The Boys and Me

3rd Annual P&B Christmas Reunion

2011-12-27T16:50:00.001-08:00

I am incredibly blessed to have a wonderful friend in Tiffany. Can it be that I've known her for almost 20 years? She is a sweet, beautiful, kind, hilarious, faithful, prayerful, godly and compassionate friend. And even though most of those 20 years we have been separated by age and different Sunday School classes, different colleges, hemispheres and now a few states, she is one of my closest friends. She is reminding me that the friends I have here in Savannah will not be lost once we leave. (Can you tell I'm a little sad to leave next week?)

Thankfully, Tiff and I are connected so that we get to see each other during the Christmas season when we're both home visiting family.

2009 each with one baby
2010 with our boys and one on the way for me

2011 now with two children each

What will next year bring?

Christmas Morning

2011-12-27T16:32:00.001-08:00

We spent the weekend with both sets of our family. We woke up in Grey at Grammy and Papa Bragg's house, had a good breakfast and devotional read by Papa, then upstairs to open presents.

Samuel got lots of cool things. He loves fire trucks this year!

Sweet Matthew got some new blocks to chew and drool all over.

And our sweet boy learned how to crawl after his new toys.

We then drove to Pops and Nana Smith's house to have dinner with my two brothers and families. We did get a big family picture, but I'll have to wait for Tabitha's copy of that.

I will admit, with the move and having Nathan live in Spartanburg and us here in Savannah, it didn't feel like much of a Christmas. However, I remember that baby Jesus was born to give a hope and a future for us all. Through his life and later death He is the greatest gift!

A List of Christmas Favorites

2011-12-20T06:48:00.000-08:00

Here's a simple list of our favorite things

Favorite Christmas Song
Jaymi: Mary Did You Know (I know, not a classic, but really powerful lyrics)
Samuel: Jingle Bells (I think he likes this one because it repeats these words all throughout the song.)

Favorite Christmas Decoration:
Jaymi: my mom's old nativity scene that we had when we were kids, oh and our monogramed matching stockings
Samuel: Christmas tree - he likes the lights, sadly though, we don't have one this year because of the move

Favorite Christmas Food
Jaymi: Pecan pie
Samuel: the icing on sugar cookies - hmmmm, can we say sugar hound?

Favorite Thing to Wear at Christmas
Jaymi: my new boots that I got for my birthday (thanks Target gift card)
Samuel: Spiderman shoes - basically his favorite thing to wear all the time...that and his spiderman underwear. He DOES NOT like his snowman sweatervest that I MAKE HIM wear to church.

Favorite Part of the Christmas Story
Jaymi: Mary pondering all of these things in her heart
Samuel: the angels telling the shepherds the good news of Jesus' birth. Our advent book shows a picture of the glowing angels blinding the shepherds. He thinks it's cool that they had to shield their eyes from the brightness.

We love our friends!

2011-12-10T20:15:00.001-08:00

For at least two weeks, Samuel has been anxious for our Christmas Cookie Party with his friends. I think Christmas is becoming his favorite season because I let him eat cookies.

Try one 4 year old, three 3 year olds, three 18 month olds and one 7 month old all decorating Christmas cookies. Well actually, it was these four little ones doing the decorating with one mommy doing baby duty and two other mommies doing cookie duty.

They did really well rolling peanut butter dough in sugar and then placing Hershey's kisses on top. Eating the fruit of their labor.

I later asked Samuel what his favorite thing about the day. He said, "My favorite thing waaasss...the running." Yes, afterwards, they all had fun running that sugar off in our backyard.

Merry Christmas, Friends!

We love our babysitters!!!

2011-12-10T19:33:00.001-08:00

I love these sweet women!!! I have never been so encouraged and challenged by such beautiful godly young women before. They are wonderful and I don't know what I would have done without them giving their time and energy to watch after my boys while I worked these past 3 years. Kay, holding Samuel, and her daughter, Anna, on the floor, have always welcomed my whole family in their home. I've learned a lot about giving and hospitality from these two Korean ladies. Anna took these fabulous pictures, too. Thanks, Anna!
Susan Liana is great with Samuel. She is gentle and kind and firm! What better qualities do you need with a 3 year old? When she walked in the door, he excitedly announced, "Mom, Susan Liana is here!" He loves her!
Someone snuck a little too much dough and chocolate kisses.
Ashlie is so beautiful! Not only on the outside, but is also so sweet. She comes so joyfully to our house and lovingly plays with Samuel and cares for Matthew. She once babysat for us a few days in a row. The next few mornings afterward, Samuel so sadly said, "Where's Ashlie?" He smiles so big when he sees her.
Susan Liana is fabulous! She cleans my dishes, does laundry and even has vacuumed and dusted while I've been away.

These girls are creative! I just dump the sprinkles on and move to the next. They separated out the colors and made designs on the cookies.

Little brother John Harvard and two friends came home from school and enjoyed the cookies, too. I taught Ben, on the left, 2 years ago when he was in 1st grade. And I used to take JH, in the middle, to school after dropping Samuel off at Kay's house. These boys are near and dear to my heart as well.

Molly Elizabeth loves to hold Matthew.

He smiles!

Playing army tanks while the girls are in the kitchen.

Thank you girls! We love you!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Merry Christmas!

Big Changes Around Here

2011-12-10T18:58:00.000-08:00

Well, the past month has been a whirlwind of a month!!! Here's the layout...

November 1 - Nathan sees a job posting on monster.com for a landscape supervisor position for the city of Spartanburg, SC. He submits his resume and applies for the job.

November 7 - They call him for an interview and schedule it for Wednesday. That night Nathan sits for review to become a deacon in front of our church's session and diaconate. This is after he completed a 17 page written exam from his 13 week officer's training class.

November 9 - He drives 4 hours up to Spartanburg for the interview. He sits in front of 4 board of directors. They say, "Welcome. Don't be nervous." He silently thinks, "Nervous? This is a piece of cake compared to what I just went through." He drives home that same day, calls me on the phone and says, "Pack your bags. We're moving to Spartanburg. I nailed the interview!" What?!

November 17 - He's offered the job. Has this been an answer to prayer - almost 4 years of prayer?

November 18 - He turns in his letter of resignation to his current employer. They counter with a significant pay increase.

November 19 - We drive to Spartanburg stopping at the interstates' rest stops to have lunch and later dinner. Yummy! Actually it was nice to eat packed lunches and picnic outside. Samuel thought that it was great! We drive around town because I had never been there before and wanted to get a glimpse of a place that my family might be living in.

November 21, 22, 23 - We PRAY, PRAY, PRAY!!!! We crunch numbers and decide that in the long run, the job in Spartanburg would be better for us. So...we decide to decline the pay increase and move. Wow!!!

November 24 - Thanksgiving Day! Great day with the Bragg family and my 33rd birthday. We also drove down to my mom and dad's house to say goodbye to my Grandma Betty. She had been suffering from chronic lung disease for 20 years and Alzhimers also.

November 27 - My grandmother passes. My dad was by her side holding her hand and saying goodbye. She went peacefully and for that I rejoice.

December 2 - Nathan's last day at The Landings.

December 3 - My grandmother's memorial service in Macon.

December 4 - After talking it over with our pastor and receiving council from him, Nathan is ordained as a deacon. Even though we are leaving, our pastor says that this will be for the church universal and not just our own. We do look forward to serving our new church - where ever that may be.

December 5 - Nathan finally finishes the arbor outside on our back porch. It only took a year and scrounging up the $100 to finish it, but it is beautiful. Selfishly, I am sad that we won't be able to enjoy it.

December 6 - Our house is officially for sale! Oh Lord, please guide someone to our home quickly.

December 8 - Nathan leaves for Spartanburg. We won't see him until Christmas. The boys and I are staying until Nathan can find a place for all of us to live. It was sad to say goodbye because we will miss him! But no time for tears. We had to rush out of the house for a Christmas Cookie Party at a friends' house for all of our babysitters. My sweet friend, Kay, offered her home for the party since my house was in the middle of boxes and sending off my husband. I actually scheduled this party way back in November before all of this came up and didn't want to cancel. We have such wonderful young ladies who watch Samuel and Matthew while I go to work, and I wanted to honor them and say thank you.

December 9 - Nathan starts his new job.

December 10 - I decide to decorate for Christmas even if we are in the middle of cleaning out and packing. Just small things like the manger scene and our stockings.

I go in and out of the reality of moving. I cried twice already in Bible study when I was telling everbody the news and to say thank you for their prayers. I've cried when Samuel says, "I don't want new friends. I want the old ones."

However, I know that God is directing us and he is with us. His name is Immanuel - God with us. And that makes me grateful and excited.

My two boys

2011-11-27T19:40:00.000-08:00

This one is growing up way too fast! He has my heart.

I get in as many squeezes while I can.

He loves to try to eat the food, spoon and suck on his thumb all at the same time.

Just soooooooo cute! I love him!!!

Thanksgiving 2011

2011-11-27T19:16:00.000-08:00

We are thankful for many things this year! We are thankful for the Lord's hand on us, His hand of saving grace and salvation through Jesus Christ, our beautiful church, our wonderful friends and our very giving family.

We drove to Gray on Wednesday night to be ready for Thanskgiving with Nathan's family. Marialyce basically brought all of the food. She is a very dear sweet sister with such a gift of compassion and service. It's been amazing to see her sweet family grow in the nuture and admonition of the Lord.

Kevin brought down their four-wheelers so the boys could ride through the trails Papa Bragg has cleared. Samuel, Matthew and Kristen had fun pretending they were riding too.

After dinner, we all enjoyed throwing the football around. Papa Bragg almost caught it. Sweet Cameron has such a tender heart for his little cousin. Samuel adores "Bo Bo".

My birthday was on Thanksgiving Day this year. Kristen has hers the day before mine, so we celebrated a joint birthday party with a yummy chocolate cake actually concocted by Devin.

The next day we enjoyed more time outdoors. And playing in the piles of leaves is always a favorite!

My Little 7 Month Old

2011-11-27T15:15:00.001-08:00

I mean can you just love him to pieces?

Handsome little fella!

We have pictures

2011-10-30T18:37:00.001-07:00

Happy Fall!

We are loving fall here in Savannah. My parents came down for the weekend to carve pumpkins with the boys.

Samuel showing off their creativity.

We later went to friends' house for some good fellowship, chili and to cheer our beloved dawgs onto victory!!! Go dawgs!

Good night sweet boy!!!

The boys have to snuggle every night before getting into their own beds.

Every Sunday morning, daddy makes pancakes and Samuel helps. Matthew just enjoyed being with Pops and looking around.

Nana found this great coffee mug and wanted a picture with her boys. Poor Matthew doesn't look happy though.

We're getting ready for our church's fall family fun night tomorrow night.

Samuel will be Peter Pan. He told me one day as we were playing outside. "Mama, daddy has to be Captain Hook and you have to be Wendy and Matthew can be little brother John."

We have friends that do a lot of colonial reinactments in Williamsburg, VA. They are lending us a "pirate" costume for Nathan. I have to find something to be Wendy and we already have sweet little PJs for Matthew. We'll see how it goes tomorrow night.

These are a few of my favorite things.

2011-10-22T15:12:00.000-07:00

While I'm waiting for dinner to cook (we're having beef stroganoff), I thought I'd write down a few favorite things which I love while they are on my mind.

1- Fall - It's my favorite time of year. Nathan and I just got back from a mini-date walking downtown and having coffee in Gallery Espresso. Savannah is beautiful - well, any time of year, but especially in the cooler temperatures and fall colors.

2- Homeschoolers - I love the freedom that homeschooling lends. Two of our best babysitters are homeschoolers, well, actually CollegePlus girls, and they are great to be available on short notice. And +++ they have a great, strong work ethic! Most of the time when I return, the dishwasher is unloaded, and a load of laundry is folded. That's all in addition to playing trains and cars and taking the boys outside. Fabulous girls!

3- Independent Presbyterian Church - Not only do we receive fabulous, strong Biblical teaching each time we attend services, but the fellowship is amazing. I can not tell you how much our church family has provided for us - a job, hand-me-down maternity clothes, toys, clothes for the boys - all on top of great friends. The body of Christ is amazing! Plus, the building of IPC is gorgeous and so historical. Lowell Mason, one of America's best hymn lyricists was a member. President Woodrow Wilson married a former pastor's daughter there. We even have a special room remodeled to look like the room where they married.

4- Krispy Kreme doughnuts. Mmmmmmmmmmmm, my husband actually makes fun of me because of my love for the chocolate covered creme filled doughnuts. I will down 3-4 in one sitting.

5- Target - Okay, who doesn't love this store!

6- Psalm 146:1-2 "Praise the Lord! Praise the Lord, O my soul! I will praise the Lord as long as I live; I will sing praises to my God while I have my being." This was my prayer earlier this week - that I would truly praise the Lord with all my being for as long as I live. I fall so short of this in my heart of hearts. I like verse 9a, too, "The Lord watches over the sojourners." Thank you God for watching over us as we sojourn through this part of life looking for a job and trying to manage a tight budget.

