Crab Boil

A few weeks ago we travelled down to Charleston to enjoy the Woodard's annual crab boil. We had a great time, especially Eason. It was so good to see Wench (aka Melissa), Will & beautiful little Reed. Melissa and I met two years ago when we were both pregnant with our gifts from God, and I count myself blessed to have her as a friend and to have shared that experience together. Eason was born on October 8th and Reed was born on October 31st.

Also, at the crab boil, we got to see the ones who introduced me to Wench. H (Sarah) and Simons Young.
H is, I do believe, my oldest friend, going back all the way to kindergarten and I love her more than words can tell. She is truly one of the greatest girls I know, and the Lord has blessed us with one of those precious friendships that picks up right where it left off, no matter the lapse of time between talking. H & Simons live in ole San Fran now, but they were back to visit & it was soooo great to see them. Although, she scorned me as having become too landlocked up in Columbia, by not already having Eason addictecd to shrimp and other fares from the lowcountry. H, I am sorry, I repent & will do better to bring him up as one who trods in the pluff mud.

Eason was a hit. and speaking of hitting, he really enjoyed the mallets used to crack open the crabs, playing drums wherever he could and running laps around the table.

He also reminded me of how very literal children are in interpreting what they hear. We had been in the back of Wench's yard enjoying Reed's car (thanks Miss Reed for sharing) when I mentioned to him, "let's go back into the party and say hi to everyone." Now, Warren & I knew some of the folks there, but certainly not all of them, and Eason really knew even less. But that did not stop him from reaching and waving his little hand as high as he could and proclaiming, "HI!" as he made his way around to greet each group of people at the party. I tell you what, that boy has never met a stranger. We had a great time and look forward to next years'!

Exhausted

Well, I have much to post and stories to share, but lately have been too tired to sit down at the computer at night and blog. Why have I been so tired? No, it's not so much just the being a wife to the greatest husband, a mom to the most precious toddler and coolest pup, and working full time...it's more that I am exhausted because I am 10 weeks pregnant. Yep, go ahead and let that one sink in. Praise the Lord! He is so kind and gracious and we are expecting a little brother or sister for Eason come March 27th or so. Here's a picture of the little peanut from a few weeks ago.
For those who do not know, we were pregnant over Christmas, but had a miscarriage over New Years. It was tough, but we serve an amazing and awesome God! By His grace, it occurred when we were still very early in the pregnancy and it was not too physically painful. Plus, it is quite hard to be down when you have this to come home to everyday!
God in His great mercy, then allowed us to conceive before what would have been the due date of the baby that miscarried. I count that as a sweet gift from my heavenly Father. Thank you Lord. All that to say, this time around has been a stretching and growing experience for my faith. When I was pregnant with Eason, I often said, "Lord, if today is as long as I get to have him, I am thankful that I had him this long." For weeks I have wrestled with resting in God's sovereignty over this pregnancy and this baby. My joy was often extinguished by trepidation. but God, in His patient mercy, lavished me with His love and with friends who prayed for me and encouraged me. Today, I can again say, "Lord, if I only have this baby so long, I thank you that I was able to have it that long." Not to say I would not be sorely disappointed should the Lord change the course of this baby, but He is helping me to trust again in His sovereignty. For the truth is, He is the author and perfector and giver of life (mine, Warren's, Eason's, yours). So, I promise to post more, but for now, I am taking naps as often as I can get them.

Talk to the eyes

We are blessed to have a polite child-in-training. Eason has done well to learn please & thank you. Often following a prompt to say them, but sometimes surprising us with saying them without the prompt. Since he was doing so well, I thought we should probably work on eye contact when speaking to someone. Eason usually looks at the floor, the object sought after, or straight ahead. I have tried to gently guide his chin up to look into my face, but as the chin goes up, the eyes often go to the side.

Well, some of Eason's favorite books were (and still are) "Where is baby's belly button" by Karen Katz. They are lift the flap books and great for teaching body parts. Because of that, Eason knows well the parts of his face, etc.  Using this, I decided I would try to show him where to look when speaking to someone.  As I handed him his coveted milk, the conversation went like this:

Sara: "Eason, what do you say?"
Eason: "Peease."
Sara: (handing him his milk) "Then what do you say"
Eason: "Tank you."
Sara: "Eason, where are mommies eyes?"
Eason: (pokes his finger in my eye)
Sara: "Eason, can you say thank you to my eyes?"
Eason: (looking directly at my eyes) "Tank you eyes."

