The Peanut Gallery

New blog, new web address!!

2009-08-10T23:05:00.002-04:00

Please note, I have a new blog address!!!

http://sawyerpartyof5.wordpress.com/

If you have this one saved or bookmarked, please make sure you change it :)

Smiles

2009-08-10T12:00:00.002-04:00

I loooove that Ella has been smiling so much lately!! And Sophia... well, she's Sophia.

Again!

2009-08-10T11:43:00.003-04:00

Sophia is loving the water here in Texas. The pool is so refreshing!!

Little Fish

2009-08-09T23:24:00.003-04:00

Counting

2009-08-09T23:02:00.003-04:00

For my birthday I got a new Flip Video Recorder. So, I hope to upload more video on here as well!! Let's see how it works...

Big sis, lil sis, baby sis

2009-08-09T22:29:00.002-04:00

I'm here :)

2009-08-09T21:59:00.002-04:00

First of all I want to apologize for being a BIG slacker lately on my blog!! We've been just a tad bit busy though :)

So my last post was weeks ago, and that wasn't anything good. So I'll try and recap what's happened since then.

I turned the big 3-0 on July 23rd.
We had a going away/birthday party for me on the 24th.
Lots of cleaning involved with the house being put on the market.
Ella started smiling a lot - SO CUTE :)
Sophia learns more and more things each day and is the funniest kid ever!
We put our house on the market.
Packers came and packed up our house.
Movers came and moved everything out of our house.
We moved to Houston.
I took 3 girls on a plane to Texas... luckily my Dad was there to help!
We had to say good bye to family and friends.
I saw my new house in person for the first time when we got here.
We unpacked A LOT of things in our new house.
We went to the Houston Children's Museum.
We went swimming a lot at the community pool which is right across the road.
The kids checked out the sprinkler area next to the pool.
I've eaten a lot since I've been here. Diet to come soon!
Oh, and I've been a Mom during all of this, lol.

Needless to say we have been EXTREMELY busy. So, I'm not even going to try to catch up, I'll just post links to more of my recent pictures.

Now that I'm "caught up" I PROMISE I will keep this updated like I used to. Especially being far away from family and friends, I will update with pictures and videos. So, stay tuned :)

Until then, here are a few pictures for you.

One of the best things about being here is a fried that I've already made. I met her on a Mommy board and she happens to only live 11 miles from us! She has 2 girls also, both the same age (give or take a little) as Phia and Ella. Plus we both have a TON in common. I have a feeling we'll be seeing a lot of each other. Here are here girls.

Katelyn

and Lauren

And here is a link to pictures from the Children's Museum.

It's been a long few weeks. So far, we are really loving Houston though!! Of course we miss friends and family though...

I know, I know

2009-07-22T16:18:00.001-04:00

I'm totally slacking.

A lot has been going on though... including a new move to Houston, TX! Not yet, but we will be gone by the beginning of August. Very exciting!

More to come later, with pictures.

I promise.

2 years

2009-06-30T19:51:00.002-04:00

That's how old Sophia is! I can't believe that it's been TWO years since she was born. Seriously, where has the time gone? She has grown so much... she talks A LOT (not sure where she gets that from??) and definitely has her own attitude. She is such a cool little girl though and she can always make me laugh.

Here are some pictures from her birthday night at the house. We got her a little cake, her real birthday party was this past Sunday (pics of that to come later!)

Sooooo excited when we sang to her!

Blowing out the candles

Yay, I did it!

The girls

This has been such an amazing 2 years. I couldn't ask for a better daughter :)

Growing

2009-06-30T19:48:00.002-04:00

We took Ella to the doctor last week and she had already gained over a pound! She left the hospital at 6 lbs 6 oz and last week was weighing in at 7 lbs 11 oz. She really is a good eater - let's hope that keeps up! Sophia was always a good eater too, and she still is.

Ella's Newborn Pictures

2009-06-30T19:41:00.002-04:00

At first I was not happy with these pictures at all. They may look like they were so easy to do, but trust me, they were not! It took 2 different days to do these, numerous times. Ella kept waking up (I wanted her to stay sleeping) and kept peeing and pooping on the blankets. I knew she would do this, but as soon as I laid her on it?! Come on Ella :)

After going back through them, I was pretty happy with them. We sure do have one beautiful newborn!

Here is a link to the rest of them if you want to see them.

2009-06-30T19:39:00.003-04:00

I've been told by Brian that I sleep like this. Ella gets it from me.

Mouth open.

Sleepy baby

2009-06-30T19:39:00.001-04:00

Long time friends

2009-06-30T19:34:00.002-04:00

Sophia has known this little boy for the past 2 years. They were born about a month apart.

Here they are shortly after Sophia was born:

And here they are now:

What a difference a couple of years makes!

Sorry I've been MIA

2009-06-30T14:42:00.001-04:00

I promise to update my blog this week sometime! I've had a lot going on lately...

Please stay tuned, I have TONS of new pictures :)

1 week old

2009-06-16T13:19:00.001-04:00

Happy 1 week old, Ella!

Sleeping babies

2009-06-16T12:56:00.002-04:00

There is nothing cuter!

And a beautiful baby that's awake :)

Day 2 and the hospital, and going home

2009-06-16T12:48:00.002-04:00

Ready to go home!

We're home!

My birth story

2009-06-16T12:23:00.003-04:00

Really the day couldn't have gone much better! Tuesday morning I woke up around 4:45am, we had to be at the hospital at 6a. We finished getting everything around and headed out the door. We arrived at 6a with our bags ready to go do this! We got checked into the room and settled in. Then here is how our day went...

**8am - Slow doses of pitocin started - started out dilated at 5cm.
**8:30a-9a - My doctor broke my water and contractions became more intense. Nothing horrible but I could feel them.
**9:30a - Contractions started getting worse and I asked for my epidural. There was another girl in front of me so I had to wait a little bit. In the mean time the were hurting pretty bad.
**10:15 - Epidural was put it and much better experience with it this time. The first dose of medicine wasn't working too well so they gave me something else that was HEAVENLY. Completely numb, couldn't feel contractions at all.
**10:50 - Checked and was 6cm
**11:50a - Checked and was 6.5-7 cm
**1:30p - Checked and 9cm - that went fast, I wasn't quite ready for that! I told my doctor that I was feeling some pressure down there. I thought maybe it was the epidural wearing off and I needed more medicine. Doc thought it might be the baby. She told me to push and see what would happen, so I pushed once and she was like, "OK, let's just have this baby!" Then they got the room all ready... stuff laid out over the floor, shelf of tools for her to use, the warming machine etc. Then I started to get a bit scared. That was fast!

