Is it really January?

It was gorgeous today and felt more like early spring than January, so after the boys woke up from their naps, we headed outside.

Sawyer's FAVORITE hat! When I ask him which hat he wants he says, "dog!"

I realize I'm a bit biased, but those are the most goreous eyes I've ever seen!

Baby A enjoying the fresh air...won't be long before he's running around with Sawyer and not stuck in the walker on the patio!



He found the biggest stick he could to carry around!

Love, love, love this little guy!

It's supposed to be nice the next couple of days. I'm so excited...maybe some fresh air will get rid of all the sickness that's been going around!



New Recipe

I don't know about you, but I'm tired of making the same thing for supper all the time. So, I've decided to try a new recipe every week...I found this one on a blog, but made a few changes...Orzo with Roasted Veggies and Feta!

Ingredients:
1 red pepper, chopped
1 green pepper, chopped
1 yellow pepper, chopped
1 orange pepper, chopped
1 small onion, chopped
1/2 cup halved cherry tomatoes
2 cloves minced garlic (I used my press)
1/2 lb. orzo pasta
olive oil
salt & pepper to season.

Dressing:
2/3 c. olive oil
2/3 c. freshly squeezed lemon juice
1 tsp. salt

Topping:
Basil
Feta Cheese

Preheat oven to 425.
Chop peppers, onion, and tomatoes. Place in large bowl and add garlic, salt, and pepper. Toss in olive oil.

Transfer to cookie sheet lined with foil and roast for 40 minutes.

Entertain your child by sitting him on the counter and giving him pita bread:

While your veggies are cooking, you can boil the orzo (mine took about 10 minutes) and drain it. I also made my dressing in a jar....just put in the lemon juice and olive oil, plus a little salt and pepper, and shook it up! And I chopped my basil and got the feta out!

This is what they veggies look like when they're done:

Then you add them to the orzo:

I waited to add the dressing and feta when I served my plate so that my leftovers don't get soggy.  The brats went perfectly with the pasta, and I had some pita bread with it too. I'm so excited about eating it for lunch this week!



Friends

Claire came over for a little while today while Amy took Eli to the doctor. Sometimes Sawyer and Claire are the best of friends, like in these pictures when they're sitting on the couch eating snack together....and sometimes all I hear is "NO," "MINE," and there is lots of pushing and taking toys involved. But, in their own little way, they are figuring out how to be a good friend...

"Bah Boosh"

Translation: Blue's Clues

My parents came to visit today. They picked Sawyer up from church after first service and got to spend some one on one time with him. And, as per usual, they brought loads of goodies including this "Thinking Chair" from Aunt Murphy.



Sawyer LOVES Blue's Clues and will do all the little motions to the songs during the show. He's thrilled about having his own little Thinking Chair. He carried it all over the house this evening while I was cooking dinner.

Here he is doing the motions to the Thinking Chair song.



PK

Before we lived in Seminary housing, I had no idea what a "PK" was.

It's what Sawyer is...a "Pastor's/Preacher's Kid"

Which means there's gonna be a lot more of this in his future:

Going to the office in his pj's so daddy can do a little work (He's getting candy from "Nessa's" candy jar. Nessa is our secretary and he adores her!

Climbing up the stairs to get on the stage with mommy.

Lance was up in the balcony setting the levels for my special music. Here's Sawyer saying "up, up" with a microphone in his hand!

My prayer is that he will grow to love the church and what it stands for. 

 

Sick Baby

Tuesday, Sawyer woke up around 10:30 with a fever of 101.7 and he was miserable. He slept from about 3:15 to 5:30 Wednesday morning. I called the doctor's office as soon as it opened and we got an appointment early that morning. They tested him for strep and it was negative, but the doctor said that his throat was red and was probably sore. Then I got the "it's just a virus that has to run it's course" diagnosis....ugh...I hate not knowing what's wrong and he isn't able to tell me....totally breaks my heart. So, off to Walgreens we went to get some medicine and goodies!

Leave it to my child to not want the ice cream!

By last night he was acting like he felt much better, but he woke up around 11pm with a fever, and then woke up again at 1am and didn't go back to sleep til around 5am.

Today he seems fine. His fever broke early this morning. Other than being SUPER grumpy, he's acting normal. He's been doing a lot of this:



"I tuh-wing." Translation: "I'm coloring!"

