HAPPY BIRTHDAY, JACKSON!

We cannot believe it...our little baby boy is one year old. How blessed we are to have a healthy, happy little boy. We have made his first birthday a two day celebration, which has been so fun! Yesterday, I woke up at 5:15am, and had an immediate flashback to last year...it was at this time last year that I called the hospital and five hours later was hearing that we were going to have our baby boy that day! At 6:00pm, Jackson was born. This morning, when I looked at the clock as I was picking Jackson up, I noticed it was 7:20pm...this time last year I was being wheeled down the hallway to go see our baby boy. What a wonderful and very special time that was for the three of us!

Yesterday, on Jackson's actual birthday, we decided it would be fun to take him for his first trip to McDonalds! The McDonalds here are soooo much better than in the states, so Cody and I thought it wouldn't be a bad idea to make a visit to "Chicken McNugget" land with Jackson. He wasn't so keen on the chicken in the chicken mcnuggets, but enjoyed the breading and would then hand me the chicken. He loved the french fries...just like his Mommy!!

We had a little birthday party with just the three of us where Jackson helped to tear some wrapping paper from presents.

Then, today, we had a birthday party for him. I mean, every child turning one must have a birthday party. Since we live so far away from our family, our second family came over. There were six little kids and their parents and some other friends of ours that have babysat Jackson or were there soon after he was born. It seemed as if Jackson had fun. We did discover something about him though, he's a pretty neat eater...I mean, for a one year old. He did not want to "dig into" his cake with his hands but seemed very successful with a fork. He didn't eat much of the cake, but what he did eat he seemed to enjoy! He would frequently smile from ear to ear while eating. We had tons of fun dressing up in our western wear and eating a fabulous brisket that Cody cooked (which was such a treat, as the grocery store does not usually have brisket here in Japan!).
Cake, ice cream, balloons, friends and lots of memories...what a special time it was. Our little baby Jackson...is now a little one year old boy! What an awesome year this has been for us!