Once they got all of that set up, it was probably about 1:45pish. I pushed and then Ella Suzanne was born at 2:12pm!! They laid her right on my belly all gooey and bloody but I didn't care, she was beautiful!! They wiped her down while I was holding her. I got to hold her for a bit and then they took her to the warmer and did the apgars, she scored and 8 and a 9 (on a scale up to 10). After about an hour they took her to do the hearing tests etc. We got her back in the room about 4:30pm and she just chilled... slept until 7:30p when we had to wake her to feed her. She took an ounce and then had a big ole poopy diaper - yay!!! Then I held her and cuddled.

Pushing is the hardest thing, wow. I have had c/s (c-section) and I have had VBAC (vaginal birth after cesarean). I know to each is their own but I wouldn't even think twice about doing VBAC over c/s if possible. I was up walking around less than 2 hours after Ella was born. A little discomfort but nothing like the c/s. Totally night and day. I know not everybody has the option though and that's totally OK.

And I will say it, I am so proud of myself for doing it and I wouldn't have changed ANYTHING. Some doctors and hospitals won't even do VBAC's. I'm lucky that my doctor was so supportive and encouraging during the whole thing.

The day couldn't have been better. Brian was he best coach and support and I loved EVERY single one of my nurses. AMAZING.

Ella is AMAZING. She looks more and more like Sophia as she gets older... she definitely has her eyes and nose. We think that she gets her mouth from her biggest sister, Logan. She is gorgeous and I honestly couldn't be any happier. She has the best disposition, like Phia did.... let's hope that keeps up!

I now know what they say about loving a 2nd child. I was a huge skeptic but I love Ella more than anything. I love Phia more than anything. You share the love and it's just different. You make it work and I honestly could not be happier in life. I have the best 3 girls and they all love each other so much.

Phia wasn't too sure about Ella at first, but I think a lot of it had to do with the hosital surroundings. Now we are home and she is getting used to her more... although most of the time she just ignores her :) Better than being mean to her though I guess!

The very first picture taken of Ella Suzanne.

My first picture with Ella. I look like a mess!

Ella Suzanne

My AMAZING doctor. I love her.

Daddy and Ella

Grandpa and Ella

Logan and Ella

Sophia and Ella

Grandma and Ella

Meeting their cousins - Connor and Carson

Carson and Ella

Connor and Ella

Phia being goofy at the hospital

Giving kisses

Ella Suzanne is here

2009-06-12T20:43:00.004-04:00

Ella Suzanne arrived on Tuesday, June 9th at 2:12pm. She weighed 6 lbs 7 oz and was 20 1/2 inches long. She is perfect and we are all so in love with her.

I will update later this week but wanted to let you know.

Here she is

And here are some more pictures if you are interested.

Ella Suzanne
Ella Suzanne II

38 weeks, 1 day

2009-06-08T10:21:00.001-04:00

This might be one of my last pictures of my pregnant belly :)

Bye, bye belly. Hello Ella :)

Tomorrow

2009-06-08T09:35:00.003-04:00

The big day is tomorrow. It's finally almost here and now I just can't believe it. I am so excited to meet Ella and introduce her to her 2 wonderful sisters.

Luckily the hospital has wireless internet so I hope to be posting pictures soon after I have her :)

Water fun

2009-06-05T12:13:00.003-04:00

Earlier this week I took the girls outside to play in our froggy pool from last year. It had a little hole in the bottom, but nothing a little painters tape wouldn't hold :) I wish we would've had an air compressor to blow it up... it was not fun doing it with only me and my mouth!! Our neighbor's boy came over for a little bit, too. They all had a blast.

And my favorite. I'm not sure where she gets her big mouth from...

Spoonfuls of ketchup

2009-06-03T14:16:00.003-04:00

I'm not going to lie, Sophia is quite the weird child sometimes. She LOVES ketchup. Actually she lives any "dip" - meaning anything that you can dip other food into. Ketchup, ranch, you name it. Last night she was eating a hot dog with ketchup. I look over at her and she is actually spooning the ketchup (with no hot dog) onto her spoon and eating it by itself, like it's a food, too. She even has tried dipping her pancakes into ketchup while out for breakfast before.

Another thing she loves to do is in the mornings when she is eating her toast and cereal. She will dip the toast into the milk & cereal. Nothing better than soggy toast, right? Gross.

Pregnancy Brain

2009-06-03T14:13:00.003-04:00

I totally forgot this story from the weekend.

Saturday night we had a couple of our friends, Russ & Erin, over for dinner. After dinner we decided to go get some ice cream. I got Sophia ready and loaded up in the car. We drive to Handel's and we go to get out of the car. Note: it's not uncommon for me to take off my shoes while we are in the car. I look down and realize that I forgot my shoes. Seriously? I couldn't believe it. Luckily it's a place where you order your ice cream outside and eat it out there as well.

So, there I was walking down the road barefoot to get ice cream. I guess it's really true what they say about being barefoot and pregnant.

Bring on the rain

2009-06-02T15:54:00.002-04:00

So I hear (Thanks Debi!) that bad and crazy weather (of course, old wives tale, I know...) is a good way to throw a person into labor?

Tonight's forecast:

Severe thunderstorm watch until 11PM. Some may produce heavy rainfall.

Bring it on!

Silly, Ella

2009-06-02T15:32:00.002-04:00

Last night I was extremely uncomfortable in bed (as usual) I went from the bed, to the couch, to Sophia's bed (I think she was scared by the thunder), back to the bed etc. Then I started feeling contractions around 2:45am. I started to time them and they were about 4-5 minutes apart. Around 3:45am I woke Brian up and asked what I should do, so we called the on-call doctor. He said to head to labor and delivery. I called my brother Kelly to see if he could come over and stay with the girls (sorry for that wake up call!) In the mean time I jumped in the shower and threw together a few things (camera, clothes etc) just incase this was "it", although I had a feeling the contractions would stop at the most inconvenient time. We got to the hospital around 5am, still having contractions. Nothing too painful at all, just very consistent and a little uncomfortable. Then we get up to l&d and they get me all hooked up and yep, the contractions stop. Do they know when you are pulling into the hospital or what?! I had in-frequent ones, but nothing major. At 8am we left and headed to get some breakfast.

I had my regular doctors appt at 9:10am so we went back to the hospital for that after grabbing a bagel at Panera. Doc checked me out and I was 4cm, but the contractions were just hit or miss. Then we talked about something I've been thinking about lately, VBAC (vaginal birth after cesarean). It's something that I've thought about more after our last doctor's appointment. My doctor has told me a few times that I'd be a great "candidate" for this given my past c-section. And honestly, the recovery from delivering like that is looking a lot better than a c/s recovery!! So we talked in lengths about that and she thinks I'd be great to do it if that's what I decide. Especially since I'm already 4cm dilated. If I weren't dilated at all, she wouldn't even think about it.

I'm still uncertain at this point what I'm going to do, I guess I'll just play it by ear and see what happens. And try not to stress about it. She also said that if I hadn't gone into labor by my c/s appointment date (1 week from today, June 9th) that instead of going in to do the c/s, that I could go in and she would just break my water. Again, she would only do it since I'm already 4cm, and that should just jump start my active labor. So, we'll see.

