St. Matthew's MomCo Jax

We've had a few moms brave something new and join our group. How awesome to share our stories and seek comfort and support in these crazy COVID times....as if having babies and balancing the weight of our families is not hard enough. I couldn't possibly tell you about all the play dates. Jinny invites us to playdates almost every day. Some are last minute, "Hey, we are headed to the park, come meet us!" Others are planned out and booked ahead (you can't go last minute to see local celebrity Mr. Joe's story time). Our first meeting of February was a marriage talk with Diana Davis. It's been a while since we've had a therapist speak so Diana covered all sorts of topics since she specialized in postpartum.  If you find yourself in survival mode, Diana says there are 3 things you need to get yourself out: Movement (just go for a walk), Sleep and Relaxation/Meditation. We talked about ways to connect with our spouses and how important it is to ask for help....

This is our third official year of MOPS at St. Matthews. We have a leadership team running full force. Kate, our coordinator hosted us for a planning session to kick the year off in August. For our first meeting in September, we welcomed the new group and played a personality game to learn more about each other. We had fun prizes and journals for each mom. It was a cool morning to be outside to help with social distancing. It did warm up on those bleachers, though! We've had a few moms nights this month. There's a monthly craft night. This month we made fun jewelry. Kate hosted us to watch Cruella one night, too. For our second meeting in September we did fix it, freeze it meals. We prepped honey Romano pork chops, chicken fiesta soup, scalloped potatoes and ham, beef & cheese pasta and pot roast. It's so nice to leave a MOPS meeting with dinner done for the week! October is Pregnancy and Infant Loss Awareness Month. For our first meeting in October we said special pray...

Welcome to our newest MOPPETS! Both of these mammas have meal schedules going if you'd like to help support a family with a dinner.  Felicity joined her 3 older brothers                                                    Bernadette ("Birdie") was born on                                      on October 11th!                                                                               August 27th weighing 9lbs,5oz 21"  

I'm doing a little catch up here and didn't want to miss updating on all the summer fun in 2021. Play dates galore are what keep our moms sane in the Florida summer heat with all these babies home. Trying new things together helps us be brave and supported. Kate opened her home and yard to host swim lessons. Moms signed up for time slots while the swim teacher stayed put. Learning to swim is HUGE for us in this phase of life and being surrounded by water.       Play dates were planned (or thrown together last minute) all over the Jacksonville area.  Here are a few glimpses of the fun.

Registration for the 2021-2022 is officially out! Click here to register. Come join us! Below is a note from MOPS International on the new theme for the year: Here at MOPS, we choose a theme to rally around each year—a theme that inspires, encourages, and speaks into our mothering journeys. Last month, we unveiled our brand-new theme (You can watch the reveal video   ) for the next year, and we are obsessed. After a year spent hunkering down, living smaller, and experiencing a little more fear and anxiety than usual, we are declaring this is the year of going big. It’s a year of fresh starts and turning ordinary experiences into extraordinary ones.  Enthusiasm will replace worry. Friendship will replace loneliness. No longer will we wait to “get back to normal”; instead, we will start making space for the new things God has for us. We will become less guarded and more daring because this is our year to live ALL FOR LOVE.

Our second year of the St. Matthews MOPS has officially come to a close. Now we look back on this particularly crazy year and see how we've done. Did you embrace the MOPS theme of the year? Did you rise to the occasion and make the most of this phase of motherhood? What could you have done differently? What did you do well? We believe that together we are better. Come join our village! For our second meeting in April we had Erin Pruett walk with us through the parking lot to talk about mental health. It was a small meeting, but those present got an excellent walk and talk therapy session. Let's take a moment to think about how the last year has had an impact on us and our children. Let it out, mama.  Jinny planned a play date strawberry picking in Palatka and another at Shady Park in Green Cove Springs. This spring weather has been awesome! Kate put together a movie night at her house to see What Lies Beneath and a family night out at the concert series at the old Landing to se...

For our first meeting in March, we played games. It felt so good to laugh. I mean like real, belly laughs. Kate had to wrap herself in toilet paper as a mummy for half the meeting. Jinny had to sit under the table for the other half. It was a great stress reliever!  For our second meeting of March we had Erin Roskelly from First Command talk to us about finances. We discussed one family checking account, saving for kids colleges, life insurance and all sorts of money issues.  There were lots of fun play dates enjoying the gorgeous spring weather. One Tree Hill is a favorite as is the zoo and lots of parks in the area.  We did a Monday evening family bowling party. It was a great turn out. The kids loved to bowl and some parents got a chance to get in there, too. It's neat that the dads were excited to hang out again, too. We cleaned out our closets to bring to a clothing swap moms night out at Khristi's. I left with a bag of goodies. All the clothes not claimed were donat...