From Passys to Parties

My loves

2012-01-31T08:39:00.000-08:00

I don't deserve you three.

You see my worst yet you love me the most.

I want to be a better woman for all of you and I thank you for always seeing past my weakness and loving me so well.

Happy Tuesday.

A few of our favorite toys

2012-01-26T10:16:00.000-08:00

With Sawyer and I both being at home ALL the time, toys have become pretty important to me. Every mom can relate to those toys that your kids are excited about for about two seconds and then they are added to your stash of toys that are never touched again. I feel like that has happened way to often in this household. That is why I felt impelled to pass along a few of our favorite toys right now that we have actually gotten hours of playtime out of. The kicker.. a few of these toys I actually really enjoy playing with too. Since I have a toddler who isn't the best at playing independently it helps when I actually enjoy the toy too.

Wedgits

I love playing with these wedgits. You can build a million different things with wedgits. In my opinion, they are kind of like a cooler version of legos.

Design and Drill

Sawyer loves his design and drill. It comes with an electric drill that electronically drills the screws into this box.

Konstruk Tubes

This is another one I find pretty fun. I would say this toy has gotten the most attention from Sawyer. It's easy enough for a 2 year old to build and you can design all sorts of fun things with them.

Thomas the Train wooden puzzles

We are both obsessed with puzzles right now and this set comes with 4 puzzles in one box. We do these about three times a day and I actually enjoy doing them too.

Mickey Mouse Scooter

Lastly his Mickey Mouse Scooter that Santa brought. We have hardwoods throughout the entire house so we have let him ride in the house. He rides it everywhere. It's only 33$ and it has lights and sounds and seems really sturdy so far.

If you have 2-4 year old boys I hope this provided some helpful hints on some fun new toys. I would love to hear if you have any other toys that your boys love!

Happy Thursday!

Rainy Wednesday..

2012-01-25T12:14:00.000-08:00

When we woke up this morning it was dark and pouring down rain, so instead of our usual once a day outing I declared it a pajama, lazy, stay at home day. It has been perfect.

We all three laid down in my big bed to watch a movie and next thing I knew both kiddos were sound asleep on my shoulder. I would of paid mucho money to have someone take a picture of the rare scene. I did snap a few pictures from our lazy day at home. We have snuggled, painted, cooked, I watched Sawyer play on the floor with his sister for a long time.... It's been a good day :).

I hope that you all are having a lazy, perfect day too!

Real Life

2012-01-24T12:45:00.000-08:00

What does my life look like during the week? Well, Here you go..... snuggles, bottles, nerf guns, puzzles, cleaning, laundry, laundry more laundry, sleepy babies, cartoons, silliness, happy baby girls, errands, dishes, books, more cartoons, potty, diapers, more snuggles, more potty, time outs, tickles, and LOTS of Lovin!

Love my days at home with these kiddos. Love that these are the things that make up my life right now. Love that day in and day out I get to wake up to two babies who unconditionally love me no matter how much I screw up the day before. Love that I get to take care of these precious lives. Our real life might seem boring to a lot of people but believe it or not, we have a ton of fun!

Happy Tuesday from our house to yours!

Yummy Monday: Crockpot Honey Chicken

2012-01-23T11:32:00.000-08:00

This is one of our favorites right now. It's an awesome recipe that is SUPER easy and the ingredients are probably ones that you already have in your pantry. I am always looking for good crockpot recipes and this one is amazing. I know you'll enjoy this recipe!

Crockpot Honey Chicken

3/4 pound chicken (of your choice)

1/2 tsp. salt

1/4 tsp. black pepper

1/2 cup honey

1/4 cup soy sauce

1/8 cup chopped onion (or 1/16 cup onion flakes)

1/8 cup ketchup

1 Tbs. vegetable oil

1 clove garlic, minced

1/4 tsp. red pepper flakes

Season both sides of chicken with salt and pepper, put into crock pot. In a small bowl, combine honey, soy sauce, onion, ketchup, oil, garlic and pepper flakes. Pour over chicken. Cook on low for 3 hours or on high 1 1/2 hours. Chicken into bite size pieces, then return to pot and toss with sauce. Serve over rice or noodles.

Recipe from: mmm..Cafe

Ya'll have a good Monday!!

Howdy Partner!

2012-01-20T08:38:00.000-08:00

Rachel with Dinner Bells always does such a FABULOUS job with her parties. She always pays attention to the details that make a party special. I love it.

Rachel and her husband recently adopted the most adorable little boy, Seth and they have inspired me with their obedience to this calling. It is so neat to see the Lord work through situations like this. Here is their incredible adoption story.

Seth turned 2 a few weeks ago and they threw him a Cowboy themed party that was ADORABLE. I loved everything about it. Take a look at the precious party she put together for Seth.

How precious is Seth??

It looks like Seth loved every minute of this party. Thanks so much for letting me share your party Rachel!

For more details about this party visit Rachel's blog, Here.

What REALLY is coming first?.....

2012-01-18T12:43:00.000-08:00

I couldn't really think of a clever title like I wanted to for this post, but oh well, you'll get my point hopefully.

I was cleaning up around the house the other day and I walked by this (See picture below) and it totally represented where I am spiritually ALOT of days. (In case you don't know that is my "stuck" bible study that I'm doing right now that is underneath the gossip magazines)

I have been a believer for most of my life. I have Loved the Lord for most of my life and yet here I am.. a mother of 2 kids, wife of 6 1/2 years, a 27 year old woman who STILL chooses so many things over my God that I adore. I STILL put so many other things right on top of my bible. Why do I do this?!

This got me thinking. What if I took a picture of every single thing that I put before God over and over? What if I took a picture of the things in my life that really could be considered "Idols" and that I choose over spending time with Him. It would probably be embarassing and there would probably be way too many pictures to even count..

In Romans 1:22-23, 25, Paul says, "Although you claim to be wise, you became fools and exchanged the glory of the immortal God for images made to look like mortal man and birds and animals and reptiles (in my life, I exchange the glory of the immortal God for material things, a clean house, more sleep, laziness, etc..). You exchanged the truth of God for a LIE, and worshiped and served created things rather than the Creator- who is forever praised."

Ouch.. Can you say conviction? How many times do we do this? How many times do we choose the things that are on this earth over our Heavenly Father? I choose even earthly relationships over my relationship with my Creator over and over.

So I decided I would take a picture of as many things that I could tangibly take a picture of to represent the idols in my life. The things that on my selfish days I choose before God. (obviously there are a lot more than what I document here)

I choose..

facebook, blogging, pintrest, etsy, pictures, online shopping over Him

I choose laziness and trashy t.v. over Him

I even put my kids and husband over my Creator

I put my housework and my desire to keep a "put together" house over my time with Him

I choose material possessions and shopping time and time again.

(that is a pillow on top of the Bible.. Ha! Hard to tell)
I choose to sleep in to the very last minute instead of waking up to spend quality time with Him

There you have it.. My little spiritual exercise that really helped me put my walk with the Lord in perspective. It's now documented in pictures and on my blog so I can't hide from the real truth ;). I am human, I mess up ALL the time, I give in to my selfish flesh time and time again.

The good news.. I have a God that is bigger than all of this and He loves me no matter what. He always welcomes me back with open arms every time I screw up and don't pick Him first. He is a good and gracious God. Like Paul says, "what a wretched man I am! Who will rescue me from this body of death? Thanks be to God-Through Jesus Christ our Lord!" Romans 7:24

For those of you who know the same God I do, I hope you found this post relatable and I encourage you to do the same exercise. It really helped me put things in perspective and get my priorities straightened out.

3 Months!

2012-01-17T11:42:00.000-08:00

Another month has passed and we are in disbelief at how fast life is moving. In my opinion things start getting really fun after 3 months, so I'm looking forward to the changes we are going to see in these next few months. She is growing into such a fun baby girl. Here is a what little B is up to these days..

- She is still HAPPY, HAPPY, HAPPY. She smiles at whoever will look at her and she has started giggling a ton. It's adorable.

- She still sleeps a ton but is starting to be awake more and more. I have been putting her down around 7:30 in the evening and she sleeps until about 4:00 in the morning, eats, and then sleeps until 8:00. Some mornings she wakes up earlier. I am deciding on whether or not to let her cry out that feeding at 4:00 so she might start sleeping straight through the night but I still think there is a good chance she really is hungry after that 8 hour stretch. Any opinions?? She has about 1 hour wake times before she falls back asleep for naps.

- She eats 5 ounce bottles every 3-4 hours. Some days she has 6 bottles and on hungrier days she'll have 7.

- She is rolling from back to front like a champ. She actually enjoys tummy time which is new to me. Sawyer never liked tummy time which is why it took him forever to crawl. I have a feeling she is going to be early on everything. I left her in her room the other day for thirty minutes on her playmat and she somehow turned herself all the way around. I think she is going to be a mover.

-She has started grabbing on to her toys and actually trying to play with them.

- She is turning into a TALL baby girl. She is already in 6 month clothes because of her length. She still wears all of her 3-6 month stuff but most of it is too short. Who knows maybe she didn't get the Stowers curse with shortness. At her 2 month appointment she was 97th percentile for length and 60th for weight and 5th for head circumference. She does have the tiniest little head. She still wears all of her newborn headbands.

She is a joy and we are truly enjoying every second with this girl. Happy 3 Months baby girl! We love you!

Weekend in Pictures

2012-01-16T12:55:00.000-08:00

Besides the fact that we were CONSTANTLY talking about poopy in the potty and tee tee in the potty we actually ended up having a fun family weekend. Andrew and I had a date night and enjoyed a yummy quiet meal alone, I got to run errands all day by myself on Saturday while Andrew kept the kids and then Saturday night we went to the Razorback game with both kids. Sawyer LOVED it and it was fun to do something different.

Precious boys, love this picture of them

She stayed awake way past her bed time and quietly enjoyed the entire game.

Getting a Razorback painted for the big game

Someone LOVES her daddy

And one more just because she is cute.

Yummy Monday: Easy Pork Tenderloin

2012-01-16T06:56:00.000-08:00

Today's recipe is one of those that when you see the recipe you may think "Gross" but when it all comes together and the pork is complete you will care less about what went in it.

I am one of those who HATES mayonnaise! I hate the smell of it, the texture of it and most of all the taste of it. The mayonnaise in this recipe creates the juiciest pork and it creates a crust on the outside of the pork that is delicious. I guarantee you will have no idea that it was mayonnaise you used once this is cooked. Give this a try and I promise you won't be disappointed. It's an easy, easy, easy recipe!

