Slide, Slide, Slippety, Slide

When grandpa came to visit he brought Sawyer the slide he made for me on Valentine's Day when I was 1. It took Sawyer a few tries to master the slipper slide, but now he's a pro. It's usually the 1st thing he does in the morning and numerous times throughout the day. This slide will contribute to many years of fun. Here's Sawyer in action:

Getting prepared to sit down

Scooting forward

Wee

That was fun!

Time to go again.

Untitled from Kristen Schenk on Vimeo.

16 weeks

Before we get to the latest pregnancy update I thought I would update you about Sawyer's eyes. This week we went back to the optometrist after 3 nights of eye dilation. The Dr. determined Sawyer is farsighted with a prescription of +2 in both eyes. The good news is at this time the prescription is not strong enough to warrant glasses. However, the Dr. said his farsightedness will probably continue to worsen until about the age of 4, so Sawyer will be returning to the optometrist every 6 months. More than likely he will require glasses at some point, but right now he will remain glasses free!

16 weeks, sorry for the shadow

How far along: 16 weeks 3 days

Total weight gain/loss: 10 lbs. (more on this in a moment)

Maternity clothes: not yet, but I'm going to pull out the box very soon, the pants are getting tight

Sleep: only side sleeping with a pillow b/w my legs

Best moment this week: having Kyle home for a few extra days

Movement: A little, but not much

Food cravings: anything I see someone else eating on TV

What I am missing: Working out, just going outside in general, I know it's strange it's just been a long time. I was doing well working out regularly running at the beginning of the pregnancy (before I even knew I was pregnant) and then Kyle's work schedule changed and now it's impossible to go to the gym (the gym would have to open at 4 am) and the ice-packed sidewalks are way too dangerous.

What I am looking forward to: Finding out the gender at the next appointment

Milestones: Officially popping out :)

Fair Warning: this is not to meant to be a complaining post, but I just received this news and I'm a bit taken aback. After I have time to process the information I'm sure I'll be back to my normal self.

I had my 16 week appointment today. For the most part it was very routine. The baby's heart rate was 142. Which is very low for any heartbeat checks I have ever had, but it was strong and consistent.

This week I've putting together Sawyer's "baby book." I say that loosely because I'm just creating a book of his 1st year online. Anyway, I was looking at old blog posts about his pregnancy and I did not wear my 1st piece of maternity clothing or gain any weight until 20 weeks with Sawyer. I know they say you get bigger with each pregnancy, but seriously I'm already 1 month ahead of the timeframe I was with Sawyer's pregnancy add to the fact w/ Sawyer I was running all the time and now I'm not...this could get interesting I mean I gained 10 lbs. in a month! Granted w/ Sawyer the first month I gained weight (5 months) I gained 8 lbs. and then it leveled off. That's what I was hoping for until the dr. entered the room.

I was required to have more lab work due to a low thyroid level on my initial labs. The Dr. said this is very common during early pregnancy and should return to normal levels. Unfortunately, the second test revealed almost zero thyroid levels. Say what!? I've never had an issue w/ my thyroid or anything else during pregnancy for that matter. So, as soon as possible I must visit an endocrinologist to get my thyroid levels in check. I have no idea if this will go away once the baby is born. This may explain the issue of the sudden weight gain though. I've never had thyroid issues, so the sudden lack of thyroid production may have wreaked havoc on my body. At this point I don't have many answers to my questions. At the doctor's office I was too shocked to ask many questions, but I did ask what it means for my body to have low thyroid levels (what are the effects). Her exact answer, "The baby also has low thyroid levels." Okay, well what does that mean!?

So, the plan...I must have a plan in order to stop obsessing:

1. Visit the endocrinologist

2. Only buy healthy foods from here on out :( Sad, I've never really had to worry about weight during pregnancy, and honestly the Dr. isn't concerned about my weight, but it's always better to eat healthy right.