I guess whatever is meant to happen, will. Right?

Sunday night drive-in

2009-06-01T14:01:00.003-04:00

Last night we thought it would be fun to take the girls to the drive in movie theatre. We went and saw, "Up!" It was pretty cute, the girls really liked it. I was a bit worried to take Sophia since she's usually in bed by 9p (usually quite a bit before) and the moving didn't even start until 9:30p, but as usual, she was terrific!! She actually even sat there in the back of the van and watched most of the movie. Every once in awhile she got up to play around, but not too much. She impresses me more and more each day.

We had an amazing time! It will probably be the last time we are here for awhile.

All ready to go! Baby, check! Blanket, check! Book, check!

The girls in their jammies, ready to go.

All fresh out of of the bath

All 4 of the Sawyer girls :)

Sophia reading on the way there

Logan just relaxing

We're there!

Sophia eating, as usual

Logan

Sophia

The girls all cozy :)

Soooo glad we got this van!

And finally, movie time!

37 weeks

2009-06-01T13:54:00.002-04:00

I made it to full term! I am now 37 weeks and 3 days, but who's counting? :) And here is all of me at 37 weeks...

(I can't believe I'm sharing this huge-ness...)

One week from tomorrow is my scheduled c-section date. I can't believe it! Although Ella, if you are ready now, I definitely am!!

Soccer Saturday

2009-06-01T13:53:00.000-04:00

Saturday we went to Logan's soccer game. They ended up losing but Logan still had fun and so did Sophia :)

Logan is #8 :)

Sophia playing at her game

And running to see sissy and Daddy after the game

A funny from the weekend

2009-05-28T21:46:00.003-04:00

We had all of the family in town over the weekend for Memorial Day weekend. Saturday night I was laying in the over sized chair and Ella had the hiccups. I called for Chase, my 8 year old niece, who is always wanting to know about the baby and feel her. I laid her hand on my stomach and told her she had the hiccups and she could feel her. Then she proceeded to go to the refrigerator and get some water, she thought that would help :) It was pretty funny.

This is crazy Chase.

Maternity pictures, again

2009-05-28T21:25:00.002-04:00

I had my baby "sprinkle" this past weekend and was sooooo excited when I opened up one of my gifts. Well, there were 2 good things in it. First of all was a framed picture of one of my maternity pictures which I love, from Brian. Second was the DVD with all of my maternity pictures from my friend who took them, also named Brian. I loved my pictures so much but with everything else going on didn't want to spend the extra money on buying the proofs on the CD, so him and his wife Amy, gave them to me as a shower gift. I was so excited and grateful. He does amazing work, check out his blog sometime.

So, now I have the pictures uploaded and will share some of my favorites. OK, so I know there are a lot, but I was very pleased with my pictures :) Although, I'm not going to lie... being 36 weeks pregnant, I felt like a huge whale.

36 weeks, 4 days

2009-05-26T11:14:00.002-04:00

That's how pregnant I am. I can't believe that I have my c-section scheduled for 2 weeks from today! I will be 38 weeks, 4 days when I have Ella. I was also 38 weeks, 4 days when I had Sophia.

I had my 36 week check up today and I actually had progressed some. I am 3cm dilated and 75% effaced, which could mean something or could mean nothing. I'm sure it means nothing! I really do not think that Ella will be arriving early, although if she is ready, I am DEFINITELY ready. The past few days I've been extremely sore... and part of that is because she has also dropped (per my doc.) So, now we just wait. Now the question is this - I have a good friend that is getting married on Saturday and the wedding is about 2 hours away. To go, or not to go? The doc "preferred" that I don't go but said to see how I'm feeling etc. Then she wanted me to check and see if it's easy access to hit the main roads and get home if need be. I think I'll wait and see how I'm feeling later this week and then decide.

It's crazy to believe that Ella now weighs about 6 lbs and is packing on about an ounce a day. She is also approximately 18 1/2 inches long! Sophia came to this world weighing 7 lbs, 7 oz and was 19 3/4 inches long. I'm curios to see how big Ella will be :)

And I can't help but wonder what she will look like. I can only picture Sophia.

Memorial Day Weekend

2009-05-26T11:08:00.004-04:00

What a busy & tiring weekend - but a lot of fun! Brian's family got into town late Friday night - his Mom, Dad, sister, 3 nieces and nephew. Saturday we had a little baby "sprinkle" for Ella and it was a lot of fun! We got some things that we need for her arrival - diapers, wipes, lotions etc. Sunday we had Logan's birthday party at the house, it was themed "The Movies". Brian's Mom and sister are the best party planners, they always do a great job. And they did so again this past weekend. Yesterday was a relaxing day for the most part, trying to recover from the weekend!

I will post some pictures later, but in the meantime you can see some of them here.

I love the mornings

2009-05-21T08:19:00.002-04:00

Now that Sophia is in her big girl bed, I love the mornings even more. I will hear her stirring around and go in there and lay in bed with her. I LOVE that I can do this now :) We will play and cuddle for awhile and then eventually get up. This morning I was laying with her on her pillow and she was laying next to me and put one of her arms around my neck and gave me the biggest hug. Then she looked at me, took her paci out of her mouth, and gave me a kiss. I think she's trying to butter me up for something! After cuddling with her, she threw her paci in her bed and climbed right down out of her bed.

She has been sleeping AMAZING in her new bed, she even stays up on the pillow all night! I think that it is bigger she is actually more comfortable in there. And I'm so proud of her, she has been transitioning into her bed perfectly. Sure, there will be days & nights where she climbs out or has a bad night, but she had those in her crib. She understands that is her new bed and that is where she sleeps.

I love the little moments I have with Sophia, I cherish them. Soon she will have another sister to share them with. On the way to daycare this morning I said, "I love you, Sophia." and her reply was, "I love you more." She really does know how to melt my heart!

Aw, man!

2009-05-21T08:14:00.003-04:00

Elmo is becoming back seat to Sophia's new favorite show, Dora the Explorer. Or "Do-wa" as she calls it. If you are familiar with the show then you know of Swiper the Fox, and he always says "Aw, man!" Each time he says it, Sophia repeats it the exact same way and it cracks me up.

Last night we were painting Ella's room and she sat out there for atleast an hour and a half watching Dora. Yes, not usually something I would have her do that long, but with us painting it worked out beautifully.

Dora is her new best friend.

More room pictures

2009-05-20T13:46:00.003-04:00

We finally got most of Sophia's room put together. We still need a few decorations, but you get the idea :) Here are the pictures of her new big girl room!

Looking into the room

Sign we got from USA Baby. This website also has similar ones.

Dresser and rug from Ikea

Mirror from Ikea

Bed and bedding from Ikea

Light from Ikea

And the stripes on the wall

I think it turned out very cute!