1 2-3 lb pork loin (or pork loin roast)
1/4 cup mayonnaise (you want the real deal – no light mayo or miracle whip for this!)
Cavendar’s Greek Seasoning (if you want to control the amount of salt they offer a salt-free version as well), about 1/4 cup

Preheat your oven to 450. Line a baking sheet with foil and spray with nonstick spray. Place the loin in the middle of the sheet and rub all sides with mayonnaise. Wash your hands very well and then sprinkle all sides of the loin liberally with the Greek seasoning. Once the oven hits 450 place the pork loin on the middle rack and shut the door – it has to STAY SHUT for the next 90 minutes! Roast at 450 for 45 minutes, then turn the oven off, making sure to leave the door shut – don’t check on it, and leave it in the hot oven for another 45 minutes.

Hope you enjoy this one! Happy Monday!

Celebrating

2012-01-15T08:36:00.000-08:00

Look who is potty trained?! We have been working on it this week and I'm happy to report that he is officially in big boy undies and doing wonderfully! So Proud!

"Winter ONEderland" First Birthday

2012-01-12T05:55:00.000-08:00

My friend Whitney just threw the most incredible first birthday for her daughter Elle. She went all out and didn't miss one detail. I helped her think through a few things and then even helped her with some banners and after I saw the pictures it's safe to say she is one talented girl.

She picked the theme Winter Onederland and stuck with the gorgeous color scheme of white, grey and pink. I LOVED the colors she picked and loved every detail that went into this party. Take a look...

Hot cocoa Bar

Party favors were strawberry cake in mason jars with vanilla icing. LOVE!

Great Job Whitney! Elle is one lucky girl!

Resources from this party:

Elle's Birthday Outfit: Sharpscissors

Cupcake toppers: Little Pumpkin Papers

Ribbon tablecloth and Ice blocks: Eventures in Fayetteville

Place cards: Papyrus

Photography: Michelle Lea Photography

Life Lately

2012-01-11T09:52:00.000-08:00

Life lately has been so much fun. We have seen cousins, enjoyed some warmer weather, gone on walks, seen friends, we've run tons of errands, played with new toys from Santa, just living life and staying busy.. Not to mention we have a baby girl who is officially rolling over and laughing all the time. Life is crazy fun with these two babies and every day is different in it's own way.

Hope you all have a wonderful Wednesday! We are currently still in our pjs, laying in bed watching cartoons (aside for the 2 year old jumping and dancing on the bed every few minutes) and being LAZY! LOVIN every minute of this day.

Surrendering to Poopy Diapers

2012-01-10T07:25:00.000-08:00

The other day I woke up on the WRONG side of the bed.. You know one of those days when you wake up and are annoyed by your two year old automatically when they are completely innocent (hopefully I'm not the only one this happens to). Anyway, we were trying to leave town that day and I had a million things to do. I had to pack for the entire family, clean out the car, I wanted to clean the house, I needed to do a few loads of laundry, we had to go run two errands and somehow I needed to fit a shower in all before we left. In the middle of all of this my kids decided that they needed to poop all morning. Between the hours of 9:00-10:30 I literally changed 5 poopy diapers between the both of them (I'm caught, Sawyer isn't potty trained yet). So by about the 3rd diaper I angrily picked one of the kids up and angrily took them to the changing table and the entire time I was thinking, "how did my life get to this point? I am good at so many other things yet here I am changing and wiping poop up all day long." I sat there changing a diaper feeling purposeless in my life.

And then about the 4th poopy diaper I had a reality shift. I sat there looking at my precious baby girl who had poop running up her back and yet she was sitting there cooing and smiling at me. I sat there and realized that this was my job and what an amazing job it truly is. It should be my HONOR and I should be finding JOY even in wiping poop off these kiddos. I realized at that point that I could either fight it and be a bitter stay at home mom OR I could surrender to this reality of poop, pee and other bodily fluids and find joy in all of it. I am so lucky and sometimes in the routine of our days at home I lose sight of just how lucky I am.

Anyone else been there?! Please tell me I'm not the only one.

I was reminded of this verse after I had this reality shift..

"You have shown me the path that leads to LIFE; your presence fills me with JOY and brings me PLEASURE forever." Psalm 16:11

Thank you Jesus for the path that you have set for me, I continue to pray that I will find Joy in all of it, even when it's stinky poop ;)

Yummy Monday: Caramelized Brussels Sprouts

2012-01-09T16:06:00.000-08:00

I know what you are thinking, "Brussels Sprouts? Yuck!" But rest assure that these will change your mind if you never cared for them before. I found this recipe on pintrest and have made this once a week for the last four weeks. They are DELICIOUS! I changed the original recipe up a little bit but I'll link it up to so you all can have both.

Enjoy!

Caramelized Brussels Sprouts

- 14-15 large brussels sprouts

- 2 TB Extra virgin olive oil

- 1 clove minced garlic

- 2 TB brown sugar

- Salt and Pepper to taste

- Slice each brussels sprout very thin until you have a mound of feathery brussels sprout ribbons. Heat the olive oil over medium high in a large skillet and saute the garlic for 30 seconds. Add the brussels sprouts and continue sauteing for another 4-5 minutes, until bright green and tender. Add the sea salt and brown sugar and toss together.

Recipe and image from: Eat Live Run

Recap of 2011

2012-01-02T08:52:00.000-08:00

2011 has truly been a WHIRLWIND. We have experienced our lowest low this year and ended it out experiencing a definite high. We bought a house, grown our family, almost lost Sawyer to a life threatening asthma attack, been pregnant, gone on vacation, gained new nephews, broken a leg, made new friends, went from having a non talking toddler to a screaming and talking 2 1/2 year old. So much has happened both good and bad. This year has brought so much growth within our family but also in our faith. The Lord has stretched us and changed us in 2011 through the experiences we have faced. We sit back and acknowledge that our God is sovereign and He knows what He is doing. I have experienced more low times this year b/c of some of the things we have faced but the Lord has redeemed in every situation. He isn't done stretching us and I am excited to see what He has for us in 2012.

Started off the year in our darkest moments so far in life when we almost lost Sawyer and were airlifted to Little Rock Children's hospital. Here is a recap of what happened that dreadful day.

Got home from the hospital with our new version of normal. Started twice a week shots and maintained his asthma with tons of meds. He is such a tough boy. Still getting shots but not as many meds! Praise God that it's all working.

First shot.. He is a pro now and we love all of our nurses at the clinic.

Record breaking snowfall in February. Over 2 feet!

Said goodbye to our dog of 5 years, Emma after we found out Sawyer was severely allergic. We still miss her!

Had another birthday, still getting older.

Turned into a little mischievous fella right about this picture.

Sawyer bear turned 2! Golf party for our fella.

Found out I was pregnant with a girl!! Definitely a high point of the year.

Met my new nephew from Rwanda

Broke a leg and wore a cast for 9 weeks

Pregnant mama learns a new trick to carry her crippled son. Not the funnest months of the year.

Record breaking heat while 6-7 months pregnant.. Blah.

Gain another new nephew. Baby Hayes!

Enjoy another beach trip with my family.

Grow very large with my second baby

Best year of razorback football! We definitely got into it this year.

Went into labor on my own with my second baby girl.

Highest point of the year.. Meeting Brooklyn Faith Henry.

Became a mama of 2

Watched Sawyer become the best big brother.

in 2011 my heart doubled in size with love for these two kids. I didn't know that I was capable of loving this much. So thankful

in 2011 our family became a family of 4 and we all have fallen in love with the newest addition.

See.. ALOT has happened! Some stuff that isn't even documented. Andrew and I are so thankful for all of these trials we faced in 2011 and all of these happy moments in 2011 b/c it's through these moments that the Lord is shaping us and changing us. So long 2011... excited to face a new year!

Christmas 2011

2012-01-02T07:05:00.000-08:00

This Christmas was so crazy and fun! We spent an entire week with my family all under one roof. To say that it was loud and chaotic would be a major understatement. With 9 kiddos half of which are under the age of 4 it created one FUN Christmas.

WE started off our week seeing my sister in law and the kids. Sarah hadn't met Brooklyn yet! Brooklyn already loves her Aunt Sarah.

And these kids had so much fun together like always. They are all so cute together. And this picture is TOO cute!

Sarah bought this for Sawyer in Rwanda. She was in Africa during Thanksgiving and brought some amazing things over there. How precious are these?

ON to Christmas with the Stowers.. I didn't take a Ton of pictures but here is what I managed to get.

Pretty safe to say that this ham was probably the biggest MESS this Christmas. Crazy that the next time we spend Christmas with my family he will almost be 4.. Hopefully he will calm down a bit by then ;)

Papa getting some Brooklyn love

Told you there were alot of kids!

Christmas Pajama time!

I caught Sawyer stealing Santa's cookies!

Guilty

And then Sawyer told us.. "Santa wants to share with me" so we couldn't argue with that one.

This is Sawyer talking to Santa telling him he needed to share with him... ha!

Christmas morning. Santa brought WAY too many toys that I'm still trying to find room for.

Waiting to see what Santa brought them.

This girl of course did ALOT of this

And Sawyer did a lot of this.. :) he loves Conner so much.

Brooklyn lovin her toy from Santa.

We are so thankful this Christmas season for our Savior's birth and for His provision for our family. It is so amazing to see our family grow and see His plans fulfilled. We are so underserving.
Hope everyone had a wonderful holiday!

Santa Babies

2011-12-29T19:42:00.000-08:00

I have literally not opened my computer in a full week! I left for Little Rock last Thursday and soaked up every spare second with my family. We had the most amazing Christmas with 9 crazy kiddos and 8 adults all under the same roof for almost an entire week. Me and the kids got home yesterday and we are starting to play catch up. So until I get all of my pictures downloaded here is a pic of my two babies. Hope everyone had a Merry Christmas!

Professional Pictures :)

2011-12-19T08:38:00.000-08:00

The amazing Blaire Perry took pictures of our precious kiddos and I am obsessed! She did an amazing job. She was so patient with both of them and captured some pretty incredible shots. Take a look...

I think this one is hilarious! "Who is this new creature?"

And for those of you who haven't seen them, here is our christmas card and birth announcemet this year.

Blaire gave me the images and I had an etsy seller design the cards. I did a christmas card on the front and her birth announcement on the back. She did an amazing job! Here is the link for the designer, Life-n-Reflection

2 month angel girl

2011-12-17T14:27:00.000-08:00

These 2 months have FLOWN by. I seriously can not believe that I am typing her 2 month post. She makes this newborn stage pretty fun and we are really getting the hang of things around here. Here is a little bit about Brooklyn at 2 months.

