Hi ladies! I just got an email from a siesta asking if we are okay since it had been so long since the last post. I’m so sorry! Yes, we are okay! I took a weekend road trip to my parents’ house in Houston with one of my best friends and her little girl. Needless to say, my mom is recuperating from that and so are we! We had an incredible time together at the Great Toddler Invasion of 2008. I spent three hours yesterday sorting through the pictures and preparing to make a full report. There were over 200 pictures! Janelle took most of them because my camera battery kicked the bucket upon arrival.
In case anyone is new and hasn’t heard me talk about Janelle and Ella, you should know that Janelle and I went through our entire pregnancies together and then ended up having our babies two days apart. We were right down the hall from each other in the hospital. We, along with our sweet friend Sunni and her daughter Ava, have had the craziest, most wonderful two years with our babies. They are a huge blessing in my life.
The babies, recently renamed “The Tods” by my sister, played so hard the whole weekend. I noticed that Jackson was particularly well-behaved and I think it’s because he never had one moment of boredom. He was thrilled to have a friend at his Bibby’s house. By the way, he learned to say “my” and “mine” this weekend. I can’t imagine why!
It’s been a while since I shared any pictures of Jackson and I’m going to more than make up for that here. Here you go! Hurricane Tod!
Hit the road, Jack.
We had to make a stop on the way to Houston. Can you guess where?
Amen.
When Jackson had had enough of the car ride, he took off his shoes and socks and picked fuzz out from between his toes.
At The Houston Zoo
Janelle and her Tod.
Me and my Tod.
The Goat Whisperer.
Ella enjoyed brushing the goats’ hair.
That is one intriguing animal.
The Tods looking under the fence to get the best view.
Our favorite picture of The Tods.
Amanda, Jackson, and Bibby looking at something.
Mom and Tod looking at another Mom and Tod. 
Big mom, big tod.
The Tods racing up the jungle gym stairs at the zoo.
Jackson was much happier going down the slide than brushing the goats.
Jackson jumping on the bridge, catching air under his feet. Mommy holding her breath.
In the car
Guess who wanted to ride in the back every time we got in the car?
Guess who’s faking it in this picture?
Guess who’s not faking it here? 
Ella’s hat hair.
A cookie liquefied in Ella’s mouth.
At the house
One Tod’s favorite thing is to put water on his hair and the other Tod’s most hated thing is to have water on her hair. This was an interesting time.
We like to do draw-rings.
Mexican food. What else?
The Tods dancing.
The Tods in a moment of sharing.
Ella and Bibby doing their floor exercises.
Ella imitating Bibby’s stretching moves.
The Tods trying to spy The Dogs in the backyard.
Ella being adorable.
Me and both Tods. I was the luckiest person in the room.
At the mall
Janelle and Ella at the Memorial City Mall playland. 
Jackson relaxin’.
Ella at the playland.
Ella climbing some cute stairs.
The Tods on a carousel.
Playdate
The Tods at their friend Keegan’s house.
The Tods in a tent.
The Tods thank Bibby and Pappaw for a great weekend!
Tags: Jackson
“The Tods” are so adorable and cute!!! The one of Beth sitting in the back with “the Tods” is so cute. :o) It looks like you had a great trip! I just love the picture of Jackson pouring the water over his head and Ella staying away from the water. That one cracks me up.
Love,
Patty
I want to come play at Bibby and Pappaws house! Y’all have a blast together!! 🙂
I bet Bibby was in pure heaven!
Prayed for you yesterday during Bible study! We are doing “Wising Up” right now and let me just that today (session 2) on the health of our heart…..BLEW ME AWAY!
I pray blessings over everyone today. Be in God’s Word and seek Him with all you got!
Hugs~
Fran
these are so adorable!! I praise Him for these sweet times!!
Love the pictures! Its so great to have a friend with a Tod the same age. Thanks for sharing this with us!
Beautiful!
I’m looking forward to being a Bibby…well, in about 6 years. My daughter is still in college, single, and 18 years old. But still, I’m looking forward to it.