NIght #2 in big girl bed

2009-05-19T14:01:00.001-04:00

It didn't go quite as smoothly but I can't complain! I laid Sophia down and she didn't want me to leave the room, she just kept whining. Finally I had to leave and then she cried for about 5-10 minutes. She still didn't try to escape. Just stood up, then laid down. Then she fell asleep and slept all night :)

No complaints here!

I'm a big girl now

2009-05-18T09:42:00.003-04:00

Last night we decided to try Sophia out in her new "big girl bed" and her "big girl room." She now has Logan's old room and Logan is in the downstairs room. This past weekend we got a lot of the moving done and got Sophia's new room painted and some of her things set up. I've been looking forward to getting her in her big girl bed since I want to get her transitioned before the baby comes. I've also been dreading it. If you know my daughter, you know that she has a mind of her own and is very "determined." To my surprise, she fell right asleep and slept all night without waking up, and slept in until 8:30am!

She went right into her new room for "night, night" and I put her up in the bed. She laid right down and said, "Night, night!" I think she was a bit confused at first, I could see her through the video monitor. She stood up against the guard rail we have on the front and was looking around. I could hear her whimper quietly a couple of times but then she laid right back down and then she was asleep! I couldn't believe it was that easy. I kept waking up all night, waiting for her to wake up and be confused, but she didn't. She had familiar stuff in there so that was nice.

8:30a rolls around and she was stirring so I went up there to peek at her :) And here is her first picture in her big girl bed. She's still kinda out of it.

What I loved most is that I crawled right up there with her and laid with her for a few minutes. Then she started tickling me and we just laid there playing and cuddling :) Then I had to drag her out because she kept saying, "I night, night!"

Here are a few more pictures I got.

Let's hope it's not a fluke and she continues this! I know there will be days & nights she climbs out, but atleast she gets the picture right now.

It also makes me sad because that means she is growing up :(

Maternity Pictures

2009-05-18T08:22:00.001-04:00

I had a good friend of mine take my maternity pictures yesterday, along with some family pictures as well. He did an amazing job on them and they turned out great! I'm not going to lie, I was a little depressed after seeing them - ONLY because I feel so huge and disgusting. Some of the pictures I LOVE but some I feel so big in them! Unfortunately you get to see all of them or none of them. So, here they all are in his online gallery.

I will be 36 weeks on Friday :)

Maternity Pictures

Never say "never"

2009-05-12T09:55:00.003-04:00

I said that I would never be the mother that drives a mini-van. What did we get last night? A mini-van.

And I never thought I'd say this either, but I LOVE it!

We came home with a 2009 Honda Odyssey

Leather interior, this is the color of ours.

I love that you can make the middle row "bench" seating or leave it as 2 captain chairs.

The middle part even comes all of the way out.

And the storage is great, which I know we will need with the girls.

But... the girls favorite part is the DVD player!

We even took an Elmo DVD to test out while we test drove it again. Needless to say, the girls love it.

Here is a blurry picture I took of them last night on the way home (with my camera phone) We had been at the dealership for 2 hours... luckily the girls had fun playing in the show room vehicles. It was night, night time for Sophia... she looks so sleepy.

Playing with Logan

2009-05-12T09:48:00.003-04:00

Just some random pics I took of the girls yesterday. It had been awhile.

Little Miss Bossy

2009-05-12T09:43:00.002-04:00

I think that should be Sophia's new name. I wonder where she gets it? :)

Her and Logan will be playing "pretend sleep" and Logan will be sitting there and Sophia will go over to her and say, "Lay down!"

And then push her down...

And then Sophia will yell, "Stop crying!" when Logan pretends to cry.

And then she will either hit or tickle her. Depending on how she feels :)

Then she will walk away like she is hot stuff.

Yep. That's my girl.

How to catch a frisbee

2009-05-12T09:40:00.002-04:00

Here you go, Mom!

OK, I'm ready!

Uh, oh! This doesn't look good...

Yep. Missed it.

Good thing I'm cute!

Bye Bye Paci

2009-05-11T09:54:00.003-04:00

Or her "pass" as she calls it. Sophia and her "pass" are BFF and I have been dreading the day that we were going to try and give it up. The past week or so I have been telling her that she only gets her pac when she goes night, night. I gradually introduced that idea to her, but didn't push it 100%. Saturday though when she got up for the day I told her we needed to leave her pac in her crib and she could only have it when she was sleeping. All day Saturday and Sunday she only got it when she was sleeping in her bed - naps and night time.

Surprisingly she didn't ask for it too much. Every now and then she would say, "I pac!" and I would just ask her, "Do you want to go night, night? We only get pac when we go night, night." and she would say, "No." and then "O-tay!" She hasn't fought me for it yet. I'm sure she will, but she has been great without it. Even yesterday when we were at the zoo and she missed her nap, she didn't ask for it. We got in the car and she fell fast asleep without asking for it.

So... so far, so good :)

(The first picture I have with her and her pac)

(The last picture I took with her and her pac)

Mother's Day 2009

2009-05-11T08:46:00.002-04:00

To sum it up - the perfect day.

It started out with Brian bringing me breakfast in bed which consisted of 2 pancakes from Cracker Barrel (my FAVE right now), a glass of milk, and a rose :) Then Sophia and Logan came into the room and of course Sophia wanted some - "I some!" so she sat on my lap as I fed her the pancakes and ate some myself. Then on to downstairs which had 2 dozen yellow and orange roses on the table, along with another beautiful orchid, and some of my favorite dessert from a place nearby!

We then decided to go to the zoo. It was either that or go shopping for the baby, but I figured we should do something we all would enjoy! The zoo was perfect. Not hot, not cold, and not too busy! The kids were so good and we had an amazing time.

We went to the dolphin show and Logan wanted to sit in the "splash area" so we sat down there. Needless to say, we got a bit wet :)

(all of the pictures are from my camera phone, I forgot my other camera!)

After the dolphins splashed us, every time Sophia saw them jump she would cover her eyes, it was hilarious!

Here are some other pictures of the animals.

We also went on the 3D Spongebob Squarepants ride.

Then by the time we got to the car Sophia was FAST asleep. She was only an hour and a half late on her nap :) But even so, she was awesome the entire trip! I think she knew it was Mother's Day.

We got home and rested for a little bit and played outside. Then we headed down the road to Q-Doba for dinner. We let Sophia go down the slide at the park, too. We didn't have much of a choice really, as soon as we walked out of the doors of the restaurant she yelled, "Slide!" and took off running. She loves the slide.

We got home from dinner, gave Sophia a bath, and ate some of the yummy dessert I had gotten earlier in the morning. I read a few books to her, cuddled a little, and laid her down for bed. When I laid her down she said, "Cover up!" (she wanted me to cover her up) and then said, "Night, night. Wuv you!" and slept the entire night without waking up.

