Rainy Day Fun & Sunday Funday!

Well, it has been yet another crazy week! Daddy got called away again (this time to South Carolina.) So, Jackson and I packed up and headed to Mimi and Papa's. We had lots of fun at Mimi and Papa's, as always! But, when Friday evening rolled around we sure were happy for our Daddy to be home! Life is SO much better when Daddy is around! Not sure if I tell him that enough, but it's so TRUE. Maybe I should just tell him to read the blog? ;)

Anyhow, when we are living out of bags for a week, I seem to get behind on my blogging. So, I'll have to play a little catch up.

The week of March 28-April 1, I was on Spring Break. Now, I know that I have said that I love working in the school system, but it is times like this that I REALLY love it! :) It is hands down the best job in the world and definitely the best job for a working Mom. I look forward to every little break that we have to spend with my little guy and just soak up the day. I get to pretend for a while that I'm a SAHM. And, I must say, I think it's something that I could get use to. ;) But, if you must be a working Mom, there is no better choice than teaching! Just my personal opinion. :)

So, back to Spring Break. I had big plans for our Spring Break. Plans that included super fun stuff like: beach days, pool days, lots of outside time, walks around the island, golf cart rides and the list goes on. Well, then the Lord looked down on me and said "your plans are not my plans" and it began to RAIN. And I mean RAIN. It rained, and it rained, and it rained. For 5 days straight. That's right, it rained for my entire Spring Break. So, all of my fun outdoor, plans with my little guy turned into fun, indoor plans with my little guy (which called for a little more creative thinking.) Most of our days were spent building massively, high block towers, coloring pictures, reading books, riding our firetruck around the house, playing on the front porch, watching Thomas and playing with trains. After being cooped up for a couple of days I decided to get creative. I built Jackson a "Fort" and he LOVED it! He didn't want to come out of his "Fort"....he even wanted to nap in it. :) Now, this Fort wasn't the type that I made as a kid with the blankets draped over the couches (I knew that he would never let that stay up!) This "Fort" was really just Jackson's play tent that he got for Christmas. I got it out of his closet and set it up in the living room, put a blanket and a lizard lamp/nightlight in there and turned off all of the lights. You would've thought that I'd taken the child to Disney World to meet Walt Disney himself! He shrilled with excitement and quickly started dragging his favorite toys and books into his new "Fort". He has played in the Fort every day since (yes, this means that the Fort is STILL up in my living room. Oh, the things we do for our kids.) :)

Waiting patiently (which doesn't always happen around here) for Mommy to put up my "Fort"!

Trying his hardest to convince me that nap time should be in the Fort...good try buddy. Don't think for one second that it worked, but he sure was CUTE trying! :)

Once again we met our dear friends, Jennifer & Matthew, at our favorite "Rainbow Play" for a little rainy day fun. Followed by lunch at the always yummy, "Plums". The boys were glad to be out of the house and we were just glad for a little Mommy time! :)

We also celebrated my sweet Grandaddy Abbott's birthday...so blessed to still have this man and ALL of my grandparents in my life!

And, now we come to today. Today was a perfect Sunday. We started out with a great service at church, came home for lunch, put J down for a nap, the Hubs and I rented a movie and we ended the day with playtime outside, a golf cart ride around the island and tacos! Here are a few pictures of Jackson in his precious little church outfit. I have to take pictures to document and savor these precious outfits, because you can only dress a little boy in a John-John for so long. Once they pass a certain age, it just becomes plain WRONG. Fortunately, we're not to that age yet. At least I don't think so. :)

And, before you see these next two pictures, I have to tell you what I witnessed today. Jackson was running around playing in the living room. He made his way into his "Fort" and then started calling for "Da-Da". Which turned into "DAAAAAD!" When Adam showed up, Jackson patted the blanket in the tent and said "Mere." Adam, being the sweet daddy that he is, proceeded to get in the tent. Then, Jackson lays on his belly, pats his (own) back, and says "back" and Adam promptly begins to rub his back. I mean, REALLY??! I have to work MUCH harder than that to get Daddy to rub MY back! Can we say SPOILED ROTTEN?! ;) Unfortunately I didn't get a picture of that. But, I did get a picture of the boys all laying in the tent later that day...precious. :)

Before I call it a night, I am asking that you keep my sweet baby in your prayers. He had an allergic reaction to what we believe was an ant bite this weekend. (This is the 2nd time this has happened) Complete with hives all over his body and swelling at the site of the bite. It happened Saturday around noon and when I put him to bed last night, his little foot & ankle were still swollen to about double their normal size. By this morning, it was much better. But, you can still see the hives and the foot & ankle are still slightly swollen. His doctor wants me to bring him in for examination and possible testing. I pray that all goes well and we find some answers.

