he's free

Sunday, a tornado-like storm came rolling off the mountains and left us with a little rain (finally!) and unfortunately no power.

Knew it was going to be an interesting start to the evening, as the power went out just as I was getting my hair cut. Thankfully there was still enough natural light for the hairdresser to finish, and she did reduce the cost. But was it a good haircut...

I also happen to have a deadline Monday mornings. While most of my section was finished, I had some editing as well as layout to finish and it is all done by computer. So I headed to the nearest, powered, Starbucks to finish.

When I arrived home at 10pm, still no power in town. As I pulled in the driveway I saw flashlights shining in the master bedroom. Stephen was entertaining Jackson with the light. Wondering what he was still doing awake, I soon realized he was hopped up on ice cream cake. We had celebrated his 2nd birthday hours earlier and when we lost power, decided everyone could have a second helping of cake since it was going to melt. This didn't go over well in his little 26 pound body.

He also has an obsession with balloons. We know this. Every time we go to the grocery store, he begs for one. Darn Harris Teeter got the other kids so accustomed to getting a free balloon every trip, they never got obsessed. If only we had a Teeter closer, I would go just for the sake of avoiding the balloon meltdown. Or "boo" as Jackson calls them.

Well, we got him some balloons for his birthday celebration and between the sugar and obsession with sleeping with the balloons in his hands, he was a crazy man that night.

This fateful night, he also learned to climb out of his crib.

Life.is.over

We all finally fell asleep, Charlie and Jackson with Stephen in our room, Avery and I in Jackson's room, to the sound of the neighbor's generator cranking away.

Power is back on and life is somewhat normal, oh wait...I did mention Jackson has found his freedom. So, today he climbed out of his crib at naptime and hasn't looked back. I think freedom is overrated.