3. Rearrange Kyle's work schedule so I can once again go to the gym. The alone time will do me some good anyway.

4. Remember the most important thing about this pregnancy, the baby, is doing well and seems healthy!

And to end on a funny note. Kyle's 1st reaction when I told him everything about the not-so-great Dr.'s visit: "It must be a girl."

1st Zoo Visit

Okay, I know it's February, but we literally haven't seen the sun or the grass in 2 months, so when the weather was in the high 50's for 2 consecutive days we jumped at the invitation to go to the Akron Zoo. It also happened to be Sawyer's 1st zoo visit. I think the sunshine did us all well.

Both S and G enjoyed running around outside, climbing rocks, watching the penguins up close, pointing out all the animals, and licking the exhibit's glass enclosures (okay maybe that last thing was only Sawyer). We went with some church friends so there were 5 adults and 6 children ranging from 4 years old to 3 weeks. Let's just say we had quite a wild adventure at the zoo. Not really sure why we brought the strollers :)

Sawyer watching the penguins.

We were there for 3 hours and the kids did great. They were so entertained by the animals and the people watching.

G hanging on for dear life on the rope bridge

Sawyer wanting to go on the rope bridge, but I'm pretty sure he's legs would have fallen right through.

And a tip for those who may be visiting the Akron Zoo. If you show your Acme Fresh card at the ticket desk and buy 1 regular priced ticket you get the next ticket free (adult or child).

This Chair

Our living room is almost complete except for a gaping spot with no furnishings or pictures, so for the last few months I have been perusing the thrift stores and craigslist for a chair. I really wanted a slipper chair that required no work. I quickly discovered my price range would not accomodate these standards. So, last week at Restore I found this chair:

I love her lines and while I'm not a huge fan of caning this chair has extra large caning that says to me "I'm retro" not "I'm an out-of-date '80's wicker chair." When I found our her price was only $15 I decided to take a chance.

Now I need your help...

1. Should I paint the wooden parts? Perhaps a distressed white

2. Any fabric suggestions for the upholstery? We currently have a mix of tans, dark browns, and greens in the room. The artwork features quatrefoil design and the curtains have some paisley. All the furniture in the room is a solid color, so I really want this chair to have a pattern.

3. Has anyone done any upholstery projects? This will be my 1st one we'll see how it goes, but any advice would be welcome.

Another Visitor for Sawyer

Before we made our quick trip to Kansas last week we actually had a visitor from Kansas. This was our 11th house guest in the past month, so our guest room has been getting a lot of use, which we love.

The visitor was my Dad. He drove from Kansas to bring us our Christmas present (1/4 of a cow) and to play with Sawyer. We visited the Football Hall of Fame, played with Sawyer, worked on the downstairs bathroom, and I introduced him to Habitat for Humanity's Restore.

We visited the Hall of Fame with both kiddos...that was an adventure.

Sawyer helped grandpa work on the bathroom

He learned how to use a putty knife

& sandpaper.

We had a great time visiting with Grandpa. He also brought along a new toy that Sawyer is loving. I'll show it to you as soon as I can get a video of him using it.

A Sad But Joyous Time

This past week Kyle's beloved Grandmother passed away quite suddenly at the age of 85. She was a wonderfully sweet Christian woman who was the pillar of her family. She will be greatly missed, but we also rejoice that she is now in Heaven with her Savior.

Kyle along with his brothers left for Kansas very quickly to be at her bedside before she passed away. Me, Sawyer, my SIL, and niece followed the next day. While attending a funeral is not always the most enjoyable experience this was a wonderful funeral. Grandma had outlined the entire service including the location and songs to be sung. Two poems written about her were also read. It was a very personal service and one that centered on the Lord and her service to Him. I am now convinced that everyone should write down their funeral requests in advance to ensure the service is a reflection of their life.

Kyle's grandma was not only kind she was also very talented. She has many beautiful paintings and quilts throughout her house. And everyone is going to miss her cooking. We learned after her passing that she had already begun making a quilt for our next little one (as she has done for all the grandchildren). It will be a very special quilt for the next little one.