Amanda, thanks for the pictures. I feel as if I know you and your entire family and it is so good to see Jackson as he grows (which, believe me, will go by so fast).
I pray for you, your entire family, and the LPM group.
Praise the Lord!
Sheryl
3 comments -not in order of importance”—-“The Tods” (thank you Melissa) looking under the fence reminded me of our greek lesson last night-Peter looking intently” (that was actually 2 comments in one) and #3 is Your Hair LOOKS GREAT!!!!! the slightly darker blonde is perfect….although you might just look so great because you are having the time of your life with Mom, Pals, and “The Tods” thank you for sharing —it really does encourage all of us!
thanks for makeing me smile, what a wounderful time you all had, Beth ant grandchildren the greatest,I miss mine so very much 3 boys13,12,3&1/2,one great grand child boy(step one)2 weeks old (Jackson)can’t wait till I get pictures of him.My 3 boys will be down the frist of Feb cant wait.Thanks again for shareing this. Gald it was a safe trip & all went well.You are so wonderful & a outstanding familey,I can see God with you all the time. God bless & hugs to the little one & Beth. Love sister in Christ Victoria
Adorable is an understatment. Thanks for sharing such a wonderful gift from God. They are cute!
Blessings
Kelli
To be blessed b a hurricane is some feat. What a wonderful time you must have had. I wish my family was just a weekend jaunt away…but with 2000 miles we have to do a little more planning.
My oldest is no longer a “Tod”, he is 11 TODAY!!! Just last month I never thought we would make it…how many times Have I “threatened” that??? Lord forgive me. If you are out there and have been there…lets pray for each other.
Blessed Beyond Measure…and Sanity sometimes.
With Love and lots of dirty dishes
April
Helplessly Homeschooling Three in MS
How cute! The Toddler Invasion of 2008! Glad you are all well… and those pictures are just precious.
I must say I have never laughed so hard at a series of pictures of toddlers. I loved “the goat whisperer” and I loved the series of “guess who’s faking/ then who’s not” photos. The one that sent me over though, was the “tod like wet hair/tod hates this moment” photo- Priceless!
Amanda and Beth, I must tell you something. I clicked over to the blog because I was listening to the “beth live” clip up on the LPM website right now, “Preparing for a fresh work of God.” It must be an oldie but goodie because Miss Beth says, “Right now, in 1997…” I backed it up to see if I heard her right. I want to tell you that really made me smile and reflect. Ladies, back in 1997 I was graduating from higchool and graduating into an even messier life than the one I had experienced up to that point in my life. It wasn’t for another four years that I would come to know Jesus as my savior, who pulled me out of one deep, dark pit.
I can only imagine what I was up to on the day that you gave that talk, Miss Beth. It made me marvel at the Lord’s work, how you and I were just literally worlds apart on that day nearly eleven years ago, you working to share the hope of Christ with fellow believers, and I so lost, but inside searching for a savior. I am nearly overwhelmed to think of all that has happened between then and now, and the way that God has worked to make our paths “collide” in the love and pursuit of Jesus Christ.
I sign off with tears in my eyes and a lump in my throat at the goodness of God, and how He is so sovereign, so good. Thank you, sisters, for sojourning with me and many others.
In Christ,
Nicole
That looks like so much fun! I have a Hurricane Tod in my house with my 18 month old and my 3 year old every day! I am waiting for them to start Elementary school so I can clean my house! 🙂
I am glad to hear all is well! I, too, had been looking to hear from Siestaville! Hey, isn’t it about time for Jackson’s birthday?
Amanda, How precious! You know, I have a daycare in my home and have a set of twins (boy & girl) 2 1/2 and another fella 22 Mo. The other children and I call them the tods!
The twins are pertneer out of that stage, I suppose we ought to let them advance up! Well anyway! It looked like you had a ton of fun!
I just love all your pictures! Thanks! God Bless!