Eason proudly walked away with his well earned milk.
I must give him credit, that is what I asked him to say.

Strike a pose

Eason had become obsessed with the Pixar movie, Cars.  The week at Edisto, I think we watched it 20 times.  E would often wake up in the morning or from his nap, and much to the same beat of the "Shane-Dada-tar" request, he would suggest "car-Doc-car."  For those of you who have not seen the movie, one of the main characters is Doc Hudson.  

Anyway, I really started this post to put on another funny video of E.  One of his newest joys is hiding and making grand entrances.

"I don't care who you are, that's funny right thar."

-Mater, Cars

Rainbow

I was browsing through other mom's blogs and was inspired to memorialize more of the precious things that proceed from Eason's mouth.

Last week, Eason & I made a quick trip to Publix (where shopping really is a pleasure). It was raining and of course I did not have an umbrella, nor do I know how I would balance it with E on my hip and my bag and all. But just as I began to get out of the car a Publix bagboy was walking a customer to the car next to me while holding an umbrella over their heads. I flagged him down and he, with a smile I might add, came over to our car and held the umbrella over me while I unbuckeled E from his seat, and accompanied us into the store. After shopping and Eason saying hi or hello to almost everyone in the store, we went to leave. The rain had let up to a mere sprinkle that E thought was fun to run through. As I was buckling him into his seat, I looked over my shoulder to see a most glorious rainbow. I swiftly unbuckled him, and pulled him from the car, turning him towards the rainbow, I said, "look Eason, do you see the rainbow."

Eason remarked, "God."

"I set My rainbow in the cloud,

and it shall be for the sign of the covenant between Me and the earth.

It shall be, when I bring a cloud over the earth,

that the rainbow shall be seen in the cloud;

and I will remember My covenant

which is between Me and you and every living creature of all flesh;

the waters shall never again become a flood to destroy all flesh.

The rainbow shall be in the cloud,

and I will look on it to remember the everlasting covenant

between God and every living creature of all flesh that is on the earth."

Genesis 9:13-16

"And He who sat there was like
a jasper and a sardius stone in appearance;

and there was a rainbow around the throne,
in appearance like an emerald."

Revelation 4:3

What an amazing God we serve!

Too bad he's so shy.

Eason is certainly a chip off the old block.  He reminds me of how my sweet friend Nancy describes her son DuBose, in that Eason has never met a stranger.  As we walk through the aisles at the grocery store Eason says hi to everyone, even if the only other person we can see is at the opposite end of the aisle.  Warren & I were reminded again tonight of how sweet and what a gift of joy this precious boy is to us.  We all watched the Water Horse and then had a tickle/giggle fest on the couch before "night-night."  I tell you this boy has one of the most precious and infections giggles I have ever heard.  Below is a taste from July 2007.

It never gets old to me.

"Happy Day!"

"Grant to ... my son a whole heart that he may keep 

your commandments, your testimonies, and your statutes..."

1 Chronicles 29:19

"Rejoice in the Lord always .
Again I will say rejoice!"
Philippians 4:4

Mother's Day was followed directly by Warren's birthday, and then of course Father's Day wasn't long afterwards. To avoid confusion, I simply taught Eason to say, "Happy Day!" At first, his version sounded more like "Poppy ... DAY" with great emphasis placed on the word "day," But it has since evolved to a clear "Happy Day!" He often greets us with "Happy Day" when we enter his room in the mornings. He will also proclaim it randomlly throughout the day. Praise the Lord for the joyous spirit He has placed in this child.

"Rejoice always,

pray without ceasing,

in everything give thanks;

for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you."

1 Thessalonians 5:16-18

So, to all of our precious friends, family and whoever else reads this I pray you each have a "Happy Day!"

P.S.  Since, writing this post, Eason has edited his phrase, and Warren tells me it is my fault.  Whenever this precious child would proclaim, "Happy Day!"  I could not help but smile & say, "happy day, baby."    So, now, instead of "happy day" Eason looks right at you with a smile &  nod and says, "Happy Baby!"  How appropriate.