Hope everyone has a great week! This Momma is hittin' the sack!

Spring Fever!

Well, Springtime is officially here! And that has meant lots of Springy FUN going on around the McCullough Household. Here are a few of the fun things that we have been up to....

Getting to stay up a LITTLE later on the weekends with Mommy & Daddy, because we play outside until nearly dark.

Getting to watch our new favorite: "Thomas & Friends" on Saturday mornings while eating breakfast. :)

LOTS of St. Patrick's Day fun! Like, getting to ride in our very own "Golf Cart Parade" around the Island, with the rest of our neighbors!

During all of these pictures, I had my camera in some crazy mode (unknowingly) so I apologize for the fuzzy looking graininess. (Not sure if that's a word?) As you read on, you'll see that I have had no luck with cameras lately! Anywho, looking at these pictures, who would think that we nearly had an emergency room visit with little Jackson just a few hours later due to a crazy rash and fever of 104.7? All turned out to be fine, just a childhood virus of some type. But, it sure did scare this Momma!

And, taking in another parade the next weekend with great friends of ours, Lindsay & Garrett and their precious little girl, Emily (who stole lots of kisses from Jackson!) :)

Watching the parade with Daddy. It was way past nap time and we had to give in and let J have his "Pap" (Paci). These pictures would've been much cuter without it. Oh well, you gotta do what you gotta do. ;)

How CUTE are they??!


Jackson's first trip to the Zoo! This past weekend we went down to Folkston to visit Adam's family. On Saturday morning, Adam, Nay-Nay and myself loaded Jackson up to head down to Jacksonville, FL for a day at the Jacksonville Zoo. It's only about a 40 minute drive, so not a bad trip at all. Sadly, Grandaddy could not join us. He was called into work, due to the fact that most of South GA seems to be on fire right now. We were actually afraid that Adam may be called back to Savannah, as well, and we would have to head home. But, thankfully he wasn't. So, a day at the Zoo it was for us! :) Jackson absolutely LOVED it! As we were showing him all of the animals, he would say "Oh WOW!" and wave his hand at them. At one point he was doing a very excited "Oh WOW" to the animals, when he glanced up in the sky and spotted some Buzzards flying overhead and let out an even bigger "OH WOW!" Not quite part of the Zoo there, Buddy. But hey, if you want to get excited about Buzzards, then get excited about Buzzards! He also proceeded to "Meow" at the Rino's and "Quack" at the sea turtles. :) Sweet, SILLY boy! It was quite possibly the cutest & funniest thing that I have ever seen! Here are a few pictures, but unfortunately this Mommy did not come well prepared. I had all intentions to be well prepared. I plugged in my phone, camera and video camera on Friday night to ensure that they were fully charged for our trip to the Zoo. Needless to say, a fully charged camera battery will do you no good if you leave it at home. Thankfully, my video camera has a Still Camera mode, so I was able to take pictures that way. It is not the quality of my digital camera, but it's better than nothing, right?

In case you haven't noticed, I dressed Jackson totally in theme. I mean, he had this precious outfit in his closet (thanks Mimi!), how could I NOT?! ;)

Here is our one and only attempt at a Family photo. It didn't go over so well. ;)

I think THIS happened before we even pulled out of the parking lot...

Although we didn't get to see the entire Zoo (we were there for nearly 3 hours and only made it to half), we did get to see all of the animals on Jackson's outfit, feed the Giraffe's, ride the train and visit the gift shop for a cute keepsake "J-Ville Zoo" T-shirt! Hey, with a 20 month old, this Momma calls that SUCCESS! ;) Another trip to the Zoo is definitely in our future! I'm thinking sometime in the Fall when the weather has cooled off a bit...I can't wait!! :)

Later that evening, after we returned from the Zoo and ALL took a much needed nap, we had a birthday dinner to celebrate Adam's grandpa, L.J.'s, 75th birthday! As always, it made for great family time and even better food. And, Jackson got to meet sweet baby cousin Georgia Grace for the first time!

