2 Months of Pictures

Well, as you can probably tell by my lack of posting, we've had a whirlwind of a spring so far!  (And seeing as how its only been spring for like 2 days, that's definitely crazy!)  Anyway, instead of making individual posts for all that's been going on, here is one gigantic post of mostly pictures and a few explanatory captions along the way.

Starting waaaay back in mid February...

I got brave and took both boys to California to see my family.  All three of us flew, and there were no tantrums, puking, or injuries.  It was awesome!

The boys with my dad...

Greyson and his 2nd cousin, Sean, enjoying chocolate mice :)

Sawyer with my Grandma...

Taking a bath in the sink...

Not long after we got back, we started Sawyer on solid foods in an attempt to get him to sleep longer than 2 hours at night.  It didn't help much with the sleeping, but he loves eating!

Greyson wanted a picture of him eating too...

Greyson making art by driving trucks and cars through paint.  It turned out pretty cool!

One day we made "cloud dough" by mixing flour and baby oil.  It was messy, but fun!

A couple of weeks ago, there was a free air show at the airport right by our house.  Greyson had a blast looking at all the planes, helicopters, and fire trucks.  I was awesome!

That same evening, we dedicated Sawyer at church.  It was so great.  Here we are on stage, standing in between the Brantons (dedicating Braelyn) and the Watsons (dedicating Mia).  Next to the Brantons are our friends, the Thompsons, dedicating their sweet Abbey.  What a blessing to be raising our boys with such dear (girl?)friends whose parents are also committed to Jesus!  The life verse we chose for Sawyer is 1 Timothy 4:12, Don't let anyone look down on you because you are young, but set an example for believers in speech, in life, in love, in faith, and in purity.  

Last week, we went to the zoo with the Brantons.  Greyson and Brielle had so much fun together!  We are so thankful for great friends!

One last (HUGE, ENORMOUS, GIGANTIC) blessing to report is that Sawyer is now sleeping 8+ hours every night!!!!!!!!!  You probably know that sleep has (had) been our biggest struggle with him.  I was getting up 4-6 times every single night since he was born.  He just wasn't going very long between eating.  In the past two weeks, we have transitioned him to his crib in the boys' room and it has made all the difference in the world.  Our life is completely changed!  He sleeps from 8:30 until about 4am, wakes to eat and then sleeps until about 7am.  Its nothing short of a miracle!  

Thanks for stopping in!

4 Months

It seems that my blog writing has reduced to the milestone updates.  Dang.  I always say I will write more, but then life gets in the way and I realize its been a week and a half since we had his last Dr. appointment and I still haven't written his "stats" down.  Anyway, Operation: Schedule Change is going slowly but smoothly.  Sawyer is now sleeping in his crib at night and for most naps.  He usually averages one really good nap and two-ish cat naps per day, and is still getting up about 3 or 4 times per night.  **SIGH** We will get there.  The Dr didn't have much advice to give us on the sleeping thing.  Just that some babies take longer than others.  In the mean time, my body seems to be adjusting to the lack of sleep.  Ugh.

ANYWAY... Sawyer weighed 14lbs 9oz (50th percentile) and measured 24 inches (25th percentile), which is right on track from where he was at 2 months.  Other than the sleep thing, he is doing awesome. He has rolled over in both directions, but I still haven't seen him do it.  :)  He's sneaky.  He is laughing and "talking" so much and really likes to make his voice heard!  We've started him on solid food now, which he is loving!  He's had cereal, bananas, and carrots.  Today I bought a bunch of fruits and veggies and some new ice cube trays.  Can't wait to get streaming and straining!

