Pharaoh, Pharaoh

Our church does an excellent job of engaging the children through the preschool lessons on Sunday mornings. Its like vacation bible school but every single week.

Jackson routinely comes home with craft projects or trinkets that he totes around all week and this week was no exception. As we were eating lunch after church, Jackson was trying to fish something out of his pocket. After several minutes, he pulled out "Baby Moses", who is roughly the size of a goldfish.



When asked, he told us that it was Baby Moses and started talking really fast, explaining what we assumed was the story of Moses being sent down the river in a basket.



Seeing the size of our new little friend, I decided to make him his own Moses basket so that we would not lose him. Luckily for Moses, Jackson hooked him up with a micro-hot rod that Baby Moses could easily catch a ride on if he felt so inclined.



So far so good. As of now, Baby Moses slept with Jackson last night, has joined us for breakfast & lunch and even went to the gym with us this morning and is now quietly napping in Jackson's room.

Not one to miss a teaching opportunity, I found all the story books that we have that include the Baby Moses story. We read each one over and over, and then moved on to the Ten Plagues & Pharaoh. And of course the song "Pharaoh, Pharaoh" (to the tune of Louie Louie) rolls through my head and we YouTube it. Can you say OBSESSED? We have watched several renditions of the song & dance and Jackson can't get enough. I don't think I'm ever going to get that song out of my head. I'm considering teaching Jackson a dance to it and surprising Ben when he comes home tonight.

Anyways, come to find out...."Baby Moses" isn't really baby Moses. Baby Moses is really supposed to be Baby Samuel. And the kids aren't learning about Moses, their lessons are on Hannah. My friend Allison's little girl told her that her baby was Baby Jesus...at least Jackson's not the only one that may have to repeat 2-year-old Sunday School.


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The Noisy Rabbit

We recently joined a local farm co-op, The Noisy Rabbit and today I picked up our first produce basket.



I feel like I do a decent job of feeding our family somewhat healthy meals but no doubt our veggie intake will increase with a weekly supply of seasonal goodies. Each week I return the empty basket and pick up a freshly stocked one. Now all I need is someone to come help me clean & cook this stuff!

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8 Months Old

Last week, Weston had his 8-month birthday. He's grown so much this past month. His first two teeth have finally arrived and he's been babbling like crazy. He routinely says da-da but we aren't sure that he's associating it with his daddy yet. He loves to squeal and is quite loud most the time. He also says something that sounds like "em em" when he gets distressed and wants me to rescue him.

We've been much less cautious about introducing new foods to Weston as we were with Jackson. So far, he's tried bits of chicken and steak, yogurt, ice cream, pimento cheese, pizza, waffles, strawberries, and even a french fry.
{Wow, reading this list it sounds like we are raising America's Next Obese Baby but its not like he's eaten more than a few tiny bits of any of these foods.} He still nurses really well and gobbles up his baby food. He likes to self-feed lately so we've been letting him munch on cheerios, peas, beans, and suck.


While he's not crawling, Westie scoots around on his bottom sitting upright. He just uses his legs to propel him across the floor to get from point A to point B. He's much faster on the hardwoods than he is on the carpet. Its really precious. He's getting closer to crawling though, and once he gets the confidence to go for it, I think he'll be eager to be more mobile.

Westie is starting to copy us, too. If we clap our hands, he'll imitate us. Its really cute to watch Jackson bang on the table (I know, I know) and watch Westie mimic him in his highchair. They make each other laugh all the time and they seem to communicate pretty well. J will tell me that Weston wants his paci, or wants a certain toy sometimes.

We usually give the boys a bath together but lately I've given Weston his own bath with just 3 or 4 inches of water & let him lay on his back and just play. He loves to kick and splash and water on his face or in his ears doesn't seem to faze him. I can't wait to get him in the pool this summer.
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St. Simons

So after spending a long weekend with the Talberts, Ben went back home to go back to work on Easter Monday while the boys & I moved over to Dad & Linda's house. The recently bought a condo on St. Simons and we were excited to get the chance to spend some time with them while we were down there.

We got to see my brother in passing on day, and boy do these two love their Uncle Mikey!



