Dirt is so much fun!

This past week, we had a bunch of work done the backyard.  The crew pulled out the existing field grass/weeds, did a little grading and put down new sod.  Jackson was so captivated by all the equipment and loved having so much dirt to play in.  He spent a lot of time standing at the window watching the workers or playing out on the porch "working" with his trucks while the workers did their thing in the yard.  I recently lost almost all of my container plants during the hurricane, but Jackson loves that he's allowed to play in the containers now.  Who would of thought that the soil would be so conducive to growing trucks and cars?     

"When two people work together, they get more work done." - Eccl. 4:9

Jackson's class at church has been working on memorizing Ecclesiastes 4:9 throughout the unit, "Playing on God's Team."  We practice his verse every day and after a couple weeks, he was able to say it all by himself.  Now we will randomly hear him reciting it or if I ever say anything like, "Mommy has to get some work done." he will respond by saying his memory verse.  Tomorrow, he gets to say his memory verse for a prize and then we can start working on the next verse to memorize.  

Judah - 7 months

I feel like Judah was just a baby-baby yesterday and all the sudden he's transformed into a moving, grooving little boy!  He DOES NOT stop moving!  Jackson hit an active phase around this age, as well, but not like Judah.  If you get within 1.5 feet of the boy, he will lunge and pull up on any body part he can get a hold of and then the next moment he is trying to wriggle free out of your arms.  He does tons of moving around while he's playing with toys.  He will twist around on his bottom to be able to see you while he plays and will flop onto his tummy and roll around to go after a particular toy that has his attention (He likes Jackson's toys better than his own).  We are just waiting on the scoot/crawl to happen anytime now.  He seems to be determined enough and has been strong enough for a long time, it's just him simply realizing that he can get around that way.  

He loves to eat!  His favorites are banana oatmeal, any type of fruit in Greek yogurt, any combination involving sweet potatoes, and apples.  He pretty much eats anything I give him if he's not overly tired - even spinach blends most of the time.  Judah also loves to eat puffs and is able to feed himself pretty well.  Soon enough he'll be eating some more finger foods as he got his first tooth a few days ago!

He is quick to smile and laugh, but he'll definitely also let you know if he's hungry or tired, and then there's not really distracting him from what he wants.         

Daddy walked into the room

Jackson climbed up, so Judah climbed down

Brotherly Love

Jackson and Judah are well on their way to being best buds, but not without the typical sibling jarring.  They are known to pull each other's hair, steal each other's toys and knock each other over on occasion, but they are the best of friends, as well.  Jackson is the first person Judah wants to see in the morning and will give up nursing just to catch a glimpse of his brother.  Jackson asks when Judah can wake up from his nap so that he can share an experience with him.  Jackson is also very considerate to make sure that Judah always has a toy to play along with; however, he is also quick to trade out those toys if he decides that he wants a turn with the toy Judah has.    

Jackson was "playing" football and thoughtfully decided that his bike helmet was close enough to a football helmet.  Naturally, he wanted Judah to play, too!  

Jackson makes this one particular face that always gets Mommy laughing because it's so silly.  He often tries to duplicate it because it makes Mommy happy.  "Me make Mommy laugh.  Mommy happy."

"Airplane Take Me Home"

"Airplane take me home."  We heard that phrase more than we could count this past week while we were in Nashville for a PA Conference for Daddy.  If there ever was a doubt that Jackson is a complete homebody, we know for certain now.  He must have asked to go home 100 times and when Mommy and Daddy wouldn't take him home, he figured maybe an airplane would.  However, with that said, the boys both did really well on our 8 hour drive each way and the many upsets to their schedules.

Although we enjoyed exploring Nashville, eating good food and taking in some good music, we tried to keep things somewhat low key for the boys.  

Grocery Shopping

Centennial Park: The Parthenon, Train & Playground

Judah's first time on a swing!

One of the other fun things to do with the boys, was to hunt for the murals all over town.  This was a great way to take in the sights and get a feel for all the unique neighborhoods.  However, the highlight of the trip for Bryan and I was the date night we were able to have when Bryan's cousin, Lauren, so graciously kept the boys!