Putting his name puzzle together. (Thanks, Grammy!)

He's on the pallet that we slept on last night....and yes, my body aches!

Please pray that whatever this is that he has leaves our house quickly! I'm ready to have my baby back!

Diaper change...

Sawyer is a hoot. The other day I asked him if he had a poopy diaper and he looked at me and said "No....Ayen." He does this often now. If he knows he needs a diaper, he'll blame it on Aidan.

This morning I told him it was time for a diaper and he went and got Brobee, a diaper, and some wipes. I guess Brobee's need diapers too!

His excited face!

He knows all about changing diapers!

Showing Aidan how it's done!

Please excuse the mess...

...the children are making memories!

This is what my house looks like for most of the day.

It drives me bonkers.

I was raised by a neat/clean freak and now I'm one too!

But these precious little boys are having a blast.

And, it gets cleaned up.

Every night the toys go back to their basket or place on the shelf.

And, one day, I'm sure I'll miss tripping over blocks and Weebles and train tracks.

Because they'll be too big for "kid toys."

So, for now, I'm trying to enjoy the mess (at least until I can clean up during nap!)

 

Sawyer: 1 year, 9 months

This is mainly for me to remember what Sawyer is like at this age. I'll do one of these each month.

Sleeping:
- Right before Christmas we put him in a mattress on the floor big boy bed! He is doing SO well!  I can count on two hands how many times he's gotten out, and one of those times he was getting a diaper because he had pooped! He knows that if he gets out of bed he'll be disciplined and this is one area where he obeys really well!
- Last night I woke up around 2 and went in his room to check on him. I found him on the floor with one of his puppy pillow pals. I didn't want to move him because he was so stinkin cute, but I did.
- He hates blankets...will not keep them on his body, so everytime I wake up in the middle of the night, I go cover him up.
- He's been having a hard time falling asleep, so I've been waking him up from his nap after about 2 hours (1pm-3pm). Still, sometimes he won't fall asleep until 9:30 or 10 and we put him to bed at 8. Most of the time, he's quiet and just lays in his bed, but he has nights where he whines and cries until he falls asleep. I don't know whether to drop the nap or shorten it....
- He wakes up between 6:30 and 7, no matter what time he goes to bed.
- Paci's are still his best friend, but he's only allowed to have them in his bed and for a few minutes while he's waking up...and sometimes in the car..and we put it in his bag on Sunday mornings!
- His "night night" routine: Change diaper, get paci's, give mama and dada 2 kisses each, throw paci's in bed, pray, say night night and I love you!

My sweet baby sleeping in his big boy bed....he arranged he pillows himself!

Eating:
- Sawyer is a great eater, not picky at all!
- Favorite foods: cheese sticks, broccoli, yogurt "wo wo," applesauce, pizza "pepi," cucumbers, black olives,
- Dislikes: Lance and I couldn't think of anything that he won't at least eat a couple bites of...praying he'll always be so easy to please!

Talking:
- Sawyer says a lot of words that we can understand, but probably not anyone else....he has definitely started talking lots more lately!  
- His longest "sentence" has been "Dada, mo bee ban" (Daddy, more Fresh Beat Band!)
- We are working on using words instead of pointing and grunting. I don't know how many times I tell him "use your words." I think because he isn't super verbal yet, he gets frustrated when we can't understand what he wants. He has started balling up his fists and grunting when we can't figure things out...definitely working on that!
- He says "no" a lot....ugh...
-He walks around "talking" on his phone all the time...he's usually talking to Papa or Mush!
-When he reads books he says "beeee beee beeee beeee" every.single.time!

Talking on the phone

"Bye"

Social Skills:
- Sawyer interacts very well with Aidan. When I see him in nursery, he plays some with other children, but most of the time it's just parallel play.
- He has a hard time sharing, but if I tell him to get Aidan a toy like the one he's playing with, he will do it happily and sweetly!
- He does not like people that he doesn't know. Unless you've been in our house and spent time with him, he probably won't talk to you or let you get near him! If you have spent time with him, he will love you and talk about you all the time. Often times during nap, I hear him on the monitor saying, "Papa, Mush, Mamay, Ada, Bian, Ahm, Tair, Eyi, Ayen, Jen, War, Mama, Dada...."
- He is terribly shy, though at the last business meeting at church, he ran around the fellowship hall like he owned the place....
- He still screams his head off when we drop him off at nursery. They usually tell us that he calms down after a few minutes. When he misses a Sunday (due to sickness) he has an extra hard time the next week. I don't understand why he does this. We have awesome ladies in the nursery and they are there consistently so it's not like it's a new face every week.

