Trial Run

I got Sawyer some big boy underwear and a potty seat today at Wal-Mart. When I got home I decided to give it a try.

He sat on the potty...we sang a bunch of songs....no success. So, then I put his underwear on him....he went to the living room and he peed right in the floor! LOL!

We're going to get serious with potty training after we take his paci away in about 2 weeks.

But, for now, I'll leave you with the cutest picture you've ever seen...

I wonder...

I wonder how old he'll be before I stop going into his room to make sure he's breathing?
I wonder how old he'll be before I stop getting up in the middle of the night to cover him back up?
I wonder how old he'll be before I stop standing in the hallway by his room and peeking in the door to watch him sleep?
I wonder how old he'll be before I stop going in and sitting down by his bed and holding his sweet little hands or rubbing his chubby little cheeks?

I'm thinking never....

Sawyer's 2nd Birthday Party!

We had a small party this year with the family...Yo Gabba Gabba themed, of course!

I was so excited to find this shirt at Target!
He was pretty excited, too!

My sister's co-worker made this cake! It was delicious!

Vases filled with candy and decorated to look like Gabba's
and Hollie's awesome cupcakes!

Blowing out the candles!

Sawyer and Uncle Brently tuckered out after a LONG day.
After the party, we hosted dinner for 9 people from church!

I'm so thankful for our family. They were so willing to pitch in and help with costs by bringing food/paying for cakes/etc. We are so very blessed.

Sawyer's 2nd Birthday!

On Sawyer's actual birthday, which was Tuesday, he got to play with his present from us and eat some awesome Yo Gabba Gabba cupcakes that my friend, Hollie, made.

He was a fan of the balloon wreath I made!

Playing with his marble maze!

Seeing his cupcakes for the first time!

He LOVED them!

We had a very normal, chill day...Lance did go pick up breakfast for him and we got some ice cream from Mayberry after supper!

Children's Sunday

Our friend Ward made another amazing video for our service this morning. This time it's even better because Sawyer is in it!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8YxsX8QLezk

Sawyer: 2 Years!

Sleeping:
- Naps are becoming less of a normal thing for Sawyer. Thankfully, he will stay in his bed for a good hour and a half or two hours before he starts fussing to get out. After that time, I usually let him get up, but even if he outgrows his nap (which I don't really think is the case right now...more of a stage we're going through), we are still going to have him go to his room for "quiet" time each day for at least an hour.
- If he skips his nap, he goes to bed at 7:30. Otherwise his bedtime is 8:30 and he usually wakes up between 7 and 7:30 each morning.
- The other day he was not napping and all I heard from his room was "Mama, mama, mama, Deedee (Sawyer) out." It was hilarious.

Eating:
- He doesn't eat nearly as much as he used to...it's not that he's picky, he just doesn't want to eat! Most days he eats really well at either lunch or dinner. He's still not a fan of breakfast and would be perfectly content to just drink a cup of milk, but I usually make him eat some fruit or yogurt.
- I would say his favorite food is lima beans...Lance says hot dogs!
- He doesn't really like sweets...he'd take a cheese stick over a cookie or ice cream any day!
- He tells me if he wants something to eat or drink throughout the day.

Talking:
- HUGE area of growth this past month! He's putting words together to make simple sentences and his words are becoming much more clear.
- New sentences I've heard him say: "Claire push Sawyer," "Fresh Beat Band off," "Sawyer more milk," "Where is it?," "I not push Aidan," "Sawyer eat," "Dada night night bed," "Sawyer more orange ice cream," "Dada church."
- A few days ago he was playing cars on his car rug and he was pointing to the houses telling me whose house it was..."Mama house, Aidan house, Papa house, Adam house, etc."
- My mom called to wish him a happy birthday and he talked up a storm. He even answered the phone, saying, "Hi Mush!"

Social Skills:
- I THINK we're pretty much past separation anxiety. I can tell that he's sometimes being brave and holding back tears, but for the most part he'll just go sit in a nursery worker's lap and he's good! When we go to church he always wants to go see Hollie (the worker he disliked for so long!)
- He does NOT like to share. This has been an area that has required LOTS of discipline lately...especially because if Aidan gets too close he likes to push him away.
- I think he's going to be an introvert, like me. He enjoys playing by himself and doesn't like to be the center of attention.

Playing/Learning:
- We've seen lots and lots of pretend play. He likes to feed his Gabbas his sippy cup or snack. He likes to set the table. He copies a lot of the things he sees on tv...one episode of Fresh Beat Band has a marching band and if he finds anything shaped like a marching baton he'll carry it around saying, "march, march."
- We continue to work on colors/numbers/letters...he gets better at them everyday!

Discipline:
- Sawyer is definitely testing the waters...and we REALLY try to be consistent with discipline.
- Things we discipline a lot for lately: closing doors, taking toys, pushing, not coming the first time we call him, throwing fits when he doesn't get his way....
- I've started sitting him in time out in a chair in his room when he throws fits and won't calm down. He HATES it!
- He's very good at saying "sorry" if he does something to Aidan or disobeys me.

Spiritual Growth:
- When I ask Sawyer who we pray to he will tell me God.
- I've been having him repeat my prayer at meal time just to get him used to praying.
- He still loves his Hide Em in Your Heart cd and dvd...I need to get Volume 2!

Birthday Letter

Happy Birthday, sweet boy!

I can't believe you're two! Time really does fly when you're having fun!