- She is sleeping most of the day still. I am trying to keep her up for at least 30 minutes after each feeding unless she is in her carseat I don't attempt. She is sleeping decent at night. She is still pretty much doing the same thing. She goes to bed around 9-9:30 and sleeps until about 2:30-3:30 give or take and then wakes up 3 hours after that. She is so funny at night b/c she barely eats most of the time. I am literally up with her for maybe 10 minutes at the most and she doesn't even finish 2 ounces and is back in her crib asleep until the next feeding. Hoping that she gets the memo soon that she can sleep through that!

- She is seriously the happiest little thing. If you can't tell by all of her pictures she smiles all the time! She happily plays by herself most of the time she is awake and when someone looks at her or talks to her she easily breaks out in a huge grin. Love that she is so joyful already.

- She is miss independent already. I will be holding her and she will start squirming and fussing a little bit so I'll put her on her blanket on the floor and she lights up. She loves kicking around and laying flat on her back. She prefers the floor instead of her bouncy seat or swing. She likes her swing if she is sleepy but she prefers to have playtime on her back. I have a feeling she is going to be an active little thing and I'm starting to think she's not going to be my snuggler. Who knows though.

- She eats every 3-4 hours during the day. She will go four hours when we are out and about and she eats anywhere from 3-5 ounces. Most of the time she eats 3 ounces and then sometimes she requests more. She gets breast milk and we also have to supplement b/c I'm not making much milk.

- She lights up when she sees her brother. He hardly pays any attention to her but when he does look at her or talks to her she automatically smiles at him.

- We have our days pretty much on a routine and figured out. She is very predictable during the day and then come 6:00 I have no routine with her. Every night is different and I'm trying to figure out how to help her sleep better. She is a tad fussy in the evenings and when I say fussy, I mean just likes to be held, not like screaming crying fussy. She is easily pleased just doesn't last as long playing by herself. I'm really hoping this next month brings more of a routine for nighttime so she will start sleeping through the night.

Brooklyn you are the most dear little girl and I feel so lucky that I get to call you my own. I constantly feel like I am so undeserving of you angel girl. You are truly a gift from the Lord and I can't wait to watch you grow and prosper.

Love

2011-12-14T13:02:00.000-08:00

So in love with these two! They make my days brighter, they make my days exciting, they make my days tiring but so fulfilling :). Life is sweet with these two around.

Quality time

2011-12-12T12:41:00.000-08:00

As I mentioned a few days ago we definitely had been having some rocky days with our little Sawyer bear. He has always been an obedient child even in the midst of what people call the "Terrible Twos". He has always been such a sweet and affectionate boy and honestly he was never a huge fit thrower. Well.. The last couple of months have been a different story. I know that a lot of it has to do with the new sister in his life and also that he probably is just naturally going through his hardest phase in development but I also have been caught off guard at how much he had changed in a short time. I often acted out of anger with him, wanting to "control" the way he was behaving. There have been days where I feel like I'm mad at him 75% of the day, instead of enjoying my time with him. So frustrating that I couldn't see past it.

Well last week I read a blog post from a mommy blogger and she talked about love languages in our children. I have always known my love languages and I really think that we all respond differently to different acts of love. Personally mine is quality time and words of affirmation and when I don't get those with my friends or my husband I feel like the whole relationship is thrown off. These two things fill my tank and when I'm down they bring me back up.
I had never really sat down and thought about Sawyer and what his love languages are.. I know that they will probably change as he gets older but the more I sat down and thought about it I realized he had clear signs of what love languages he responded to. You see.. Sawyer is obsessed with his babysitters and obsessed with his grandmothers and obsessed with any of my friends who come over to see him. He absolutely loves to have one on one attention from anyone who will give it to him. When his babysitters come watch him, he knows that they will sit on the floor with him and engage with him and play on his level. So many days I forget that my "Job" in life is to fill this little boy's tank up. He deserves all of my energy I can hand out and all of my time I can spare to fill up his love tank. I am a control freak and hate for the house to get out of order... but my goal in life is not to keep a clean house it is to raise a healthy boy who loves others and loves the Lord. Therefore my whole reality as a mother has changed. I am going to let the dishes pile up and the laundry sit all over the house when there is a 2 year old begging to spend one on one time with his mama. I have been so focused on what we need to get done around the house and errands we need to run that Sawyer started crying out for attention.

So.. starting a few days ago I have been intentional about spending quality time with my son. When I say quality time I mean time outs in our day where I'm on the floor with him or at his tiny toddler table, engaging in conversation and playtime with him. Whether it's racing cars around his room, making play-dough creatures, shooting hoops in his room or letting him cover me in stickers, these are the things that fill his tank.

I can't even tell you how different he has been in the last week. He has thrown maybe one fit in the last three days and has been back to his sweet self for the majority of our days. His attitude has completely shifted. I know we will still have our bad days and our toddler moments but the fact that he has responded so fast to the time I'm spending with him is proving to me that his tank needed to be filled back up.

I am so beyond thankful that I get to stay home with him and do these things with him. In three short years he will be in school and when I look back at these moments I'm not going to want to remember how clean our house was, I want to remember all of the quality time I spent with my son. I want to remember me and Sawyer dancing in the living room, stuffed animals strung out all over our big king size bed, kitchen utensils in the bath tub from making bubble soup, train tracks all over the living room floor that we built together, reading books, doing puzzles, building leggo towers that are taller than me, cooking together, snuggling together. These are the moments that matter...

Headbands galore!

2011-12-09T06:43:00.000-08:00

So I've had a lot of question about where to get headbands for baby girls. I obviously have a plethora of different headbands. I have really enjoyed them b/c Brooklyn likes to be swaddled all day long, so the only way to have some girly cuteness on this girl is to deck her out in accessories. I definitely have a few favorite sellers. I also have learned how to make them and they are quite easy!

Zuzii

Happy Friday! Hope you all have a wonderful weekend!

Christmas House tour

2011-12-05T11:12:00.000-08:00

I finally have the house completely decorated for Christmas. In fact, right now me and Sawyer are still in our pjs laying in front of the fire and watching Elf. I love that everything feels so festive. If only winter would end right after Christmas. That would be perfect.

Here is our christmas house tour this year. I loved decorating this year b/c last year we were in the apartment and we didn't do anything. I honestly couldn't even remember what all we had to work with. I made a few wreaths this year and got new stockings, but other than that we already had everything you will see. Merry Christmas!!

Made this yarn wreath. It took a few hours. I recycled my "H" from my pumpkins for this wreath.

New stockings I got off etsy

Fresh trees I got for 5$ and wrapped the bottom with recycled burlap and ribbon

Made this wreath too

This burlap wreath was one that I got from a flea market for 10$. I love it!

Hope you all liked it!

Just what the doctor ordered

2011-12-05T06:36:00.000-08:00

First off, I want to thank a lot of you for your comments and encouragement after my last post. It's so comforting to have a community and to know that I'm not the only one dealing with some of these feelings and issues. I guess we aren't alone after all ;).

This weekend was SOOO refreshing and just what our little family needed. This is only our third weekend at home since Brooklyn was born so it is always a fun time when we get to actually stay at home. Andrew got home from work on Friday and got us a babysitter so we could go out on a date. We took Brooklyn with us who slept in her carseat the entire 3 1/2 hours and we ate a fancy dinner at Theo's, our very favorite restaurant. I got wine, an appetizer and my very favorite steak of all time. It was delicious and we enjoyed a quiet evening just the two of us.. (well actually the three of us but she didn't make a peep). When we got home from our date, Andrew offered to sleep in the guest room and keep BOTH monitors and give Brooklyn her middle of the night feeding. I have not slept through the night in MONTHS! It was the best feeling to wake up at 6:00 to feed Brooklyn for the first time. I was seriously a new woman after 8 hours of sleep. Andrew definitely has major points right now, he even let me sleep in on Sunday :)

Saturday, Andrew and Sawyer went to get us breakfast and we enjoyed a laid back morning at home. I cleaned and did laundry and then went to run some errands with just Brooklyn. I also got invited to go to lunch with two of my friends and we enjoyed a nice long lunch at Burger Life. That night we decided to cook dinner and have a little Christmas get together with Sawyer's besties. The Nicodemus' and Blagg's came over for some soup and cornbread and we had such a fun night. Surprisingly the kids got along almost the entire time and we actually got to carry on conversations. We all decorated christmas cookies and the kids LOVED it. Sawyer had so much fun seeing all of his long lost friends.

Sunday we hopped in the car way to early to go to the mall. We thought holiday hours had started and went at 10:30 but the mall didn't open till 12.. so frustrating! But we made the most of it and went to the playground, rode some of the toddler rides and then ate Sbarros right at 11 when they opened. Our whole goal for going was for Sawyer to meet Santa. He wasn't scared of Santa at all and he told him he wanted "cars, trucks, trains, and new train tracks" and then he started crying b/c Santa didn't hand the toys to him right then. He is still confused by the whole christmas, santa concept. Waiting until Christmas morning is a hard thing to grasp for a 2 year old.

All in all it was a great weekend and I'm so thankful to be refreshed for this new week. Here is a little recap in pictures.

This boy was happy and back to himself most of the weekend. Thank you Lord.

This is when the confusion started setting in I think.. :)

Sawyer got some major playtime with Daddy this weekend.

Greatest daddy ever

This girl was of course perfect all weekend.

Laughed at me twice this weekend :)

Fun night with the cutest trio around

cutest picture ever!

And OH MY WORD! Look how precious these two are together :) Future Boyfriend!

Just being honest...

2011-12-02T12:03:00.000-08:00

The truth is..

I yelled at my son today (very loudly)

The truth is..

I had a glass of wine every evening this week right at 5:00

The truth is..

I've cried twice today

The truth is...

I'm running on four hours of sleep

The truth is..

I'm sitting on my butt right now even though there are 8 bottles to wash and a kitchen full of dirty dishes b/c I'm so sick of housework

The truth is..

I have about 6 loads of laundry to do that have piled up in the laundry room (one load that's been in the washer for 24 hours now)

The truth is..

I cussed very loudly outside (hopefully the two year old didn't hear) when I got both kids loaded in the car and turned the key and the car was completely dead.

The truth is..

I wonder what happened to my happy, care free two year old boy. (he's gone for now and a bipolar monster has taken over his body)

If you are already sick of me venting then you may want to move on..

The truth is this week has been HARD.. I feel like I have been in la la land with an easy newborn and a two year old who has been somewhat fine with the whole new sibling thing. For 6 weeks I have been saying how easy it has been. And even though I really do think it's been easier than I thought it would be this week reality hit hard.