Amanda, thank you so much for sharing your pictures. I have been missing y’all!
ps= strongs#3879 “parakupto” “The Tods” “stooping down”to look under fence. i think that is overkill on the ” ” “‘s!
Thanks, Amanda! It was good of you to share your weekend with us…that was fun!
How utterly adorable! I’m glad you’re doing well. :o)
I loved “the Tods” theme. Not to mention how precious they are. I really liked the picture of you all on the carousel. You all look great.
I’m glad you all had an enjoyable visit. Great pictures. Thanks for sharing.
Love,
Anna in Mo
Great to hear from you again, Amanda. What a blessing to laugh and grin through these pictures with their terrific captions!!
Amanda, your are so blessed to have someone share every step of the way with you. I can’t imagine how great it must be to go through your entire pregnancy and then toddlerhood with another mother.
BLESS YOU!!! MY KINSWOMAN!! MY SISTER. Jesus is our rock, is He not?
How sweet!
My little “Tod” was amazed at the pictures of your little “Tods.”
I’m glad he got distracted before the elephant photo appeared or else I might never hear the end of it today…”Go to zoo! Zoo, zoo zoo!”
Phew! Close one. Thanks for sharing.
Amanda:
It looks like you all had a great time. The zoo was one of our favorite places to go when my kids were small. I am glad one and all survived The Tods and had a great time. What precious memories you all made. Kids are truly a blessing from God, I wouldn’t trade mine for anything in the world.
Kim B. in Az.
What a great way to spend the weekend! It is so great that you have other Moms to hang out with.
I love the name “The Tods” it so fits with that age.
Great to know you all are still alive and kicking! Have a great week!
Amanda in SC
Amanda they are so cute. What mall was that with the neat play stuff in it ? We took mine to McDonalds to play LOL! Your Mom looks whipped but happy and so do you! I love it when my kids have others to play with. I just found out that My Best Friend I grew up with Had Her second child in August and I got a picture of Both of Her kids and I’m tickled but I’m forty now I’ll leave the younger ones for ya’ll LOL! I have enough chasing after two year olds in Children’s Church!
God Bless all of You!
Love your Sister In LA.
Susan
Sweet, Sweet, Sweet!!!
Cherish your time. Cannot believe Jackson has another birthday coming up soon.
What fun memories and what sweet pictures!!
How wonderful!! Thanks for the update! It just made my day brighter. God bless you all!
I’m exhausted just looking at the pictures! Ya’ll sure do know how to have a good time! Thank you for sharing your life with us. God is such a good God, isn’t He?
Having a now 12 and 10 year old, I would have been in the back seat, too, lovin’ up on those Tods! The cookie face and hat hair made me literally LOL!! Thanks for sharing your beautiful pictures!
I love those mall play areas! They are wonderful for cold (or hot) weather days! (Of course, this is the former nanny in me speaking…)
Hey, is anyone at the beginning stages of “Breaking Free”? I just started and it would be fun to connect, since I am at it alone. Lemme know!
Amanda, Thanks for sharing the precious pictures. What fun!
How adorable. No wonder everyone’s resting now!!
the picture of you all on the carousel and the one of them in the tub with Jackson baptizing himself and Ella(and probably the whole bunch of you) with water…priceless! TOO CUTE!
Just too cute :o) Thanks so much for sharing!
Love to all,
April
What great fun!
We moved too much when my babies were young to have these kind of friendships. You both are some lucky girls. 🙂
Absolutely precious! My youngest is the same age as the Tods and this is just such a wonderful time in their little lives! We have the same pair of Ella’s Bambi jammies at our house too!! And there is nothing funnier to me than watching my tod exercise with me. I looked over at her the other day while I was doing my yoga dvd, only to see her imitating me in Downward Dog!! I nearly fell over laughing! A 20-month old doing yoga! What a hoot!
What a great trip y’all had!
