Little Buddies

We've gotten together with lots of great friends over the past few months and I keep forgetting to post pictures. So here's a little peak...

Slade had his 3rd birthday party in mid-March at a local fire station. The kids got to climb all over the truck and loved it! Followed by lunch and cake at Firehouse Subs.




One of Jackson's friends from preschool had a b-day party at Cold Stone in late April. It was fun seeing Jackson play with his friends from class!



Sally's kids came to stay with us for a few hours a few weekends ago. Jackson thinks Jay hung the moon and pretty much was his shadow all afternoon! Sally is expecting baby Lucy in August and Jackson keeps telling me he wants "a baby sister like Jay & Betsy." Well noted, Jackson. Well noted.



Jackson got to spend some time with one of his favorite friends Emerson last week too. These two play so well together and I've NEVER heard them argue or disagree. And Emmy calls him "My Jackson". Seriously the cutest thing ever.


We went over to see Betty Anne, Kade and new baby Avery last week and the boys had a blast dressing up like superheros and dragons while Betty Anne and I got to talk babies and just catch up.







And we've stayed cool by playing outside in the water toys already this year. We had a "water party" and picnic at Julie's and Jackson had a blast with Slade & Drew. It was awesome because we had the best time over there all morning and then J took an epic 3 hour nap that afternoon. And Weston of course was as laid back as ever.



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Family Photos

Being a sucker for Groupon deals, I had purchased a photo package back in the fall and finally got around to using it. The deal included a 1 hour on-site photo shoot plus the disc of high resolution images.

To set the stage, the time we scheduled the shoot was at 5:30 pm at Greer City Park. Yes, I know -- who does that with two young kids? Well, it was the only time she had available so I took it. Add to that a really windy day and two epically cranky children and we had a a total disaster on our hands.

Jackson is in a phase where he refuses to look at the camera; in fact, he intentionally turns the opposite way when we tell him to look at the camera. And the old "Look! Its Elmo!" trick no longer works.

Weston would not even let me put him down for her to snap any individual shots. And the only way I could get him to calm down was to nurse him...in front of Greer City Hall...at 5:30pm...with no nursing cover. Oh the things you do to keep kids happy. Thankfully Ben joined us and we were able to get some family shots.

After about 30 minutes she decided that she had "enough" footage to work with. I think she'd just had ENOUGH.

We got the disc of images today...and thankfully we got a few that we can work with. I had multiple outfits for the boys however she looked at me like I was crazy when I mentioned changing wardrobes.
{So I guess I'll have to sweetly ask BFF Alisha if she can re-color Ben's yellow shirt in the family shot so that there is contrast between he & J's shirt...}














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Love or hate?

Here's a typically morning in our house...no babies were harmed.

































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Dear South Carolina Dept of Revenue...

Being residents of the great state of South Carolina, we rightfully filed our state income taxes by the April 15 deadline. When our CPA did our taxes, we assumed we would not be getting a refund so we deferred from providing an account for direct deposit had we been due a refund. However, thanks to a new dependent and a few other loopholes, we were in a refund position, for which I was expecting to receive in the form of a check.
Well, today, this arrives in the mail:



Yes, tax refund debit cards. For your shopping convenience. As if everyone receiving tax refunds are chomping at the bit to go spend that money. I suppose this is a ploy to stimulate our economy and create consumers out of would-be savers. Urg. And to complicate things, no where on the document does it list the card balance, you must call in to activate the card and the SCDOR clearly states they will be receiving interest on all funds that sit in the account prior to being spent or withdrawn. Oh, and the cards expire 1 year from date of issue, so if you don't collect the refund in the next 365 days, the money is no longer yours. Really?!!??!
I'll have you know that I skidaddled over to Wells Fargo first thing this morning and cashed out my "refund debit card" for cold hard cash, which it immediately deposited in our money market savings where I could a) save it and b) collect my own interest on my own money.
Arghhhh government!!!!
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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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