"Big Mema" and "Big Papa" with both of their Great-Grandchildren. They will soon add another in July! Baby Zeke will be here before we know it! :)

Before heading home on Sunday, Jackson got to do one of his favorite things in the world....drive the "BRRMMM!" Otherwise known as a Tractor. ;)

Which turned into a full-out Photo Shoot... :)

And, since Mommy is on Spring Break this week, we have had lots of these fun type of mornings!

But, more on that later. Now it's time for this Momma to take advantage of this perfect rainy day and napping baby. I see a good book, or possibly a Lifetime Movie in my near future. :)

A heavy heart, uplifting news & crazy busy!

Well friends, I have let one month go by with no new post. Mainly because we have been crazy busy around here, but also because I have been trying to think of how to go about this post. I had to wait until I had the time to really sit down and think about what I wanted to type, so here it goes. And let me warn you, it's a heavy one.

We'll start with the crazy busy part. A little over 3 weeks ago, Adam was called out to a wildfire down in Merritt Island, FL. He was down there for 15 days. 15 very LONG days. For most of the time that he was away, Jackson & I stayed with my parents. Partly because I just like to, but mostly because Adam is SUPER protective and I would rather just give in, pack up and stay with my parents, than to here him fuss at me every day to "go stay with your Mom & Dad, please!" :) Don't get me wrong, as I said, I LOVE staying with my Mom & Dad. They are a ton of help with J and I never have to worry about what I'm cooking for supper! ;) But, there's just something about being home and in your own space. Being somewhere else, no matter how wonderful it may be, throws your world a little "off." Not to mention that while Adam was gone, we battled the craziest illness that Jackson has had up-to-date (which involved a crazy rash and very high fever). But, all was well in the end. And, even though we had LOTS of fun staying with Mimi & Papa, we sure were happy when our Daddy got HOME! Thank you Lord for watching over our Daddy (whose job can be quite dangerous at times) and getting him home to us safely. :) Since Daddy has been home, our weekends have been pretty jam packed. Last Saturday we joined friends for some St. Patty's Day fun and took in the parade down at Shellman's Bluff. And, of course Sunday was filled with church and family time. This past weekend we took a trip down to Folkston to visit with Adam's family, and Jackson had his first visit to the Zoo! There will be a post with all of these fun pictures to come, but first I must get a few things off of my chest....

My Heavy Heart...

For the past few weeks, I have had a very heavy heart. After MUCH prayer and MUCH quiet time with my Lord & Savior, my heavy heart has slowly lifted. Most of you know (or have heard me talk about) my best friend, Paige, that lives in Las Vegas. Well, I got a call from Paige 3 weeks ago, to the day. A call that I never knew would affect me so much. Paige called to ask me to lift her friend, Holly, and her family up in my prayers. She told me that the evening prior Holly's sister-in-law, Brittany Shepard Pugh, 24, and her 15 month old baby boy, Shep, were killed in a car accident in Paige's (and Holly's) hometown of Troy, Alabama. Brittany was a 3rd grade teacher. She had picked up Shep from her Mother's house (who kept the baby while Brittany was at work), and was driving home just as she did every day, when a car from the oncoming traffic crossed the median and hit them head on. Brittany died on the scene and Baby Shep was airlifted to a Childrens Hospital in Birmingham, where he later passed.

Now, I did not know these two sweet people personally. I have never met Brittany or Baby Shep. But, I do know Holly. And, I have seen several pictures of Brittany & Shep through Holly's blog. Even though I did not know this family personally, this tragedy has deeply affected me. I guess because we share a lot of common ground, I can't really say? But, what I do know is that I have NEVER grieved for the loss of strangers as I have for the loss of these two precious lives. I have carried a heavy heart for this family ever since I heard the tragic news. I have lifted them up in prayer every single morning & night. I have shed a ton of tears and shared their story with many. Although I did not know Brittany, what I have learned about her is that she was a woman who loved Jesus Christ whole-heartedly. This may have been a devastating & unspeakable tragedy, but this young mother was ready for it. She was ready for the time that she would be called home. I have no doubt in my mind that Brittany is with her sweet baby boy, dancing and singing in the presence of our Savior.