Sawyer was sicker than he's been in a long time, me and Andrew both were up every night several times with both kids, we were stressed with the thought of another asthma attack, we had a newborn to take care of, I'm having major milk supply problems and on top of that Sawyer has been either miserably sick or miserably defiant. It all came to a head today after Sawyer's 5th time out. I thought I would never be that mom who screams at their kids and there I was watching myself scream way too loud at Sawyer. It was a weak moment, a moment I wish I could take back but there I was standing in the hallway yelling at Saywer so loudly that it scared him. The entire moment left me feeling incredibly sad and frustrated. I've been feeling sorry for myself all week b/c I can't put Sawyer in any kind of school or mothers day out yet he's still manages to get sick all the time. I am home with him 24/7 with hardly any breaks from my motherly duties and here I am sit screaming at my two year old because for some reason I think I deserve to have everything go my way.. HA! Who am I kidding? I deserve nothing and this job as a mommy is all about dying to yourself and to your rights every day. Being a mommy is by far the hardest job on earth. I wouldn't trade it for anything but man does it take major PATIENCE and PERSEVERANCE.

The truth is Sawyer has been cooped up in this house since Saturday, sick and bored with only me to look at and talk to all day. He's sick of me, he's sick of his toys and he's sick of not getting his energy out. It's so hard to know how much compassion to give your kids when you know there are legitimate reasons they are acting out. I am exhausted from disciplining all day long and I sit here wondering how hard to be on him. The truth is Sawyer is not only at a hard age but he is also adjusting to having a new baby around the house. As much as I want him to revert back to his easier behavior, I have to realize that this is only a phase and he is not himself right now. I also have to pray, pray, pray for some serious patience that can only come from the Holy Spirit... b/c I'm obviously failing in that department when I try and do it on my own.

I'm thankful for the grace of the Lord and the grace that my son shows me all the time. All it took was a big hug from me and a "sorry" and we were back to having fun. I know that these next few months are an adjusting time for Sawyer and I'm fervently praying for guidance in how to guide my defiant two year old, guidance in how to discipline and guidance with how to love even when I'm at my wits end. These kids are everything to me and I do not deserve anything and I especially don't deserve these precious babies.

Love you little man and thankful for your spirited personality! Even when you push me to the edge ;)

Hard to believe that this one might make me mad one day. She is too angelic right now to even imagine such a thing ;)

If any of you have been there I'd love to hear how you made it through the tough moments with your kiddos. Sometimes I sit at home feeling so isolated and forget that other women are going through probably dealing with some of these same things.

Thanks for letting me vent!!

Sickly Scoop

2011-11-30T02:01:00.000-08:00

It's almost 4 in the morning and I am starting this post off on a positive note.. Brooklyn just slept from 9:30 until now! Oh, how life changing. I'm not getting used to this treatment but she sure has been doing good the last five days with going longer stretches. Proud of her.

On a not so positive note.. Our thanksgiving turned ugly when Sawyer woke up on Saturday night with a really bad asthma attack.We had gone to Andrew's hunting club to spend the holiday with his family and had a great week but Saturday night turned into our ever living nightmare. Poor Andrew had to deal with it without me b/c I had gone to Little Rock that morning to spend the night with just Brooklyn and get some rest at my parents house before making the trip home. Basically Andrew said that he woke up at 2 in the morning crying out for me (Break me heart) and when he got him out of his crib he noticed he was having a hard time breathing. He immediately woke up his mom and started our action plan. They sat there for about 45 minutes doing the abuterol treatments and decided to pack up and head to Little Rock. They were headed toward Children's hospital but about halfway there and after a vomit episode and another treatment he settled down and his lungs opened up. All I can say is, Praise our Heavenly Father! We are so sad that it happened again but are so beyond thrilled that his action plan and treatments worked this time. This is a first!

Come to find out he was having an attack not only from allergies that he was having from the club but also he became very ill the next day with what we now know is croup. He has been sick since Sunday.. I mean really sick. He has battled 102-104 fever since Sunday and has been dealing with this horrible cough and stuffy nose. He has been moping around for almost four days now. Monday and Tuesday he barely got off the couch or from my bed. Yesterday he was a little better, but his fever still keeps coming back. I'm praying so hard that he turns around tomorrow. It has been a hard few days being constantly worried about his asthma returning and watching him this sick is never fun. Andrew has been the biggest help, staying up with him most nights since I'm up with B for feedings. We are both exhausted. That is why Brooklyn sleeping till 4 was so needed. God knew how to refresh my tank.. :)

Anyway that is our sickly scoop. I guess wintertime has officially begun.. Praying it's not like this too often!

My poor poor sick buddy..

On another postitive note, this angel is still an angel. No kidding that after an hour of happy wake time in the morning, she is in her room asleep from about 9 in the morning until about 6 in the evening, obviously except for feedings and to be awake about 10-15 minutes after each feeding. She is definitely one sleepy baby girl. I enjoy my evenings with her, holding her since I barely do during the day. This girl likes her bed!

She has been such a breath of fresh air these last few hard days.

And on another positive note, I decorated for Christmas! I will give you a sneak peek... I loved how everything turned out and can't wait to show you pics.

More updates on thanksgiving and other fun stuff later, but for now I'd appreciate prayers ONCE AGAIN for Sawyer's health.. Thanks friends.
Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone

Sibling Resemblance??

2011-11-22T17:15:00.000-08:00

What do you think?? At first I didn't think she looked at all like her brother, but as time goes on I am starting to see the resemblance. Sawyer came out completely masculine... big cheeks, broad shoulders and masculine features. Brooklyn came out 100% feminine... She has the tiniest little features. They definitely have the same eyes and maybe even the same lips. See what you think!

Here is Sawbear at 6 weeks..

Here is baby girl at 1 month..

I think they definitely have their own look but overall you can tell they are siblings.

LOVE THEM!

On the road again and again and again

2011-11-22T17:03:00.000-08:00

We returned from Little Rock on Sunday night late after another fun filled weekend away. This means that we have only been home as a family one weekend since B has been born. I am exhausted from traveling and we are about to hop in the car in less than 24 hours for a 5 hour drive to Andrew's hunting club to spend thanksgiving with his family. I feel like all I have been doing is packing and unpacking bags.

This weekend we went to LR for two parties for some of my very dearest friends. Amanda and another friend Lindsey turned the big 30 and my other friend Whitney(Amanda's sister) had her first baby shower for her first baby girl that we are all excited to meet in January. I was technically a host for this shower but I literally did not do one thing. The other hostesses took it over (Since I just had a baby) and they did a beautiful job.

This is my gorgeous friend Amanda! Happy Birthday sweet girl!

Whitney is due in January and she had one BIG baby shower, I have never seen so many presents. Can't wait to meet sweet Evie Jane! She is going to be gorgeous!!

We of course had a wonderful time at my parents house. Sawyer played and played and Brooklyn did a lot of this. :)

And then when we got home we spent our entire Monday doing ALOT of this..

And more of this...

And now we are gearing up for more traveling and a fun thanksgiving!

1 month!

2011-11-17T06:12:00.000-08:00

Can't believe she is officially one month old! Here is a little bit about little Brooklyn at one month..

- Brooklyn weighed 8 pounds 5 ounces last week when we went to the doctor. Slowly growing :)

- She sleeps most of the day except for about 2 hours in the morning after she wakes up around 8:00 in the morning to eat and then in the evenings she is awake for a couple hours before bed.

- I put her in her bed around 8:00-9:00 (give or take a few minutes, every night is different) and do a dream feed around 10:00 and then she sleeps until about 2:00. After that she wakes up every 3 hours on the dot. Even though I'm up a lot at night I can't complain b/c I'm usually only up for about 15-20 minutes and then she goes right back down when she is done eating. But.. I'm definitely ready for some longer stretches of sleep!

- She seriously is the most content little thing. Of course she cries when she is hungry or tired but she is easily pleased. She doesn't even cry when I change her diaper or change her clothes. She will be awake for a couple hours in the morning and she'll start fussing in her chair or boppy and I'll go put her in her bed and she usually falls fast asleep on her own.

- We have been trying to do eat, wake, sleep method with her and and putting her in her bed while she is awake so she will learn to fall asleep on her own. I never did that with Sawyer and rocked him to sleep every time and I honestly don't have time to do that with her :(. She is doing great at going to sleep on her own. A couple naps she will cry for about three minutes and then fall asleep, but other than that she usually just falls right to sleep without crying.

- Since her second day of life I have been toting her around everywhere and she is a champ at running errands and being on the go. The other day we went all the way to Rogers, ate lunch, went to the park, went to the pharmacy and dropped off dry cleaning without her ever making a peep or even waking up. I'm so thankful she loves her carseat b/c it makes our days so much easier to be able to get out and about instead of cooping up the energetic 2 year old. We try and get out at least once a day.

- She is obsessed with being swaddled. I swear she is swaddled 95% of the day. Even when she is awake she prefers to be swaddled up. She will be fussing and I'll get her in her swaddle and start wrapping her up and she gets really still and quiet. She loves it!

- The only time she is a little "fussy" is in the evenings. She doesn't care if she's held all day until about 6 in the evening and then she likes to be snuggled. It's perfect timing really b/c Andrew is home and one of us can give her more attention.

-During her wake times she is little miss smiley and she has even started cooing. Last night we had her on her bedroom floor and she cooed and made noises for over thirty minutes. Sawyer thought it was so funny. It's so fun to see her start to wake up more and grow into her personality.

One month down, many more to go and I can't wait for all the days ahead!! So far she has such a precious personality, we are truly in love with everything about her. Happy one month baby girl!!

Big Brother

2011-11-15T13:18:00.000-08:00

I know right?! I about died when my photographer tagged me on facebook with this picture. So perfect. I haven't seen the rest but am so excited b/c I know there are several that she got of these two together that are precious.

Well I have looked over the last three weeks in posts and they are almost ALL about Brooklyn. So this post is dedicated to my first born.. he is definitely not forgotten. If anything he is louder and more present than ever ;)!

Sawyer has far exceeded my expectations with adjusting to this new baby girl in our home. I really was expecting the worst just because of everything I've heard from people who have two and the fact that he has never shown interest in babies but much to my surprise he has been incredible. Don't get me wrong we have many two year old moments but most of the moments are just normal 2 year old behavior. He is honestly in love with his sister. He doesn't spend his day paying attention to her but he does always want to know where she is. If she isn't with us he will immediately notice and ask. He loves to hold her at night when he is in his pjs, all ready for bed. He talks to her like he talks to us and thinks she totally understands him. It's adorable. He asked her the other day if she wanted to see his new toy and proceeded to show off for her. He is incredibly gentle and will randomly have the urge to kiss her forehead and give her love pats. Just last night we were all four sitting on the bed watching "Praise Baby" and he looked at Andrew and said "baby Brooklyn is awesome". I wanted to cry! I never dreamed that he would innately and truly love her and it is so amazing to see that he actually does.
I am so proud of his patience that he shows when I nurse and have to tend to her needs. I'm so proud of the way he is owning up to being a big brother. Watching him want to protect her, love her, hug her, etc.. truly makes my love deepen even more for him.