7- Long sleeve shirts - This is connected with #1. Fall weather is perfect for long sleeve shirts. They give me such comfort. Ahhhhh

8- Live performances - This is connected to #1 also. While we were walking around Savannah today, we walked through Ellis Square and City Market. There was a couple of guitar players in the plaza. It was fun to sit, listen and watch their facial expressions as they sang.

9- The color brown - I guess this is my favorite color, along with green and red, because most of my clothes are brown, green and red.

10- And from the title of this post, The Sound of Music, is one of my favorite movies.

Before I forget...

2011-10-19T06:16:00.001-07:00

...and run out of time, I should write down a few memories for posterity.

Samuel has been coming out with some great sayings lately.

- The other day at lunch, he looked through the kitchen window at the swing set. He very happily turned to me and put his hands in the air, cocked his head and excitedly said, "God gave me my playground!" "That's right buddy, and we should say thank you, huh?" "Yep. Dear God, Thank you for my playground." So he is listening when I tell him that every good and perfect gift is from God above.

- We were at the doctor's office the other week, and the doctor was asking how much milk Samuel drinks. Samuel deflects the question and answers, "Baby Mafew drinks mama's milk." pointing to my chest. Nice, kid, nice!

- I was sitting on the couch feeding Matthew when Samuel walks in with his Doggie (a stuffed Uga dog). "Mom, Doggie dus obeyed." I thought he was saying that Doggie "just obeyed," so I reply, "Oh, that's nice." "No, mom. He's bad. He dus obeyed." "Ohhh, what did Doggie do?" "He made George mad" (that's the Curious George doll) "He needs a spanking." Spank Spank on Doggie. Then he says, "Okay, Doggie, you go to George and say, I'm sorry. Now let's pray." At least I know now that from all of those times he gets into trouble for pestering his little brother he is remembering the protocol for reconciliation.

- We've made the switch for Matthew to sleep in the same room as Samuel - at least during the night. It hasn't worked very well for nap times, so Matthew still sleeps in our closet in the pack-n-play for his naps. I didn't get supper started until late the other day; therefore, we didn't eat until 8. Thus, putting the boys to bed at 9'ish. Still awake at 10, we begin laughing at this sound coming from the boys' room, "A, B, C, D...Q, R, S...W, X, Y and Z...aren't you proud of me!" This was not being sweetly sung but shouted from a certain 3 year old. From the 6 month old, we hear great angst, "Ahhhhh Ahhhhh." as if to say, "Help! Put me back in the dark, quiet closet! It's too loud in here. Help!" Eventually, after Daddy went in and corrected the certain 3 year old twice, everything got quiet. Both of them were tired and grumpy the next day. That'll teach me to put supper off until late.

- Samuel LOVES to read!!!! Actually, he's just remember the story from the many times I read the same story to him. I overheard him reading while sitting next to the bookshelf yesterday. He pulled one book after another off of the shelf and just sat and read aloud. It was sweet to see. I hope that he continues to enjoy the world of imagination and knowledge found in reading books.

As for Matthew, he'll be 6 months old tomorrow. Wow! Half a year old! We tried feeding him rice cereal for the first time the other night. At first he spit it out but then after he figured out how to swallow, he lunged toward the spoon wanting more. I HOPE AND PRAY that this is a good sign and we won't have to struggle with a picky eater again.

My what sleeping him on his tummy will do! He is quite a little scooter when placed on his tummy now. He can turn all the way around in a circle and loves to try to lunge toward his toys. He's gotten really good at flipping over from tummy to back and now recently back to tummy.

Sadly, we don't have a camera any more. I hope that we can get a new one at Christmas. But more than anything I hope and am seriously praying for a better job for Nathan by Christmas. We would love to stay in Savannah, mainly because of our great church, but really, if he gets a job anywhere, we'll move.

So that's why there has been no pictures recently. Just words that will hopefully help recall great memories seared into our heads.

Hostessing

2011-09-29T09:30:00.000-07:00

Okay, I'm realizing that I'm very pretentious. I like to pretend that I'm one person but really I'm not. (Rabbit trail...Have you ever seen the movie, "Ladies Man"? It's a really stupid SNL sketch type movie that my college roommate and I stayed up one night 'till 2AM watching just to laugh at a few funny one liners. In it, this guy brings fake flowers to his date. He says, "They look and smell real but really they're not." Well, I'm very much like the fake flowers. I like to portray that I look and smell really organized, smart, pretty, etc. but really, I'm not. God is gracious, patient and loving to me and is peeling this horrible sin away from me. It actually feels good to let it go. So this is more of a journal entry than a post, I guess. Bear with me.

I've always been shy and, well, fearful, to play hostess. I've worried of what people think of my house. "What will people say about the dust? (Because I HATE to dust.) Will they like the food? Will they think my house is nice? Will they still like me even though our bathroom has horribly ugly wallpaper left from the previous owner of the house? Is my neighborhood nice enough?" Stupid, stupid, stupid thoughts. Sinful, really.

I mentioned that I had been reading, Your Home, A Place of Grace. There is a chapter about opening your house to guests, and it is great! Hosting will not only show others grace but will teach your children how to think for others and serve other people. When I read this I was truly convicted. So after some confession and prayer, out came the invitations.

A friend, who I once worked with, has four children - 2 in school and 2 still at home. "Would you like to come over? Samuel and Matthew would love to play with your two little ones, and I would love to sit with some coffee and talk." "Sure! We'll be there at 9." "Great!"

So this morning, I had plans to rise early, read my Bible, make sure everything is spic-n-span, bake muffins, get the coffee ready and all the while feeding, clothing and making sure two little boys were smiling and in great moods. Ha! God has a way of humbling me.

I didn't get out of bed at 5AM like I wanted. But 6:30 instead.

I didn't have a very happy 3 year old. Frankly, he woke up way too early and refused to go back to sleep. I finally had to just lock him in his room. (It's a great trick...turn the door knob around so the lock is on the outside. Sometimes it saves us great angst when I'm grumpy myself and can't deal with a grumpy 3 year old. Time and space away does a body good...for everyone.)

I only was able to clean the dishes from last night and sweep the floor from the crumbs still out from yesterday morning.

I didn't get a shower but literally threw on some old clothes, brushed my hair, smeared some make up on. "It'll have to do," I said.

I didn't get to make muffins but did experiment with making scones. Not bad.

I was able to spend some time reading my Bible and praying...only a few minutes while a 3 year old was watching Curious George at 7AM.

At 8:30, I had to deal with a potty mess, a crying hungry baby and a little boy who changed his mind about eating grits. Instead, he decided to sit at the table pouting. Hence the part where he was locked in his room.

Finally at 9:00 when I heard the knock on the door, I turned around and said, "We'll enjoy ourselves....Come in"

And we did. Even though we both had to interrupt our conversations to correct our children, wipe away tears and snotty noses, it was nice and encouraging.

I'm learning that life is too short to be afraid of what people think. My God has said, "Rejoice always! I say again, Rejoice." He loves a cheerful giver...not a perfectly neat and tidy one, just a cheerful one.

As our company left, Samuel and I walked them out to the car and said, "Thank you for coming over. We enjoyed it." The boys were even yelling goodbye from the porch and the car several times. It was fun to see my son learn, 32 years earlier than me, how to be a gracious host. Maybe with the next guest, we'll have real flowers.

Kids Say the Darndest Things: Part II

2011-09-16T12:03:00.000-07:00

Samuel ceases to, not necessarily amaze us, but amuse us. Lately, we've been laughing at him when he's playing pretend.

...I overheard him playing with his trucks and telling them "I told you, listen!" Gee, I wonder where he's heard that before?
...We've been going to the Chick-fil-A drive-thru almost every Wednesday. Nathan has officer's training class at church on Wednesdays at 5:30 and I usually take the opportunity to go into town to get a few errands done. So we take the easy way out and get fast food. This last time I was ordering, Samuel was in the back seat saying, "I'd like chicken nuggests please" shouting to the drive-thru speaker.
...Today he was playing with a pretend cash register. I walked out of the room and heard him say, "Yes, I'd like a number 2 please." Oh brother, I guess we go through the drive thru a bit too much.

And we wonder if all of our pressure we put on him is getting through. He's been bashful to speak to adults at church in the past few months. We've had to work on him about looking people in the eye and saying, "Hello. Nice to meet you." Today I had to take the boys to school for a bit and he, without hardly any prompting, spoke straight to the adults we came across and even introduced his little brother. "This is baby Mafew."

Thank you God for convincing us that perseverence in training to listen and using manners will pay off. This past year, we were wondering if it was ever going to bear fruit. It's beginning to bud. Sigh! :)

Just Pictures

2011-09-12T18:57:00.001-07:00

You say Goodbye, I say Hello

2011-09-12T17:42:00.001-07:00

I guess summer is technically over. August marks the...

- end of our church's evening services at Pt. Pleasant. Goodbye marsh view, chasing fiddler crabs with Samuel, catching fish off of the dock (Nathan caught a sting ray a few weeks ago!!!), singing acapella to old hymns (It is Well With My Soul makes me cry with such gratitude for Jesus' sacrifce everytime), wonderful relaxed fellowship, and serve yourself style food. See our church cook's blog for visual aids.
- end of quick trips to the beach.
- end of our tiny summer garden. Goodbye yummy home grown tomatoes. Goodbye non-scheduled days to stay in our pajamas until lunch time. And hopefully soon, please God!!!, goodbye pesky mosquitos.
- beginning of a new school year. Since I was an education major in college and have become a teacher and now part of an administrative staff, I've pretty much been on a school schedule since I was in preK. August has been CA-RAZY!!!! as far as getting ready for school. As far as that goes, I'm glad that it is over.

Now, since Labor Day, we've been enjoying lovely cool days of 80 degree weather. My friends in Chicago think that's still hot. But ohhhhh, what a wonderful and refreshing break it has been. Here in south Georgia we run HOT!!!! We had over 90 days of temperatures above 90 (heat index was in the 100's for a lot of those days). Ugh!!!

Daddy filled the sand box with lots of new sand. We've enjoyed playing, and yes with the second child, I'm not fearful of sand on the hands and then in the mouth. Builds a strong immune system.
We've taken several walks around the neighborhood since I finally figured out how to open and close the double stroller. This is a whole new thing to learn how to guide Samuel in...how to be gentle with his brother but yet still "play" with him. A gentle but good "boy" hug was a great accomplishment on this day. I pray they will continue to love each other. Samuel has recently been able to get Matthew to laugh at him. Matthew will follow Samuel with his eyes and adores him. I'll take any advice on how to foster and nurture this sibling love rather than allow sibling rivalry to raise its ugly head in our home. Well, it's almost complete. After about a year of construction, our back porch awning is just about done. Samuel was helping daddy measure and cut on this day. We all love to swing and play 'helicopter' on the playset. My sweet friend, Ginger, had to work a couple of days in a row at the hospital and we got to play with her three kids both days. We had a great time being outside - running, throwing the ball and playing in our own makeshift water slide. Samuel is 6 weeks older than Ginger's daughter. You can see them back here during their first Halloween.

I told myself that after Labor Day I would start working with Samuel on a homeschool curriculum (same one that Amber used...thanks, Amber). But that hasn't exactly happened yet. I'll have to put it on my calendar for next week.

I've been wanting to do more reading...you know in my free time in between working, grocery shopping, being with my boys, working, laundry, dishes, laundry, paying bills, dishes, oh, and did I say, laundry. Well, a little bit here and there will have to do. I'm almost finished reading The Grapes of Wrath. I'm ashamed to say that I only read bits and pieces of this in high school but read the cliff notes more. And I'm probably again ashamed to say that I've been reading slowly through this book- for real this time, no cliff notes - ever since 2003! What!? 8 years!?!! Yep!!! But I'm just about finished. Because Steinbeck is sooooooooo gravely detailed in his writing, I always remember what's going on in the story right where I left. And since we've gone through tough financial time in our lives, I appreciate that generation that went through an even tougher time. It makes me thankful for what we have now. I've also recently picked up Susan Hunts, Your Home, A Place of Grace. Good stuff!!!! After I digest this one a bit, I'll have to tell you about it.

So goodbye summer! Hello...
...college football!!!
...leaves that change color.
...cool Sunday evening fellowship time on our church lawn watching the kids play (and not getting pummeled by the 10 year olds).
...swinging on our new back porch swing. (hopefully soon!)
...seing my brother, Mark, who just got back from Afghanistan.
...and more sweet times and memories with my family.

Curious George

2011-08-06T12:15:00.001-07:00

We met one of our favorite storybook characters, Curious George!!! Barnes and Noble hosted a special story time with a local author and a world famous monkey.

At the beginning of the story time, Samuel was all about getting close to George. But after you pack about 40 kids and parents in a tight space it was pretty hot. I drug him in line anyway to get a picture. Step out of that comfort zone, kid.
You can see a white and blue shirt kid in the bottom right corner, Samuel.