Jackson got to swim in the pool with Poppy (yes, the water was cold!). On a different day, he convinced me to get in to catch him when he jumped in. Which I gradually did...it was freezing! And of course, he only jumped 1 time once he realized how cold it was.







We did lots of swinging at the park, eating ice cream and riding bikes.












And we got to play on the beach a few days, complete with Jackson riding the boogie board standing up.






On Wednesday, Dad & Linda were tied up with some to-do lists they had to finish, so I decided I would take the boys out & about solo. We do this at home all the time, I can totally handle them here. So I strapped Westie in his stroller and tied a rope to the back of Jackson's bike (like a leash) so at least I could jerk him back if he got to close to the road. And off we went, over to park & pier and the quaint little shopping village.



After lunch, I decided to venture down to the beach with the boys and I am so disappointed that no one took a picture of me being mother-of-the-year as I was driving the fully loaded golf cart on city streets, with Weston strapped to me in the Bjorn, Jackson sitting beside me with my right arm holding him tightly (yes, steering solely with my left hand) and our bags, stroller & water toys bungeed to the back of the cart. Total class. I am sure passersby were doing double takes thinking I was Brittany Spears with my baby riding in my lap and all.

But we made it 2 miles over to the beach and had a fantastic afternoon. I was expecting the worst -- fussy baby, whiny toddler -- but Weston took an amazing hour long beach nap and Jackson made friends with some little guys sitting near us so they played and played. And I unbelievably got to lay back and sunbathe for a few glorious minutes.





We also went on a walk collecting shells which J is finally at a good age for that. The birds were also a hit, and had a pretty good turnout when were starting throwing wheat thins into the sky.









And back at the condo, we were struggling with sleeping issues with the boys. All 3 of us were bunking up in a single room. Jackson does great in a big bed with me but likes to sleep clear in the middle and kick me all night. Weston was assigned to sleep in the pack-n-play however, that never happened because if he can smell me within a 12' radius he knows that "NuNu" is near & dear and starts piping up until he gets fed. ALL NIGHT LONG. So most of nights consisted of me and my 2 sweet boys snuggled up in a queen size bed, with me changing sides every few hours to keep my little suckling happy.



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Bunny Cake

I'm SO behind on my blogging that I feel like I'll NEVER catch up. I have about half a dozen posts I've already started but never finished so I guess thats a good place to start.

Jackson's preschool has various parents sign up for each holiday party. Our party was the Easter party, which was last week. A friend of mine, Alexis, habitually made "bunny cake" each & every Easter & had fun memories of bunny cake throughout her childhood. I decided to make Bunny Cake, which seemed manageable thanks to Pinterest & tons of inspirational pictures & tips.

However, I got mastitis two days before the Easter party. And I didn't just get it, I GOT it. As in high fever, chills, vomiting, you name it. Ben stayed home from work on Wednesday and the bunny cake components sat quietly in the kitchen, silently reminding me of my commitment to the 2-year-old class at preschool. (Of course I had already gotten the kids all pumped about bunny cake so I couldn't settle from bakery cookies).

So I managed to make a mediocre bunny cake. It didn't turn out as great as I had hoped but at least it got made. And yes, I know the mouth is off-center but I didn't have it in me to fix it. There's always next year!





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Beach Babies

You gotta love desolate beaches on un-commercialized islands.
Impromptu swimming + fully-dressed & wearing pull-up = soaking wet = naked baby
There are not many places these days that you can get away with nudity!












Westie got his first taste of sand & loved it.




More pics to come....
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Jesus Garden

Inspired by Pinterest, I set out to replicate this oh-so-cute resurrection garden.



Simple yet meaningful and pretty much "Missy proof" since I tend to kill most any plant I try to grow. It also gave me the context in which to explain Jesus' resurrection with a visual aide & Jackson genuinely knew what I was talking about because he started talking about the "boo boos on Jesus" {thanks to the amazing preschool Sunday school curriculum at Grace}

My helper preferred to drink water from the spray bottle rather than help make our garden.



Final result, prior to the grass growing in.






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Location:Oak Crove Island Dr,Brunswick,United States