Shane ... Da da .. Tar?

Ok, I can no longer keep this precious child to myself. I must share about Eason with you. I know I have not been the best about updating, but I will try and do better.

Eason is 21 months old now and I cannot believe how time is flying by. He is truly a gift from our Great God to us! We just returned from a wonderful week at Edisto with the sistas and my son LOVES the beach. (Praise the Lord!!!) By our last day on the beach he was all in the surf, getting smacked by breakers and going back for more. It made me so proud and made Warren very concerned.
As an update,
Eason's hair is out of control, feathered & dangerous, and CURLY! He has now had 4 haircuts to tame that mane, and by God' grace his curls have continued to return. The curls are from his Daddy, not me, seeing as I was bald for the first 2 years of my life. Warren on the other hand,

My and his Zani's genes most notably passed along to E his delectible cheeks. I could kiss them all day long.


Have I mentioned how much I love this precious boy! And how grateful I am to God for giving me the desires of my heart!

"Delight yourself also in the Lord,

and He shall give you the desires of your heart."

Psalm 37:4

Eason's vocabulary increases daily, which is amazing and terrifying all at the same time. He is a little ape and repeats much of what he hears and wants to be just like his Daddy.

He loves the guitar! and can play a mean air guitar. Naturally, he loves music and dancing. When he hears a "Tar" (guitar), he proclaims, "Da da ... Shane." A few weeks ago, Eason and I travelled to the edge conference at Covenant College on Lookout Mountain, Georgia (Chatanooga, TN). On the way up, we of course enjoyed the rockin sounds of Silers Bald, particularly rockin out to "Live at Town Theatre" [BC-I needed you on drums for How :)]. I explained to E that this was Daddy and Uncle Shane. I promise I mentioned Jason, Marcus & Aunt Laura, but the guitars were all he wanted to hear. When the song ended, Eason started crying. At first, I did not understand what he was fussing about, but it soon became clear...he wanted more Silers. After 1 Silers song he only wanted to hear Silers for the rest of the trip. Since then, I have heard many a request for "Shane...Da da?" I understand little man, I love Silers too.

*Kickstand Studios.

A week of firsts

[NOTE this post was drafted several weeks ago]

This was a week for the record books for Little Eason.
Thursday ~6:00pm - First Independent Steps
Thursday afternoon, I went to pick him up from the Bazemore's. Momma B was playing with him on the floor in the den. Since, he was standing, I sat down on the floor a few feet away from them and reached out for Eason. My precious little one has begun to get so excited when he sees me that he almost jumps into my arms. Momma B released her hold on him and he took three stumbling steps and then fell into my arms. What a wonderful event. And I praise the Lord that He allowed me to be the witness and recipient of such a momentous milestone!


Saturday at 10:00am - First Parade
Saturday morning, Warren, Eason & I got up and headed to Camden to watch the Kershaw County Christmas Parade. Julie, a dear friend from work, owns and operates the lovely and historic Greenleaf Inn of Camden, located right on Broad Street, a prime location for enjoying the parade. This was Eason's first parade. He really enjoyed all the horses and the fire trucks. Although, he did not appreciate the fire trucks' sirens and horns.



Saturday at 1:00pm - First Haircut
Over the past few days, we have had several people call Eason a girl. I will admit that as of late his hair has gotten a little out of control. In the back, he had grown a little mullet. The precious curls on the sides of his head were almost wings enough to allow him to fly away. But it was the ever-increasing references to him being a girl, that spurred us on to set the appointment. Julie called her hairdresser, Melissa, at New Dimensions in Camden and set an appointment for us. After the parade & a delicious lunch at the Inn, Warren, Eason & I walked down Broad Street toward the hair place. Since we had a few extra minutes, we wandered into a guitar store. I was pouting more and more & my mood was souring as we came closer to the haircut. As we were questioning whether it was the right thing to do, the owner of the guitar store asked, "does that little girl play guitar?" ... Warren smiled politely at the man, as his eyes gave me a "see" look, and I almost broke into tears. I love his curls!!!