It has been HOT, HOT, HOT, STINKIN' HOT outside. We don't really go out to play, so the other day the boys did pretty good playing and reading books together. I will confess, I've been letting Samuel watch a ton of TV lately. So much so that when we drove past Chuck-E-Cheese today, he said, "PBS Kids". That's from the commercial, "Chuck-E-Cheese is a proud sponsor of PBS Kids." Nice!

Matthew is growing so much. He likes to laugh and try to grab for things. We love him!

My friend, Ginger, made this adorable smock for Samuel's birthday. We love it and the new paint set, too. Isn't she clever?

Homemade Pizza

2011-07-22T13:07:00.000-07:00

Our wonderful Church Cook is not only a great chef but dear friend of ours. When I think of someone who gives selflessly and works diligently to serve the Lord and His flock (literally and figuratively), I think of Kay Heritage.

She has become quite a foodie blogger too. She just finished a taping of a cooking episode for Paula Deen's Real Women of Philadelphia (Philadelphia Cheese that is). They filmed it in Paula Deen's condo in downtown Savannah. Kay fit right in with other wonderful cooks.

She posts great recipes on her blog and I found this one. It is actually a recipe from another friend and member of our church who is also a chef for the Pirate's House (restaurant and place where Pirates, including Black Beard supposedly roamed during the old shipping days).

Homemade BBQ Pork Pizza.

I tried it and it was a hit with both Samuel and Nathan. Super easy to make and great for a certain 3 year old to help.
While cleaning out the kitchen a few weeks ago, I found this rolling pin. Sweet! We made the dough and spread it out with this roller.
We spread BBQ sauce over the dough. I found that the more sauce the better. Mmmmmm.

Samuel likes just sauce, cheese and bacon pieces. Oh it was so good. Nathan likes mushrooms, onions and tomatoes. Really any toppings you like is good on this dinner meal.

Yummers!

Happy Birthday Samuel

2011-07-22T12:44:00.001-07:00

Can it be real that we have a preschooler in our midst? Time is going by way too fast. Samuel turned 3 years old yesterday.

We had a nice and relaxing day...got to play with a new wheelbarrow by collecting rocks, go to the library, drive the race car buggy at the grocery store, make and eat homemade pizza, and enjoy some yummy cupcakes.

I bought these cute matching shirts for the boys at Coastal Kids Mart before Matthew was born. I wanted to wait until this summer for them to wear it because we have a 3 year old and a 3 month old. Hopefully, I get some really great pictures out on the beach this afternoon.
We were going to have some friends over for Samuel's birthday, but there has been a breakout of foot and mouth disease at the church nursery. So hopefully we can celebrate with friends next week.

Tomorrow we are going to Splash in the 'Boro which is a water park in Statesboro. We wanted to take Samuel to, yes, Tiff, the Georgia Aquarium, but couldn't do it financially this year. So we'll settle for the 'boro.

Matthew is 3 months

2011-07-22T12:22:00.001-07:00

Our little sweet Matthew turned 3 months on Wednesday. We love him even more. He loves to "talk" to his Daddy. When Nathan comes home he kick his legs with excitement and "coo coo coo squeal coo". He loves his big brother and often smiles when Samuel walks over to say hi. Samuel has grown in being a good big brother. He'll respond to Matthew's coos by saying, "We hear you sweet boy." I hope they continue to grow to love one another.

Matthew LOVES LOVES LOVES to suck and munch on his fists and nuckles. Once when he was nursing he tried to get his fist in his mouth, too. Sorry kid, can't have your cake and ice cream at the same time. He makes grunting noises when he apparently is especially enjoying his fists. Nathan and I get a huge kick out of him. We love laughing at the goofy things our boys do.

He can hold his head pretty straight now. And with support he puts a lot of pressure on his legs to stand. He's been to the beach three times already which is much more than we ever did with Samuel. Funny how things are different with the second. Perhaps that's why Samuel is hesitant in a lot of areas. Poor kid was held back by his very reserved mother. And maybe that's why the second born is more adventurous than the first (even as an adult, I know it's at least the truth in my family with me and my brother).

We love you sweet Matthew. You are becoming more of a gift every day!

Baptism and Birthday

2011-07-14T20:57:00.001-07:00

Our summer gets better and better.

Sweet Matthew was baptised into the covenant family of God last Sunday. We pray that God would grow him to love the Lord Jesus with all of his heart, mind and strength and to love his neighbor as himself.
This was our family on the day Samuel was baptised three years ago.

The two Stephens. Matthew's middle name is after my dad.

Papa Bragg's birthday was on Monday. We made home made peach ice cream and peach cobbler. He and Grammy wanted to go to the beach, so we ate dinner on Tybee Island and had fun in the waves.

Friend

2011-07-07T11:55:00.000-07:00

While we were in Macon two weeks ago, we met Tiffany and her sweet family at Chick-fil-A. Since neither of us have lived in Macon in a while, we were at a little loss of places to hang out that were kid friendly and out of the heat. So Chick-fil-A it was. It had a inside play area.

Maybe someday we'll share grandkids from Matthew and her little girl. Te he he he :)

While at "Chick-la-lay," as Samuel calls it, he enjoyed a nice milkshake. Yeah, we pretty much couldn't get his attention on anything else beside that. And I got to give a few kisses to Eli - sweet little boy. He's so loveable!!!

Airplane/Gospel Thursday

2011-07-02T10:58:00.001-07:00

I think I've caught an adventure bug. I am pretty much a homebody. Perfectly content on being my introvert self staying at home, reading a book either to myself or to my kids. I think I've passed that onto Samuel because the other day when I asked him if he'd like to go outside to play he simply said, "No. Let's read a book." I think he'll be like me a book worm - looking for adventures within books. Maybe Matthew will be like Nathan and want to go outside for the adventures.

So, I got a little convicted on not getting out of my comfort zone and introducing excitement and adventures to the boys. I thought of my sweet Grandma Hoeme. When we would spend the summers with her in Colorado, she set a ritual of doing one exciting thing per week. The other days, we had to just be kids with riding our bikes, reading books or playing games around her house. We would either go to the movies, go bowling, or drive up for a day trip into the mountains. Those were special exciting times. I like that routine...one adventure per week with the other days using one's own self of discovery and imagination.

We live in a wonderful city (actually 20 miles outside of a wonderful city), Savannah. If you use your imagination and are wise with your money, you can do a lot of things without spending a lot of money. On Thursday, I took the boys to the Mighty Eighth Air Force Museum which is actually in our community - just a few miles away from our house. As you walk in the foyer you see these statue busts of famous WWII generals. This one is of Jimmy Stewart. Yes, the famous actor from It's A Wonderful Life. He was a Brigadier General during the war in the US Air Force.

Inside, there is a B-17 which is under restoration.

Samuel was fascinated by this plane. He wondered why it was "stuck".

What little boy isn't enamored by fire trucks? An old WWII USAF fire truck.

A model of a factory after a bombing. The puffs of smoke were pretty cool.

Later outside we saw planes that were flown in Vietnam.

This museum reminds me of the Warner Robins Air Force Museum that we used to go to on field trips at school and with our family. I remember my brothers thinking the planes were so cool. I didn't think much of the exhibits back then. Now, as an adult, I appreciate the history and the sacrifice that my grandpa and his whole generation did for our country and the world. I'm so glad that I got to share that piece of history with our boys. In fact, oddly, when we walked through some exhibits with pictures of Hitler, Samuel asked who he was. How do you explain who Hitler was to an almost 3 year old? I told him that he was a very bad man. He told me later while we ate lunch that "Hitler went to jail." Not exactly, son. I'm glad that he understands that bad people go to jail. But that led me to tell him that because Hitler didn't have Jesus in his heart he went to hell which is a very bad place apart from God. In his little eyes, I could see him thinking. He responded, "Oh." I pray that the Holy Spirit works on his heart to fully grasp the depth of the gospel. That apart from Christ we all deserve hell. It is through His grace that we can live with God for eternity.

Who would have ever thought that this trip would bring out the gospel message.

For from Him, and through Him and for Him are all things. To Him be the glory forever! Amen.

Romans 11:36

Making Memories

2011-07-02T08:25:00.000-07:00

We met Nathan after work yesterday and headed to the beach. It was the perfect evening to end the day after he had been away from us and worked so hard. He said that it rejuvenated him so much. Since Samuel isn't afraid of the water anymore, he raced into the water. Our little boy sure has grown up since last year. He was deathly afraid to get his big toe wet last year.

We're starting Matthew out young. His little chunky self experienced the ocean for the first time. As we rolled out over the sand dunes, he cooed loudly at the brisk ocean breeze and began to kick his legs at the sound of the crashing waves. Once Nathan dipped him in a little, you could tell from his face that he wasn't too sure about it after all.

This random man came up to us and offered to take a family picture. He said that he now has a seven year old and remembers the days of sharing the camera and the kids. That was so kind of him.

Two perspectives from our two boys. One welcomed God's wonderful and vast creation with open arms. The other konked out and decided to be excited when he gets older.

2 Months

2011-06-29T10:19:00.000-07:00

Our sweet little Matthew is 2 months old now. He has been quite a trooper.

As you can tell in this picture: putting up with his big brother who ALWAYS wants to pat his head. All I have to say, Samuel, is watch out for pay back.

He's been sleeping really well as this photo at the reunion Saturday shows.

Eventually, because of the heat, we stripped our babies down to just a diaper. Nothing is cuter than a fat baby in a diaper.

He has started to focus on a few toys. And he smiles when I talk to him. Ahhh, that sweet bond between a mom and a baby! Love it!

He's so laid back.

I love his sweet coos and how he bobbles his head around. He looks JUST like his daddy...even the goofy smile.

He had his check-up yesterday and weighed in at 14 lbs and 5 oz. (A whole pound bigger than brother at this age.) He's 25 inches long. He had some shots yesterday so poor thing has been sleeping now for almost 4 hours. Sweet little boy! We love you!

We Jump for Joy in June

2011-06-29T09:39:00.000-07:00

We have had a great and glorious past two weeks with Samuel. It seems like he has grown up so much! I think we have finally potty trained him. Besides a few accidents, he can go to the potty by himself now. PRAISE THE LORD!!!!!

And that's not really even the big news. This past week we went to Nathan's family reunion. His grandmother came from a family of 11 children. None of those 11 are still living but every June all of the cousins and distant relatives get together at Lake Sinclair. Despite the upper 90 degree weather, it was a BLAST! Samuel got to play with his cousins and over come some fears.

It started like this......just looking at the water.

Then we actually got him close to the water.

Little by little his fear of water went away. He loved splashing with his cousin Liam. Oh what fun!

Then, he actually walked out to daddy. What did the trick was little brother Matthew. I was holding Emmalee's baby so I couldn't take pictures. Nathan got Matthew and splashed him in the water just a bit. Samuel saw little brother and practically ran out to his daddy...can't let little brother beat him at anything.
Then later, his Aunt Marialyce took him out the boat. I stood on the dock taking pictures and he shouted, "Mama! I, I, I on a boat!!!!" He was sooooooo excited! They came back, and he was so excited to tell me what he saw on the boat ride.

With 15 people in the house it got a little crazy, but I wouldn't trade it for anything. I love this huge family! We missed 4 of them, Annalisa and her family.

And I love the fact that both Samuel and Matthew have cousins their same age to play with.

Kicking Legs

2011-05-29T16:10:00.000-07:00

The Happenings of May

2011-05-29T15:50:00.001-07:00

We've enjoyed our month of May. Nathan and Samuel have built many fine "buildings." This is Samuel's roadside stand. He sells some mighty good ice cream.
Nana and Pops came to visit us.

Little Matthew has grown so much.

Pops loves this little boy.

Nana had fun playing cars with our big boy.

And lovin' on Matthew too.

I'll have to get a better picture of just Matthew for his 1 month picture. Big brother wants to be around little brother all the time. (We're in the midst of potty training...hence the almost bare 2 year old.) This was Samuel at one month. He's so much skinnier than Matthew is. Matthew has already outgrown this onesie.

Meeting the grandparents

2011-05-10T20:12:00.001-07:00

My mom was able to come down the day Matthew was born. My dad had to stay at home to care for my grandmother though. So we traveled to Jeffersonville on the Monday after Matthew was born to introduce him to Pops, who he is named after.

Nana and Pops Smith with their newest grandson.
Proud grandparents. Papa and Grammy Bragg were able to come to our house on Tuesday to meet the little fella.

Samuel enjoyed playing with all of his family during the whole excitement!

Brothers

2011-05-10T19:52:00.001-07:00

Having a sibling is such a special thing. Here are pictures of when Samuel and Matthew met.

In the hospital. Nana helping Samuel hold little brother.

"Hi baby Mafew!"

Back at home giving some love.

Remembering to be gentle.

So much for the gentle part. Squooshing his head and cheeks.

So proud to be brothers...at least on Samuel's part. I'm not quite sure that Matthew likes it.

Sweet kisses.

Learning again to be gentle.

Hugs!

Easter Sunday

2011-05-10T19:32:00.000-07:00

Our computer crashed and died right after Matthew was born. We finally got it back from getting fixed, so now I can post pictures of our sweet little baby boy.

