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 :)

G-Ma and G-Pa visited last week. My dad went home on Monday, but mom got to stay with us through the week. We have had a great time running errands and just oogling over Jackson, our little breathing, smiling and talking blessing. I'll be sure to post more when I have a little more energy. All my love, Nicole :)

Our Big Eater

Last night was Jackson's first feeding with a spoon! I was a little nervous about whether or not he was ready, but he loved it! He ate a lot more than I thought he would and didn't seem to protest the strange texture and flavor. The last picture is Matt taking him to the bath...
The video is a little grainy and the lighting is bad, but watch if you like. :)

Doing Nothing and Being Amazing

Here is Jackson doing absolutely nothing but drool and I am entranced with him. Please ignore the corny "Mom-Talk" in the background and enjoy the sweetness of this boy :)

Long Days... Even Longer Nights

Hello Dear Friends and Family. If I haven't called or emailed lately it's because I'm so dawg-on tired and can barely get through the day with enough clean laundry to change my socks in the morning. Jackson is going through another growth spurt- WHEN DO THESE STOP!?! And so he's up 3-4 times a night again. It's like having a newborn all over again, and I don't really miss that. He's been taking rice cereal before bed and still hungry in the middle of the night. He's getting so big and wearing 6 month size clothing now.
Matt is still working nights, 3:30pm-12:30am up in Great Lakes, which is about an hour from our place in the city. I work exactly the opposite schedule and can't seem to find enough time to do it all. Despite it all, Matt and I are really loving being a mommy and daddy. I asked him the other day, "What did we used to do before Jackson?" :) Now we are easily entertained by watching him for hours. We miss Seattle, especially with all the rain and flooding that's been happening here lately. I miss people knowing what to do with rain- the Midwest gets so confused and closes down every street you can imagine. Driving is rough and that makes everything difficult.
Here are some recent pics of J. We will try to post a video or two tomorrow. For now though, I'm off to bed. Hugs to all!

9-11, Seven Years Later

This is the my second year teaching Kindergarten where the kids were not alive during the 9-11 terrorists attacks on our country. I maintain that this is an important part of our countries history and each year I take extreme delicate precautions to introduce this peice of history to 5 year olds. I always begin by reading the story, Fireboat to my class and then explaining that this was a real story, and that it really happened. There are always some scared eyes and some confused, but this year I was really touched by the conversation that developed and thought I would share it with you.
"Mrs. Rife- why did those planes fly into those buildings?"
"Because, honey, some men made some bad choices."
"But, why?"
"Because they were angry."
"Who were they angry at?"
"Well, they were angry with America."
"Did they want to hurt us?"
"Yes they did."
"But why didn't they use their words?"
"I wish they'd just use their words to talk."
"Ya- using your words is better."
(this is when my eyes became teary because of the sweetness and sincerity in their voices)
"Were you sad when this happened Mrs. Rife?"
"Yes. I was sad to see so many people hurt and sad, but I touched by seeing America be a family. We looked to help one another after that horrible thing happened. We were nicer drivers and we had kind things to say. I was proud of America on that day."
"Well, I just wish it hadn't happened is all. Hopefully those men will use their words next time."
This was a memorable conversation. Thank you Room 13 for "keepin' it real" for me on this 9-11.

Walking In No Time

Jackson is starting to really push up when he's doing Tummy Time and I know that he's so close to crawling! I better Baby-Proof the house soon. Sunday he was ready for the Opening Seasoning Game with his Bears jersey on. Seriously- they don't get much cuter than that. He was dressed identical to his daddy too :)

A Glorious Weekend

I started back to work this week and it was a difficult start. Even though I had dropped Jackson off at daycare on and off for the past two weeks, Monday just seemed so "official" with me not being able to just be a mommy anymore. I cried in my car while the rest of the district started the institute day and then went in with red puffy eyes after my dad soothed me over the phone. I never knew I'd love being a mommy so much! The week got easier as the kids arrived and I hit the ground running! I have a wonderful group of kindergarten kiddos- again! and I really love my job- again! It's crazy how much more energy I have this fall since I'm not unexpectantly 6 weeks pregnant :)
Matt had Friday off of work and we both had Monday off, so it was a glorious three-day weekend for the Rife's! We were busy walking and enjoying the weather that is only here for a short bit longer. It was beautiful and 85 degrees all weekend with very little humidity. We were out at the lake and Starbucks and Sunday we made the treck up north to the Botanical Gardens for the day. Jackson is so long now that he sat in the stroller without his infant carrier because his little legs hang over the edge! He looked like such a big boy in his stroller. We packed a picnic and a bottle for Jackson and enjoyed God's creations. It was a marvelous time together and at one point I just hugged Matt with tears in my eyes and couldn't believe how wonderfully happy I felt. Life is so wonderful.
After the gardens we came home and barbecued kabobs and the three of us sat out on the deck together, enjoying the evening weather. We tried to get Sox to come out, but she's quite jumpy with all the city noise and kept to herself inside. We believe Jackson to be going through yet ANOTHER growth spurt, and so he is consuming several oz's of milk a day and sleeping several hours throughout the day- as well as still sleeping through the night with 10-12 hours. I was told not to tell other new parents that :) As the weekend came to an end, we made a trip to the mall together and bought Jackson a tiny pair of Puma tennis shoes. They are so adorable and I told Jackson that he now has better shoes than his mommy and daddy do. We are in big trouble if we keep this up! :)