Playing/Learning:
(PK teacher in me side note: I'm a big believer and advocate of learning through play)
- Sawyer loves blocks, cars, books, animals, his train set, and play doh right now.
- He builds guns with his blocks and will say "pow, pow!"
- He likes to "tuwuh" (color) and he is holding his crayons correctly. He tells me that he is drawing balls most of the time.
- He loves bubbles...the real things, and the app on my Kindle!
- He still likes balls, and will often take 3 balls to Lance and ask him to "duddle" (juggle).
- Yo Gabba Gabba is his most recent obsession...I hate it, he adores it!
- When we sing ABC's, he will say "S" and "X" at the right time.
- He is engaging in a lot of pretend play now...putting his animals "nite nite," making me coffee from his kitchen, etc.

Play Doh

Going down the slide at church

Discipline:
- We constantly work on first time obedience. If we tell him something, and we know he hears it, he is expected to obey right away. MOST of the time, he's pretty good about it. He tests the waters more when we're not at our house.
- He has a bit of a temper and thinks that he should get what he wants at the very moment he wants it. He has a hard time waiting when mommy is busy, so we're working on his attitude and patience. We pray multilple times a day for his attitude and having a happy heart...and we sing "Do Everything (without complaining)" from the Hide 'Em in Your Heart cd a lot!
- He has been known to throw a temper tantrum or two...one day it was over wanting a spoon that I told him he couldn't have. He threw an hour long fit...it was awful.

Christmas in January!

Today, my sister and cousin came to visit....with half of Toys R Us in their car for Sawyer, though I think they had just as much fun with the toys as Sawyer did!

Auntie Tursta and Aunt Murphy "testing out" *cough, cough* the cash register...they totally bought this so they could play with it, I'm sure of it!

Sawyer putting his hamburger in his new microwave

New music table

Growing up, Trista, Meredith and I were always together, and we are still super close. I love how they love my baby. I'm so grateful for their generosity. They would buy him the world if they could, but more than that, they are so generous with their time and love. They both live an hour away, but come visit Sawyer every chance they get, and have done so since he was born. They are head over heels in love with him, and that makes this mama's heart smile!

Thank you, Tursta and Murphy, for loving Sawyer the way you do! He adores you both!



The Adventures of Sawyer and Aidan

Aidan is the sweet little boy I keep during the week. His parents are good friends of ours from church! From the beginning, Sawyer showed little jealousy and has always seemed to enjoy Aidan being here. He even gets upsets lots of evenings when Aidan goes  home, telling Jen or Ward "no" when they try to come in and pick him up! They have just started really "playing" together and it's precious, though Sawyer can be quite bossy! He likes to try and pull Aidan wherever he wants to go, and he tells Aidan "no, no" A LOT!

Sawyer really likes hats. In fact, if you drop by the house during the day, it's likely that we're both wearing one of his dress up hats! This particular day, he wanted Aidan to wear one...Aidan wasn't really feeling it!

I thought they were so cute playing with Sawyer's kitchen together!

My friend Amy dropped Eli off for an hour or so one morning while she took Claire to the doctor....can we say BUSY, but oh so cute!

Sawyer and Aidan playing with blocks

Watching Aidan is such a blessing. Not only has Sawyer gained a "brother," but my friendship with Jen has grown so much!



Rainbow Pancakes

Friday I decided to make pancakes and I happened to still have my food coloring out from the play doh I made, so I put it in my pancake batter and made rainbow pancakes!

Sawyer wanted a purple one...I think because purple is the only color he can identify correctly right now!

Teachable moment - yes, please! I got out the Jesus Storybook Bible (my FAV) and read the story of Noah. (If you show Sawyer a Bible and ask him what it is, he will tell you it's a Bible. If you ask him who wrote it, he'll tell you "God!")

Sawyer pointing to the Bible saying, "bay bow!" and then pointing to the pancakes saying, "bay bow!" He will also tell you who made the rainbow!


I'm so thankful for fun ways to point him toward God!