Operation: Schedule Change

Just popping in to give an update.  Last week the boys and I were just getting back from a week-long visit to my parents' house in CA.   It was a great visit, and I will post pictures soon.  This week, we are staying at home and working really hard on getting Sawyer on a schedule.  The kid is anti-schedule, it seems, and its time to change!  I want him to be taking a morning nap and an afternoon nap, and sleeping enough at night that he is only eating once or twice before morning.  Sounds normal, right?  Well, for some reason, this is way far from Sawyer's normal.  Yesterday didn't go so great.  His morning nap was about 30 minutes of crying and 30 minutes of sleeping.  And then Greyson didn't take his nap for some reason.  Last night wasn't so great either.  But today is a new day!  This morning, Sawyer actually ate (and swallowed) a ton of rice cereal with bananas and has now been sleeping for just shy of 2 hours.  Hopefully the afternoon will go well too.  Wish us luck for the rest of the week!  We'll talk soon!

Greyson's Turn

Greyson turned 2 1/2 in the middle of January.  I've been saying he's 2 1/2 for a few months now, but its actually official and it seems totally crazy.  The kid is A.W.E.S.O.M.E.  He has personality bursting from every pore.  He is energy, energy, energy all the time.  Some highlights of his life right now:

*He is playing pretend all the time.  I love watching him play.  His cars, trains, trucks, and helicopters are his favorite toys and they all talk to one another.  All of his cars have names, even if its just "blue car" or "yellow car."  Each one of us has a car assigned to us as well.  His toys have conversations like,
            "Hi blue car how are you?"
            "I'm good.  I'm going to Best Buy. See-ya in 2 days!"

*We have groupings and lines of cars literally all over the house.  On every surface, floor space, wherever.  I sit on the couch, there is a car poking my butt.  I pull back the covers for bed, a car stabs me in the knee.  They. Are. Everywhere.  And they are lined up in particular orders only known to him.  He drives them on every surface possible as he walks all over the house.  They make up his own little world and I love it.  Every night we line up like 10 cars along the edge of his bed in a very specific order.  Sometimes when we go somewhere, I will discover that he's stashed like 6 cars in his pants pockets.  The kid is a nut for cars.

*His vocabulary is skyrocketing.  There isn't a word he won't at least try to say, and his conversation skills are awesome.  He can put three or four sentences together at a time to tell a story or get a point across.  And his sense of humor is so great.  He cracks me up all day long.  I wanted to write a bunch of funny phrases that he says, but I can't think of any right now.  So, I'm going to come back to this post and add to it as I think of them.  Check back :)

*He loves his daddy oh so much.  Dan is off on Fridays, so he tries to have a morning out with Greyson each week if they can.  If you ask Greyson what they do when they go out, he gets so excited, jumping up and down, and says, "We go to the coffee store (Sbux), then Best Buy, then the Apple Store!"  They pretty much do the same 3 things each week, which Greyson loves.  This week, they went to the bank too, and Greyson said, "We're gonna get some money!"

*He is starting to come out of his shell socially, which is a relief to me.  He loves hanging out at church with daddy and loves seeing all the people he knows there.  He talks to them and even gives hugs.  He has also started responding to strangers when they ask him how he's doing, how old he is, who his little brother is, etc.  This is totally new territory for Greyson because he is usually super shy.

*He is learning so much.  He has been able to name all the letters of the alphabet since maybe September or October.  He is working on their sounds as well.  He can tell you words that start with most of the letters.  He can count to maybe 13 or 14 (sometimes 16) by himself, but often makes up numbers.  My favorite ones are eleven-teen and five-teen.

*We got him a puzzle of the Unites States for Christmas, and he has been learning the names and locations of some of the states.  He knows Arizona, California, Ohio, and Tennessee (where our families live) and can locate them on the map.  He knows other states by the picture that's on their puzzle pieces and can place them in the correct spots on an empty map, i.e. the fish state (Washington), the car state (Michigan), the big rock state (Utah), etc.

*He knows concepts like opposites and can identify tons of them.  He also understands when something is too big or too small and can tell you why it doesn't fit.

*He is learning the sting of discipline and the importance of apologies.  He says sorry to us and to God for whatever he has done when he has a time-out or spanking.  He loves reading books about God and he tries to figure out which guy in the picture is God.  Its important to him to pick one, no matter how many times we try and explain that its not God on earth.  Whatever, he's 2 and he loves learning about Him.  That's what's important.

