More Cousins

We've had some good quality time with both sides of the family this month.  Last weekend, Aunt Kelly was here to visit and we went to Morrilton to see the Moellers (Kelly and Brent's first cousin and her family).  Kelly was in Dallas for work last week and decided to skip on over to Arkansas to see her favorite nephew.  She, Caitlin and Gamma are coming in July and we're super excited about that!

On Saturday, we went to see the Moellers new house in Morrilton. It's in the beginning stages of renovation, but the house is super cool.  Built in 1948 by the wealthy family who owned furniture stores in the river valley area, this house is 5600 square feet with a pool and finished basement.  It's overwhelming how big it is, and actually reminds me a lot of my Ma and Pa's house (but much much bigger).  It has a maid's quarters, a breakfast sun room where the family would take their breakfast, a library, formal living room, and about 5-6 bedrooms.  ( I lost count).  It's going to be really cool when they have it all finished and I can't wait to see what they do with it.  Natalie and Rich have three kids and they absolutely love Jackson.  They think he's their personal baby doll, and Jackson lets them carry and drag him around.  It's hilarious!  

This is Hannah (8) and Jacob (12) with their baby cousin Jackson.  The look on his face is priceless here.  ha! 

Kinda reminds me of another picture I've seen before.  The Golden Boy (aka Brent) was the first boy born to the Gardner family in 36 years, so all of these girls probably dragged him around like a baby doll too.  

This week has been much better on some fronts, but we're still struggling with the evenings.  I think Jackson's upper molars are coming in and he's been really cranky.  Or maybe that's because he's a toddler and expressing his independence.  I don't know but it's been a little stressful from 6-8 every night.  I know this too shall pass, but those kisses that I get surely make up for it.  (The kisses are spontaneous now and we don't have to always ask for them - I love it!). 

Weekend with My Cousins

I know it's been a couple of weeks since all of this happened, but it's been a little crazy at my house lately and I just can't find the motivation to do a lot of blogging.  Hopefully this will get me back on track. 

My sweet little toddler loves being at Mimi and Pops' house .  He did so good with all of the people he met during the weekend we were home for Nannie's funeral. My three cousins were all there, and it was so good to get to hang out with them again. 

Food just tastes better at Mimi's house.  

I don't think my mom would approve of this picture because it shows all of the junk in this room, but in her defense, it's Nannie's stuff that she's got to figure out what to do with it all.  Jackson found him a place to sit and he liked looking through the window at Pops.  

He also discovered the fireplace that weekend and wanted to sit up there and read the magazines.  

There's nothing better than reading a 30-year old book with his mommy's name in the front. 

The visitation and funeral were very nice and it was so nice to see the community reach out to my family.  There was food everywhere!  We started joking that we had to eat every two hours because that's how much there was.  I couldn't help but think that Nannie was a little aggravated because she couldn't be with us, but I know she is with Jesus and nothing is better than that.  

Here are all of Nannie's grandkids:  Me, Michelle, Adam, Sarah, and Shannon.  It's probably been 15 years since we've all been together and I forgot how much we used to laugh when we were kids.  Brent fit right in with them too.  

Uncle Mike, Aunt Debbie, Adam, Michelle, Landon, Shannon, Kayla, and Chris. 

Mom and Aunt Debbie. To me, my mom looks just like her dad and Aunt Debbie looks like Nannie.  Genetics are funny. 

Here's our little family - Jackson wouldn't look at the camera, but we're all here.  

Nannie didn't have an easy life, but she was faithful to God and he blessed her with a loving family and a long life.  She was feisty and a hard worker, and if I can be half the cook and gardener she was, I'll be OK.  My goal now is to make sure that Jackson and any future children know what kind of person she was because even thought she isn't with us, she is still very much apart of who we are.  

My Nannie

I'm very sad to say that my sweet Nannie passed away yesterday morning.  She was 81 and had been sick for a couple of years now with complications from a stroke and lymphoma.  I'm sad to see her go, but honestly I'm not sorry.  There is no sorrow where she is right now.  Honestly, I feel a great peace and joy with her passing, and I feel like God has been preparing my heart for this for a couple of weeks.  Back in March, I went to McGehee for a couple of days to help my mom and aunt clean out her house because they were renting it out to a newly married couple in their church.  It was amazing to see how organized and neat she was, and she had pictures for days!  I love pictures, but I was so overwhelmed with the thought of trying to organize them.  She also had folders for each of the grandkids with news clippings and pictures just for us.  

She will truly be missed and I'm so glad I was able to have a relationship with her as an adult.  I don't think I look too much like her (hello, I'm a foot taller than her), but I hope that I can be half the cook and gardener she was.  I remember when I grew my first tomato - I was so proud and couldn't wait to tell her about it.  (I'll never be able to sew like she did, though).  

