Jackson's First Visit to Oregon

Sarah, Marty, and Jackson travelled to Oregon over Presidents' Weekend to introduce Jackson to Marty's father's side of the family. He spent the weekend getting to know (from left-to-right and back-to-front in the photo below) his Uncle Scott, his Aunt-to-be Lauren, his Second Cousin Chris, his Second Cousin-in-law Casey, Dad, Mom, his Great Uncle Jim, his Great Aunt Betsie, his Second Cousin Pat, his Uncle Ben, his Great Grandmother Bumpy, JiJi (Julie), and BoBo (Marty's dad).



Ben was very sweet to Jackson and even had a sign waiting for him at the airport that said "I'm your Uncle Ben".



Marty's dad and his grandmother Bumpy also really enjoyed getting to know Jackson.





The family was also surprised by the announcement that Marty's dad had bought a sailboat, a 36-foot Island Packet named Sea Otter. They already have plans to sail down to Mexico in 2007-2008.

Jackson is 2 Months Old

Jackson is two months old and he is a happy guy. He smiles and coos often and will “talk” in response to an adult’s voice. He says "goo" and makes vowel sounds. He has not quite laughed yet, but is very close. Sometimes when he is smiling he squeals.





This month Jackson has found his hands. He can finally control them. When he was a newborn he would start sucking on his fist, only to have it fly away, without his knowledge or control. He would cry in frustration when his hand was gone. Now he can move his hand easily up to his mouth. He cannot get to his thumb yet. However, it is only a matter of time before he discovers how to suck his thumb. For now he chews his whole fist, sometimes both hands at one time.



If you would like to see more pictures of Jackson, click the following link. This is a link to our photo website and features all of the pictures we have take under the category “Children.”

http://calmarty.smugmug.com/Children

Marty's Summer Job

Last week was rather stressful as Marty interviewed with several consulting firms for a summer internship. In the end, the best offer came from a consulting case competition, not an interview. Marty, along with teammates Jeremy Greenberg (left) and Bharat Sundaram (middle) won the Boston Consulting Group Case Challenge and the top prize was a summer internship offer from any US office. Marty will be working in the San Francisco office this summer. He is very excited about his new job!

Girls Night Out

Sarah had an official “Girls Night Out” on Sunday night. This was her first time leaving Jackson for more than a quick trip. She went to dinner with several friends at a Thai restaurant. The photo includes (from top left to right): Patricia, Nisha, Dawn, Devan and Sarah. Sarah dined on a delicious meal while Marty watched Jackson. All in all it was a great evening.

Grandma's Visit

This past week Grandma came for a visit. Sarah’s mom, aka Grandma, came on Tuesday, January 7, and stayed until Sunday, January 15. Grandma came at just the right time to enjoy Jackson’s newest skill: smiling.



Jackson also showed his Grandma around Philly. We toured Rittenhouse Square, went to the University of Pennsylvania campus, and visited several local restaurants. Grandma also gave Sarah and Marty an evening off. They went on their first “date” since the arrival of Jackson. Jackson was a perfect angel while mom and dad went out, and did not cry one bit.





Jackson loved visiting with Grandma. On her last day here he smiled nonstop while Grandma held him and said her goodbyes.

To see more pictures of Grandma’s visit go to the following link.

http://calmarty.smugmug.com/gallery/1127438

Jackson is 1 Month Old!

Jack seems to be a happy little guy. He enjoys kicking his legs and waving his arms. He carefully watches objects in motion. Jack loves his mobile, activity gym, and bouncy seat.





Jack also loves being on the go. He is most content in loud public places. Recently, he went with mom and dad to watch the Rose Bowl at the Public House in downtown Philadelphia. He slept peacefully through most of the game, not one single cry or fuss! Additionally, Jack enjoys cruising around in his stroller. He likes going to Rittenhouse square, the local coffee shop, church, and historic Philly venues. To celebrate his first month out in the world we took Jack to the Reading Terminal. This is an indoor market where fresh fruit, cheeses, meats, and Amish treats are sold. Jack enjoyed looking at the booths and people, then drifted off to sleep. Again, not a single tear!





Our greatest thrill is that Jack has begun smiling! He first smiled at dad, much to mommy’s dismay. He is especially happy in the mornings and enjoys his morning play time with dad (while mom catches up on sleep). Jack is the greatest blessing and we are celebrating one month with him!



To see more photos of Jack’s first dinner out, our trip to Reading Terminal, and Jack’s favorite time of day (bath time) click on the following link.

http://calmarty.smugmug.com/gallery/1106549

Happy New Year!

This is sure going to be an exciting year for our family. 2006 will bring about great changes as we watch Jack grow, Marty figures out where he will work and what he will do, and Sarah adjusts to being a “stay at home mom.” We are sure to have luck (again) this year. Several years ago our friend Courtney French (then Courtney Cook) introduced us to the old Southern tradition of eating black eyed peas on New Years to ensure good luck. Again this year, we ate our beans, toasted the New Year, and now we can’t wait to watch yet another year unfold.




Marty and Sarah are celebrating their 9th year together. New Year 1997 they decided to officially date and see where their relationship would lead. What an AMAZING and WONDERFUL 9 years it has been!