These are on Easter day. Matthew is 4 days old. Nathan and Samuel went to church while Matthew and I stayed home, along with my mom. Although, his bilirubin test at the hospital passed the jaundice test, he seemed a little dark to us. So I took him outside for some good vitamin D and a photo shoot. I think he was a great little model.

Through the sacrifice of Jesus on the cross, we have been so blessed this Easter to have such gifts and freedom. I am glad that we serve a risen Savior!

The Full Moon Night

2011-05-06T09:40:00.000-07:00

Finally, I have a moment to sit down and tell the story of how Matthew came to meet us.

Monday, April 18, I went to the doctor for a check up. He told me, "Oh, you're ready. He could come tonight. But if not, would you like to get induced? I can do it either Thursday or Friday." I was really looking forward to our church's Easter egg hunt on the coming Saturday so I asked if we could do an induction on the Monday after Easter. The appointment was made for Monday, April 25 at 5AM.

I went home and worked on cleaning the house thinking, "Okay, something could happen tonight. Woohoo!!!!" However, nothing happened. All of my excitement was for naught.

On Tuesday, April 19, I had already scheduled to pick up a friend's son while she and her husband moved into a new house. Samuel is best buddies with this kid, so I wanted them to get to play together. They had such a fun time! By this time I was getting disappointed because I wasn't feeling any contractions and nothing else was going on. So I was psyching myself up for another induction. I went ahead and told my friend that "I really don't think anything is going to happen tonight, so why don't you let James spend the night and that way you won't have to worry about taking care of him and settling into the new house that night." So we had two little boys that night. It was fun!

After watching Dancing With the Stars, I drifted off to sleep. At midnight I woke up and realized that my water had broken. "What?!?!?!? Okay, this was it. Okay!" Nathan had fallen asleep on the couch watching the news, so I woke him up with our news. He told me later that his first thought was, "What? The shower water had broken?....ohhhh, YOUR water had broken. OH!" I wasn't feeling any pain, so I had to think through the plan....call doctor...pack a bag (oh, I was going to do that the next day)...call my friend to arrange for her to pick up her son...call our neighbors to get Samuel...call my parents. We didn't call Nathan's parents because we were thinking that we would be at the hospital for a long time and would get to call them in the morning and not wake them up right away. Thankfully, this part when smoothly.

We arrived at the hospital at 1:30AM on Wednesday, April 20, and they immediately hooked me up to fluids. I was just starting to feel a little uncomfortable but nothing serious at all. After a few hours though the pain started to intensify but still bearable. The on-call doctor came in at 5AM. I was 8cm already! He said, "Do you want an epidural? You might as well do this by yourself. You're almost there." My quick response was, "No, I want an epidural!" He said, "Well, let me go catch the anasthesiologist. She's about to get into a C-section. Let me see if she can come down to you before that." He rushed out and then nurse started scurrying around getting ready for the baby.

At this point, I was grabbing hold of the sides of the bed and just trying to breathe through each contraction. Nathan tried to ask me something and I told him, "Don't talk to me right now." I couldn't focus on anything else. It turns out that the anasthesiologist had already started with the C-section and couldn't get away. So an hour later, still with no epidural at 6AM I was in full blown 10cm hard labor and in the most excruciating pain ever!!!! The doctor asked if I still wanted an epidural and I groaned, "YES!!!" So in the middle of a contraction I had to lean over the bed so the anasthesiologist could insurt the needle into my back. All the while they're telling me not to push. Ha!!! Try telling that to the baby who was obviously coming regardless of what the doctors wanted. He came 5 mintues later.

The scary part happened in those next 5 mintues. The baby's heart rate dropped from 130 to 55! The doc looks at me and says, "We've got to get this baby out NOW! PUSH!!!" They put an oxygen mask on me and call in some more nurses. I'm trying to push and the doc and nurses tell me I'm not doing it. I look over at Nathan and he's ghost white. He tells me, "Honey, push like you've never done before." The nurse is grabbing my hand and telling me with a drill instructor's voice, "Honey, GRIT your teeth and push that baby out!" So with all my might, I push. Still nothing. I hear a suction noise. The doctor had to use the vacuum to suction the baby's head out. One last push and he's out." Matthew was born at 6:23AM.

When he came out, he was ghost white and had the umbilical cord wrapped around his neck twice. It took him a second to cry and then it was only a weak little one at that. The nurses take him and start to clean him off. He slowly turns from white to blue to purple and then SLOWLY to pink. They lay him on my chest and he immediately pinks up as he looks into my eyes and gives the sweetest coos ever imaginable. So sweet!!! Thankfully, Nathan got a picture of that which I will cherish forever. Sorry, not going to post that here.

The doctor wanted to watch him for a bit to make sure everything was okay, so they take him to the special care unit. Nathan goes with him. I'm sitting in the room by myself and start to feel cold and very light headed. I laid my head back before I passed out but was starting to black out a little. I tell the nurse and she sees my blood pressure had dropped to 55/30. Whoa! Very low! She immediatly puts some blankets and the best hospital socks ever on me. She got me some fruit to eat, and then I started to feel better.

So whoa! It all happened so fast. The hospital was hopping that night with deliveries. 17 babies were born just in that day. 21 were born the next day. It's the full moon. There is stronger gravitational pull on the Earth on full moon nights and L&D nurse friends of mine swear that things get super busy on those types of night. I guess it's true. It shows how amazing all of God's creation is.

We are delighted that everything turned out okay and Matthew is fine. He has been such a sweet baby and relatively easy to care for. Being a parent for the second time is sooooooooo much easier than the first. We're so much more laid back and not stressed out like we were with Samuel. It's been fun.

Samuel is slowly adjusting to being a big brother. He has become super hyper in trying to get attention though - especially when people come over to visit and meet the baby. In fact, he was running a truck through the hallway the other day when we had company. I stuck out my foot to try and stop him (after I had already told him to stop and calm down a little) and he swerved to try and miss me but caught the corner of my foot. He did a nose dive, or rather, tooth dive into the floor. A good corner section of his left front tooth chipped off. I'll have to show a picture later. So we're trying to adjust to having two boys.

Thus, the name of the blog has changed. I'm really outnumbered here in this house. It's just the boys and me. I don't mind that much.

To My First Born

2011-05-03T10:42:00.000-07:00

Dear Samuel,

Things have really changed around here, haven't they? In no time at all little brother Matthew came into our lives. You have done such a great job adjusting to being a big brother. You have loved baby Matthew from the moment you saw him.
That fills your daddy's and my heart immensely! Our prayer is that you all will love one another deeply and spur one another on toward love and good deeds in whatever walk of life the Lord has planned for the two of you.

Since so much has changed and so quickly, I wanted to write you a letter to let you know how much I love you! You are my first born. You will always hold a special place in my heart. No matter how many children your daddy and I have, you will always be our first. That is something special. We were able to experience everything with you for the first time. And oh what joy it was to watch you come into this world, laugh, crawl, walk, talk and play - all for the first time. Everything you do is so new to us and we love learning about raising a little boy from you.

We love your creativity and imagination. We love your sense of humor. We love your deep southern accent and how you cock your head to the side when you are saying something serious. We love your smile. We love how you love your doggie literally to bits. (The poor thing needs to get a new shirt already.) We love how you fold your hands and squint your eyes really tightly when you pray. We love how you play trucks and how you can tell us all the different sounds various types of trucks make. We love how you can spot a tractor while we're in the car from a mile away.

I can tell though that you've changed since Matthew came into our lives. You want to get a lot of attention. I don't blame you. It was just you and me around the house for your whole life. But now you have to share us with someone new. We adore and cherish Matthew and you both so much. Be patient and we'll all get used to one another again and get into a good routine soon.

Your daddy and I will make a ton more mistakes now that we have two little boys to think about. Thank you for your forgiveness when we don't make the right decision. Thank you for always waking up in the morning and giving us a huge smile and hug every morning - no matter what battle we fought with you the night/day before. We are reminded that the Lord's mercies are new every morning. New mercies for you in learning to obey your parents and new mercies for us as we learn how to guide and teach you in the nurture and admonition of the Lord.

I don't think there are enough words that I can use to describe how much we love you, and now your little brother. You, and Matthew too, have added so much joy and laughter to our lives.

Love,

Your Mom and Dad

He is here!

2011-04-30T18:23:00.000-07:00

Our new little bundle of joy is here! He came a week early and after a very fast but kind of scary delivery. We are grateful for the prayers that were offered to our Father for him. He is a true testament to his name, "a gift of God!"

Matthew Stephen Bragg

April 20, 2011

6:23AM

8 lbs 3 oz

21 inches

House Projects

2011-03-23T18:22:00.001-07:00

We've been enjoying this wonderful weather lately with lots of household projects.

Nathan had to clean out his work truck on Saturday from a job site. Samuel at first thought these were play rocks. After learning they were "work rocks" he wanted to help Daddy work.

He grabbed his "Bob the Builder" hat and came out to help.

Before then, however, Nathan came home one day with extra sand from a job site. He, after being exhausted from a long day at work, decided to build Samuel a sandbox. And mow the grass all in the same evening! My husband amazes me. When he gets a project in his head, there's no stopping him...not even exhaustion.

We added onto the swing set/fort. See the new roof on the fort? Yeah, that's another come home from work tired but yet still builds something project. Wow! I would crash on the couch and be a bum from working as hard as he does. I love you, Nathan Bragg!

Samuel loves his sandbox!

While the boys were outside working, I was inside making homemade granola. A friend posted on her blog the recipe (look at the end of the post) that I used. However, I think I baked mine a little too long because it came out darker than hers. I'll try again. It makes great cereal though! Yummy!

Kids Say the Darndest Things

2011-03-18T19:29:00.000-07:00

Sorry no pictures...just a list of funny sayings Samuel has said lately. We wanted to get them down before they escape our memories.

***One night driving home from church Nathan and I were talking in the car. Samuel, in the back seat, pipes up and says, "What we talkin' 'bout?"

***Each time the doorbell rings, he drops whatever he's doing and runs to the door screaming, "Hurry! It's Triet!" (Triet is our neighbor and good friend who lives down the street.)

***Two Friday mornings ago at 6:50AM I'm awoken by this shout of excitement, "MOM!!!!! TRASH TRUCK! IT'S HERE! COME ON!" I immediately jump out of bed trying to gain my thoughts and stumble to the front window to open the blinds so we can look at the trash truck pick up our trash. Needless to say, this has become a ritual each Friday morning. Good morning, Mr. Trash Man.

***We were reading a book about ducks today with pictures of the mama duck sitting on her eggs. Samuel looks up and says, "Daddy eat eggs for breakfast." Yep! "Mama eat eggs for breakfast." Yep! I ask him, "Do you eat eggs for breakfast?" "No!" he replies with a very sincere look on his face, "I eat grits."

***We drive by a local farm on Monday mornings on our way to school/work. We like to look at the cows. I ask him, "Oh, look Samuel! The cows are eating breakfast. What do cows eat?" "Cows eat grits." he promptly tells me. One time, we were driving past during lunch when he told me that the cows were eating a "sandmich" for lunch.

***We were sitting out on the back porch this afternoon after Nathan came home from work. Nathan turned on the sprinkler system to water the plants, and little boy's eyes got really big as he ran through the sprinklers. He ran up to me with a dripping wet head, "Come on mama! Run!" "No, I don't want to get my clothes wet." He ran off back into the water and shouted, "Clothes?! I not worry 'bout it." He had a carefree blast getting his clothes soaking wet!

***Later, after drying off and changing clothes, we were driving in the car. Samuel announces that he is "butt-dled" in his seat and Daddy is "butt-dled" in his seat. Mama is "butt-dled" too. Glad to know that we are safe from the "Click It or Ticket" campaign.

***When we ask him, "What is your name?" He replies "I a boy!" Or..."I a man!"

***He'll sometimes run up to me with a sheepish grin on his face saying "Cookie!" I ask him, "Do you want a cookie?" He says, "Ooo-kay." with the inflection of, "Okay, if you say so." It is very rare that this cuteness actually works to get a cookie though. I'm afraid that my son has inherited my sweet tooth because I love a good cookie myself.

***Last week his 2 year molars were cutting through. He kept pointing to the back of his mouth and saying, "Owww!" I said, "Let me see." He squinted his eyes in pain and said, "Oh, I need a baindaid." I guess bandaids make everything feel better - even your gums when you're cutting teeth. Too bad they don't make tooth bandaids though.

Beautiful Saturday

2011-03-18T12:31:00.000-07:00

Samuel and I went to Forsyth Park last Saturday. It was such a beautiful day!

The city was gearing up for the St. Patrick's Day celebration.

We love our city!

32 Weeks

2011-03-04T13:02:00.001-08:00

I think I've deleted all of my prego pictures from Samuel. AUGH!!!!!!!!!!! So this is the only shot I could find. I'm 32 weeks with both boys. Maybe I'll wear this dress this Sunday and get another shot.