It seriously was the perfect day and I'm so blessed to have a wonderful and caring husband, a great step daughter, and the most perfect baby girl in the world. And another one on the way :)

Loving Two

2009-05-08T09:11:00.003-04:00

As it gets closer to my due date, I have mixed emotions from being very excited to being very sad. I'm very excited to meet my new baby girl. I'm excited for her to be a part of our family and meet her sisters, family, and friends. Then I also get a little sad... sad that Sophia will no longer have Mommy to herself. She is totally a Mommy's girl and now she will have to share me. Then I feel guilty to the new baby for even thinking of that. My thoughts flip flop back and forth, I don't know what I'm thinking anymore these days. I can't wait to see the girls with each other. Sophia is great around babies and LOVES them and I know she will be a great big sister to Ella. But, she will now have to share me which I'm sure will be a little tough for her at first. If you know my daughter, you know she is pretty "determined" as I call it.

I ran across this poem that just fits.

LOVING TWO

I walk along holding your 2-year-old hand, basking in the glow of our magical relationship. Suddenly I feel a kick from within, as if to remind me that our time alone is limited. And I wonder: how could I ever love another child as I love you?

Then he is born, and I watch you. I watch the pain you feel at having to share me as you’ve never shared me before.

I hear you telling me in your own way, “Please love only me”. And I hear myself telling you in mine, “I can’t”, knowing, in fact, that I never can again.

You cry. I cry with you. I almost see our new baby as an intruder on the precious relationship we once shared. A relationship we can never quite have again.

But then, barely noticing, I find myself attached to that new being, and feeling almost guilty. I’m afraid to let you see me enjoying her, as though I am betraying you.

But then I notice your resentment change, first to curiosity, then to protectiveness, finally to genuine affection.

More days pass, and we are settling into a new routine. The memory of days with just the two of us is fading fast.

But something else is replacing those wonderful times we shared, just we two. There are new times – only now, we are three. I watch the love between you grow, the way you look at each other, touch each other.

I watch how she adores you – as I have for so long. I see how excited you are by each of her new accomplishments. And I begin to realize that I haven’t taken something from you, I’ve given something to you. I notice that I am no longer afraid to share my love openly with both of you.

I find that my love for each of you is as different as you are, but equally strong. And my question is finally answered, to my amazement. Yes, I can love another child as much as I love you – only differently.

And although I realize that you may have to share my time, I now know you’ll never share my love. There’s enough of that for both of you – you each have your own supply.

I love you – both. And I thank you both for blessing my life.

Author Unknown

I get a little teary-eyed reading it still. It's such an uplifting poem... so why do I still worry? I guess that's just how it is. And I guess I will find out once Ella arrives.

"Pickle"

2009-05-01T10:28:00.002-04:00

Sophia woke up this morning and I went in to get her. I lifted her from her crib and she looked at me and said, "Pickle." I said, "You want a pickle?" and her response was "Yes."

It was 8:30am and my daughter wanted a pickle. She is definitely my daughter.

I missed it

2009-04-29T08:03:00.001-04:00

Sunday was an exciting day for Sophia! Brian and I went to Ikea for the day to get some stuff for the girls rooms... beds, dressers, bedding, rugs, lights you name it. While we were there I got a call from my sister in law who was watching Sophia. She said, "Does Sophia go potty yet?" Nope, this is something we haven't started or pushed yet. She has a potty but will just sit on it once in awhile for fun, sometimes with her clothes on. She doesn't quite understand yet. Becky went on to say, "Well she went poo poo in the potty here!" Yes, apparently she was saying, "I poo poo" and Becky thought she had pooped her pants. But she didn't, so she took her in the bathroom and she went! And I missed her first poop!!! That's OK, there will be plenty more. She is getting so big though... even though it's a total fluke :)

32 weeks pregnant

2009-04-28T09:06:00.002-04:00

Yep, that's me. I can't believe I'm posting this picture either. Oh well.

This poor child isn't going to have a name though, we keep changing it. When we first started thinking of names we really couldn't agree on much. Well, I had plenty of suggestions but Brian wasn't a fan of any of them. Go figure :) Finally we agreed on Gabriella Suzanne. Then of course I started eventually thinking of more names. I was looking for something "shorter" than Gabriella. That is when we added Brenna to the name list. So we had Gabriella and Brenna. Was I to stop there? No. I kept thinking of more names. I love Gabriella but I just wanted a shorter name. That is where we got to Ella. If we were to name her Gabriella and call her Ella, why not just name her Ella?

So that's where we are today. As of today, right now, this second, her name will be Ella Suzanne. Ella is also a family name. We'll see what the future holds :)

Mini-Me

2009-04-28T09:00:00.001-04:00

Everybody says that Sophia looks like me, I agree. She definitely has my eyes and my crazy attitude. That's not always a good thing :) There are times though when I look at her and I see myself in her 100%. There are times that she looks exactly like I did when I was her age. Here is one of the more recent ones that I look at and just think, "Wow. That's totally me."

Me and Sophia

2009-04-28T08:57:00.003-04:00

I'm so glad that I took this trip with Sophia. It was a great time for her and I to have some "alone time" together before her new little sister comes into this world. It's one trip that I will never forget. Me and my girl.

I'm usually the one with the camera so I'm not usually in the pictures. Here are a couple though.

More vacation pictures

2009-04-28T08:48:00.002-04:00

I finally got more uploaded :)

Sisters

2009-04-21T15:19:00.002-04:00

Some of my favorites

2009-04-21T15:10:00.002-04:00

(From Heather's wedding and Easter)

We're home!

2009-04-21T14:50:00.003-04:00

Well, vacation was fun and long! We had a great time but it was so glad to be back home. After being gone for almost 2 weeks, home was a great thing to see :)

I have TONS of pictures from vacation, please check them out on my Flickr site if you want to see them. Too many to post!!

Easter 2009

Heather & Tony's wedding

Jekyll Island, GA

And many more to come :)

A few vacation pictures

2009-04-14T21:52:00.002-04:00

From the camera on my phone.

Catching some zzz's in the car

Seeing the water for the first time in Florida (well, this year)

Finally getting her to play in the sand... just a little though

This is what I wake up to in the mornings :) I love her eye lashes in this picture!

At a rest stop in Florida, enjoying the sunshine already

Thinking she is ready to go in the car

Grandma's glasses... before she broke them

Loooooooooooots more to come when we get home :)

Vacation Part II

2009-04-14T21:45:00.002-04:00

So I had a bunch of things typed out for a vacaction update and it shut down so I don't feel like typing it all out. So I'll summarize:

*Brian's sisters wedding Saturday was outside and beautiful
*I took A LOT of pictures but unfortunately can't upload them until I get home
*The girls had an Easter Egg hunt on Sunday and it was a lot of fun
Brian and Logan headed back home Sunday
*Sophia and I came with Brian's Mom to Longboat Key, FL and extended our vacation
*We fly home Friday
*Weather is sunny and 80's
*Sophia loves the pool but still working on the sand :)
*It rained all day today so it was a nice relaxing day, the rest of the week should
be sunny and warm.
*Sophia climbed out of her pack n play at nap time today and threw our shoes and
clothes in it. I found her sitting on the floor when I went in there. Luckily
night time was easier for her and she went right down.

