Chad and Rian are visiting!

Our Lives Have Changed

This time two years ago I was posting pictures of a St. Patrick's Day party at an Irish pub here in Chicago. Now we are cheering and jumping up and down because Jackson is taking those first crawls (inching more like). Our lives have changed, and our reasons for joy have changed, but we are loving every second of it.
Here are two new videos of our life. The first one is Jackson crawling for the first time! We were so excited that I think we scared him- screaming and jumping up and down. The second one is just our life. Sitting around, playing and laughing. I love our life. It's also a peek at Matt's amazing filming skills.
Love to all of you!

Talking Up A Storm

Jackson is starting to talk- a lot. He calls anything and anyone "Da-Da", and will occassionally say "Ma-Ma" or "Ki-Ki" for Sox. He's becoming much more capable with his motor skills and is constantly trying to "figure out" his toys. He's a bright little boy and we are enjoying watching him develop so nicely.

Happy Birthday Grandma Binkley!

More Christmas 2008 Pictures

Christmas

We are still uploading and trading all of the photos from the past week, but so far we have a few of Christmas Day that I thought I would share with all of you.
Jackson loved opening presents, but not so much because of what was inside the gifts, but rather what they were wrapped in. He loved playing drums on Grandma's new Kitchenaid Mixer box, and even sat inside the box of one of his gifts.
I hope everyone's holidays were wonderful- ours sure were.

Merry Christmas!

We finally made it into Seattle late Saturday night (more like early Sunday morning... 4:00am early!) and have been soaking up every minute of grandparents time that we can get. We made a quick stop over at the North Pole yesterday so Jackson could give Santa his list.
Have a Merry Christmas!
Love,
Matt, Nicole & Jackson

Jackson celebrated his 6-month last week and we took him to get some pictures to celebrate. He was all giggles and smiles. The photographer said that he was the most delightful baby she's ever worked with.
Enjoy a few of the many shots.

Election Day!

I feel very blessed today, to live in America. I was so happy to see many people sticking it out, standing in the long lines, to make their choice and vote today. Way to go America! We live in a great nation.
My friend Joey wrote some amazing words of wisdom about this election on her blog and I must encourage each and every one of you to check it out. It's beautifully written and spoke to my heart. Enjoy!
http://roddy-life.blogspot.com/

I know it's been awhile since we've posted anything new, but life has been especially crazy lately at the Rife household. I've been busy with report cards, Matt's been busy with work and taking 4 classes towards his degree, and Jackson's been busy getting accustomed to squash, carrots, yams and avocado. He's trying to sit up on his own and slowly looking like he might crawl in the next couple of months. We are enjoying our busy life and spending every minute on the weekends together. Jackson now enjoys his Tummy Time, rather than cry the whole time. One of the mom's of a friend of Matt's from high school sent Jackson this adorable quilt that she made for him! He loves to play on it every day. He is seen here on the flannel side, but the other side has a beautiful design. Jackson is so loved, even by people he hasn't met! We miss Seattle dearly, but look forward to coming home in December. My kid brother officially proposed to his beautiful Annette last week and their wedding is scheduled for the same day as our anniversary! December 27th will be a day to remember every year. Can't wait to be home for the wedding, even though it's always so crazy when we come home.
Lastly, Friday was Halloween. Jackson and I went trick-or-treating with the Judd family and we had a blast. Jackson was the cutest little Jack-son-lantern I've ever seen. I was a flower, since my team at work was a "Kinder-Garden" that day. Here is a picture of me and one of my students at our school costume parade. It was a beautiful and warm Halloween- almost 70 degrees and sunny!
Saturdays Jackson and I go to Matt's soccer games. He has joined a team through the city and plays just for fun. This last weekend was rather chilly and I wrapped Jackson up with a blanket, a coat, a hat, mittens and Daddy's sweatshirt. Never too young to be a paranoid mommy I guess.
I'll try to keep this blog more current in the coming weeks, but no promises :)