May 2008

March 2011

Pancakes and Peter Pan

2011-03-04T12:45:00.001-08:00

I know this is late but wanted to share some Valentine's pictures. It has become a tradition to eat pancakes on Sunday morning before going to church. The Sunday before Valentine's Day, we had yummy strawberries for toppings. Little guy loved them and so did daddy!

He's become quite a fruit lover lately - eating bananas, strawberries, apples and oranges.

We actually have eaten a lot of oranges lately because Samuel and I have had colds for the past couple of weeks. One Sunday, we were just not feeling well, so we stayed home from church while Nathan went to serve as an usher. Samuel, however, had lots of energy after a long nap. We had just watched Peter Pan the day before, so he took the pillows from the couch and "walked the plank" around the living room. Don't fall off because the "alligalor" will get you.

Catch Up Pictures

2011-02-12T11:52:00.000-08:00

I wanted to show off some cute pictures we've taken recently. They're in random order.

Ready to go to school one morning.

Playing Spider Man. The glasses are Spider Man glasses and the little sticks are the spider webs which he shoots out of his wrists. Nathan taught how to shoot spider webs.

One night before putting him to bed. Both of us had a long day.

Planes, trains and automobiles

2011-02-12T11:37:00.000-08:00

Or rather CARS and BIG TRUCKS. I wanted to get this on film because the days of playing by himself will soon be over. I love this little guy! For the most part (especially in the morning) he does pretty well playing by himself while I work on various things (housework or schoolwork). Nathan and I love his imagination to create his own little car village delivering puzzle pieces or train parts.

12.5 More Weeks

2011-01-29T10:30:00.000-08:00

Well, little Matthew Stephen is 12.5 weeks away from coming into this great big world. We are getting more excited about his arrival but are realizing that there's still a lot to do before he actually gets here. Here's what I've got to do before he arrives.

1- take a belly shot. I have yet to really take an actual pregnancy belly shot. I'm such a slacker with this one.

2- clean out Samuel's bedroom closet. We're going to try to have the boys share a room (once Matthew is sleeping fairly consistantly through the night), so I've got to clean out Samuel's old stuff and reorganize things for Matthew. Thankfully, we're having another boy, so I don't have to get new girl clothes or toys.

3- get letters on the wall that spell Matthew.

4- dust and clean all base boards and ceiling fans. This is just good to do anyway regardless of baby or not, but I'm sad to say that I don't do regularly.

5- get the infant carseat out of the closet and install. We'll probably wait until the beginning of April to do this one just in case the little one comes early. My doctor said that since he's measuring so big (81st percentile) that he might actually come a week early.

6- rearrange the clothes in the dresser and bring out all the old infant clothes. (This is kind of related to #2.)

7- get a new diaper bag with monogram

8- register at the hospital. When the time was ticking away for Samuel to arrive, the nurse at the Dr's office office asked me, "Have you registered yet?" I thought this was a strange question for her to ask, thinking, "Why would she care if I've registered at Target or BabiesRUs?" Ha! Dumb me! A week before he came I figured it out and registered at the hospital.

9- arrange for a place for Samuel to go - if in fact I go into natural labor and not have to be induced like last time. I think, if induction happens again, my mom will come down and care for Samuel while we're in the hospital.

10- pack a suitcase for the hospital.

11- stock up on newborn diapers. I think I might look into cloth diapers though. So I guess I need to research and buy those materials.

12- get a used but nice double stroller. I've heard Craig's List is a good place to look or the Once Upon A Child store here in Savannah.

What else am I missing?

"Mark the Marine"

2011-01-29T10:08:00.001-08:00

Last weekend, Samuel and I drove to Jacksonville, NC to visit with my brother Mark and wife Tabitha. Mark was scheduled to leave for Afghanistan last weekend, so we all wanted to send him off.

Mark and Tabitha were wonderful hosts housing all of the Smith family (minus Nathan, Ashley and Joey).

We missed Mark and Tabitha at Christmas time, so this was the first time I had been with my brothers in over a year. They are such funny characters. We had a lot of laughs!

Hence, this picture...comparing the size of our bellies.

Uncle Clayton taught Samuel several new sayings which only an uncle can do. Like, "What up shawty!" And the ever popular Marine Corp "knife hand." When I ask him, "Samuel, what does Uncle Clayton say?" he responds with, "Clayton say, "DAT" even doing the hand. (You'd have to know a Marine to understand this one.)

Samuel LOVED being with his uncles.

And we all loved being together! It snowed on Saturday, so the tarmac for Mark's flight was iced over. He got a call that the flight was delayed until Sunday. Then on Sunday, still iced, the flight was again delayed until Monday. This was a roller coaster ride of emotions for all of us...getting ready to say good-bye and then knowing we had a few more hours with him. But Tabitha was especially such a trooper and such a lovely supportive wife through it all. We will be praying for both of you!

Merry Many Christmases!

2010-12-29T12:05:00.000-08:00

We were blessed to have several Christmas celebrations.

We met at my mom and dad's house the week before and had a nice time with everyone there. Samuel enjoyed passing the gifts out to everyone.

Clayton and Ashley needed help opening their gift, so Samuel was more than happy to lend a helping a hand.

They gave him some "Big Trucks." Of course, he enjoyed them!!!

He was so tired by 5:00 that day that he passed out on the floor.

Since we were going to be gone over the actual holiday weekend, we celebrated at home with a Christmas Eve Eve dinner...yummy and easy sundried tomato chicken pasta. Yum! Yum!

Waking up on Christmas Eve was fun to see the gifts under the tree.

Hey, what's in here?

One of his favorite gifts was a big truck with 12 cars stored inside.

Then later that day, we drove to Gray to be with the Braggs. Papa and Grammy gave Samuel a great wooden IKEA train set. He loved it! The next morning, he woke up and the first words out of his mouth were, "I go play with train."

Then on Christmas Day, we drove to Stone Mountain to be with the Orrs. The cousins had fun playing with lincoln logs while waiting for dinner.

Then, to our suprise and excitement, it began snowing!!!!! My brother-in-law, Kevin, said that it hadn't snowed actually on Christmas Day in Atlanta since 100 years ago. What fun to be a part of history!

We did drive back to Gray safely that night and enjoyed more snow the next morning. Thank you Lord for our many blessings!

Sad but good

2010-12-12T18:24:00.000-08:00

We had a sad but good and celebratory weekend. Nathan's cousin-in-law passed away from a car accident last week. We drove up to Gray for the funeral on Saturday. It was sad to see his life come to a short end and leave his wife and college age boys behind. But such a great celebration of a humble Christian man. We celebrated his Christ-like love, laughter, humilty, servanthood and intellegence. We will be praying for his family but truly rejoice that God has given you peace and will continue to do so in the hard days ahead.

On Sunday, after lunch, it actually started to snow!

Everything melted by the time it touched the ground, but it was just enough to get these southern people excited!

Later inside, Papa and Samuel played "Getty Up Horse" with stick ponies.

Pancoast/Bragg Reunion

2010-12-12T17:57:00.000-08:00

It seems like we only get together once a year, but Tiffany, Tabitha and I were able to meet up this weekend in Macon. We met at Cracker Barrell for some good ol' Southern breakfast. Tiffany said that you just don't get waitresses in Chicago that say, "Okay, honey," or "Sugar" when referring to people.

Tabitha with both of her nephews. Weird, but Samuel and Eli have the same aunt and uncle but aren't related themselves. Eli is related by blood since Tiff is her sister. Samuel is related by marriage since Mark (my brother) is her husband.

Samuel patted Eli's arm a few times as if to say, "Oh, you're really real and not on a computer screen." And Eli only connected to Samuel when we mentioned that he was Liam's cousin (Nathan's sister's oldest boy who lives in Chicago, too). His eyes got big and said "Wia!"

I love this serious face!!!

Tabs and Nathan got to catch up too. And I enjoyed having an aunt there to take care of Samuel at the table.

Afterwards, the boys picked out trucks and airplanes.

We eventually cleaned everything up.

Funny boys!

I wish we lived closer!

High five! Bye "Ali."

Love these people.

Short but sweet, girls. But always so rich!

Here he is...

2010-12-12T17:51:00.000-08:00

Yep, we're having another little boy!

No names for certain yet, but we're excited that Samuel will have a "brodur" (as he says it).

What'll it be?

2010-12-10T05:06:00.000-08:00

Today is the day we find out what type of name to put on this 4th stocking. Boy or girl?

Not A Christmas Card

2010-12-08T08:54:00.000-08:00

We went to Forsyth Park after church last Sunday to try and get a nice family shot for our Christmas cards. These are the ones that will not make the cut.

Just a cute one but no daddy.
What happened to his head?

"Ugh?!"

2010-12-08T08:42:00.000-08:00

We had Samuel's little friend over last week. Samuel and "Dames" as he calls him are best buddies. They are only about 8 weeks apart and get along so well. They both love to run, tumble, build with blocks and jump. Having a playmate was so fun!

Deck the Halls

2010-12-08T08:11:00.000-08:00

Nathan surprised us this past Saturday by getting up early and getting dressed. I was expecting him to get ready for work, but he had this sheepish and excited grin on his face. "Let's go get a Christmas tree all together. Come on." So at 7:30AM we went to Home Depot and got a nice little tree. However, the poor thing stayed blank until Monday after Samuel and I got home and he said while looking at it, "Lights?" He had seen the lights on his babysitter's tree and wondered where ours were. So out came the tree dressings.

Happy to have lights.

Putting up his favorite ornament from Nana - a tractor.

"No, you can't put a real tractor on the tree."

One of Samuel's favorite new things is a Fisher Price manger scene with all of the characters. You can place an angel on top and press down to hear "Away In The Manger." Samuel has turned it into a dance song however. So funny!

It takes a mess to clean a mess

2010-11-26T18:07:00.001-08:00

Has it ever taken you a whole day to complete one task? It literally took me all day to clean our bedroom and bathroom.

Gee, I wonder what distracted me.

-building a tower of blocks

-trying to teach a 2 year old how to wipe down a counter

-watching Curious George on TV

-saying, "No, we're not going to play in the tub. Mommy's trying to clean it."

-doing 5 loads of laundry

-reading stories about trucks and dogs

I took apart the bassinet to wash the sheets for little baby. Samuel enjoyed transporting his blocks in his "truck" all throughout the house. This was quite a time saver for me though since he was busy.
Climbing on the couch after making blanket forts kept him occupied for a while, too.
Hopefully, he won't build with blocks and trucks when the baby is sleeping in there.

I had hoped to finish everything and get Samuel to help me clean everything else up by the time Nathan came home from work. But, alas, he walked in the door and said, "Looks like y'all have had fun today."

Thanksgiving 2010

2010-11-26T17:56:00.000-08:00

We stayed here in Savannah for Thanksgiving this year. Our neighbors invited us over for a fried turkey which was DE-LICIOUS!!!! My mouth was watering all week in anticipation for the big feast. I literally gained 5 pounds just yesterday. But hey, #1- it's Thanksgiving. We have been blessed with a bountiful life...might as well enjoy it. And #2- I'm pregnant and I can eat all I want anyway.

My birthday was actually the day before Thanksgiving. Thank you to all of the friends and family who called and sent cards. My favorite gifts were Nathan coming home early from work and my parents staying for an overnight visit. There's almost nothing more endearing than having my husband home and watching our son play with his grandparents. Samuel and BMa were quite good buddies as well. She was so cute when she walked in the door and saw him and said, "Hey there my friend." This is especially precious since she has Alzheimer's Disease and is remembering less and less these days.

Again, I wasn't too great on taking pictures. But we had a great time cooking, eating and fellowshiping together.

Hope your day was filled with blessings for which to be thankful.

I have to be thankful

2010-11-17T14:11:00.000-08:00

As I got into a cabin fever depressed mood today (we haven't been anywhere for a few days), I had to remember to "Count My Blessings." These are my blessings of which I am thankful for.

- the 50 free Christmas cards I'll be getting from Shutterfly.
- a free $25 gift card to the new Publix that just opened up that's near our house. I got some wonderful tasting egg rolls from there today. Not as good as The Church Cook's egg rolls though.
- free music from Pandora. To get in the mood to clean house, I crank some ol' Frank Sinatra or Ray Charles up and get to work (and a little dance party, too).
- free diapers from a friend whose child doesn't need them anymore.
- my $4.99 wonderful haircut from the new Great Clips that opened up next to Publix.
- college friends that I don't see anymore but am able to still be encouraged by their lives through their blogs. Shout out to Tiffany, Amber and Jenna!
- Bragg Design Landscape's continued growth. This time last year Nathan's business was DEAD. But this November alone, he's had 4 clients (2 of them are new). Thanks to our friend who writes for the Savannah Morning News. She wrote an article about Nathan last year. One of those new clients read the article last year and called him up just last month wanting to do some work.
- my wonderful hard working, funny, and sweet husband. I love you, Nathan!
- my sweet little boy who says, "Go Dawgs!" every night as he's going to bed.
- a new sweet little one that will join our family at the end of April.
- the fact that I can finally fit into some comfortable maternity pants. I haven't been able to fit into my old regular pants for a while, but the maternity pants kept falling down (you know what I mean if you've ever been pregnant). Ahhh, these new pants fit perfectly!
- so many wonderful families at church that have great teenagers or grown children and are wonderful examples of godly parenting for Nathan and me. We feel honored to know these people.
- last but not least, for the love, gift, patience, grace and mercy of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ.