Lastly, I'm so glad I decided to bring Sophia. I have had THE BEST time with her and we have had some great mommy/daughter time that I wouldn't take back for the world. It's a great vacation for us before her little sister comes into this world!! I'll never forget it.

Payback

2009-04-08T22:11:00.003-04:00

When I was about 5 or 6 years old (I think) I took a permanent black marker and drew pictures on the side of our house, on the siding. Needless to say when my Dad found out about this he was not too happy. He had to re-side that whole side of the house.

A couple of weeks ago I found some "markings" from Sophia on our wall and our banister. It's payback... although I was glad it was only in pencil.

I think she was trying to write, "I love you, Mom."

On vacation :)

2009-04-08T21:59:00.002-04:00

Sunday evening (after Sesame Street Live... those pictures to come later) we left for our vacation! We got in the car about 6pm and drove until we got a little south of Atlanta. About 9 hours later, we finally stopped around 2:30am.

The girls were great in the car. Logan was asleep by 8pm laying along the back seat. Grandma Sue and Sophia were in the middle, and Brian and I were up front. Sophia is usually in bed around 7:30pm so thought she'd be asleep atleast by 10pm. 12:45am, she was still awake!! Luckily we had the van with the DVD player and Elmo, that really saved us. She was awesome in the car though, even though she had a couple minor meltdowns. But what do you expect when you have a 22 month old sitting in the car for that long?!

Monday morning we got up and drove the rest of the way to our destination... Douglas, Georgia. Everybody was excited to see us, especially Sophia, since she has changed so much since they all last saw her. And she was her usual self, hamming it up for everybody.

Tuesday we relaxed most of the day, ran a few errands, but nothing major.

Today we went to Jekyll Island, GA and spent the day. We took Grandma Sue, Emilia, Ellie, and the girls. Logan got to see the ocean for the first time and loved it. Sophia saw the ocean last year in Florida but actually walked around in the sand for a bit this time.

All of my pics will come later when we get home and I can upload them :)

I will post about the rest of the week later.

There might be a slight change of plans now though. Sophia and I may be extending our stay with the family. Every year Grandma Sue has a condo in Long Boat Key, FL (near Sarasota) Last year we were able to make it. This year due to my work schedule (tax time, busy for me) we weren't able to plan around it. However, with my work leave right now, Sophia and I may stay with the rest of them and then fly back later on next week. That solves a couple problems... #1, I won't have to ride in the car for 12 hours home. #2, Sophia won't have to ride in the car miserable for 12 hours. Even just going to Jekyll Island today, she was very sick of being in her car seat!! However, I would have to fly home alone with her, 30 weeks pregnant, holding her on my lap. Probably not the most comfortable thing, but I think we can deal with the 2 hour straight flight home.

Still not for sure, we'll see what happens!! I think we're going to end up staying though... too bad Logan won't be able to since she has school. But since I'm off work, I might as well enjoy the time and get some relaxation at the pool and on the beach :)

1st Hair Cut

2009-04-08T21:50:00.002-04:00

Yes, I know, there isn't that much hair to cut. But, Sophia did get her first hair cut! The back was really just evened out... the sides were longer than the middle for some reason. She was a great sport :) We didn't take her to a kiddie place to get her hair cut, but rather the girl that cuts our hair!! She did great.

Before

During

After

All done!

A little blurry, but you can see the new 'do :)

And me taking the picture, ha.

I'll be glad when the front and sides of her hair grow out a little more, but they really are starting to catch up!

Connor & Sophia

2009-04-02T12:37:00.003-04:00

Interesting doctor's appt

2009-04-02T10:11:00.003-04:00

Monday I had my normal check up for my pregnancy, my 28 week appointment. I was a bit surprised when I left my appointment with a note from my doctor saying that I can't go back to work until further notice due to pregnancy complications. Nothing too serious, I just started to dilate early. A full centimeter. I also did this with Sophia too and had her at 39 weeks so I'm not too worried about it. However my doctor is very cautious since I'm not quite 29 weeks and pulled me out of work. Was I going to argue with her? Nope.

So I've been home the past couple of days. I've been "taking it easy" as much as possible but I've still managed to get quite a few things done around the house.

Cleaning Sophia's room - check
Cleaning Logan's room - check
Getting some last minute things/clothes for our trip to Georgia - check.

I go to the doctor today for a fetal fibronectin test I will get the results back tomorrow and am hoping for a negative result. Otherwise I may not be able to travel to Georgia with everybody else and that would not be good.

#1, I'm supposed to take his sister's pictures for the wedding.
#2, We haven't seen his family since Christmas and we are really looking forward to it.
#3, Sophia would be going with and I don't think I could handle that.

So, let's hope for some good news Friday :)

Children's Musem

2009-04-02T09:49:00.003-04:00

This was quite an interesting day to say the least. Part of it was our fault. We took Sophia during her nap time so when we got there she was pretty cranky. I take that back, she just wanted to do what she wanted to do. After throwing a couple little fits she finally got her second wind and had a blast.

On the way, reading Elmo

Sophia and Logan on the way in

Right after one of her fits. I let her just play here with the books, then she was fine!

Relaxing

Playing in the water

More water fun

Looking for the end of the tunnel

Getting a ride from Logan

She loved the trains

Trying to climb up the wall

Weeee!

Sophia's way of pushing the lawn mower

She loves the slides

Her way of going down the slide

My artist

Taxi!

She finally found the clip in her hair

Building with Lego's

Sharing with strangers

Logan's tower

Then the 2nd meltdown of the day came. This time was Logan. She was mad and pouting in the corner.

Sophia with Brian

And my little girl looks so small standing here

So, 2 kids and 2 meltdowns = an interesting day. The middle part of the day was atleast fun :)

My View

2009-03-24T13:06:00.003-04:00

This is what I see when Sophia is holding my hand (and Daddy's) and we are walking. What a spectacular little girl. We are extremely lucky.

Her favorite place

2009-03-24T13:04:00.002-04:00

The playground. Actually, really just the slides.

She will go up the stairs and down the slides over and over. She will go down the big slides all by herself, and she doesn't even care if she ends up sideways or if she flys off the end. Which has happened.

Tao

2009-03-24T12:56:00.003-04:00

This past weekend we went over to my brother's house for dinner. Sophia enjoyed playing outside with her cousins.