Some funny things about Sawyer that we have noticed since Brooklyn was born. He seriously is talking so loud now. I don't know if this is part of his adjustment but I swear he screams and talks so loud now all day long. Every evening around 7:00 I will get headaches and I think it's because of his volume level. Also, he HATES for her to cry. I really think it's b/c he doesn't like to see babies or anybody cry so almost everytime when she cries he'll scream "no baby brooklyn, don't cry!". Thank the Lord she doesn't cry very often b/c I'd be hearing that all day long.

I'm so thankful for this sweet boy! He definitely isn't perfect and there are many days when he is thriving as a defiant two year old but I would not change one thing about him and could truly not be more proud. I'm also thankful for Brooklyn who is incredibly easy so far. She doesn't require very much attention so a lot of my day is still centered around Sawyer. I know that is a big reason he has adjusted so well. I also know there are harder days ahead when Brooklyn is awake more and requires more of me. I'm going take one day at a time, knowing that there are a million phases I will go through in parenting these two kiddos. Look forward to all of the coming days as I watch these to precious kiddos grow up together. Thank you Lord for these children, I do not deserve these blessings..

Never want to forget

2011-11-11T06:25:00.000-08:00

The weekend Brooklyn was born Saywer, Andrew and I had a special two days together. I have been wanting to document it but Brooklyn was born on the Sunday after I took all these pictures and I haven't gotten around to downloading all of them .

I didn't want this post to fall through the cracks b/c it was such a special weekend and it's weekend that I never want to forget. We crammed in some major fun as a family of 3 before our newest addition arrived.

On Friday afternoon I was in desperate need of a pedicure so for the first time since Sawyer was a baby I decided to take him with me. He was awesome. I took the ipad, his passy and a snack and he sat next to me quietly the entire time and enjoyed his little set up. It was perfect for both of us.

ON Saturday Andrew had to work for half of the day but decided to take a two hour lunch break. Sawyer and I drove to Ft. Smith to visit our sweet man at work. Sawyer loved wearing a hard hat and seeing all of the tractors at work.

We took Sawyer to this amazing park in Ft Smith that has a huge playground and a train that goes around the entire park. I rode this tiny train 10 months pregnant.. I think this was what put me into labor ;)

After the train ride and playground we went to this cute little park right by where we ate lunch that had this farriswheel (sp?). Sawyer was not one bit afraid even though his daddy was and Sawyer absolutely LOVED it!

Sawyer loved every second of that day and even though I was sooo uncomfortable and about to pop, I was so thankful for that chance to spoil our firstborn before he became a big brother.

On Sunday (the day I went into labor) we woke up and headed to the botanical gardens and farmers market. We went on a little walk and went to buy some vegetables that we were planning on cooking that night.. Ha, that obviously didn't happen and those veggies were sadly thrown away.

Have I mentioned how athletic this kid is? I think this picture kind of captures it....

Sawyer got to pick out which veggies we bought.

And of course had to try and get a few pictures of my cutie.

We went home that afternoon after lunch and Toys r us and then a few hours later took this picture right before we left for the hospital! So crazy that Brooklyn wasn't here just a few short weeks ago.

I was so thankful for that fun weekend with just Sawyer and Andrew before the craziness started. Love these two boys!

Obsessed

2011-11-09T14:06:00.000-08:00

This girl has stolen my heart. I cannot believe how obsessed I am. I knew I would love my second but I still secretly wondered in the back of mind how that was even possible since I loved Sawyer so much. Let me tell you... It was not hard to fall in love with this girl. She is absolutely precious.

She started smiling when she was barely 2 weeks old and now she is smiling every day (only at me and Andrew's mom so far). I can't believe how early! Sawyer didn't really smile until 6-7 weeks so I barely believed it when she broke out into a huge grin as I was talking to her. It melts my heart everytime.

Here are some pictures taken in the last few days. Of course they are all from my phone, so the quality isn't the best.

Is it just me or is she not the cutest?!

Love you little B!

Colorado Crew come to visit

2011-11-09T05:55:00.000-08:00

Last week my precious sister came in town to meet Brooklyn and hang out. Sawyer had a blast with his cousins and I soaked up some quality time with Brookie. I was so excited for Brooke to meet her namesake. It meant so much to have her there and she helped out with everything while she was here. She cooked, cleaned and best of all took care of wild man Sawyer. Brooke thank you for coming all that way to meet Brooklyn and to help out. We love you so much !

Brooke gave Brooklyn her first real bath.

My cousin Kay came to visit from Alma while Brooke was here. We love you Kay!!

These two have become the best of friends. They are so funny together. Brooke and I rolled our eyes about a million times b/c of their silliness. It's so fun to see cousins become best friends and these two are all boy!

And sweet Becca was obsessed with the baby. She would sit there all day and hold her if we would have let her. She was such a big helper.

I am so lucky to have sisters. Sometimes I really do feel like they are my lifeline and I am so beyond thankful for their relationships. Thanks again Brookie, Love you!!

Weekend Family Trip

2011-11-08T14:27:00.000-08:00

Believe it or not but our new little family of four decided to travel again this weekend. Another sign that it's our second child.... We decided Friday morning to take this trip and I packed us all up and we ventured on a 5 hour drive to Andrew's favorite place on earth.

Saturday Andrew turned 29 and he wanted nothing more than to spend his birthday at his hunting club. I was so glad we decided to go. The weather was gorgeous and felt just like fall. I sat in front of the fire with Brooklyn all weekend while Sawyer and Andrew played the days away outside in the woods. Sawyer enjoyed every second and Andrew got to go on a few hunts. It was such a relaxing weekend.

Andrew's mom made an amazing dinner for Andrew's birthday. It was such a huge meal that Andrew literally had to use three plates.

Big Papa with Tiny Brooklyn

While the boys were playing oustide, me and B did a lot of this..Heaven on earth:)

Both kids did amazing on the trip there and back. On the way back we enjoyed a quiet drive almost the entire drive, b/c both kiddos did this... Thank you Lord :)

Happy Birthday to my precious husband. We are so lucky to have him lead our family. He is the light of our lives and we are so thankful for his life.

2 weeks (and a few days..)

2011-11-03T08:32:00.000-07:00

Time is seriously flying! I can't believe we've had this little girl for over two weeks. Honestly she just fits right in and we barely even notice she is around unless I'm nursing. So far she is too good to be true. I know that any minute she is just going to decide to start screaming and being a normal newborn but so far she is the quietest, easiest most laid back little thing. I thought Sawyer was an easy newborn but now I know that he may not have been as easy as I thought after being around her for the last two 1/2 weeks.

She has seriously already put herself on a schedule. Literally for the last 10 days she has nursed at almost the exact same times and sleeps and has wake times at the exact same times. Right now she wakes up around 8:30 to eat and then she is usually awake for about two hours and just sits on her boppy pillow and stares at everything around her. She loves looking at this one lamp in our living room, I'll put her in front of the lamp an she will sit and stare for over an hour. After that she eats and sleeps the rest of the day. She'll sleep in her swing, car seat or pack and play and I sometimes even have to wake her up to feed her. I told Andrew last night we need to be more intentional about holding her. We held Sawyer all the time b/c he never wanted to be put down and she is so quiet wherever we sit her down that it's easy to get caught up with things we "need" to do. At night she wakes up after her 7:00 feeding and is usually awake for an hour or two before she goes to sleep for the night. If she has a fussy time during the day it's definitely in the evening. Most evenings she wants to eat every two hours instead of three. She wakes up every four hours at night and is usually too tired to nurse. My milk supply has already gone down drastically in the night b/c she is not too interested in eating and would rather eat a small snack and then sleep on.. I can't complain, seriously. Honestly, I'm soaking up this easy time with her b/c I do know that she will "wake up" soon.

We are so in love with this girl and I can't believe that we've had her in our home for over two weeks. She is such a blessing. Didn't know I could love another child this much. So thankful for this healthy, tiny baby girl.

Halloween 2011

2011-11-02T14:27:00.000-07:00

This was by far the best Halloween on record. For starters we had our little punkin Brooklyn here to enjoy it :) and secondly my sister and all of her kids came in town to trick or treat with Sawyer and to meet baby Brooklyn. We had the best time.

My sister stayed with me for two days and has helped so much. She cooked, cleaned, bathed Brooklyn, took care of Sawyer and was basically my right hand for two days. I loved having her here and it was so good to see Sawyer have so much fun with his family.

Here is a recap of Halloween night. The kids had the greatest time ever. Sawyer was one confident little tricker or treater. He would march up in huge crowds of kids and say "trick or treat" very loudly and march back to be with us. He was really obsessed with getting as much candy as possible. Such a fun night!

Lov these kiddos!!!

"What mom? I was hungry for some candy!"

We stopped by the Blagg's for little hay ride! How cute are Lyla and Sawyer together.

Buzz Lightyear!

She slept the entire time. Oh well, she'll enjoy it next year ;)

10 year reunion

2011-10-31T02:47:00.000-07:00

Andrew's 10 year Highschool reunion was this last weekend. We had never planned on going just b/c it was too close to our actual due date and we figured there would be no way we would try and do that. But when B came a little early and it being our second child, we thought, "why not travel to LR with our 11 day old?" so that is just what we did. We decided on Friday morning that we were going to go and so I first headed to the mall to try and find something to wear and then came back and got us all packed and ready.

We had so much fun and ultimately we were so glad we made the trip. My mom kept both kids and they did great and it was nice for me to enjoy a fun night out (besides my 2 trips to the car to pump.. ha!). It was fun to see old friends and see Andrew live it up with his old crew. To this day Andrew's closest friends are still his high school buddies. We all had a great time.

Funny how different it is when you have your second child. I think I hadn't even attempted to go anywhere before Sawyer was three weeks old. With Brooklyn we just threw her in the mix and kept going. She was a trooper all weekend and we barely heard a peep from her the entire weekend. :) (until we got home last night and she screamed for 2 hours.. uh oh!)

It was a fun night for all of us and I am so thankful for my parents who were willing to keep my two monkeys. :) thanks Mom and Dad!

Hard to believe that we have been together for 13 years! We relived our days when we fell in love back when he was 16 and I was 14 in the hallways at P.A... Oh the glory days..

Love these guys! Still best friends to this day!