Spread the Shutterfly News

2010-11-16T07:45:00.001-08:00

Thanks Tiff, for posting the news on how to get 50 free Christmas cards through Shutterfly. If you have a blog, post the news described here. Woohoo!!!!! I love free stuff!

I like these three cards but the Christmas tree one is my favorite (I think). Here are more Christmas card options.

Every good and perfect gift is from above!

Shutterfly offers great gift ideas as well. If you're on a budget (who isn't these days?) they have really cool gifts for $25 or less. I think I might get the jigsaw puzzle for my grandma. And the notepads always make a great gift for a teacher. (Those were my favorite teacher gifts.)

I would love to get a Photo Book. The Simple Path option is...simple. You can use the pictures on Facebook and the people at Shutterfly put up to 400 pictures in a photo album. You can edit as you like with short captions. An 8x11 is only $27.99.

It's been a long time

2010-11-03T10:17:00.000-07:00

Man, o man! It's been a while since I've added anything to the blog. We haven't quite fallen off the face of the earth...just getting over the first trimester BLAHS.

Samuel and I went to a pumpkin patch with my friends Ginger and Laura along with their kids. However, none of us brought our cameras.

Nathan and I actually haven't been much of picture taking people lately. We went to the beach after a meeting with a client on Tybee Island and forgot to bring the camera. Samuel and I visited my parents this past weekend, but the camera stayed at home. However, Samuel had fun tromping through the woods with Pops and learning to drink from a big cup with Nana.

And we were able to enjoy some Saturday morning pancakes and newspaper all together. Great fun!

Fun Fridays

2010-09-10T09:55:00.001-07:00

Friday has become the day where Samuel and I do several things together. I've set aside this day not to do any school work and totally focus on being a mom. We have...

Baked banana bread together. Mmmmm...licking the spoon and bowl is the best part!

Began to learn our ABCs. My mom gave us this great Melissa & Doug magnetic puzzle book, and Samuel loves it! He likes making the noises of the animals too.

Today, we did some finger painting. Nice smock, eh? It's one of daddy's white t-shirts.

Yes, we are officially a family with children...displaying Samuel's artwork right alongside the regular house decorations.

Cleaning up from the mess.
(Also, learning to obey mama and to not pitch a fit.)

We've looked at lots of books. Emmalee, you'll like this one. This is an old anatomy book I bought on sale at Barnes & Noble years ago. Samuel found it and loves to look at the pictures. To our amazement, he said "bone" the other day when Nathan was looking in the Mayo Clinic book for something. There was a picture of broken bones on the page. (See, Tiffany, we teach him other things besides sea creatures.)

And we've done lots of sidewalk chalk writing.

Okay, notice anything different about this family list?

Yep, that's right! We're going to have another baby!!! He or she will join our family around April 27. Samuel's going to be a big brother! And we're so excited!!!!

Escape Artist

2010-09-04T08:13:00.000-07:00

He's been crawling out of his crib for a while now. I first discovered him walking out in the hallway when he was supposed to be taking a nap. We lowered the bar in hopes that this will slowly prepare him for the transition to a big boy bed.

2010-07-31T19:19:00.000-07:00

Dear Samuel,

Your daddy and I can not believe that you are two years old. It literally seems like yesterday that you came into our lives. What an unforgettable two years it has been. We love you so much!!! We enjoy every day that we get to watch you grow and mature.

It was so fun taking you to the aquarium today. Your daddy and I were looking forward to sharing the wonderful ocean world with you - since it is one of our favorite things, too. It made our day when you yelled out "WaWa" as we walked up the ramp to the South Carolina Aquarium looking over the Charleston Harbor. What a magnificent view it is!

We also love the fact that you got so excited when you looked at the dozens of fish, moray eel, sharks and sea turtles.

Your daddy had fun telling you all the names of the "wish." (That's how Samuel says "fish.")

Weren't these jellyfish amazing?

And this sea turtle was spectacular!

You loved the penguins and even tried to kiss one from behind the glass. I told you that it was sleeping and you said, "Night, night."

Another favorite of yours was running around the Camp Carolina exhibit. It was designed for little guys like you with a mini-draw bridge, steps and slide. It even had this tiny skunk exhibit that squirted air when you walked past. (Tiff, I took this picture for you.)

On our way out we took a picture with this frog. He sits on a bench overlooking the harbor.

Your daddy and I are old friends with the frog. We visited him a few years ago before you were born.

Since it was toward the end of the day and hardly any other people were there, you had so much fun running and chasing me around.

You're telling me that 1 finger plus 1 finger is 2. And that's how old you are. Smart boy!

I hope that you had a great time. We praise God every day for you! Thank you for making us a family. We pray that you continue to learn, laugh, and enjoy this life God has given you. Our heart's desire for you is to humbly love and walk with the Lord Jesus.

2 years and 4 celebrations later

2010-07-31T18:24:00.000-07:00

Happy Birthday Sweet Little Boy Samuel!

We unintentionally had 4 celebrations for Samuel's 2nd birthday.

The first was shared at the beach with Papa Bragg. Papa and Samuel's birthdays are 20 days apart.

On his actual birthday, he woke up to see a balloon waiting for him. He LOVES balloons and was very excited to see it waiting for him. He spent all morning bouncing and playing with that thing.

Later that day, we had friends over to play in the water. Boaz and Roy were Samuel's buddies at his birthday party last year. They all have grown so much!

I even got to enjoy some time with my good friends, Ginger and Laura. Between the three of us we have 6 children! Everybody was soooo tired at the end! Thanks Roy, Kari, Mac, Boaz and Winnie for coming to celebrate with us. You guys are great friends!

Pops and Nana Smith came to celebrate on the Saturday after Samuel's birthday. Samuel thought his singing birthday card was too funny! (He still plays that thing and says, "Pops!")

Nana and Pops gave him a trampoline for his birthday. Fun! Fun!
(It took us a whole hour to put it together.)

I made his birthday cake and placed it along with chocolate pudding in his favorite dump truck. (Thanks Christina for the cute idea!)

He loved the cake this year. Last year, all he did was pat and smear the icing. We even had leftover cake for breakfast the next morning. "Cake! Cake!"

Then the final celebration was a day trip to the South Carolina Aquarium in Charleston. I think we're going to start a tradition to go somewhere special for birthdays rather than buy gifts. The next post will have pictures and a video of that.

Beach House Week

2010-07-17T10:13:00.000-07:00

We had a great time vacationing with Nathan's family. His three sisters with their families (from Minnesota, Chicago and Stone Mountain) plus their parents came to our house on Saturday before heading over to Tybee for a week. It was great to be all together.

We packed our Sorento down with luggage and food for 17 people. We actually had to make two trips to get more food. Good thing we live near by.

The last time we were all together was at Emmalee and Tim's wedding. Then there were only 14 people. Four years and three little boys later now makes a grand total of 17 (plus one inside of Emmalee's tummy).

Samuel and Cameron, or "Bo-Bo" as he calls him, became best buds!
The first two days we were there the wind and waves were pretty good. The rest of the week, however, hardly had any wind. This made the ocean very calm. It was great for splashing and bobbing with the little ones. A pod of dolphins actually came about 30 feet from us while they were swimming around hunting for fish. We got to see them work together and corral a school of fish and then...splash, splash, splash...attack! Such a cool thing to witness so close!!!

All the ladies with the little boys.

Nathan brought a seine net and took a chance at becoming a fisherman with Tim. They actually caught several really cool things.

The little boy cousins. All of them are 1 year old, at least for a little while longer until Samuel turns 2 this coming week.

Hayden celebrated his first birthday on July 4th! He is such a cuddly little guy with a great smile!

Annalisa reading Brer Rabbit stories! She's got the southern accent down, even though she now lives in Minnesota. Don't ya kno! (Ha! Ha!)

Thanks family for a great week!

Our Summer So Far

2010-07-17T09:44:00.000-07:00

Can you believe it? Summer is almost over! Crazy! Even though for us, here in Savannah, the summer-like temperatures will be here for another 4 months or so, school will be starting soon and the whole "feel" of summer will be over.

Life for us has been busy. So busy that I haven't really taken any pictures. Nathan has worked every Saturday (a great thing for us financially), I've gone to a teacher conference in North Carolina, got to visit with my sister-in-law Tabitha while there, and Samuel has spent his first week at Papa and Grammy's house all by himself. (Tear! Tear! First night away from me...I know sad...he's almost 2...but we've never had an opportunity to do so before).

Papa and Grammy brought Samuel back and we got to spend Father's Day together. Thanks again Papa and Grammy for taking care of him! He had a blast!

We spent a week at the beach with Nathan's family. (More pictures on that in a later post.)

We've made homemade bubbles and play dough. What fun!

This morning Samuel was Daddy's shadow. Daddy put his hat on, Samuel got his. Daddy got his water bottle, Samuel got his. He even waved and told me "Bye!" as they headed out the door.

Things don't stay broken around here very long with two handymen in the house.

Before too long my baby will be grown up

2010-06-24T04:27:00.000-07:00

So sad, but on Monday I realized that my little baby will officially no longer be a baby in one month. The word "months" will not be attached to a number when people ask me how old he is. Next month I will have to say, "He's 2 years old."

What? When did he grow up? Okay. Okay. I know...he's already such a big boy. But having a 2 in front of "years old" is just way too surreal. Nathan and I love him more and more today than we ever did on the day he was born. Now I understand how much love our parents have for us.

I love seeing this little messy hair boy when he wakes up in the morning. Usually the first thing he wants to do straight out of bed is play with his "big trucks." He LOVES his trucks!!!

And I love this sweet little face who is growing into more and more responsibility now. I've been reading "To Train Up a Child" by Michael and Debi Pearl. Wonderful book about young childhood discipline, responsibility and love. This week, I'm trying to "train" him to come when I say, "Come here." This stems from me saying it, him thinking it's a game and then running in the opposite direction. He's been learning to wash the table and bring his dishes to the sink, too.

I'm so glad that I've been able to be home with him more. We've had lots of tickle wrestling matches on the bed - when I'm trying to actually make the bed. Gone on a lot of walks and read a lot of books. His favorite book is Goodnight Moon. He'll say, "Moon" every time it's nap time or bed time.

And how can I forget "Doggie"? His favorite friend right now is a stuffed Uga dog. Uga rides in the "big truck," sits on the floor, waits patiently until we're finished eating and goes to sleep with him. They are best buds!

Sports Hall of Fame?

2010-06-10T19:22:00.000-07:00

Fun time with made up games after dinner tonight.

B-I-B-I

2010-06-10T14:06:00.001-07:00

Today, Samuel was in an extra "hammin' it up" mood...just acting silly dancing and singing. Then when I pull out the camera, he quiets up. This is all I could get out of him.

"B - I - B - I"

Gardening With Dada - 2 Years in a Row

2010-05-22T07:44:00.001-07:00

Samuel and Nathan love to spend time outside together. Gardening is a wonderful past time.

Not much has changed since last year.

Still playing with the dirt in the buckets.

Still pretty cute!

Still lending a helping hand.

Summer Reading

2010-05-15T07:04:00.000-07:00

Summer is my favorite time of the year to read. Even as a child I would excitedly look forward to summer break so that I could take part in the public library's summer reading program. I thank my mother for having the thoughtfulness to take my brother, Clayton, and me (this was when Mark was just a wee little one) to the library for this program. I loved it! In high school I hated reading during the school year because I had to; it was an assignment. But during the summer, it was for fun. It's the same as an adult, I guess.

This summer I'm going to read William J. Bennett's The Educated Child. Bennett was President Reagan's Secretary of Education during the 80's. He is a Christian man and firm believer in classical education. I'm already enjoying this book just from scanning a few pages. Here are a few of my favorite quotes so far.

"Your attitudes and efforts are more important to your child's academic success than a family income or the number of diplomas hanging on your wall."

"Good schools don't focus solely on teaching the skill of reading, but also pay attention to what children read and the knowledge that they draw from their books. Keep this thought in mind: education is the architecture of the soul, the leading of children to what is good and fine."

"Writing practice also brings discipline to the thoughts behind our words. In short, writing is good mental exercise. It sharpens the intellect. "Whenever, on account of its vagueness, I am dissatisfied with a conception of the brain, I resort forthwith to the pen, for the purpose of obtaining, through its aid, the necessary form, consequence, and precision, " wrote Edgar Allan Poe."

Last summer I was part of an online book club through SimpleMom.net. We read Last Child in the Woods (see this blog post). I think The Educated Child would be another great book to have as a book club selection. Part I of this book is for "The Preschool Years" and has great suggestions for raising babies, toddlers and preschoolers to: 1- have a love for learning, 2- be ready for school and 3- build character. (Part II and III, I'll read for work at the school. It deals with curriculum and other tips for teachers.) Would anyone want to read it with me this summer? I'll probably read a chapter a week and post my favorite quotes. It'll be open for discussion. Here is a list of prices for this book on half.com if you're interested in purchasing it.