The past year has been filled with so many milestones and new experiences. You learned how to run and jump and go down the slide. You learned how to talk, to us, and to God. You traveled ten hours in the truck to family camp in New York, and picked lots of apples while we were there. You swam in the lake. Your toes touched the sand in Myrtle Beach. You started eating all the food that mommy and daddy eat. You learned to color and put puzzles together and build towers. You learned how to climb stairs. You got over your separation anxiety. You learned how to hug and kiss and say night-night and I love you. You spent many weekends at the lake and at Papa and Mush's house. You used the potty for the first time. You got really sick for the first time and got your first ear infection. You started going to Toddler Choir and you learned how to play instruments and sing songs.You became obsessed with Fresh Beat Band, Blues Clues, and Yo Gabba Gabba. You learned how to say no. You learned what it means to obey and disobey. You moved from the high chair to the seat next to daddy at the table. You discovered Pepsi and all the other yummy things Mush and Papa give you. You grew out of your crib and started sleeping in a big boy bed. Aidan became your buddy. You learned how to turn the tv on and off and how to work the DVD player. You learned how to eat with a fork and spoon. You got a big boy carseat and you learned to like car rides. You learned how to make a mess and clean up. You learned how to sit on the kitchen counter and help mommy cook. You learned how to play pretend. You took your first trip to the zoo. You learned how to talk on the phone and use mommy's Kindle and computer.

We hope you've learned that Mommy and Daddy love you more than anything in this world and we want God's very best for your life. We love being your parents. It is so fun to watch you learn and figure things out and discover new things.

I love you, little one. I love your sweet smile. I love how hard you love. I love how you clasp your hands together to pray. I love your beautiful blue eyes. I love the feeling of your arms wrapped around my neck. I love how you forgive so quickly. I love how you run to the window or door when daddy gets home from work. I love how you splash in the tub. I love how you ask me to sing songs when you wake up in the morning. I Iove how you run and jump and play with balls outside. I love how you ask to sit on the counter when I'm cooking. I love your belly laugh. I love that you still sign "sorry" instead of saying it. I love listening to you name all the animals in your bed before you fall asleep. I love listening to you talk. I love watching you play pretend. I love when you crawl up in my lap with a book. I love coloring with you. I could go on and on....

I just hope that you know how very much you are loved....and I hope that you know that as much as we love you, God loves you even more...

You are the most amazing little boy I've ever known!

Happy Birthday, baby!

Studious?

I find Sawyer like this a lot these days, curled up on the couch coloring or writing...

Busy

That's an understatement! Last week I was very busy with our first Women's Ministry Event.

FBC's "Women of Purpose" hosted a tea party with a guest speaker. It was a great time to grow in our faith, be encouraged, and be challenged with the ladies at our church!

I'm honored to be able to plan and serve alongside these lovely gals:

Jen, Me, Susan, and Lisa! We have spent many hours
planning and praying over this new ministry. We were
so encouraged by the attendance and responses we got!

Jen made our cute centerpieces/serving dishes!

We had tea, scones, quiche, deli spirals,
and all the fixin's!

The ladies had a list of items and had to see which table
could find the most items in their purses!

We have three more events planned for this year and are so excited to see how God is going to use this ministry in our church!

After this event was over Saturday afternoon, I went home to bake and decorate 50 cupcakes for a baby shower Sunday afternoon. And, we also went to a birthday party Saturday evening. It was a full, full week and weekend!



Sneak Peek!

Talking

In the past couple of weeks Sawyer has started talking so much more and he's putting more words together to make "sentences."

He's been pointing to himself and saying "Deedee"...which means Sawyer. Then he'll often tell me what he has or what he's doing, like "Deedee ball," "Deedee juice," "Deedee tuwuh," "Deedee eat,"etc.

Today he pointed to his skinned knee and said "Boo boo, Tow push Deedee" (Boo boo, Claire push Sawyer!)....which is kinda true, because when they were playing yesterday she did push him playfully, but I'm not sure that that's when he skinned his knee!

I have a feeling that it won't be long before he's speaking in complete sentences!

Monday afternoon photo shoot!

Seems to be a theme....

I just can't stop taking pictures of him!

Sunday Afternoon Photo Shoot!

Sunday Sawyer got to sport one of his new outfits from Murphy...and he was looking so cute that I had to get some pictures. He didn't mind because he got to stay up past nap-time!

Seriously...could he be any cuter?

After his nap we met Amy, Claire, and Eli at the elementary school up the road to play!

He so thought he was swinging all by
himself when he was doing this!

He LOVES stairs!

Big boy at the tippy top of the playground!

ZOO!

We had a memorable first zoo trip, mostly because of the fact that Sawyer was awake from 2am to 7am on the day that we were supposed to go!! Our plan was to meet Jen, Ward, and Aidan at 9 and go through the zoo together, but we got a late start because I was not about to wake Sawyer up after the night we had! We finally made it to the zoo around 10, though.

Most of the animals were sleeping...and the animals Sawyer did see didn't interest him very much...go figure! He was mostly concerned about the big pools of water he saw in their habitats! Still, I'm glad we went. It was a fun morning with the Lester's and a good story to tell Sawyer when he's older!

(And, thank you Grammy, for the free passes!)

Sawyer loved going down ramps in the stroller.

Aidan snoozing...how cute is his little hand
on his face?!

Totally not impressed by the giraffes...
however, there was a pool of water right
in front of the fence that he thought
was amazing!

"Wa-wa, wa-wa"

First taste of Dippin' Dots!