Sleep Over

This last weekend we celebrated my cousin, Jill's, baby's 1^st birthday. Like many 1^st birthday parties…it was big. It was in my grandparents' backyard…because that is The place to have a party. Just ask Jackson…he's gotten permission to have every birthday party for his "whole life" in Grandma Gail's backyard. My grandma and aunt worked hard to get everything ready…My grandma made orange chicken, chicken nuggets, potato salad, lil' smokies, all kinds of good food. And my Aunt Kim made an adorable Nemo piñata, and put together some fun goody bags for the kids.

Jackson and I went to the party and Lou stayed home to get some school work done. I'm sure he would have rather gone to the party, but he really was swamped with papers to grade, lesson plans to write…you know, teacher stuff. Anyway, Jackson and I had a lot of fun visiting with family and friends.

Side Note: In 2007, when Lou and I got married, Jackson met Nadia. Nadia is the daughter of our close family friends. They live in Irvine and we, unfortunately, don't get to see them very often.

Nadia and her family came up to visit for Sophie's party and so Jackson and Nadia got to see each other. At first they were a little shy…They have both grown up a lot in 2 ½ years, but it didn't really take long for them to warm back up to each other.

This was a weekend Jackson was supposed to be with his mom, so I felt lucky to get him long enough to go to the party. I knew I needed to have him back to her around 5:00 so I was watching the clock. I started hinting to Jackson that we needed to think about leaving soon and before I knew it he was asking me if he could spend the night at grandma's house. He has really NEVER expressed an interest in spending the night ANYWHERE. I was a little surprised, but quickly said that I didn't think Nadia was spending the night (I actually knew she was), and that she was probably going to head back home to Irvine in a little while.

A few minutes went by and Jackson came back and said that Nadia "told me" they are spending the night. I said no again. I told him it was his mom's weekend and that he was lucky he even got to come to the party. He begged me to call her and ask her.

I did what any step-mom would do…I called my husband. I told Lou what was going on and he said no. I told him that Jackson was begging and practically crying and so he said he would call Jackson's mom. Less than a minute later he called back and said that she wasn't answering his call.

I told Jackson that we had to go. He hated this, but I told him that we could ask his mom and if she said yes…I would bring him back. He said okay to this and we left grandma and grandpa's house quickly. On the way to his mom's house I warned him that she might say no and if she did it was all we could do. I told him that she might have already made plans for them and he could not be mad if she said no to this request. Jackson assured me that he had an "approach."

We pulled up to her house and walked to the door. He went inside and said, "Mom, can I see you on the porch?" The next thing I know Jackson, his mom and me are all on the porch of her house and Jackson says, "Mom, Nadia is here visiting and she's all grown up and she doesn't come very often and we want to have a sleepover." His mom says, "Okay." And Jackson is so excited. That was his "approach."

I took him home to get some clothes and things together. He gave Lou a quick hug and kiss and in less than an hour, from when we left, we were back at Grandma's with a back pack full of stuff.

All the way over there I was asking Jackson, "Are you sure?" "Are you scared?" "If you want to call us, you can." He was so happy to be going for a sleep over…he didn't even seem one bit scared. It was my Grandma's house…I had slept over there a bunch of times (and lived there a while in my twenties), but I was still kind of nervous…this was Jackson's "first" sleepover.

As soon as we got there Nadia and Jackson went off in the bedroom to claim their spot. They both had their Nintendo DS and were "chatting." Jackson brought "Beverly Hills Chihuahua" and Nadia was excited about that. I gave Gram the run-down and after a little while I left.

I picked up dinner and a movie for Lou and me and we snuggled in for the night. We had our cell phones and our home phone right near us just in case Jackson called, but about ten o'clock or so we figured he was good and went to bed. I have to say I didn't sleep all that well. When morning came we got up and got ready and went over to Gram's for breakfast (and to pick up Jackson). We walked in the back door and there he was sitting at the kitchen table eating breakfast.

Grandma told us that he had a great time and that around midnight she had to finally go in there and sleep between Jackson and Nadia because EVERYONE had told them that it was getting late and they needed to go to bed. Grandma slept between the two kids on an airbed. She said Jackson made fart noises and Nadia cracked up, they told jokes and laughed at each other…Grandma kept saying "okay quit talking and go to sleep" and they would giggle and just keep talking. I think they had a great time…Even Grandma! It has been a long time since she had a slumber party with the grandkids.

*Note: I didn't take any pictures of the two of them at Grandma's House....I don't know why.