Back to Back Celebrations

2010-05-13T12:49:00.000-07:00

We've had back-to-back celebrations around here. Nathan and I celebrated our 4th anniversary. I can't believe that it has been 4 years. I love the wonderful husband God has given me and I look forward to many, many, many more years together. I love you Nathan.

Nathan surprised me with 4 red roses.

And some new German beer! The perfect gift after working a LONG day.

He kicked me out of the kitchen and said, "Go play with your son." He made a wonderful spaghetti dinner with the best garlic bread ever.

Then, Little Stinker and I celebrated Mother's Day. Nathan let me sleep in until 8:00 (how heavenly!!!) and made all of us a pancake breakfast Sunday morning. However, Samuel kept coming up to the side of the bed saying, "Mama. Truck." He wanted me to play trucks with him. I was honored and got out of bed.

Later on, after church and naps, we let Samuel play out in the sprinkler. The kid already has a farmer's tan from his swim shirt, so I put these overalls on him so he can still spend some time outside and get a tan.

I think little kids in overalls are just too cute.

We had our family pictures made for our church directory. Check out Angela Childress.com

This boy needs better parental supervision

2010-04-20T20:23:00.001-07:00

Yep, that's a whole bag of rice that someone took from the pantry, opened it and spread all over the floor.

Where's this boy's mama?

Yikes!

2010-04-10T08:23:00.000-07:00

Samuel and I were sitting down eating lunch one day this week and I looked out the window and saw this weird thing stick out of the grass in the back yard. WAIT! That's a snake!

Um, yeah, we won't be going in the back yard to play AT ALL until the grass gets cut. And I definitely won't be sending little boy to play for a few minutes on his own while I clean or cook for a little.
Just gives me the shivers!

Taking a walk

2010-04-06T12:47:00.001-07:00

Guess who loves to go "ya-ya". (That's "outside" for the youngest member of our family.)

Just too cute in his little hat!

Chores

2010-04-02T07:30:00.000-07:00

This is actually from last October.

Okay, so you can tell that I've had more time on my hands this week because here are 4 blog posts in one week. The other day at sewing/crafting day, the girls were telling me about a Dr. Phil episode themed "Stay At Home Moms have 30-40 hours of leisure time a week." I think that might be true. But it's all about how you use that time and NOT procrastinating doing the following:
-folding laundry
-mopping the floors
-cleaning the breakfast dishes
-making the bed

Ummmm, yeah, I'm procrastinating on my last day of Spring Break.

So my question is how do you try to teach your children to do chores? What kind of chores do you have your little ones do? Obviously, I need to get better at modeling these activities by actually DOING them. But, hey, the little guy is napping now, so I can have "leisure time" right?

What got me thinking about this was something that Samuel did the other day. I was cleaning the bathroom and Samuel ran to the laundry room to where we keep the brooms. He kept pointing to the broom and doing his little non-understandable words for "I want." I got the broom down and he had the best time at swiffer sweeping the floors. Awesome!

And rather than fight his wanting to unload the clean silverware from the dishwasher tray and bang them, I've taught him to hand the forks and spoons to me so I can put them away. Those count as chores for a toddler, right?

I love going over to a certain friend's house because it is always spotless. She has 4 older children (14 years old down to 6) to do chores around the house. She has a chore chart on her refrigerator that they must check off before they begin their homeschool work. Now, that's the way to go.

So what ideas do you have about teaching young toddlers the importance of work?

You vote!

2010-04-01T12:07:00.001-07:00

Today's project was to shop for an Easter outfit for Samuel. I found these two outfits at Once Upon A Child which is a second-owned children's clothing store. Great finds!!!

Such cute Baby Gap pants for $7.50. A lady next to me said that she just bought these same pants for 3x that amount.

I saw this tractor Jon Jon and the price of $4.50 and had to get it!

So which outfit should he wear to church this Sunday?

Just some spring cuteness

2010-04-01T11:54:00.000-07:00

I did retry the yogurt making process and it turned out to be a success. Funny what following the directions will do for ya. :)

Samuel has loved it and also black eyed peas for dinner. Mmmmm!
Our wonderful neighbor was cleaning out her boys' closets this spring break and brought over some cute hats and big trucks. Right up Samuel's alley! He spent all day saying, "Haa" and "dru" (Translation, "Hat" and "Truck.")

While most kids like to sleep with a blankey of some sort, our little stinker likes to sleep with a football and a book. The book is either about daddies, dogs or trucks - his favorite three things.

Spring Projects

2010-03-30T13:58:00.000-07:00

Well, Spring Break is here! And we are loving it! I was so excited to begin my "spring projects."

I began with baking bread.

Someone told me to register for this KitchenAid when we were getting married. I thought that it was too excessive since I grew up with my mom sufficiently using a hand held mixer. But now, man-o-man, I love it and think that it is great!!!

I put the bread to rise in the "warm" laundry room as my laundry dried in the dryer. Seemed to work really well.

In the mean time, Samuel and I spent some time outside picking flowers. These are actually weeds, but none the less, quaint little flowers. Nathan was very surprised to see weeds on the table when he sat down to eat dinner last night.

Our Bradford pear tree is blossoming and I thought I'd make good use of the awesome Pottery Barn vase that Emmalee gave me for Christmas a couple of years back. Thanks, Emma!

These are Confederate jasmine that has grown over our mailbox post.

Then a few hours later, the house was filled with that lovely fresh baked bread smell. Ahhhhhh!!!! This recipe said that it makes 6 loaves, but all I had were casserole dishes. Therefore my loaves were a little larger. I only made 4.

Both Nathan and Samuel loved the bread last night for dinner. Nathan said it tasted just like his mom's bread. That is a huge compliment because his mother is a wonderful baker.

Then today, some girls from church got together for a crafting/sewing day. I made Samuel's Easter basket. I got the idea from a Martha Stewart video. Samuel's big thing now are trucks! Hopefully, he'll be able to tell that these are cars and trucks. I drew them myself.

I did try to make yogurt by using a crockpot. A lady at church told me about this recipe that works great for her. Obviously, I didn't follow the directions because after 8 hours of setting over night this is what it looked like. Yucky!!!

We are enjoying this time. Maybe I'll attack the yogurt thing again.

So, do you have any weekend plans?

2010-03-20T08:01:00.000-07:00

This was a question a friend asked me at work yesterday. "No, just to catch up on housework. We live such exciting lives." I replied tongue-in-cheek. Really, I've been looking forward to this weekend because it is going to be a normal one - a weekend where we can follow our routine. It seems like since January our weekends have been very busy with family coming into town (which we've REALLY enjoyed), babysitting friends' kids, winter retreats at church, etc. We've been very grateful for the things and people in our lives, so we have enjoyed all of these weekends. I'm such a homebody, though, that these activities have taken a lot of energy from me and I'm thankful to return to my routine of laundry, dishes, and grocery shopping. And yes, blogging. (I know, I'm weird!!!! No one has ever said other wise.)

So I've been wanting to become more of a homemaker since our budget is very small and we're always looking for ways to save money. (I was very proud of myself for only spending $36 on a week's worth of groceries last week.) I've looked into making homemade yogurt , bread and even cottage cheese since those are staple foods around our house with Picky Eater Samuel. While, I would love to jump into these projects right now, there's simply not enough time today in my regular Saturday routine. Spring break is in 1 week, so I'll try them then. Yippee!!!

I've asked around for good ways to make these, and people have told me that they use yogurt makers and bread makers - just to simplify things. Right now we don't have the money to buy machines for these things, so I've found some really cool recipes that I hope will produce some yummy treats without extra machines. Maybe one day, (ahem...birthday and Christmas) we can get a machine. But for right now, I'll try the old fashioned way. I'll take pictures during Spring Break and Samuel will let you know how the bread tastes. We're still trying to teach him Jesus's words, "Man shall not live on bread alone."

What do you make from scratch to save money?

Happy Birthday, Dada!

2010-03-17T12:36:00.001-07:00

My sweet, goofy, loving, hard working, patient and wise husband is 4 years away from being 40! Wow! I'm honored to grow old(er) together with him. I hope you had a wonderful birthday, sweetie! Samuel and I love you so much!!!!

Nathan's parents came down the first weekend of March to celebrate his birthday. The weather has FINALLY started to warm up a bit, so Mrs. Bragg packed a picnic lunch and we headed to Forsyth Park for the afternoon. I said, "Finally started to warm up." Actually, it was still pretty cold because of the wind, so we wore our coats. Man, I thought this was the South - where you can wear flip-flops year round. I haven't even seen my flip-flops in 6 months.

We love our beautiful city. A new amphitheater was just completed for concerts in the park. A new water fountain was also installed. It reminds me a lot of Centenial Olympic Park in Atlanta. We can't wait for the summer so that Samuel can play in the water. Can you find Nathan and Samuel in this picture? Ten minutes after this was taken, Samuel fell and busted his lip and bruised his nose tripping while running towards the water.

And last weekend, we had another picnic at Tom Triplett Community Park near our house. Samuel walked almost all the way around the pond with us and loved feeding the Canada geese. We are grateful for these weekends that we get to spend together. Since spring is coming, Nathan's business is picking up and he will be working most weekends from here (hopefully) until next October.

Translation Manuel

2010-02-21T14:52:00.000-08:00

We are amazed at how much our little boy is growing and beginning to talk. When compared to our friend's little girl, who is a month younger, he barely talks at all. But, isn't it a fact that girls (no matter what age) talk more than boys?

It is exciting trying to figure out what he's saying.

"Baboo" = Bible

He kept pointing to his "First Bible" book and saying, "Baboo". So now he gets out his "Baboo" and loves to point to the animals in the pictures. His favorite picture is of the lions in the story of Daniel in the lions' den.

"boon" = spoon
He's gotten pretty good about using a spoon which is very nice for me. I don't have to feed him anymore; I just give him a bowl and he goes to town. Of course, the clean up for me is a bit more because most of what he eats ends up all over.

"bwa" = block
My mom gave him this set of cardboard boxes for Christmas. He loves to build towers with them...everywhere in the house.

He'll hand Nathan or me a few and point for us to place them on the very top.

But then it is always more fun to knock the "bwa's" down, too!

Here are a few other translations

"wa-wa" = water
"dee" = teeth
"biper" = diaper
"no" = nose
"mou " = mouth
"mo" = milk
"turtu" = turtle
"bubba" = belly button
"paa" = pants
"wa" = sock
"daw" = dog
"boo" = book

A lot of these have come from him recently, so it's so exciting to hear him develop more language skills. I took him in for his 18 month check up 2 weeks ago, and the doctor asked how many words he can say. I was kind of worried because, like I said, when compared to a few other kids at church, he's a really quiet kid. The doctor told me that 5-10 words at this age is normal. So, good! Reassurance that he's right on track.

Until March 1

2010-02-15T11:14:00.001-08:00

Okay, Tiffany, this is all you're getting until March 1.

Now off to the grocery store.

NOTE: We've been EXTREMELY busy this February and won't really have things slow down until March. I'll try to update soon!

King Samuel

2010-01-16T19:36:00.000-08:00

Sorry for the bad lighting and shaky camera. Nathan and Samuel were playing and I hear "Jaymi, quick! Get the camera!" They made a royal robe out of my snuggie. (Yeah, that's right, I own a snuggie. It was a gift a couple of years ago and I laughed when I got it. But last month when it was really cold, I got it out and it's great! Very warm! Don't laugh!)

Happy New Year, 16 Days Late

2010-01-16T19:14:00.000-08:00

I know it's a little late, but Happy New Year! I tend to always be behind the game on things, so sending a New Year wish to the blog world is no surprise.

We had a great Christmas and New Year. Samuel was surprised by the gifts under the tree Christmas morning. His favorite gift was a basketball from our dear friends the Heritages.

We celebrated the traditional New Year dinner with my Grandma Betty and Mom and Dad who drove down actually on Saturday for a day trip. Samuel really warmed up to his B-ma.

And of course he LOVED his Nana and Grandaddy!

Four generations of the Smith family.

(My dad looks so sweet in this picture, I think.)

So I hope everyone had a great New Year and 2010 is starting off well for you!

Merry Christmas!

2009-12-24T21:31:00.000-08:00

It is officially Christmas Day.

Everything is cleaned, wrapped, and stuffed.

We're so excited to celebrate our Savior's birth with this little one.

We wish you a Merry Christmas!

Tabitha, Update Your Blog!

2009-12-22T18:04:00.000-08:00

See, Tabitha, this is what an updated blog looks like... Ha! Ha! (Inside joke to my sister-in-law.)

We've already begun the Christmas gift exchanges. Samuel really enjoyed opening his first gifts from Papa and Grammy Bragg. I think he at first was more amazed at tearing the wrapping paper off. Thank you for the bowling set!

Because Nathan had to work yesterday, Samuel and I traveled by ourselves to Jeffersonville to have my family's Christmas.

Samuel loves his Uncle Mark and Aunt Tabby.