1 week

2011-10-24T10:41:00.000-07:00

I can't believe that it has already been a week! I feel like she has been here forever but I feel like it was yesterday that I was sitting in the hospital waiting for her arrival. This last week really has gone so smoothly. We have had my mom here and she has been the biggest help. I know that the "hard" part is going to kick in when all our help leaves and it's just me and the two babies home all day by ourselves. In fact, I'm trying not to freak out over the thought of that b/c if I think about it I kind of have a panic attack wondering how I am going to do it. It will definitely be an adjustment.. :)

Nursing is going fabulously so far. I didn't make milk with Sawyer and I tried desperately hard to make it work with him. It never did even after tons of hard work for 10 weeks with a lactation consultant, medicine and tons of time. My prayer during this entire pregnancy is that I would make milk. It was something I just really had wanted to do with all my babies and I was so disappointed that it didn't work with Sawyer. So far I have had a totally different experience and my prayer now is that my body will keep up with what she wants. So far I am making enough for this tiny baby. I know I am b/c she is content the full 3 hours between feedings and she poops like crazy (seriously like 20 times a day). She also is a reallly fast eater compared to her brother. He would literally want to nurser for 45 to 50 minutes every time and little B will eat in 15-20 minutes. I hope she continues :)

Brooklyn so far has been the easiest baby. I know a week old is still basically asleep to the world so I'll let you know how much this changes in a couple weeks but right now she is an awesome sleeper, eater, pooper, all that good stuff... She loves her car seat, loves her swing and loves her pack in play in our room. She is so far easier than her brother at this age b/c Sawyer never wanted to be put down and HATED his car seat from day one of his life. She has a fiesty little cry if she isn't swaddled up really tight, she absolutely hates to be free. I have laughed all week b/c I have all of these cute newborn clothes but no one will ever see them b/c she is constantly swaddled.

Overall I cannot believe how much I love this precious girl already. She has stolen my heart and I still look at her in awe not believing that I have my very own little girl. I feel beyond blessed. 1 week down hundreds of thousands to go to watch her grow into her own little person. Can't wait! We love you beyond words Brooklyn Faith.

Favorite 3 people in the world. Andrew has been beyond amazing this week. I don't know what I would of done without him.

Sweetest big brother, He loves to cuddle with his sister. It seriously brings tears to my eyes everytime I see them like this.

I can't believe how tiny and dainty she is. Everything is huge on her and this car seat looks like it's swallowing her. I can't believe Sawyer was ever this little.

Birth Story

2011-10-23T11:37:00.000-07:00

Brooklyn is almost a week old so I am going to try and get caught up with blog posts. So for my own memory and for those of you who are curious, here is Brooklyn's birth story..

On Sunday October 16th, me, Sawyer and Andrew woke up and worked a little bit around the house. I had false labor for a few hours the night before and felt like I was totally not ready. The house was a wreck, my bag was not packed, her clothes weren't washed, so on Sunday when I hadn't gone to the hospital I decided to get to work. Thankfully I woke up with an abundance of energy and was really not having any contractions so I did all of the work I needed to do when I woke up. After we got some work done we went to the Botanical Gardens to take some pictures of Sawyer (which I'll post later) and we went to the farmers market to stock up on some veggies that we were planning on eating that night. Other than that we stayed at home and had a great day together. Around 5:30 that evening I went from having no contractions to having strong contractions every 4-5 minutes apart. I had contractions all the time in this last third trimester but the fact that they were so close together kind of got my attention. I started timing them and about the time I started having them our friends Aubrey and Josh came over to take us to dinner and hang out. I told Aubrey that I was having consistent contractions and that they were starting to really hurt and she told me to do some things to make sure it was real labor. I took a bath, laid down, ate a snack, drank a big glass of water all while Sawyer and Andrew went to dinner with Aubrey and Josh. After doing those five things my contractions were getting stronger and even closer together. I called them around 7:30 and asked if they were almost done b/c I was pretty sure I was in labor and wanted to get to the hospital. I got our bags packed and by the door and the minute they were back from dinner Andrew and I got in the car and headed off. Aubrey and Josh luckily had nothing going on so they stayed and put Sawyer down and stayed with him.

We got to the hospital around 8:00 got put in triage and they confirmed that my contractions were 2-3 minutes apart and I was at a 5 and 90% effaced. They got me checked in pretty fast and we called everyone to tell them that Brooklyn was on her way. Such a fun slash scary feeling to know that it was time to meet her. Once I got checked my contractions got really strong and really close together. I was anxiously waiting for my epidural but they wanted to get me hooked up to everything and get some bloodwork back b/c my blood pressure was high. It was a LOONNNGGG 2 hours b/c I was HURTING bad. But finally the anesthesiologist came in and performed the epidural. With Sawyer the epidural did not work at all so I was so nervous that it wasn't going to work this time. Thank the Lord it worked perfectly. It really was heaven on earth to labor and not feel anything. I felt the pressure of the contractions but I never felt the pain of the contractions after I got the epidural. I had no idea that laboring could be so easy. I labored easily and slowly made it to a 7, right after she checked me I started feeling pressure and about 20 minutes later told her that I was starting to feel like I could push. She came in and checked me shocked that it happened so fast and sure enough Brooklyn's head was basically crowning and I was at a full 10. She told me to NOT push b/c she had to call my doctor and a short 10 minutes later I started pushing.

With Sawyer I pushed for 3 1/2 hours, threw up the entire time and felt every single thing. It was the most painful 3 1/2 hours of my entire life. With Brooklyn I started pushing and after only 3 pushes she was out. In the middle of pushing my doctor told me that I only had about one more push until she came out and I seriously uttered the words.. "Seriously?! This is so awesome!" I could not believe how easy and fast she came. And there you have it, at 5:30 am Brooklyn Faith Henry arrived and we already can't imagine life without her. We had a great stay in the hospital. I was up and walking two hours later and recovery has been overall so much easier than Sawyer. We have had a few bumps in recovering but overall I haven't stayed down much. I was running errands with my mom the second day I was home.

I was so thankful to have such an easy labor and so thankful that we experienced a celebratory time after she was born. We definitely had a completely different experience comparing to Sawyer's arrival. Praise God, we had a lot people praying for a different experience and we felt all of those prayers. Here is a recap of some pictures of our labor and delivery.

This is right when Andrew got home and I told him it was time to go. Aubrey made us take a family picture right before we left. I am so glad she did!

Epidural has kicked in at this point and I am HAPPY!

Don't know what I would of done without her! She was such a huge help.

Right after she was born. She was so gorgeous even with all that gunk on her :)

My precious girl

The arrival of the BIG BRO. He definitely was freaked out by the hospital scene. He was more curious to why I was in a hospital gown and in bed nd more curious about the equipment than he was his new sister. He came around once we were home.

one blessed mama!

And of course Sawyer was spoiled the day Brooklyn arrived. He was showered with his own gifts from my mom.

Andrew loves her so much already. He still can't believe that he has a girl! He is going to be the best daddy to a girl. Can't wait to see that relationship grow.

Emily is one of good friends and our due dates were 5 days apart. She checked in to have Annabelle just a few hours after I had Brooklyn. She came down to our room during the middle of laboring. I love that we got to experience that together!

Annabelle is PRECIOUS!!

Leaving the hospital as a family of 4.. Such a weird feeling.

They wheeled me out of the hospital and Sawyer would not let me go by myself. He loved it.

Ready to start our new adventure... :)

That's it! The whole thing was a dreamy experience. I honestly can't believe how easy it can be when everything works correctly. I am continually praising God for the blessing of this precious girl. She is such a gift.

Brooklyn Faith Henry

2011-10-18T00:41:00.001-07:00

Little Brooklyn Faith Henry arrived yesterday morning at 5:30 am weighing in at 7 pounds 9 ounces and is 20 1/2 inches long! She is beyond perfect and we could not be more in love.

I went into labor on my own and I'm so happy to report that it could not have gone better and was actually an awesome experience (so relieved!). We are all doing great and we praise God for our new daughter. She is more beautiful than I ever thought possible.

Now may I introduce our newest family member....

Thanks for the prayers!

- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone

Location:Brooklyn Faith Henry

Ready or Not?!

2011-10-12T12:08:00.000-07:00

Well I had my check up today and things are definitely progressing. For those of you who care.. I'm at 4 cm, 70% effaced and baby is LOW a.k.a baby Brooklyn will be here any minute. Hoping this week she will make her appearance b/c I'm exhausted from not sleeping and ready to meet her!!
If she doesn't come this week we are inducing next Friday to make sure she isn't too big for me. Sawyer gave me a really hard time b/c he was so big for me, so we are hoping this time around is smoother and easier.

Come out little B!

In the mean time Sawyer and I are soaking up some quality time together and with friends. Today we had the most fun day going to Barnes and Noble and then to Petco. He loved every second of it. He has been a sweet boy this week and it's starting to hit me that our little twosome is about to change.

I made it to the Razorback tailgate this last weekend with my parents and Andrew. It was super fun and I was so glad that I wobbled my way there.

Definitely not sleeping these days and obviously I'm super uncomfortable so my sweet husband brought me home this wonderful bath set yesterday. It smells so good and baths definitely help me feel better. He is so thoughtful!

And I got these cuties in the mail today! Oh my gosh can't even stand it.

Other than all this randomness we are playing, cooking, cleaning and waiting.. We are READY to meet sweet girl and praying fervently for a healthy, smooth delivery. Can't believe she's almost here!

Happy Wednesday!

Play Hunting

2011-10-05T13:19:00.000-07:00

This past weekend was opening weekend for bow hunting here in Arkansas. Knowing that second baby was coming in a couple weeks I told Andrew he should go to his "happy place" a.k.a go hunting before the baby came. I know I'm going to be hesitant for him to ever go hunting once we have two kids. Of course he jumped on my idea and got a few of his friends together to go to D and B (his hunting club) and I kept Sawyer from Thursday to Sunday.

Let me say two things about this last weekend, 1. I was a HUGE baby the entire four days. I truly hit my pregnant wall last week and had the hardest time keeping Sawyer by myself all weekend. I can barely walk, so keeping up with a two year old 24 hours a day for four straight days did me in.

2. Sawyer was obviously missing his daddy. He acted out the entire weekend and drove me up the wall. All in all it was one of the hardest weekends I've had as Sawyer's mother. I can't wait to feel like myself again.

So, back to "play hunting".... While Andrew was gone, Sawyer asked "where's daddy" about a million times. I explained how he was hunting for deer and everytime I would explain it he would ask if he could "play hunting too?". I told Andrew how he wanted to play hunt with his daddy and I think it broke Andrew's heart a little. When he got home, Sawyer was still sleeping and Andrew traced and cut out a deer out of cardboard, got his camo masks and hats out and got Sawyer's nerf guns ready. When Sawyer woke up they went on their very own "play hunt" around the house. I thought it was the cutest thing. Andrew is so in love with Sawyer that he can't stand for him to feel like he was missing out at all. They will be two peas in a pod on a deer stand one day soon. Sadly my camera was dead so I just got a picture of Sawyer with his fake deer (that sadly looks like a greyhound dog) and in his camo hat the next day.