Finally an update

Hello everyone! I hope you all had a most blessed Thanksgiving, I know we did. Well, there is no possible way to provide a thorough enough update, so I will try and hit the high points since my last post (which was roughlly a decade ago). Perhaps the most rediculous fact is that Eason is now over a year old! It has been the fastest year of our lives for sure. We are still researching ways to prevent Eason from growing up, but to date have not succeeded. I will have to renew my statement made at his birth, that Eason is THE most precious gift the Lord has bestowed upon us, next to His own Son. It is amazing to watch the world through his eyes. Eason is such a happy child and we know we have many thanks to give for that.

Breif update of milestones to date:
6 teeth, eating real people food,
Cruising, but not yet walking,
Loves music and to dance (this makes Daddy very happy!),
Signs "more," "please," & "all done"
Clasps hands to pray (oh, how that warms my heart)
Talks up a storm!
First word was "Da Da", but of course everything is Da Da;
One of his favorite words is "tur-tle" (this makes Mama very happy!)

Being all boy he loves "caaars"
All clocks are "Coo Coos", because his Bazemore grandparents have coo coo clocks that he really enjoys;
Daddy B's collection of Coca Cola, causes all bottles and red labels to be "Coca"
Grandmother Bazemore has been giving him daily piano lessons and has already instilled in him a love for books.
Favorite books include:
devotionals (Bible stories), "Where is baby's belly button" and "The Hungry Caterpillar."
All in all, Eason is so precious and I love him so much I often wonder how my heart does not explode!


Warren & I are doing great as well. The Lord has blessed us with a new home just blocks away from Warren's parents, who amazingly are still keeping Eason each day for us. I LOVE IT!!! We are set to close on our old house on Dec. 10 and would appreciate any and all prayers for that to complete. We had a prior contract that fell through for various reasons, including the fact that a car ran into our old house. Yes, you read that right and that is a story for another day.
Warren's job is going great, the Lord is blessing him there and I really enjoy my job, but miss our boy a lot! I found out last week that I get to prepare to argue before the Supreme Court of SC. That is exciting and terrifying altogether. ("exciting & terrifying")

Murray loves his new back yard and his new playmate. They often enjoy watching as "caaars" go by on our street.



We travelled to Charleston for Thanksgiving and had such a wonderful time with eveyone. we love you all so much!






We are so blessed by our heavenly Father with His love, our friends and family! Thanksgiving is not sufficient to cover it. PRAISE BE TO GOD!

What a Wonderful Day

I am really enjoying my job, and one of the best parts about it is what we call AWS. AWS stands for alternative work schedule. It allows you to work the equivalent of one full day's hours over 2 weeks. The result, is that every 2 weeks I have a day off! I've also been helping out with our coastal office some, so that is bringing me down to Charleston more often. My Mom (aka Zani) loves it, because when I can, I bring Eason down for her to babysit while I work in Chucktown. Well, I had a meeting scheduled for this past Thursday and Friday was my AWS. So, I planned to come down with Eason. The tough part about coming home, is that there is never enough time to see everyone. It's even more difficult now that I have to work around nap times and meals (Eason's of course). When I come down, I often have to chose to either see family or friends. And now it's more like 1 family member or 1 friend. This past Friday I was determined to see Nancy. I called almost a month in advance to get on her schedule. Of course, the week before I come my meeting gets canceled, but I was not to be swayed from my playdate with Nancy and her boys. Nancy is one of my dearest friends in Charleston and life keeps us from spending as much time together as I would like.

Anyway, Eason and I came down after work Thursday night and stayed with my sister Elizabeth, Jason and the ever-entertaining Libby. Friday morning we got up and Eason & I dropped by Elizabeth's classroom to watch her in action. Elizabeth is an amazing teacher, truly gifted in her abilities to work with kids. It was fun to watch her interact with the kids and to see how much they enjoy learning in her class. After a yummy cupcake from the Latin club bake sale, we were off to Nancy's.

It was a beautiful day, 80 degrees, sun shinny. I mean perfect. And, since it was Friday, Nancy had playgroup, and we got to go too! Many of my high school friends still live in Charleston. Over the years, I have gotten to know some of the other women that the Lord has brought into their circle. We all converged on this precious little park along the river. I cannot get over how everyone's children are growing up. So precious and so much fun.