For some reason (and you can't tell Carson or any other cousin) but she has a special bond with Connor. Or as she calls him, Tao. No clue why she calls him that, apparently the C's are too hard to say. But she knows exactly who "Tao" is.

One of her best friends.

Lazy Sunday

2009-03-18T13:03:00.002-04:00

This past Sunday was one of those days I will never forget. Nothing magical happened, just one of those moments.

It was about noon and Sophia wanted to watch Elmo. I wanted to lay down so I took her into our room and we both got up in the bed, cuddled together, and watched Elmo. I knew she was sleepy for the long weekend we had (traveling up to see the Grandparents etc) About 15 minutes later I look over at her and she is laying there peacefully sleeping. I then decided to nap with her. About an hour and a half later I felt her stirring around. I opened my eyes and she looked at me, waved, and said, "Hi!" very happily. It was too cute!

Our napping/sleeping together doesn't happen very often. I'm a very light sleeper and she likes to kick me in the face while I sleep. There have been some nights I have brought her into our room at night (if she doesn't feel good etc) and after about 45 minutes to an hour I am putting her back in her crib because I can't sleep when she is in there. She moves around way too much. Plus, she enjoys her own crib and room.

It was nice though to catch a nap like that. I'll never forget it.

One screaming toddler

2009-03-17T13:03:00.002-04:00

That's what you get when it's time to leave the park and they don't want to go.

I'm such a mean Mommy.

Slides, slides, and more slides

2009-03-17T13:00:00.003-04:00

We took the girls to the park on Sunday and found out that slides are Sophia's most favorite thing. She isn't a huge fan of the swings right now, but she could go up and down the slide ALL day if we let her. She even graduated from the little kids slides to the big slides. And sometimes she would even go down by herself, even if it was sideways, backwards, or on her belly.

Fun on the bus

2009-03-17T12:53:00.002-04:00

Sophia's new fascination right now is buses. She LOVES them! Anytime she sees a bus, she yells (and she is pretty loud) "Bussy!" or "Bus!" or "Bye bye bus!!" Needless to say when school is about to beging or just letting out, she is in heaven.

My step-dad drives school bus so you can imagine how much she loved playing on the bus.

She also enjoyed jumping OFF of the bus.

And I'm not going to lie, she isn't the only one that loved the bus. I think Logan might've loved it more.

She played on the bus for atleast an hour by herself on Saturday afternoon. I wish we had a video camera to capture all of that and hear her role playing!

Almost 26 weeks

2009-03-11T20:29:00.002-04:00

Pregnant.

Hard to believe, it's gone by so fast! It's so different when you already have a little one you are chasing around. By the end of the day, I'm exhausted!! Especially when Sophia always says, "Up, pease!" (up please) How can you tell her no though? I just deal with it... then complain later to my husband. And he's not allowed to say anything back in return.

It's hard to believe we'll have another little girl in just 3 months from now!

I think Sophia is going to be a great big sister. She looooooves little babies that are younger than her. She will pat them on the back and give them hugs and shove toys in their face (in a good way, of course) I think she will be very protective of Gabriella and I can't wait to see all of the girls together.

Hugs all around

2009-03-11T20:24:00.003-04:00

Last night I took Sophia outside for a little bit while Benny was out there. Our neighbor across the road came over. They have a little boy that is 1 month younger than Sophia and he wanted to see the puppy!

And of course when they left she had to give her hug good-bye's to everybody.

Apparently boys like to high-five better.

And what is best yet is that they are expecting another little one... due the SAME day as me. A baby girl!! Now Gabriella will have a friend her own age :)

Still able to rock 'em

2009-03-11T20:17:00.003-04:00

The Baby Legs, that is.

4 months old...

20 months old

And the best part is that I am having another little girl that will get to use every pair that I already have. And I'm sure I have about 30 of them.

Anybody want a dog?

2009-03-10T21:19:00.002-04:00

Free dog! Anybody want him?

What about you? Do you want him?

Don't be scared, he doesn't bite.

Hey! Get back here!

How about you? Do you want him?

I'll try this guy again.

Look, all I want is some candy. You give me the candy, you can have the dog.

See, he is nice!

You can do whatever you want to him and he doesn't try to move.

See!

So kissable

2009-03-10T20:58:00.001-04:00

One of my favorite parts of Sophia is the hairline she has under the rest of her hair. I love when she actually let's me put her hair up (and not ripping the rubber bands out) because I love the little hairs!!

Makes her neck so kissable.

Finally, a nice day

2009-03-10T20:48:00.004-04:00

Finally over the weekend the weather warmed up! We took advantage of it and took Sophia for a walk. Of course she had to say "buh bye!" to every car and person that went by. And she doesn't just say it, she yells it. I have realized over the weekend just how loud my child is!

I wonder where she gets it? Must be from her Dad :)

Driving in her pink car...

Anybody coming? Nope!

The ever-so-famous "cheese" face

Buh bye!!

Yes, may I help you?

Look! Water!

Watch your step

Up the hill

Her real smile!

Copying Daddy

Buh bye again!! Buh bye!

OK, can I take my hair out now?

Some things will never get old

2009-03-02T14:35:00.003-05:00

Like whoopie cushions...

Take one!

And again...

And one more time...

The joys of the cheap toys.

Pink is over rated

2009-03-02T14:30:00.002-05:00

I used to love the color pink but not so much anymore. Poor Sophia came down with pink eye over the weekend! Saturday it started out a little pink and then got worse. I called and got her a prescription for eye drops that night. Sunday morning she woke up and looked sooooooo sad. My poor baby.

She looked so sad and pitiful. This morning her one eye looked a lot better, but the "good" eye, now looked like the first one. They are both just a little red now and not near as bad as they were before.

Here are a couple of happier pictures for you... these were from this afternoon.

Stupid pink!

24 weeks

2009-03-02T14:22:00.002-05:00

That is how far along I am with baby #2! Logan is going to be a big sister again, and Sophia is going to be a big sister for the first time. She doesn't really understand the concept yet... although when you ask her where the baby is most of the time she touches my belly. Sometimes she ventures a little further north of there - like she knows ?! It's pretty cute though. She is getting so big and talking soooooooo much. Her pediatrician said she has the vocabulary of a 2 1/2-3 year old. She will even say short phrases now - like "Bye bye bus" or "More cracker, please" or "I want more please." I am really impressed by her.

Right now her new favorite phrases are, "Stop!", "Mine!", and "Awesome!" She sure does make us laugh. She amazes me each and every day, and I think she is going to make a great big sister.

The other day my friend watched her since daycare was off and there was a 7 month old little girl there and she was all about the little girl. Helping her do everything - kept giving her paci to her, she would give her hugs and rub her back. It will be quite an adjustment for her, but she is going to be very protective of her little sister :)

And the name we have chosen for this baby is Gabriella Suzanne. We are pretty set on it, although it could change. I doubt it though.

And I will be brave and post my 24 week picture that I finally got around to taking...