I mean, would it kill the Smith men to smile?!?!?! Even Samuel!

Granddaddy Smith was so proud to have matching camouflage pants with his grandson. (Dad, look out for the "fashion police.")

And then we got to meet Samuel's "sort of cousin" - Eli. This kid is serious about his presents.

Tiffany, however brief our visits are, I am always grateful for our friendship and enjoy our time together. (Yes, that's my son playing with a super size My Little Pony which he called a "dog." Every animal is a "dog.")

Sweet friends for over 12 years.

(Alright, Tabitha post your pictures. Do you have one with the boys smiling? Ha! Ha!)

12 Days Before Christmas

2009-12-12T20:09:00.000-08:00

One of my favorite Christmas movies is the pilot movie for Little House on the Prairie. My mom bought this VHS when we were kids, and I loved to watch it every Christmas. I love how the Ingalls girls are so happy and excited to receive their "own cup" and "red mittens." Ma was beside herself to receive sweet potatoes from Mr. Edwards. It was the best Christmas ever!

I like the idea of having a simple Christmas and since we are on a budget I wanted to create some low cost memories that we can have as a family (or at least for our child). So I thought we could do something on each of the 12 days before Christmas. I shared these activity ideas with Nathan, and he laughed and thought they were cheesy. "Of course! They're meant for a 16 month old." I told him. My hope is to create this tradition for Samuel to make the Christmas season more special. So here is what we're doing starting tomorrow.

12 days before Christmas

We'll play outside and go down the slide 12 times.

11 days before Christmas

Collect 11 leaves (our yard needs raking anyway) and glue them down to shape a Christmas tree.

10 days before Christmas

Use 10 ingredients to make cookies for a Christmas Cookie Swap Party.

9 days before Christmas

Use 9 pieces of crafts to make a nativity velcro toy for Samuel's friend James. I'll use these templates.

8 days before Christmas

Sing and dance to 8 Christmas songs.

7 days before Christmas

Use 7 different crayon colors to decorate a paper bag Christmas vest.

6 days before Christmas

Read the first 6 verses of Luke 2.

5 days before Christmas

Read the rest of Luke 2 (Okay, this really doesn't fit 5, but oh well.)

4 days before Christmas

Make handprint cotton ball sheep that came with the shepherds to see Jesus.

3 days before Christmas

Make 3 holiday cards for family members.

2 days before Christmas

Play with 2 Christmas Jingle Bells.

1 day before Christmas

Bake 1 birthday cake for Jesus.

I'll let you know how it goes.

2009-12-10T20:42:00.000-08:00

Okay, so these are the pajamas that go on top of the previous set. These are much cuter!

A friend went out of town to a wedding for the weekend and we said that we would love to watch her little boy. She is the friend that watches Samuel Wednesday-Friday when I'm at work. It was so much fun to have two little boys running around the house. Ahhhh, maybe someday we can have even more.

Pajamas

2009-12-10T17:15:00.000-08:00

One day Samuel will watch this video and just roll his eyes at the fact that his parents dressed him in such rediculous "old man" pajama bottoms. But right now, he doesn't seem to mind.

Actually, these are just the first layer of pajamas. I usually put at least 2 layers on him for these cold nights we've been having lately.

Sweet Little Cousins

2009-12-01T18:08:00.001-08:00

This is our nephew Liam Padgett. He is 5 months younger than Samuel and is absolutely adorable. I couldn't resist posting this picture of him crawling because I love his determined grin.
Samuel and Liam met back in June but this time, I think, they were much more aware of one another. Liam was so cute to get excited when he saw Samuel. I think they will be great friends.

They both LOVE bananas. Aunt Emmalee showcased the banana and both boys' faces lit up.

"Mmmmmm, Potassium!"

This is my FAVORITE picture of the boys!

Cousins are great gifts of brotherhood!

Thanksgiving at the Braggs'

2009-12-01T17:51:00.000-08:00

We had a great Thanksgiving at Nathan's parents' house. Almost the whole family was able to make it. Annalisa and her family weren't able to come down from Minnesota. We can't wait until this summer when they make the trek for a long visit.

I think every family has pictures of cousins in the morning in their PJs. Those moments of getting together and spending the night at Grandma's house with my cousins are some of my favorite memories from childhood. I'm so glad that Samuel has a lot of cousins. We love these little ones!

I love these two photos. They make me laugh because everyone is not focused on the camera. It shows how crazy it is to get 13 people focused on one task.

I love Emmalee's stance here! So funny! And then look at Kevin's (upper left corner) dazed and confused look on his face. I think right after this shot, we noticed that little Liam had put the flower which Papa had given him in his mouth and then made a very sour and funny look on his face.

We are thankful for a wonderful family and cherish these moments together.

What we did during November

2009-12-01T17:38:00.001-08:00

Samuel has found how to put his daddy's boots on and try to walk around in them. My mom says that she has a picture of me doing the same thing with my dad's boots. I'll have to find the picture and compare.

We celebrated my birthday. Samuel didn't like the chocolate cake that Nana made for me. Mmmmm, but chocolate cake is my favorite.

Little Boy has found a new hiding spot. He loves to play peek-a-boo, chase, and tag when he hides in the pantry.

My parents came down for a visit. It was so nice and refreshing to have them here for the weekend.

Hosting

2009-11-11T11:03:00.001-08:00

We are hosting friends that used to live here in Savannah but recently moved to the Atlanta area. Both of their parents live in Savannah so they will be needing a place to stay during the Thanksgiving weekend. They have two kids and didn't want to be crammed in their parents house during the holiday weekend. We will be out of town visiting our families, so I told them, "Sure, you can stay at our place! Mi casa es su casa!"

I love these dear friends and will be excited to have them in our home - even though we won't be there. I dream of being a great hostess but don't always get a chance to actually be one. I found a really neat article on Simple Mom with great suggestions on making overnight guests feel welcome.

My Grandma Hoeme is a great hostess! I would love to "think for others" like she does. Even as an 80 year old woman, she hosts a Christmas luncheon for all of the widows that live in her building. She and Papa have always opened their home to people.

So if you are ever in the Savannah area, we would love to have you over. You can crash in the playroom. :)

Halloween #2

2009-11-02T11:55:00.000-08:00

We celebrated our 2nd Halloween with Samuel. I wish I was creative enough to make his costume from scratch. Or simply, I wish I had the time to create his costume. If I had time and creativity, Samuel would have been a slice of bread for Halloween. He LOVES bread!

But we had to settle for an on sale last minute costume... a pumpkin. He's still cute!

Our church has a Family Fun Night each Halloween. They had a petting zoo, putt-putt, ring toss, snow cones, a small batting cage and this bouncy castle. Samuel LOVED the balls and actually got into bouncing even with the big kids knocking him down. He was a trooper and got back up and said, "Uh oh!" and then bounced some more.

We are blessed!

2009-10-25T18:54:00.000-07:00

When things get crazy and my to-do list gets longer and longer, I have to stop and remember that we are truly undeservingly blessed!

Samuel getting his first drawing lesson from Daddy.

It's about time the boy earns his keep around here. Ha! Ha!

Wonderful day at the Bamboo Farm Fall Festival.

1st Pony Ride

We had a visit from Grammy and Papa Bragg.

Happy Birthday Grammy!

Proverbs 16:3

Commit thy works unto the LORD and thy thoughts shall be established.

October Visit to Oatland Island

2009-10-19T13:55:00.000-07:00

Saturday was a beautiful fall day. Yes, it was actually a fall day. We get mostly hot days here in south Georgia, but Saturday was the first day we had to wear long sleeves.

We packed a lunch and decided to head to Oatland Island Wildlife Center here in Savannah. It is a small zoo set back on one of the barrier islands. Wonderful day!

Samuel in his overalls walking around the trails.
They just completed a really awesome wolf exhibit. We walked in and saw a pack of wolves up close through the glass window. Samuel kept pointing and saying "Woo Woo"

The land used to be a homestead. These two buildings are the original log cabins.

Samuel loved the ducks at the barnyard.

He got a kick out of petting the cow. Not quite sure that the cow enjoyed it though.

Pumpkin Patch Party

2009-10-12T21:07:00.000-07:00

Since I had Columbus Day off, Samuel and I joined some friends at the pumpkin patch.

The boys picking out just the right one.

Not quite big enough to play with the boys, so the dirt will have to do.

"Um, I'll take....this one."

Hollywood comes to Savannah

2009-10-12T20:45:00.001-07:00

Our friends live in this downstairs apartment on one of the squares downtown. A production team is filming Robert Redford's latest film here. It's about Mary Surratt, one of the conspirators behind Abraham Lincoln's assassination. The crew came over the weekend and set up this house to look like Surratt's old 1860's Washington DC boarding house. They paid our friends to leave for the weekend so they wouldn't film their 13 month old crying as he went down for naps. Samuel stays here Wednesday through Friday while I'm working in the mornings.

I had Columbus Day off today, so while we were running errands, we decided to stop by and see if we could catch a glimpse at the movie making business.
There's the apartment door.

There's the sign which was posted to make it look like a boarding house.

And here is James McAvoy's chair. Dang it! I got there right at lunch time. All the important people had already left for lunch. I think these are just extras.

EXCEPT ROBERT REDFORD HIMSELF!!!!!!!!!!!!

I didn't realize this was him until Nathan pointed it out to me while I was downloading these pictures onto the computer from the camera. What?! I thought it was an old man. I actually was taking a picture of the movie set. Crazy!

The guy behind James McAvoy's chair might have been him afterall. I had to ask one of the high school girls at church who he was. (I feel so old!) He played Mr Tumnus in The Chronicles of Narnia.

Tax Credit

2009-10-03T13:10:00.000-07:00

If you work in Georgia, you pay Georgia state income taxes!

You do have control over your GA state taxes. Direct it to a qualified private school of your choice.

In May of 2008 the Georgia Legislature passed HB 1133 which allows state income tax payers to take a tax credit for money designated to a qualified Georgia private school. You may designate ANY amount up to $2500 per couple, $1000 per individual, and a 75% corporate credit. In addition, this amount qualifies for a federal charitable contribution.

Everybody should participate!

See Veritas Academy for more information.

15 Minutes of Fame

2009-09-28T12:24:00.000-07:00

Nathan was interviewed last week by a friend that writes for the Savannah Morning News. Check out the article and video interview, too.

Guess who is eating!

2009-09-26T11:12:00.000-07:00

We've got a finger foods eater on our hands. He's been eating

- lots of PB&J sandwiches

- black eyed peas

- pasta

- bananas

- green beans!!!!!

- English peas

- carrots

- mashed potatoes

- shreds of chicken hidden in vegetable soup

and straight peanut butter.

Nathan stays home on Tuesdays since he works most Saturdays, so he's able to watch Samuel as well. I'm able to stay at school longer for meetings and making a week's worth of copies for my class. This past Tuesday I came home to this.

A peanut butter covered mouth. Apparently he loves to eat straight peanut butter. Spoonfuls of it.

Notice the bib. "I love daddy."

We are soooooooooooo happy that he's eating more and more things on his own now. I was sharing with a friend at church how frustrating it's been that Samuel has been picky with finger foods. She said that it's a first born thing. Her first born (she's expecting her 4th) ate rice cereal until she was 15 months. She said that for the 2nd and other children eating finger foods comes a lot quicker because they see their older siblings eat. That encourages them to eat for themselves.

And just because he's the cutest little spike mohawk boy, we'll praise the Lord for these small accomplishments and gain wisdom for any future children that He might bless us with.

Saturday is my favorite day of the week

2009-09-19T06:35:00.001-07:00

I love Saturdays. They remind me of the old days when I didn't have to get up at 4:30AM to get ready for work. Ahhhh, I get to stay in my PJ's well into the morning, play with Little Boy, put him down for a nap, enjoy a relaxing cup of coffee and blog.

We've been SUPER busy since school started. Nathan has been working most Saturdays and is keeping somewhat busy with a design/install job. I'm enjoying teaching first grade and think that I'm finally getting into a good routine with everything. I'm very much a Type A personality, so needless to say it's all been a little stressful, but...another story about that maybe later.

We did enjoy a great Labor Day weekend. I think we're starting a tradition to picnic at Forsyth Park on Memorial Day to begin the summer and Labor Day to end it. We were able to meet up with our friends and their son to enjoy some time together.

Since Samuel can walk now, he tried to play with Boaz.
They had fun throwing the ball to each other.

Little Stinker is into EVERYTHING lately. He can reach for things at the edge of the counter now, crawl onto and into the dishwasher, and onto the little rocking chair Nana gave him for Christmas last year.

We love him!

Party at my crib

2009-09-05T06:17:00.001-07:00

Little Boy is walking REALLY well now. He hardly ever crawls except when he wants to get somewhere quickly. What a cutie!

Last week my parents came down to visit just on Saturday. We had a lot of fun with Nana and Granddaddy. (Isn't it weird how when your parents become grandparents, you start to call them by their grandparent name instead of Mom and Dad?) Little Boy did stay up a bit later than normal but was still awake babbling in his room at 9 o'clock - still too excited from the day.