful boy you have, Amanda.
Thanks for sharing these great moments with us. I have to say i love the picture of the tods crying in the chair. It sort of makes me think about how God is throwing us this party in life, the party of involvement in his kingdom and his love, and sometimes we don’t see the bigger picture and we cry and have a fit in a moment that is supposed to be fun and joyful! And it’s good to know that, just as we look at that photo and love those children because they just don’t know any better, our loving Heavenly Father loves and forgives us when we just don’t “get it”.
Thanks for the dose of cute!
Oh, Oh, and can I just say, Amanda, that you were having an amazing Beyonce/Celine hair moment on that bounce house! If we could just get on one of those every morning, get the hair just like that, and aquanet it in place, fabulous! 🙂
I will be AT the Vancouver conference… long way from Northern Alberta where I live, but 7 women from my church and myself are making a girl’s weekend out of it. I am sooo excited. Flight’s booked, hotel, etc. I’ve been ramped up, so much so that I even dreamed that I met your mom in a coffeehouse, but I looked a mess and was so embarrassed to run into her looking that way. LOL
Your boy is sooo sweet. He’s getting to be my favorite age (is that bad, to have a favorite age?). Two and Three year olds say the cutest, funniest things. Get a journal and get ready to write them down. That’s one thing I wish I’d done – you think you’ll remember them all but you don’t. My littlest will be 5 in April and I’m regretting that I didn’t journal them as they happened.
Well, looking forward to the pictures next weekend after the conference! 🙂
Oh how I love sharing in your photos! Makes me feel like one of the moms at the party! 🙂 Thanks for sharing, Amanda and for talking like we’re across the table from each other.
How fun!! My little man turned 4 yesterday. He took a 3+ hour nap this afternoon…I think the weekend’s birthday festivites finally caught up with him.
He, too, LOVES the Backyardigans! So much so that he named his kitten Pablo…his girl kitten. 😉
I am so excited. I’m flying into Vancouver on Friday morning from Prince George to see Beth!!!!!!! I can’t wait. My sister, BF and I are all going together and we’re even getting a hotel on Friday and maybe Saturday night too and making it a girl weekend, with no children!!! I’m praying hard that my bf and sister will be as blessed by Beth as I have been (not that I really have any doubts). May God open all our hearts for “a fresh Word” as Beth would say.
Blessings,
Melanie
I can’t believe he’s 2!! Mine is almost 21 months and it’s right around the corner.
How did they ever get to be such big boys? They were just little guys…
Happy Birthday, Jackson! And happy birthday, Amanda, since you did most of the work!
Precious! Thank you for posting the pictures. Enjoy him Amanda, the time goes by so fast.
I was in Knoxville, “Loving Well” when your mom tried to call you and tell you she had just told all of us that you were expecting, but bad weather was in the area and all circuits were busy. I have been to two events Knoxville and Boone, NC, what an impact God’s word has had on my life thru LPM! Thank you and your mom.
Love and Blessings,
Debbie in Tennessee
Happy Belated Birthday to your Jackson from us and our Jackson–we had our Jackson’s 4th b’day party at Pump it Up almost 2 years ago and he STILL talks about it–so fun!!
Too cute! My fav is the one with the sombrero guy! I wish my grandchildren lived closer. 🙁
I was at that event in Birmingham, too. I remember it vividly for several reasons. At that time, I was starting injectable drugs for fertility treatment. It had been a long, hard year of treatments with a clinic, and this was the third and last medicine we were trying. When your mom announced the birth of your little boy, it was tough. Her joy was so great, and though I was happy for all of you, it was another reminder of my three years of infertility. So it was a real blessing to me that also during that conference she mentioned a friend who was there who was finally pregnant after infertility. I felt remembered in the midst of the baby joy around me. I had to go to the bathroom before the conference was over to give myself a shot of drugs in the stomach with my mother-in-law holding my needle kit! There were tons of women around me, but they had the grace not to ask me any questions. It was definitely memorable. That cycle didn’t work, but the next one did! I now have a beautiful 13 month old boy who is reading bedtime stories with his daddy this minute. God is good. I definitely remember when Jackson was born. I’ll never forget it. =)
Happy Birthday, Jackson!! What a wonderful party you had. I’m so glad your mom told me who was on the cake. My kids are a bit older and I thought it was Cookie Monster 🙂
Praise God for LPM season! Not that we are counting down to San Antonio or anything!!!! I believe Ang Baylis wrote a few days ago….exactly 6 more months!!!
And..one thing about Jackson in those pictures…..his hair…gorgeous color….eyes are beautiful…and his darling smile makes you want to smile right back at him!!!
Thanks Amanda!! And, they do walk taller at two!
Don’t cha just love a place that does it all!? They even tucker them out for you. No mess no fuss LOVE IT!
BLESSINGS!
That Jackson is such a cutie!
Hope to meet both of you in San Antonio and give you a big hug!
I’ll be praying for this first LPL event this year!
Also could you pray that my church will be able to host the simulcast in August? I know the Lord has called us to host, but we are facing some obstacles.
Love ya!
Kristi B.
That Jackson is such a cutie!
I hope we can meet both of you in San Antonio and give you both a big hug!
I will be praying for this first LPL event!
My church wants to host the simulcast in August, but we are facing some obstacles. Could you pray for us?
Much love!
Kristi B.
I was at the sold-out event two years ago and it was precious seeing my first shots of baby Jackson on the jumbotron. He is such a big little man now!
Happy Birthday to Jackson….Happy two-years of parenthood to you and Curt!
It gets more fun, louder and wilder as boys grow. Thanks for sharing his birthday parties with us.
Amanda,
He is just to cute! I remember all three of mine at that age, and can I tell you that your life is about to be fun! I was visiting a blog somewhere and the post reminded me of when my middle daughter was about 2 1/2 and she went through this stage where at least once or twice a week she would get up in the middle of the night and COLOR her sister’s face.
With a pen, marker, lipstick, eye liner, whatever her little hands could find. Now big sister was about 6 or so, and would cry and cry and cry and cry.
We tried all kinds of things, many tears, many spankings. It is one of my fondest memories NOW. It went on for a good length of time. We always were amazed that Meghan slept through it.
Have a great year!
Jen
Time flies and now Jackson is 2 years old! I can not believe that!!
I was also in B’ham. It was my first ever women’s conference and I had NO idea what I was in for. I remember your mom showing the pictures of baby Jackson – they were just precious!!!
I also will NEVER forget God challenging me to walk in faith and promise to be obedient to Him in all things. HE has definitely called me to answer that promise what a fun 2 years.
May God continue to bless little Jackson and may He bring you much joy, laughter, and fun times together!!!
Kim
Amanda,
These pics are priceless! I’m just wrapping up scanning pictures of my youngest son for a DVD for his upcoming wedding in July. I’ve lived life as a mom all over again as I went through our family photos. From birth to age 20 in a few hours. (He’s going to take care of age 20-28 himself). I just boohooed when I looked at the slideshow. It goes by so fast! I would say treasure these moments while you can, but I think you already do.
Happy Belated Birthday Jackson! Today 2/26 is my sweet girl’s third birthday. Lots of love to all y’all.