I'm also grateful that she got to see Jackson and he learned who Nannie was.  I never knew my dad's grandmother, Martha, but I felt like I knew her from all of the stories about her.  I hope we can do the same with Jackson's great-grandmothers. 

It's pretty rare today to have 17-year-old great-granddaughters, but Nannie did.  Kayla's the oldest, and the rest of the great-grans are Ethan, Grace, Jackson, and Landon.  

In going through some of her news clippings, I found several pages where she wrote notes on leading people to Christ and sharing God's word.  What a great legacy she gave us!  I know she is talking Jesus's ear off right now! 

Here's her obituary.  She worked very hard in her life to overcome struggles, and even until a few years ago, she could run circles around all of us!  She made an awesome strawberry cake and beautiful afghan blankets.  She lived a good, long life and had a great testimony. We love you Nannie! 

Jean Tucker Burns Naugher, 81 of McGehee, passed away Wednesday, April 3, 2013 in McGehee. She was born November 5, 1931 in Florence, AR.

She was a retired sales clerk for Murphy’s Cash Store in Winchester and a member of First Baptist Church in McGehee. She was the daughter of the late Vance Tucker and Lila Dale Peacock Tucker and was preceded in death by two husbands, Rodney Burns and J. C. Naugher and three brothers, Royce Tucker, Waymon Tucker and T. J. Tucker.

Jean loved to garden, sew and crochet. She was a “Pink Lady” for the Hospital Auxiliary while living in Hobbs, NM. She was a Pill Packers Lady for the Honduras Medical Mission Team at First Baptist Church in McGehee. She won many Blue Ribbons for things she entered in the Desha County Fair. She loved playing cards, ball and etc. with her grandchildren and great-grandchildren and was a loving mother, grandmother and great-grandmother and was a very vivacious lady, full of life and vigor. Jean will be greatly missed by her family and friends.

Survivors include two daughters, Linda Burns Norris and husband, Ronnie of McGehee and Debbie Burns Nichols and husband, Mike of Springfield, MO; one brother, James Earnest Tucker of Texas; one grandson, Adam Nichols and wife, Lisa of Denver, CO; four granddaughters, Shannon Wegley and husband, Chris of Ozark, MO, Michelle Austin and husband, Rocky of Hartville, MO, Laura Haywood and husband, Brent of Cabot and Sarah Farmer and husband, Josh of Bryant; seven great-grandchildren, Kayla, Landon, Ethan, Grace, Reid, Taylor and Jackson.

Twenty-One

So my child is officially 21 months old now.  I can't believe we're just a few months shy of him being two years old.  I look back at pictures from a year ago and he still looks like a baby.  But before I get lost in thinking about that sweet little baby, let me tell about the sweet little boy that he's become.

First of all, his language is really expanded in the last month.  New words include open, truck, purple, and booger (yes, I am proud).  Last night he was eating dinner and I told him that Pops wasn't feeling so great and we needed to pray for him to feel better.   Next thing I hear was him saying "Amen."  It's amazing to me that he associated the word prayer with Amen, and I'm thankful for that little God moment.

He knows what cars and trucks are, as well as all of the basic animals and their sounds.  In fact, he finally started saying "cow" rather than "moo" when I asked him what the picture was.  Sheep is still "Baa" though.  We found this new show on Netflicks called Shaun the Sheep and it's a claymation show from England.  I think Brent and I like it better than he does, but he says "Uh ho baa" a lot in it.  I definitely love to hear his little voice.  Recently, I can tell he's starting to say "one two three" but it's not clear so that anybody other than me would know it.  Same thing when I sing Twinkle Twinkle Little Star.  The sounds are the same as the melody, so I know that's what he's singing. We're working on colors right now, and he can say the words after us, but he automatically thinks everything is "pu-ple".  Oh and one word that he definitely knows how to use is NO.  He also knows the tone to use it in, which often times gets him in trouble.  I've also noticed that he's starting to put two words together "mommy's shoes" and "open please".

For the most part, he is a good helper and likes to pick up his toys at the end of the evening.  He especially loves to go outside and play with the broom.  (Why do we have toys?)  I'm so ready for the weather to stay warm so we can play outside after dinner.  He pitches the biggest fit when he can't go right outside when we get home.

A typical day right now looks like this:
6:30 - get up, eat breakfast
7:00 - leave work
8:00 - drop off at daycare
8:30 - breakfast, part 2
11:30 - lunch
12 -2 - nap (although I'm not sure he sleeps the entire two hours anymore).
2 -5 - snack, outside playtime, free-for-all until mom/dad get there
6 - get home and whine for "craka, ckookie, meelk, jooce" until we give in.
6:30 - eat dinner of mac & cheese, hot dogs, chicken nuggets, meatballs, green beans, grapes, applesauce, mashed potatoes.  (not all at once)
7 - 8:  play with mom/dad, take a bath, read books, watch TV, and go to bed.