I am seriously so thankful for Andrew and this weekend maybe realize just how thankful I really am. I don't know how I would do this without him. He truly is a better dad than I even imagined he would be, I tell him all the time it was his calling in life to be a father b/c he thrives in his role as a dad. We love you Andrew!

DIY Fall Projects

2011-10-04T07:11:00.000-07:00

Here are the short and easy tutorials on the grapevine wreath and the moss pumpkins.

All you need for this is:

1. Pumpkin (I used a real one but you can definitely use a fake one that you have bought)

2. Cut out initial (I used cardstock paper)

3. bundle of moss

4. hot glue gun

5. Doily or fabric flower of your choice for embelisshment

6. I used a push pin for the doily flower

1. Take the moss and your letter and gradually glue down the moss. I usually just do a section at a time so the entire letter is covered. (you may need to cut any extra moss that is hanging over the sides to make it look more precise)

2. Hot glue the finished moss covered letter on to the center of your pumpkin

3. For the doily flower I literally bundled the doily up to look like a flower and used a push pin to pin it into the pumpkin. It was super easy, no glue required. Just work with it until it looks like a flower.

Super easy!!

All you need is:

1. Grapevine wreath

2. about 1/2 yard of two different colored fabrics. I used burlap and orange polkadot that I had leftover from last year. I also used extra doilies for embellishments.

3. hot glue gun

4. Scissors

5. embellishments like tulle, bronze pins (you can find in scrapbook section)

What you do:

1. For the fabric flowers I used this tutorial.. HERE. I added embellishments, like bronze push pins, doilies and tulle to the center of the flowers.

2. Hot glue each flower to the desired section on your wreath. I bundled them all pretty close together.

3. To hang the wreath I just cut a strip of fabric in two even strips to wrap and tie together at the top.

That's it! Does this all make sense? Let me know if you have any questions!

Happy Fall Ya'll!!

Fall House Tour

2011-10-03T11:08:00.000-07:00

I officially decorated for Fall! I was actually thinking about not bothering with it this year since I'm about to have a baby, but then decided that it was the perfect year to do it b/c we will have so many people in and out of our house over the next few weeks. Besides that it just makes me HAPPY! I reused everything from the past few years but changed it all up. I wanted it to be natural and rustic. I added a few new DIY projects that I think ended up pretty cute. See what you think!

This is one of the DIY projects. I'll do a short tutorial later today. It's a real pumpkin that I added a doily homemade flower and a moss "H" that I made to fit each pumpkin. Took me two seconds and I LOVE how they turned out.

Coffee table

Dining room centerpiece

Foyer

Kitchen Table

Kitchen buffet

This was my other project. Fall fabric flower grapevine wreath. I used old scrap fabric I have had leftover from past parties.

I love everything about fall. It really is my favorite time of year and I am so glad that I will get to bring Brooklyn home to a home filled with fall colors and smells. Can't wait!

Stay tuned for these tutorials.

Yummy Monday: Pintrest Roundup

2011-10-03T07:31:00.000-07:00

Well I have finally joined the new thing and joined Pintrest. Two weeks ago when Sawyer was in bed sick all day, I started my account and was addicted all day. I think my favorite part to the whole site is being able to collect recipes all in one place. I have been cooking more lately (trying to waste time till this baby is born) and have had a few successes. Here are a few that I recommend.

Lasagna Soup

This was really yummy if you love lasagna. I thought the flavors were spot on and it really was easy to make! It's a great one pot meal.

HERE is the RECIPE

Creamy Italian Chicken

This recipe is definitely NOT the healthiest but it's Yummy and SUPER EASY! Andrew was a huge fan.

HERE is the RECIPE

Baked Zucchini Fries

This was probably one of my favorites. These are healthy and delicious. I love having new ways to serve veggies. Definitely give this one a try.

HERE is the RECIPE

Peanut Butter Yogurt Dip

This has been one of my latest favorites, especially b/c I'm pregnant. I ate this for lunch three days in a row with apples and strawberries. So yummy! The best thing about this recipe is I usually always have these ingredients laying around.

HERE is the RECIPE

Happy Yummy Monday! Stay tuned I'm going to post about some fall decor and projects later on.. :)

Brooklyn's Nursery Revealed!

2011-09-26T13:17:00.000-07:00

Baby girl will be here in just a few short weeks and I finally have the nursery completed. It is definitely bittersweet to have it all finished since I have been dreaming about a girl's nursery forever, but I could not love it more.

One of my friends, Lindsey came over for a playdate last week and she graciously took some beautiful pictures of her room.

Here is the finished product!

Here is a downlow on some of the details...

Debbie with Cottage and Cabin custom made Brooklyn's bedding. I found a crochet tablecloth that I sent to Debbie and we worked really closely to design her bedding. I wanted the feel of the bedding to be similar to Bella Note bedding and Matteo crib bedding. Debbie had some awesome washed linens to choose from so I knew that she would pull off what I was wanting.

The curtains are from Urban Outffiters and I bought three panels and my mom cut the third one in half and we sewed the bottom of each panel to make them taller. I LOVE THE CURTAINS!

I got a slipcover made to cover Sawyer's original glider. I bought the same ivory linen that was used for the bedding from Debbie. I found an awesome seamstress that pulled it off perfectly.

The chandelier is from Lighting Universe

The mirror.. I found the frame at a flea market and painted it pink and then got it filled with the mirror. It was super cheap!

Everything else was basically flea market finds.. Everything on the wall is from flea markets around town. I used doilies to glue inside ivory frames and filled the other ivory frames with leftover wallpaper. The initials are from an etsy seller that I have used before. You can order custom letters and initials from THIS fabulous shop. The floor lamp and table are from a flea market.

That's really it! Hope you all like it! Now all we need is a little Brooklyn Bear to make her grand entrance so we can actually use the room. :)

Proud Sister

2011-09-23T08:09:00.000-07:00

I am one proud sister! My oldest sister, Jennie Allen is about to be a household name. She is an amazing woman, an amazing mother, amazing mentor and she is also the MOST AMAZING writer and speaker. She is obeying God's calling for her life and has officially been published. Her first women's study is officially out in christian book stores and available on amazon. If you are looking for a bible study to do with a group of girls, I highly recommend her study. My group of friends did it about two years ago, before she was published and I can speak for all of us that it was life changing. There really is not another study out there like this one and Jennie has a way of having you deal with your "Stuff". It got us all out of our shell and got us dealing with the places in our life that we have been stuck for years. To see a pilot for her study watch this awesome video.

To order the study, go to Amazon.com

To see glimpses of Jennie's heart in writing this study, go to her website and blog.

Jennie, I am so beyond proud of you and it is so inspirational to watch you obey and follow God's calling, even when it isn't easy. I look up to you more than you know and I am so excited for this new journey that is going to change lives for the Kingdom. Love you!

Mod Podge

2011-09-20T12:51:00.000-07:00

Our days lately have been so fun. This fall weather really is amazing and we have been soaking up some fun times with our friends. We also had a hiccup last week when Sawyer woke up with a high fever the day after Mothers Day Out. We spent two full days in Mama's bed and he recovered from a nasty fever virus. Needless to say we have already pulled him out of MDO since he managed to get sick the first week. :( Makes me super sad but I know that it's God's clear way of confirming what we need to do for Sawyer.

These last two weeks, we have had numerous playdates, bought a fun new toy for the backyard (thanks to my mom), had Grandmama and Big Papa up for the Razorback game and have been in full Razorback fall mode. Here are a few pics to recap the last couple weeks.

Sad pic.. I took this when he had a 103 degree fever last week. So pitiful!

Painting playdate with Lyla and Stella!

Razorback watch party with Kyle, Haley, Stella and Porter!

Cutie pa tootie Hog babies

Grandmama and Papa came to visit for the Razorback game. Jan, me and Sawyer stayed home and these two made me pumpkin bread! Yummy!!

I kept Lyla this morning for a little bit and I was in the kitchen and came into the living room to find them watching Mickey and sitting on the couch like this.. Ohh sweet babies.

Notice Lyla's hand on Sawyers.. Melt my heart..

Playdate with Brayden March and Lyla

Notice Lyla's pose.. :)

Worn out after a fun playdate

And now for the new toy.. We found this trampoline at Sams and it's the perfect size for Sawyer. It is definitely a hit with Sawyer and his friends.

Jenessa and Mark moved into an amazing house here in East Fayetteville and had a Razorback housewarming party this past weekend. Here are some of the boys...

And some of the girls :) Love them!

Fun friends and fun times. Happy Fall!!

Yummy Monday: Mini Fruit Pizzas

2011-09-19T14:09:00.000-07:00

One of my dearest friends, Mindy turned the big 3-0 on Friday! She deserves so much more but I had a few people over for dessert on Thursday night. She said she had been craving fruit pizza so I did my own version of Mini Fruit Pizzas for each person. I made a cupcake topper to put in the center that was held in by a piece of fruit. They turned out so cute and I think they tasted better than a large fruit pizza. Here is what they looked like..

Mini Fruit Pizzas

- Sugar cookie dough (I bought Pillsbury slice and bake)

- 1, 8 oz cream cheese

- 1 cup powdered sugar

- Fruit

- Just bake the sugar cookies like you normally would. Mix together the sugar and cream cheese until blended. Let the cookies cool and spread the cream cheese mixture on top. Add fruit and voila', Gorgeous mini pizzas!

Showering Brooklyn

2011-09-19T08:33:00.000-07:00

My sweet friends here in NWA threw me a sweet little baby shower yesterday. We normally just do something small for our second babies so it was so sweet of Jenessa to throw this gorgeous girls luncheon at her house. It was so fun to be with all of my closest friends and they outdid themselves with gifts for Brooklyn. She got SOOO many cute things! Silver Tom's , headbands, cute outfits, girly towels, I could not feel more blessed. Thanks so much to my sweet girlfriends that are like family to me.

Love this girl! Emily and I have known each other for many, many years and now we are due a few days apart! Annabelle and Brooklyn are going to have so much fun playing together.

Haley and Emily

Abra, Lauren and Mindy

Aubrey, Kara and Michelle

Could those little shoes be any cuter?! Thanks Ashley!

Love all these girls! Thanks again for showering Brooklyn, I am so blessed by these friendships.

Here is the latest belly pic! About one more month to go! Can't wait :)

Fun weekend!

2011-09-11T13:23:00.000-07:00

This weekend has been so fun! It is actually one of our last weekends with nothing to do before Brooklyn comes. We soaked up some quality time together. It was just what my soul needed.