Although I do not know most of Brittany's family, nor do they know me, I can only hope that they would be encouraged to know that SHE has encouraged THIS young mother to do the same. To be prepared for my calling home, whenever that time may come. The tragedy that happened to Brittany & Baby Shep has led me to more devotional time and prayers with my Heavenly Father than ever before. It has made me pray harder and love deeper. I can only believe that this devastating story has brought me closer to the Lord so that should I ever be the young mother in this situation...I, too, will be prepared as Brittany was. Although we know that Brittany & Shep are where we should all long to be, please keep their sweet family in your prayers. Lift up her husband, Clint, who is left to face this world without his loving Wife and Baby Boy. Lift up the rest of the Shepard/Pugh family that they may find His healing & grace during this extremely difficult time. I certainly hope that they find peace in the fact of knowing that Brittany & Shep were ready for their calling and they are HOME.

* For any of you who may be interested, this is a blog of another girl from Troy. She has put Brittany & Baby Shep's story into beautiful words and pictures. But, let me warn you...grab a tissue.*

MY UPLIFTING NEWS!

After a week or so of having a heavy heart, I ray of sunshine broke through the clouds. A dear, sweet friend of mine is expecting. I have known for a couple of months that she is expecting (which is a blessing in itself, because this sweet couple have gone through many trials to get to this point!) Early in her pregnancy she went for a sonogram with her Fertility Specialist and learned that there is not only one embryo, but TWO embryo's (she was around 6 weeks at this point!) She & her husband knew that there was a chance that they may have multiples, they'd been going through fertility treatments to conceive and they were ecstatic at the thought of twins! But, there was some scary news. One of the babies was MUCH smaller than the other. There were two heartbeats, but Baby B was half the size of Baby A. The fertility specialist said that he believed this would be a case of a "vanishing twin". That Baby B would not make it, and the embryo would simply be absorbed by the healthy Baby A with no complications. He gave them a 30% chance of Baby B making it to full-term or even to the 2nd trimester, for that matter. Although they were THRILLED to be pregnant and THRILLED to have one healthy baby, they couldn't help but long for Baby B to survive this and become a healthy, thriving baby as well. In Amanda's words "That is my baby. There is a heartbeat. That is MY baby and I want it to live." But, being the faithful woman that Amanda is, she knew that it is not HER baby. Baby B belongs to HIM and if it is His Will for Baby B to survive, so it will be. At that point all they could do was wait and PRAY,PRAY,PRAY (as well all did). After two long weeks, she had her first appointment and sonogram with her OB-GYN and guess what....TWO HEALTHY BABIES!!!! I will never forget receiving her text. I went in the closet in my classroom and said a special prayer for her at the scheduled time of the appointment and was waiting on PINS & NEEDLES to hear. When I got the text that read "We have TWO HEALTHY BABIES!", I burst into tears and went sprinting down the hallway to celebrate with the few of us that knew at work. :) Baby B had all but caught up to Baby A and was only measuring 2 days behind. Out of the two, Baby B actually had the faster heartbeat!! It just goes to show that while Doctors may be wonderful, they are NOT the ones in control. HE is in control and if you actively seek Him and rest your faith in Him, HIS plan for you WILL prevail! Losing Baby B was not part of His journey for Cole & Amanda. All they could do was surrender and have faith. That's exactly what they did and God's Glory shone down on them! This was a ray of sunlight in my otherwise gloomy week. I'm not sure if I could've taken anymore sad, baby news. GOD IS GOOD and this sweet couple deserves all the blessings that come their way! Congratulations, Cole & Amanda...WE LOVE ALL 4 OF YOU! :)

Now, that I have gotten this very serious and heavy post off of my chest, I feel open to share with you the very FUN and HAPPY times that we have been having in the McCullough house lately! I just knew that I was not ready for a happy post, until I first got through this one. Hopefully I will get to that post later tonight... ;) Until then, love your Lord stronger, kiss your husband longer and hug your babies tighter.