He's still really good about going to bed, which I am so so so thankful.  He's not attempted to crawl out of the crib yet, but I know that it's coming.  We moved some office stuff around and moved some of his toys into his room (also in attempts to keep my living room from looking like a daycare). And speaking of daycare, he loves his little friends at school.  Noah is his "best friend" and he goes by "no no" at school (which I'm sure his mother loves), there's also Chelsea, Maddie, Ethan, Liam, Will, Caleb, Judah, and Pranjah.

As of March, he weighs about 24 pounds and he's 34 inches tall.   I knew he had grown recently because some of his shirts are looking really short.  I would say he's a pretty picky eater, and we've tried different things to get him to eat his food, but if he doesn't want to, then you can't make him.  I try to be reason with him, but then I wonder why I'm reasoning with my toddler.  One thing he does like to eat is anything that Mimi fixes - that gets scarfed down quick, but my dinners he doesn't want to eat.

I'm sure I am forgetting some things, but one thing I can't forget is that he is very sweet and will give kisses and hugs on command.  He loves it when we do "family hug" and usually says "aw mama daddy".  I pray that he will always be so sweet to us and his friends, and that he continues to like to go to church.  I keep cherishing these days because I know they'll be gone before I know it.  I'm so glad God decided to send him to us.

Tales from Easter 2013

Easter is one of my favorite holidays, and I was excited for Jackson to experience it this year.  This is technically his second Easter, so we practiced picking up eggs and putting them in the basket.  This was preparation for our Lifegroup's first annual Easter Egg Hunt.  The weather didn't cooperate with us, so we moved it to the church and it turned out GREAT!  There was well over 50 people there, and most of all, the kids had a great time.  

Jackson is so shy and reserved when he gets into a new situation.  He was attached to my leg most of the first hour, but then he got his motor running.  

Almost two summers ago, there were five girls who were all very busy.  These are the babies of summer 2011 (with the exception of one who wasn't in the room).  Josh McDonald, Jackson Haywood, Nathan Wooten, Audrey Hefner, and Clara Northcutt were born within six weeks of each other.  It's so fun to watch them play together (or take toys away) ha! 

These three were born within the same week!  June 27, July 1, and July 4. 

This is Jackson's buddy Brandt.  They are in the same "class" at church and are about a month a part, although you couldn't tell it by the size of Brandt.  He's a smart kid and already potty training.  

We got to hang out in G-lab and the chapel, so there was lots of room to spread out. 

I was glad that Mimi and Pops got to come and play with our church friends.  Jackson was especially excited to see them!  

After a quick bite of lunch and a juice box, he was ready to get back into the game.  

This little "roller coaster" was a big hit with the kids. 

You think Jackson liked it? 

We got home around 12 and had to open Jackson's present from Mimi and Pops.  He got a Noah book and a John Deere tractor.  "Oh cool" was said a lot. 

This Noah book has little flaps to look under and he is really into that right now.  We're working on colors, but of course every answer is "pu-ple".  

'

Now that's tired!  

Even Mimi and Pops needed a nap.   

Not sure if we're going to perpetuate the "Easter Bunny" lie, but we will definitely do Easter baskets.  We didn't open this until after nap, but I'm glad it all fit into the basket. 

He got a puzzle, Elmo plate and bowl, several books, bubbles, and a few stickers. 

Sunday mornings are always crazy, but Easter Sunday just adds another layer of stress.  For some reason, I want everyone to look nice and be on time.  I was stressing out about what I was going to wear, and I could sense the Lord telling me to relax and focus on the meaning.  I was glad my little man looked so cute though. We took a few pictures on the front door before it started raining.  Of course he wouldn't smile, but they turned out really good. 

After church we went to the Morris' house for the traditional Easter lunch.  Believe it or not, this was my first Easter in Cabot since we've been married.  Every year, we've gone to McGehee, but I'm glad we got to see the Gardners/Oxners this year.  Jackson doesn't really have any playmates because the other cousins are a few years older (and mostly girls), but he loved seeing cousin Whitney and Heather.  

This was the best family portrait I could get this year.  Thank goodness for cameras with screens that pivot. 

Jackson and Mommy.  He was too concerned with the old dog on the patio than he was with taking pictures. 

Can't believe this little man is almost two!  When did he get so big? 

My friend Erika suggested that I stage this in 10 years, and I think that's a great idea.  Not sure if I will have willing participants, but I can sure try.  Jackson sure does love his daddy. 

We didn't hunt eggs with the rest of the cousins because it was well past nap time and we all needed to rest.  He didn't sleep long, so we got up and opened presents.  This one was from Gamma and it's a Magna Doodle. 

We spent the rest of the afternoon playing on the patio and talking to family on Skype/Facetime.  It was a really busy weekend, and it's taken most of the morning to get my brain to work.  In addition to my family, I am also thankful for a risen Savior who knows my name and cares for me.  

Luke 24:6 "He isn't here!  He is risen from the dead!"