We woke up Saturday to 50ish degree weather and snuggled on our porch under blankets and I brought breakfast out to these two. Oh how we love when Andrew is home in the mornings. He leaves at 5:30 every morning now during the week so we never get to see him before work :(

We then loaded up and went to Farmland Adventures. It is right down the street from us and it's only open in the fall. It was the perfect cool weather and we did a corn maze, ate kettle corn, Sawyer rode ponies and got to pet some cute baby piglets and goats and he even went on a tractor ride. He loved every second and Andrew and I had a pretty good time too :) Here are some pics from our adventure.

Last night we went to Kyle and Haley's house to watch the Razorback game. We had a great time even though our two kiddos were in rare form. I felt like we were all regulating all night in the midst of good conversation and good food. Oh well. It comes with having 2 year olds!

Kyle smoked a pork roast all day and we were the lucky recipients of his unbelievable barbecue. Thanks again Kyle and Haley!

After an amazing church service today I got home and got into major nesting mode; Finishing up the nursery, cleaning out closets, cleaning out the fridge, etc.. It feels good!!

Happy Sunday! Remembering 9/11 today and feel especially thankful for my family on a day like today. God Bless America!

Slow down please..

2011-09-08T11:48:00.000-07:00

I so wish I could pause Sawyer's age right now. I feel like we are at such a good stage with him. He is SOOO fun and SOOO sweet. He lives life to the fullest and talks all the time now but he is still our sweet, cuddly, lovable boy we have always known. He is an obedient two year old (of course has his moments!) who is eager to please others. His attention span is incredible; he will sit and read for hours and if someone will take the time to sit and play catch he will play as long as we would let him. There are so many things I could write about this boy. I could go on and on but the bottom line is, I am a proud mama. He definitely still tests me but I feel like we are at an age where things I have been consistent about are paying off. He is using his manners without me having to tell him and he is really learning what it means to have self control. We love the little boy he is growing into..

I am cherishing these last few weeks with just him. I know he will have a hard adjustment when Brooklyn comes and I also know that it will probably change our relationship. I know our relationship will be just as special but I also know it will never be like it is right now. I love our days at home together and I LOVE that I have a little sidekick that I can share everything with. He is one special little guy..

That's all for the Sawyer update! I hadn't done one in a long time and I want to remember these moments before having two. Love you Sawyer bear!!

MDO

2011-09-08T06:57:00.000-07:00

After a last minute decision and a lot of prayer we decided to enroll Sawyer in Mother's Day Out this year again. He has been well since May and has officially been off oral steroids for almost 8 months. Basically we are for sure putting him in in the fall (right now until Mid November) and then we are probably going to take him out during flu season. If he gets sick in the first few weeks then we will pull him out for good. Basically we are playing the whole thing by ear. I am one worried mama but I know that a classroom setting and being around other kiddos without me and Andrew by his side is really important for Sawyer. We are still keeping him out of church nursery b/c our doctors told us it was the worst place to take a child who prone to illness, even compared to a MDO classroom. So we are sticking to that one but we are going to take a chance a little bit with taking Sawyer to school.

His first day was yesterday and he LOVED it! He only cried for a split second when I left and when I came back I was greeted by a huge hug and a little boy who said, "I had SOO much fun mama!". I am so proud of him and his sweet spirit with other kids and his teachers. The teachers gave him a great report, so all in all I felt a lot better after hearing his report and seeing his joyful face when I picked him up. I think that the risk and me swallowing my worry might all be worth him getting to experience school.

So. That's the latest. Prayers are appreciated for my bear. I am fervently praying for Sawyer's immunity strength to be invincible this year. He deserves a long break from sickness.

Happy Thursday! Enjoy this amazing fall weather!

8 months?!

2011-09-01T20:02:00.000-07:00

Well, I'm officially 8 months along as you can clearly see in this picture! I love every inch of my belly this time b/c I know that she is growing big and strong. We are getting so excited to meet this precious girl.

I have actually had a pretty hard week. Since Sunday I have been feeling very under the weather. I knew it was pregnancy b/c it was so off and on, so after the fourth consecutive day of feeling YUCKY, I got in to my doctor to do some bloodwork. Sure enough my iron levels were even lower than last time. I have been on iron supplements for about a month now but it clearly hadn't done anything. My sodium levels were low too so with both things combined it set me up for a lowsy week of extreme tiredness, nauseated constantly and feeling like I was going to pass out a few times a day. I was actually thankful that there was an answer to these symptoms and that I might actually not be living miserably the next 6 weeks. I'm just going to start taking double the iron and start trying to eat a more iron filled diet.Other than that Brooklyn is doing great. In fact she currently has the hiccups for the fourth time today, so I'm watching my belly move up and down continuously. I love it! We are getting her precious room ready, hanging up clothes and talking about her all the time so little brother will know what's comin! I am so ready to meet her.

We are praying for an uneventful next month and praying that I can just hang in there. I forgot how hard the end is... But I'm definitely counting my blessings everyday.
Can't wait to meet you little miss Brooklyn!!
- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone

Yummy Monday: Interesting Combo..

2011-08-29T11:52:00.000-07:00

I just got back from Colorado so we are trying to get back in the groove. I have been gone since Tuesday helping Brookie and spending time with her family. I'll post about it later. For now I wanted to keep up with Yummy Monday!

I made this the other night and it was such an interesting combination and everyone that was over gave it rave reviews. I think it was gone in about two minutes.

Sweet Potatoes and Sausage with Lemon Garlic Mayo Sauce

- 2 pounds sweet potatoes, peeled and microwaved for about 7 minutes or until soft. Cut into (1-inch) cubes
- 2 tablespoons olive oil
- 1/2 teaspoon pepper
- 1/4 teaspoon salt
- 1/2 pound spicy smoked sausage, cut into 32 (1/2-inch) pieces
- 32 wooden picks

Directions:

Cut sausage and sweet potatoes in cubes and place them on kabob skewers and smother with olive oil, salt and pepper. Grill until browned. After cooked use toothpicks to put sausage and sweet potatoes together in bite size pairs. Dip in the mayo sauce.

Lemon/ Garlic Mayo Sauce

-1 cup mayonnaise
-2 tablespoons chopped fresh flat-leaf parsley
-2 teaspoons minced garlic
-1 teaspoon lemon zest
-2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice
-1/2 teaspoon pepper
-1/4 teaspoon salt

Directions:

Mix all ingredients together and chill.

Happy Yummy Monday!!

Babies, Babies, Babies!

2011-08-23T06:13:00.000-07:00

First let me introduce you to my new nephew, Hayes Vancura Henry!! How gorgeous is he? This was just a few minutes after he was born. Andrew's brother, Rob and our sister in law Sierra gave birth to this 8 pound 13 ounce cutie. We are so excited to have another nephew and to have a cousin so close to Brooklyn. They will be trouble makers together in no time. We went to Little Rock to meet this little guy and we are already in love.

Secondly, one of my close friends, Haley just gave birth to a new healthy baby boy, Porter. He looks like a perfect little doll! She pops out some seriously pretty babies. We took them dinner Sunday night and let Sawyer and Stella play and we got to visit and hold the new baby. We had the best time and I'm so impressed with how easy she makes it look. Gives me hope :)

Sawyer and Stella have had a love/hate relationship since day one. We knew it was because they secretly had a crush on eachother and the night we went over there they were so precious together. They played happily together and we even caught them kissing a few times. I knew they were just flirting before.

Here's to hoping we can get half this good of a picture when Brooklyn is born.. Ha!

Sawyer given out some kisses to Porter (With bribing from me of course, he never pays attention to babies)

We love these new bundles, congrats to all them.

I guess that makes me next! AAHHH! Can't wait to see my little girl in these pictures. Getting closer!!

Yummy Monday: Strawberry Cake

2011-08-22T06:03:00.000-07:00

In July I made this DELICIOUS Strawberry cake for Marc Yount's birthday. It really is an amazing recipe and I have been craving it over and over since having it that night.

I made this one a double layered cake and learned a trick that I want to pass along.. If you have time, bake the cake the day before and after it cools take it out of the baking pans and wrap them in foil or saran wrap and freeze them overnight. Make sure they are laying completely flat. About 3 to 4 hours before the company arrives take it out and it's super easy to frost and it will thaw out and be very moist and still cold. It really did make such a huge difference. You can also do it several hours before and frost it and then have it thaw in the fridge (That's what I did).

OKay on to the recipe.. It is from the one and only Paula Deane! When you see the recipe for the rich frosting you'll see why it's a Paula Deane. :)

Ingredients

1 (18.25-ounce) box white cake mix
1 (3-ounce) box strawberry-flavored instant gelatin
1 (15-ounce) package frozen strawberries in syrup, thawed and pureed
4 large eggs
1/2 cup vegetable oil
1/4 cup water
Strawberry cream cheese frosting, recipe follows
Strawberry Cream Cheese Frosting
1/4 cup butter, softened
1 (8-ounce) package cream cheese, softened
1 (10-ounce) package frozen strawberries in syrup, thawed and pureed
1/2 teaspoon strawberry extract
7 cups confectioners' sugar
Freshly sliced strawberries, for garnish, optional

Directions

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Lightly grease 2 (9-inch) roundcake pans.

In a large bowl, combine cake mix and gelatin. Add pureed strawberries, eggs, oil, and water; beat at medium speed with an electric mixer until smooth. Pour into prepared pans, and bake for 20 minutes, or until a wooden pick inserted in the center comes out clean.

Let cool in pans for 10 minutes. Remove from pans, and cool completely on wire racks.

For the frosting:

In a large bowl, beat butter and cream cheese at medium speed with an electric mixer until creamy. Beat in 1/4 cup of the strawberry puree and the vanilla extract. (The rest of the puree is leftover but can be used in smoothies or on ice cream for a delicious treat.) Gradually add confectioners' sugar, beating until smooth.

Spread frosting in between layers and on top and sides of cake. Garnish with sliced fresh strawberries, if desired.

Happy Yummy Monday!!

The jeans that last forever!

2011-08-16T07:03:00.000-07:00

It's funny how babies work. Sawyer was the BIGGEST baby. He was always 75th to 90th percentile and at a year old and he was well into 18-24 month clothes at that age. NOW he can still wear 18-24 month clothes and he has weighed 28 pounds since 18 months old. He just keeps growing tall instead of wide.
So that brings me to myy favorite item of clothing that he has now been able to wear for over a year... his torn up jeans. These jeans are from Gap and I got them when he was a year old. He still wears them to this day and they fit him better now then they did back when he was a baby. Pretty happy about it since they are my favorite!!

And now for present day... :)

When did he turn into a teenager?!

It will be a sad day when he grows out of these suckers.

That's all for my random post today! Happy Tuesday!