First Dinner Away

On December 30, 2005, Bharat and Anila invited us over for dinner. This was Jackson’s first dinner party. We enjoyed a nice evening out and Jack was a good guest. He slept peacefully while we enjoyed a delicious dinner.

Our 1st Christmas as "The Dillard Family"

This was our first Christmas as the Dillard Family! We enjoyed a quiet and peaceful Christmas. On Christmas Eve we enjoyed a walk through Rittenhouse Square. Marty made a delicious dinner. He made corned beef, cabbage, and potatoes. We also went to the Christmas Eve service at First Presbyterian Church. The service was long and after an hour of being a quiet participant Jack got hungry and began to fuss. However, he really liked the organ. It is amazing to attend a Church with such a long and rich history. Ben Franklin use to worship at First Presbyterian too.







Christmas morning we opened presents. Jack got a ton of gifts!!! Both mom and dad got Jack a Christmas shirt. The shirt from dad says, “Feliz Navidad.” The shirt from mom says, “Mommy’s little present.” He spit up on daddy’s shirt so the verdict is he likes mommy’s shirt better.





This was a wonderful Christmas. Unfortunatly our tree did not hold up for the big day. It was a total FIRE HAZARD!


To see more pictures of Christmas click on the following link.

http://calmarty.smugmug.com/gallery/1082493

Jack's First Bath

Jack’s first bath was a success. He was confused at first and cried a bit. However, once he felt the warm water he settled down and enjoyed his first bath. Nana was on hand to help out, Sarah was the assistant, and Marty documented the experience (even taking video).



We plan to show these pictures when Jack introduces us to his first date!!!



All clean and relaxed!



To see more pictures of Jack’s bath go to the following link.

http://calmarty.smugmug.com/gallery/1046704

Jackson's First Outing

Saturday, December 10, 2005 Jack crashed the Cohort D Holiday Party. Cohort D is the group of about 60 Wharton students that Marty is taking all of his first-year classes with.

The party was at Davio’s, an Italian restaurant about 6 blocks from our house. Jack feel asleep in the car and slept for the entire visit. Mom and Jack only visited for 30 minutes, but Dad stayed and had a night off.






Marty is proud of his cute boy!



To see more pictures of Jack’s outing go to the following link.

http://calmarty.smugmug.com/gallery/1031848

Welcome Home Jackson!

We brought Jack home on December 7 (his original due date). Jack, Marty, and Sarah are doing great. Grandma (Sue, Sarah’s mom) is here to help and Nana (Barbara, Martin’s mom) will be here soon.

We had to bundle Jack up because it was 34 degrees outside when we brought Jack home.





Tucker was very excited to meet Jack.





To see more pictures of Jack’s first day home go to the following link.

http://calmarty.smugmug.com/gallery/1025228

Jackson Thomas Dillard Has Arrived!

Jackson Thomas Dillard entered the world at 7:18 P.M on December 5, 2005. Jack weighed 7 pounds 5 ounces. He was 20 inches “tall".







To see more pictures of Jack’s birth and hospital stay go to the following links.

http://calmarty.smugmug.com/gallery/1021631

http://calmarty.smugmug.com/gallery/1021675

Any Day Now!

Today we visited Sarah's doctor and she said everything looked great and the baby will come any day! We thought we’d get one last picture of Sarah’s belly before the baby arrives.



For comparison, here is a picture of Sarah when she was 5 months pregnant. Same outfit, different belly!



As soon as the baby arrives we will let you all know. Thank you for all of your thoughts, prayers and well wishes!

Thanksgiving

Happy Thanksgiving! To celebrate Thanksgiving we invited several friends to dinner. We had traditional Thanksgiving fare. Marty brined our turkey. This means he soaked it overnight in vegetable broth. The turkey was very moist and delicious. Marty also made his special cheesy, garlic mashed potatoes! Sarah made traditional Southern-style white corn bread dressing. Our guests contributed to the meal also.



Anila made a delicious broccoli casserole and a sweet potato dish. Jody came to the rescue and made perfect gravy.



We had a total of 10 guests. Starting from the top right and moving counter-clockwise: Paul, Meme, Rodney, Anila, Albert, Jody, Doug, Liz and Sarah (Marty took the photo).



Happy Thanksgiving! Click the link below to see more pictures from Thanksgiving.

http://calmarty.smugmug.com/gallery/993960

First Wharton Hockey Game

Marty hit the ice for the first Wharton Wildmen hockey game of the season on Friday. The draft was held about a week ago and three teams of around 30 MBA students will play each other for the rest of the school year.



Marty's team lost the first game 4-2 but Marty played well on defense, stopping several scoring attempts and getting one of the assists for his team.

Countdown

One month to go!!!! On November 7th with just one month to go Dawn and Sarah went out on the town. They met up with other Wharton Partners at a piano bar. Unfortunately, because both ladies are in their last month of pregnancy, going out was more work than it was fun. Sarah and Dawn returned from the club less than 2 hours after they left. Sarah had a sore back and Dawn a sore throat.

Child Birth Class

This Saturday we took our "Preparation for Child Birth Class." The class was organized and taught at Pennsylvania Hospital. Pennsylvania Hospital was the nation’s first hospital! We took our class in the original hospital building.



We learned all about the birthing process. The best part of the class was when we learned relaxation techniques. The instructor taught back massage and hand and foot massage. Marty learned new techniques and refined his skills!