Girls we had a wonderful time with all of you and will definitely come back on my off-Fridays, when possible.


After the park, Nancy and I returned to her house with our boys. Mills and Bose settled in for a nap and I fed Eason. That gave Nancy and me some much needed time to catch up. Then Bose came back down and played with us. He is such a precious child as is evidinced from Nancy's blog. He is so articulate and willingly shared his toys with Eason. Nance, thanks for lunch and a wonderful day!

Go GAMECOCKS!

Two Saturdays ago Warren and I took Eason for his first picnic on the Horseshoe. It was such a perfect day. His Daddy dressed him in a cute hat and shorts outfit that his cousins passed down to him. Michelle, one of God's blessings in my life, came by for a little bit. And Warren's parents met us down there as well. After enjoying our lunch, Warren, Eason and I took a tour of campus with his parents. It was so special. You know Warren and I met while we were students at USC. Well, so did his parents. We walked all over campus, reminisced, and talked about how much had changed since each of our times as students. What a perfect day! Thank you Lord for precious times with family & friends and precious memories. And thank you Lord for bringing my precious husband into my life!!!

A Friend to Walk beside You

God is so good to bring people to walk beside you during different times of life. Two of our dear friends from college, Chuck and Sara Jenkins, found out they were having a baby a few weeks before we found out we were expecting. Then we found out the Lord was blessing both our families with little boys. How blessed we were to go through pregnancy together, and now we have two precious boys who are three weeks apart and destined to be best friends.

Can't you see these two getting into all kinds of trouble together?

Chuck and Sara are moving to Atlanta this week and we are going to miss them sorely, but that just means there will be many roadtrips in our future.

Update on the Boy

Eason is 5 months old and change. He is really becoming a little human now. No longer content to be left alone if others are in the room. He wants to talk and he responds and interacts and it all warms my heart. Much of this must be attributed to his grandmomma and granddaddy who keep him while I am at work. They talk with him and teach him all day long. How blessed we are to have them! Thank you Momma & Dad for all you do and for all of your love which never seems to run dry! He learns something new to do almost daily: sucking on his bottom lip, sticking his tongue out, grasping the spoon when I feed him his cereal, holding his bottle, chewing on 2 fingers, fake coughing, standing, flirting, and the list goes on and is constantly changing. What a fun and sweet time. You love to smile and giggle and it can entertain Daddy and me forever. I am addicted to your smiles and laughter!!! Once you giggle, I find I will do almost anything to keep you laughing.

God is so good the way He washes away the pain of labor and even the struggles of those first weeks (months). I have had 3 breast infections and Eason did not put his birth weight back on for a few weeks after he was born, but let me report the stats from his 4 month checkup. We have a little chunky monkey, though he is only in th 35th percentile. The biggest shocker was that Eason is in the 95th percentile in length. He shot up, so fast, that the nurse actuallly measured him twice to be sure. Daddy told him not to get used to that. :)

Praise God for all of His faithfulness!

New Years

Ok, so I'm a wee bit behind on my posts, but such is life.

Over New Years we got to see our Band Family some and it was so nice. For those of you who do not know, Warren has been in a band for the past 10 or so years. At some points, they were traveling over 200+ days out of the year. These folks are truly family, as they know each other better than some blood relatives do. The Band family has expanded over the past few years, through marriages and babies. Eason is the second "band baby." The first is his beautiful girlfriend Lilian Jacobs.


Time with the band is precious and few these days, because we are spread over four different states now. Warren, Eason, & I are obviously in Columbia, as well as Chris; Jason, Sasha and Lilian are in Florida; Shane and Trisha are in Charlotte; and Marcus and Katie are in Nashville.
When we got together we were reminded that our lives have certainly changed...we now look for less smoky places to matriculate...some of us have the new names "Mommy" and "Daddy"...we have mortgages. Ah, life has certainly changed.
We had such a wonderful time with all of you & love you so much!
Thanks for making our lives richer!

Trish and Shane gave Eason and Lillian their first pair of Robeez. What great shoes!!! Eason's so appropriately have little red crabs on them. He already loves the ocean and all its wonders! (whether he knows it or not)