This morning, we had the brilliant idea to get up and go to Oatland Island. Remember Oatland Island? The last time we were there Janson Irwin picked up a snake with a stick for me!?

Thinking I would be safer with Sebi at my side, we packed up and headed out. We made it to the corner, when my Beloved asked if I was hungry. Since all I had eaten for breakfast was coffee….we stopped at CVS. I jumped out and grabbed some granola bars and waters—and we were off! I started eating my granola but it was kind of not what my body wanted, I guess…

We get to Oatland, and we put Jack into his “Rocket Ship”–that’s the baby backpack. He thinks he is flying. I’ll deal with that later.

[Side note: I am not outdoorsy. I used to be outdoorsy, when I lived in Pennsylvania, and the ground was frozen 9 months out of the year, so there wasn't an insane snake fear!

I also really need to get some meat on my bones, and get stronger for Jack. He's only going to get bigger and harder to lift. I need to be ready for whatever his needs may be. Sure, he can walk now, but not far. He gets tired easily and wants either held or put in the stroller. I want to be like my Online BFF Rachel who wrote this---"Strong Enough to Be Your Mom". So, I agreed to do the outdoor hiking thing with Jack on my back to prove that I can be strong for him. I also don't want him to miss out on things that "normal" kids can do. I want him to see and do and feel. And I want to hold him while he does it. End of side note]

So, we started here:

We wandered the trails, saw alligators, I incessantly prayed for all the snakes to be on vacay in Toledo….

And I was itching to death. I put on bug spray. I sprayed the crud out of the kids! So I was kicking, and scratching, and slapping. They kept looking at me like I was nuts. Which on most days, isn’t too far from the truth….

We walked, and talked, and had nature all over us! And I kept itching. And kicking. And scratching. It was getting beyond annoying. Even my tummy started itching.

When we got back to the car, Janson exclaimed: “UH OH! Momma’s gonna get sick!”I totally didn’t notice myself getting sick….until she showed me that our granola bars were made with “traces of peanut flour.” I’m allergic (deathly allergic) to peanut oil.

My mosquito bites were hives. Giant ones. Like pancakes.

Jack’s face (and mine) says it all…

Pass the Benadryl Please?

I know, I know…I haven’t written. I wanted to wait until I had news, but I don’t have any. My calls go unreturned. So I figure, either they don’t want to talk to me, or they don’t want to talk to me! Nothing that a little persistence and mom-i-tude won’t fix!

Other than that:

Last week was spring break for J! We didn’t do much, but we did take her to Oatland Island (remember that place? Savannah’s version of a zoo?) . Alissa and Ella met us there, so it was supposed to be a fun day! We even packed a little picnic. I was pretty proud of myself, because, you know, I am not a HUGE fan of swamps. Or marshes. Or the Ocean. I’d rather run naked through downtown than to go camping. Don’t get me wrong, I LOVE the outdoors. I love plants, and growing flowers. I love hiking. I like a kayak ride (well, not with Sebi, but that’s another story). With that said, I had a certain trepidation going into it. Everything was going swimmingly—the day was gorgeous, the kids were nice, the bugs weren’t biting—and I stopped dead in my tracks. I darn near climbed into Alissa’s arms. I took a very deep breath (my attempt to not hyperventilate in front of the kids) and said “sssss-nnnn-AKE!” I grabbed Ella. I pushed Jack to the side. Then, out of nowhere came my Ranger-in-shining-armor. Only it wasn’t a real Ranger. It was JANSON! Or, should we call her Janson Irwin? She looked at me and said, “Momma, I’ll get it gone.” She took a stick (like the Crocodile Hunter does) and got the snake away! OK, what’s worse—the fact that I LET her do this, or the fact that I didn’t care because I hate snakes? Ella held my hand the rest of the trip telling me that she would protect me and that I was OK.

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The Garden of Goodness:

Well, we had these horrible storms. Really bad. 5+ inches of rain. Horrible wind. Ugh. Sebi went to visit, and he came home distraught. His plants had drowned. We went to visit this week, and a faint grin appeared…His corn sprouted! Everything else was gone, but his corn sprouted! Saturday, he and J went out and planted more tomatoes, and a bunch of other stuff. If this stuff actually grows, who’s coming to get veggies? We’ll have enough for everyone we know! I’m not even kidding.