Christine
Thanks so much for sharing Amanda – those “tods” are simply adorable! Grandbabies are just better than butter – I have a six year old granddaughter, two three year old grandsons and a new one on the way – they have completely and utterly stolen my heart and I am happiest when they come to stay the weekend!! Love to all – DQ Nana
That was well worth that wait! Thanks, Amanda for sharing those adorable pictures. I have a tod too and they are so much fun. His favorite place is his Grammie’s,but she lives 600 miles away. Enjoy these fun and exhausting times!
The pictures are great! And Jackson is adorabole.Thanks for sharing. 🙂
Thank you to the siesta that emailed to see if everyone was still alive and well. I was getting a little worried and… embarrassed to say that I almost got a little frustrated. Smile. I mean do ya’ll have lives outside of the blog or what. Smile again.
Loved the pictures of The Tods – what a cute name. And are they ADORABLE? – YES they are!!! Sometimes I miss mine being tods – we are approacing teenage years (in 6 months – but who’s counting).
I’m so glad ya’ll had a great time – there’s nothing like a good weekend with family and friends.
Much Love to everyone
That looks so FUN!!
God is so good!
I love that God has blessed you with such great friends and in return a great friend for Jackson. So glad all went well 🙂
Thanks for sharing the fun pictures.
God bless,
Kim
What fun days you are having!!! Thanks for sharing your fun weekend.
I miss my little girls being that size, (now 5 and 8). Thanks goodness for our little stinker boy, 2 1/2 who still keeps us on our toes!!!
Enjoy it all while you can!!!
Amanda – You are such a good little momma. I love to see that you are enjoying every minute of your boy’s life. Continue to play, take pictures, and have a blast! Before you blink, Jackson will be GROWN. I enjoyed every day with my two boys (who are now grown up boys), and I have no regrets. Now, I will admit that I would like to go back to those little-boy fun days sometimes. Little boys grow into great big sons and they are precious too. Enjoy every season God gives you, girl.
Your Georgia Siesta,
Jan
thanks for sharing pictures of your trip….they show a great time was had by all!
How much fun it looks like everyone had, including our Bethie! Toddlers are great! I am in the throws of potty training, so any advice from the moms of the “Tods” would be welcome! I was just reflecting on how fast they grow up this evening as I was picking my 10 year old up from school. Bentley, my 2 year old was in his car seat taking in every sight and asking every 2 seconds, “Hey Mommy, Mommy, wat dat?” As I answered that question the 100th time on a 5 mile trip I thought to myself that my car rides will be mighty silent and boring before I want them to be!!!
WOW! looks like a blast! Its cool to see pics of you being a mom Amanda! God is so good! Its also neat to see pics of your mom being a grandma! I love you ALL!!
Thanks so much for sharing. I REALLY hope you’re scrapbooking all this!
BTW – The last time you posted pics of Jackson it reminded me to ask for prayer for a 4 y.o. here in SC with Stage 4 Neuroblastoma. It looked so hopeless… He enters his 4th round of chemo next week and it doing great! Tumor reduced 50% in size, all blood counts are coming back good. Miracles DO happen! Please continue to pray for little Jack.
Well I’m so glad to hear all is well!! I was gettin’ a bit concerned, but sure ya’ll had a good reason for leaving us siestas waiting to hear from ya’. This blog is like waiting for your best friend to call; you can hardly wait til the phone rings! Thanks for sharing – it’s pure joy to see The Tods in all their glory.
By the way, is Jackson going to be the ring bearer in Melissa’s wedding? He’d be so handsome in a little suit!!
Love ya’ll
Yikes! I just saw two typos. I hate that! I’m going to make my tea now and I hope it wakes me up.
Awe! the pictures are so cute. I loved them. You know it has been said “a picture is worth thousand words” and these held true to that. I mean how could you say in words “the tods danced in their pj’s” and us ever understand the joy of the moment.
You have been on my mind often lately.I am sure you are quite busy making final preparations for Melissa and Colin’s wedding and with Tuesday night Bible study underway there must be little rest at the Moore hacienda.
May the Lord grace you with peace, joy and wisdom at this special time in your lives. Melissa is going to be a radiant bride. I look forward to the pictures.
My prayers are with you!
Mary