I feel huge.

A new toy

2009-03-02T14:17:00.003-05:00

Sophia loves to play my nephew's Nintendo DS games... and then she didn't want to give it back! Imagine that... since everything is "Mine!" nowadays.

And she is now losing her baby chub :( She is really starting to thin out!

Pardon the messy hair and outfit. She had just gotten up from a nap and just had to wear the shoes.

$5.50

2009-03-02T14:15:00.003-05:00

That's how much I got this super cute dress for at Gymboree.

What is she going to wear it for? No clue. But we do have a couple of weddings that we will be attending... and for $5.50, how could you NOT get it?

Time for a change

2009-03-02T13:56:00.002-05:00

I am now going to take over the blogging (from my point of view) rather than from Sophia's :) I hope you don't mind!

Now I need to catch up...

Here are some pictures from a lazy Sunday.

Slacker

2009-02-18T11:53:00.000-05:00

Mommy has been bad at updating my blog, but she promises to do it soon.

Stay tuned please :)

My doctor visit

2009-01-20T13:47:00.008-05:00

I had to go to the doctor yesterday for a check up. I had an ear infection a couple of weeks ago and they needed to make sure it was all better! 2 weeks ago I weighed 19 lbs, 15 oz. Yesterday I tipped the scales at 21 lbs, 5 oz! I finally hit the 20 pound mark - yay!!! Still a little peanut, but I'm slowly working on my buddha belly :)

Here I am practicing my tumbling before my doctor came to see me.

And here I am being silly, trying to put on my shoes.

Still trying to put on my shoes, with my cheesiest smile.

Then I found an Elmo book in the room... I was trying to read and Mommy made me look at her phone for a picture. How dare she interrupt me.

And here I am with my sissy, I love her.

I ended up having to get a shot yesterday though and that was NOT fun. Mommy said I wouldn't have to have any, but I had to get my chicken pox shot. I guess I'd rather get it than get sick, but I was NOT a happy camper. I was still very nice to the nurse though when she left, as I was crying I was still able to get out a wave and "Buh bye."

Sleepy girl

2009-01-20T13:39:00.001-05:00

Is it nap time yet?

I used to be the little sister...

2009-01-20T13:35:00.005-05:00

now I'm going to be a BIG sister!! I'm going to have another sister... a baby sister!! We all went to Mommy's doctor appointment yesterday and that's what they told us. No boys allowed - girls only!

Gabriella Suzanne will be here in June, right before my birthday :)

What's Daddy going to do with all of us?! He thought two of us were crazy...

Wait until we add another one in the mix!

Leave me alone

2009-01-15T10:41:00.001-05:00

I'm watching Elmo.

Last weekend

2009-01-15T10:01:00.006-05:00

Last weekend Daddy went out of town and Granmda Sharon came into town! Connor and Carson came over on Friday and stayed with us all weekend. Friday night we went to Red Robin for dinner, it was yummy! Saturday we went to sissy's soccer game and then to Carson's basketball game. Sunday we went to Connor's basketball game - what a busy weekend!!

My cousins taught me how to fling things...

I had a lot of fun playing with them.

Friday night we all relaxed and watched Elmo in Grouchland (my personal fave!) Even Benny liked it.

The boys watched the entire thing with me. And even if they won't admit it - they liked it. Can't you tell?!

Cheeeeeeese!!

2009-01-15T10:00:00.001-05:00

Doing what I do best

2009-01-15T09:56:00.001-05:00

Eating.

Put me in coach

2009-01-15T09:54:00.002-05:00

I'm ready to play.

I'm testing out sissy's soccer shin guards :)

Do you think she like Elmo?

2009-01-09T10:15:00.004-05:00

There is one part at the beginning of this Elmo movie where the alarm clocks says "Wake up!" (you'll hear it...) and watch what she does. She does it EVERY time this part is on... LOVES IT!!!

(if the vidoe doesn't automatically show, click on "Lovin' Elmo" at the bottom left hand side - under the box.)

Lovin' Elmo from Suzanne Sawyer on Vimeo.

My favorite Christmas present

2008-12-28T21:17:00.005-05:00

is so comfy, I fell asleep in it.

Merry Christmas!

2008-12-28T21:06:00.005-05:00

So, it's a few days late but we have had such a busy week!!! Grandma Sue, Aunt Heather, Emilia, Ellie, Jackson and Chase all came into town on Christmas night to visit us!! We haven't seen them in months so it was great to see them all. I have changed so much since the last visit, they hardly recognized me.

Sissy and I had a great Christmas, Santa was very good to us this year. The night before, we left Santa some milk and cookies. We also left some carrots for the reindeer (since they can't have chocolate) Outside under the door mat we left a key for Santa as well. When we woke up in the morning, we saw that he had left the key on the table for us, and ate some of the food!!!

We decided to sleep in for Mommy and Daddy - we didn't get up until about 7:45am. Sissy and I both woke up about the same time. Mommy, Daddy, and sissy came into my room to wish me a Merry Christmas and then we all went downstairs. Under our pretty tree was a comfy purple chair for me (probably my favorite gift), a play kitchen (which makes a pretty close second place), a big doll house from Grandma Sharon for me and sissy, and tons of presents!!

Next year apparently I will have a baby brother or baby sister when it's Christmas time. That should be interesting :)

No thank you, Santa

2008-12-16T13:17:00.002-05:00

Over the weekend I went with my cousins over to their friends house. Guess who showed up? Santa!! I think you can tell by the picture that I'm not a fan - yet.

That's me, trying to escape.

Again. Maybe next year.

Maybe next year

2008-12-06T20:43:00.003-05:00

This morning Mommy and Daddy took sissy and I to Mommy's work for "Breakfast with Santa". I was excited to tell him what I wanted for Christmas. I came close...

Meeting Santa 2008 from Suzanne Sawyer on Vimeo.

Maybe next year I will be able to tell him what I want.

Practicing for Christmas

2008-12-04T19:27:00.001-05:00

When we were up at Grandma Sharon's last week for Thanksgiving she wrapped up some toys around the house and had me practice opening them for Christmas! One of the gifts was a laughing Elmo. We left it up there and Grandma sent it with some other things Mommy left and wrapped it up again for me! It was like I never even opened it the first time!

Sophia un-wraps Elmo from Suzanne Sawyer on Vimeo.

The one thing I said I'd never do

2008-12-02T20:45:00.002-05:00

buy my child cartoon character shoes. She LOVES Elmo though and they are New Balance so they are in style... so I let it slide this time.

Elmo from Suzanne Sawyer on Vimeo.

Christmas 2008

2008-11-23T21:48:00.002-05:00

Sissy and I have been feeling a little neglected since Mommy has been taking pictures of everybody else and their family and kids, so today it was all about us. We decided to have a go for our Christmas pictures. We had a lot of fun... as I think you can see.