There’s a funny part to this too (because, that’s the way my life works). When we first started planting, before the rain, Sebi and J were throwing seeds EVERYWHERE. Well, the lady who runs the park, she stopped over to see us. To inform us that we were planting in someone else’s patch. I told her I’d take care of it. I had no idea how to find where we’d planted seeds. I just pulled up the little signs and we decided that we’d just pick the seedlings if they sprouted. After the rain, I figured they must have drowned too…only when we went over, I’m fairly sure our new neighbors have sunflowers growing–won’t THEY be surprised! It’s a miracle!

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Easter:

This is what we learned from Easter this year.

1. Jack does NOT quite know how to egg hunt. Even after the lessons, he still preferred to have just one egg.

2. Janson is the egg hunter extraordinaire!

3. Candy–it’s for later! L-A-T-E-R (n. meaning, “for mom”)

4. Someone will complain about the food you cooked—even IF they know you’ve been cooking since 9 AM.

5. Jack doesn’t like chocolate. At. ALL.

6. Sebi likes chocolate A LOT!

7. Apparently, we still believe in the Easter Bunny—because, after all, “bunnies are real!”

It was a good day. I learned a lot!

Hope everyone had a good day. There’s been a lot of “stuff” going on in the world—stuff that isn’t happy or nice. But, it’s good to know that the Tomb is EMPTY!!! He is Risen, Indeed!

I guess it’s usually better to get the bad news out first. S had interviewed for a job in his company that would have transferred us back to Florida (which is a huge prayer for us). He pretty much had been given blessings and was set to leave—and they hired someone else. So, we’re down. I don’t really understand. Truthfully, there are days when I really think that I might lose my mind (usually after a trip to the SS office or one of the days when we have 3 doctors appointments in different areas of town). I’m tired. I don’t get to sleep (I have this weird anxiety thing going on—I keep having bad dreams about Jack choking or strangling himself with the feeding tube, so I lay awake and stare at him for hours. Needless to say, I am going to the doctor on Monday). I miss my family. I miss my friends. I think Jack would be better off near a Children’s hospital. I don’t know, I think maybe his bosses don’t understand the gravity of Jack’s situation–or what kind of stress this has put on our family. We will probably own a wing of Memorial Hospital this year with the money we owe them! S and I haven’t gone out alone (except for our anniversary debacle, which we won’t talk about) since Jack came. And we don’t expect people to babysit for us…I mean, seriously, the pump is scary! But it would sure be nice to be near family so if Jack was napping I could leave him with V and run to the store. So anyway, after all this that I have written…please pray for us. Pray that God moves, and the Powers that Be at S’s job get it! Of course, I know that everything is in God’s time…but we’ve been praying since Christmas about this.

Now, yesterday, during the eternal wait (that didn’t end out the way we wanted, in case you didn’t know that already), I took J and Jack to this place called Oatland Island (otherwise known as Savannah’s Zoo). OK..this had to be the worst thing that I have ever done. You drive in, and it’s like going to Walton’s Mountain…there’s nothing there. Then, you emerge into the marsh. They hand you a map and say “Good Luck!” and off you go. The trails are reminiscent of some place the Crocodile Hunter might be found—which had me believing that at any given moment a giant snake would crawl out of the marsh and eat all 3 of us. Plus, I am pushing a stroller–over large sticks and it’s not paved…and then I started to worry about malaria because of the giant mosquitoes! So we wander around and look at the lovely specimen…panthers, cranes, bobcats, bears, bison, wolves…and this all leads to this boardwalk out over the marsh. Well, the boardwalk has NO RAILING! So I am picturing Janson going in, and I am praying it’s not deep–because there is no way I am going into those snake-infested waters (truth be told, I totally would go save her, but she would owe me for the rest of her life, and the ambulance would have to sedate me)! So, J is telling me it’s OK…until we get about mid-way across, when she freaks out and says, “I don’t like this! HELP!” So I am carrying her and pushing Jack…and worrying that now we’re ALL going in (and the sign in front of me says Beware of Snakes and Alligators). So we finally get through the whole place and we get in the car. Janson looks at me and tells me that’s the most fun she’s had EVER! Does that make it worth it? of course it does…….

so here we have the Oatland Island pictures……the scary boarwalk, Jack and his mosqito netting, J, and J again. She was so happy!