*He is such a great big brother.  He loves Sawyer and has so much fun playing with him.  He tells me all the time that "Sower" is getting "bigger and bigger and bigger!" and will soon be able to play too.

We are having so much fun watching Greyson grow and learn every day.  He is such a special little guy and our lives are so blessed by him!

3 Months!

Wow, time is flying by.  I can't believe the little guy is three months old already.  He is getting to be so much fun and has such a great personality.  He is pretty laid back and go-with-the-flow unless he is being left alone for some reason.  Then, he will certainly let you know he's not happy!  He has started playing in his bouncy seats.  We have one for the doorway that I keep upstairs and we just got a new one that is stand-alone for downstairs.  He loves the independence they give him and he us (usually) all smiles while playing in them.  He still only has eyes for Greyson and absolutely loves watching him play.  He could lay next to Greyson all day and be happy.  Too bad Greyson can only stay in one spot for like 30 seconds.  :)  We are still struggling with a schedule and with sleeping (last night he was up 5 times) but we will get there.  Here are some pics of the cuties from the last couple of weeks or so.

Sawyer is 2 Months Already!

I know I STILL haven't finished posting about Christmas, but I can't wait any longer to post about how big our little S-man is getting.  I mean, he's already been 2 months for over 2 weeks now.  I have found that becoming a mom of 2 has just meant that I am always behind or late or something like that.  Oh.  Well.

Anyway, we had his 2 month appointment last week and saw percentile numbers that we've never seen in this family!  Way to go Sawyer, for introducing us to new things!  Sawyer weighs an even 12 pounds, which is the 50th %tile.  Yep, none of this 99+ for this kid.  :)  AND, he is 22.75 inches long (25th %tile!!) and has a head circumference of 39cm (also 25th).  But, no worries, doc said he is growing great.

His personality grows every day, too.  He is so sweet, calm, and cuddly.  He smiles spontaneously, and in response to playing.  He talks constantly, even in his sleep.  He is happy and content most of the time, except when he needs to eat.  And that's still more often than I'd like it to be.  Unfortunately, he still eats 3-4 times during the night.  I know it will get better sometime...hopefully.

What he loves:  eating (!), being held all the time. all. the. time., watching his brother do just about anything, laying next to his brother in bed, being naked, talking, being held, bath time, motion, sleeping with mommy, riding in the car, eating, sitting in the bumbo, oh and did i mention being held?

What he hates:  not being held, sleeping on his back, having anything touch his face (he gasps and acts like he's drowning), being still, being left out, being alone...basically anything that's not in the middle of the action.

Today, both boys were so cute and in great moods (for about 10 minutes).  So, what do I do with coinciding good moods, cute clothes, yummy light, and a fun lens?  Have an impromptu photo shoot, of course!  I took like 50-something shots in about 10 minutes, but here are the best ones.  :)

Sawyer: 2 months,  Greyson: 2 1/2 yrs.

I love my boys!!

Wrapping Up Christmas Part 1

We had a Christmas full of ups and downs!  Gearing up for the holiday was great.  Dan's work schedule was WAY lighter than expected, which, of course, put Greyson and I in much better moods and gave us the opportunity to have fun family time.  Here are some shots of Christmas cookie night.  :)

Here are the boys posing for Christmas gifts for our dads one morning.  Greyson earned a candy cane!

THEN, on the night of the 23rd, we were grocery shopping and Greyson fell out of the cart head-first onto the tile floor.  Ouch.  A couple of hours later, he started puking his guts up.  It was really bad.  At midnight, Dan took him to the ER in case he had a concussion.  Poor guy had a CAT scan and everything.  Turned out to be just an unfortunate coincidence and he just had a bug. 

 So, we spent Christmas Eve recovering.  We missed the service at church, and instead stayed home and did laundry. Not the Christmas Eve I had been hoping for.  Here was the one photo I did take:

Part 2, including Christmas morning and the day after with my family is coming soon.  We've been busy over the last few weeks!