Here are some photos we will cherish of Sawyer and Great-Grandma Schenk plus a picture of the whole family (everyone made it to the funeral except for 1 grandchild that is serving in the military overseas).

Grandma meets Sawyer for the 1st time

4 generation picture

Sawyer & Great-Grandma @ Christmas

The Schenk Family

i.e. Grandma's children, grandchildren, and great-grandchildren

Seeing Through The Fog

At Sawyer's 1 year check-up the doctor mentioned that Sawyer might have estropia (lazy eye, cross eye), but he wanted to send us to the pediatric optometrist before making the diagnosis.

Until that day I had never noticed anything strange about Sawyer's eyes and no one had ever mentioned any concerns to me. You would think after all those pictures I take of him I would have noticed :) Over the next month I watched and there is a noticeable inward turn to his right eye when he is looking at something very close to his face or when he is tired.

And within 30 seconds of our visit with the pediatric optometrist he confirmed that Sawyer has estropia in his right eye, probably due to compensating for farsightedness. Luckily, there is an easy fix for this condition...glasses. Unfornately, he has to wear glasses :)

Once the eye problem is resolved he will not have to wear the glasses. However, this could take 6 months or 5 years. And given his parents history of near blindness beginning in grade school I think Sawyer will be wearing glasses for many years to come.

This is the "best" picture I could find that demonstrated the inward turn of his right eye. This was taken during a football game this past fall.

In a few days we go back to the doctor to find out the prescription strength.

We are so blessed by our happy, healthy little boy. This will just be another interesting experience in our journey. One we are very unfamiliar with. So now I need your advice does anyone out there have experience with young children and glasses? Anything I need to know before purchasing the glasses? Anything I need to make sure the glasses have to ensure durability and stay-on-ability? Any tricks for keeping the glasses on the child?

13 months

My favorite outfit and evidence that he's just as cute from the back as he is from the front.

My brown eyed boy

Now that S is 1 I probably won't do a monthly post, but this month he seems to be learning by leaps and bounds so for memories sake I thought I better write it down.

Mastered going down the stairs. He's been able to climb up the stairs for months, which means we have had to use the gate pretty much all the time because he could not safely go down. Now he can go down like a pro. He moves down going backwards with his feet and kind of slides on his stomach until his arms reach the next step. It's the cutest thing when he has reached the bottom he always tries to keep going down. He just keeps inching his body down until he is squirming on the ground. After I laugh at him I tell him he's all done and that's the signal that it's safe to get up and walk :)

New words: duckie, quack

New signs: please

And something that astounds me and Kyle is he can follow commands. We may exploit this because we think it's so stinkin' cute. For example, if you ask him to get a diaper he will walk over to the diaper storage area and then bring you a diaper. The other day he got in trouble for throwing a toy at me and he voluntarily walked to the time-out chair. It was so cute I couldn't even put him in time-out :)

The pacifier has been removed except for sleeping times. Thus far the transition hasn't been too traumatic for either Sawyer or his parents. We simply take the pacifier out of his mouth when he awakes and leave it in the crib. As long as he can't see it, he doesn't want it.

Had his 1st stomach bug in which he threw up or dry heaved no less than 8 times in one evening span. It was very sad, gross, and sweet all at the same time. I felt so bad for the little guy, but on the positive side he laid in my lap for over an hour and then fell asleep in my arms...unheard of around these parts. Even though he was sick :( I'll take the snuggling when I can get it. This sickness resulted in S sleeping in the parentals bed, the parents getting no sleep, but the baby ingested several pedialyte bottles in the middle of the night and was like a new person in the morning.

What have I been up to?

I'm happy to report I am finally returning to my normal self. The nausea is gone as long as I eat in regular intervals. And my energy level is up, which means I've completed some projects in the last week.

I probably should have worked on our taxes, paid the bills, cleaned the house, painted the trim, or organized the storage room, but after laying on the couch for a month none of those things sounded very exciting. So, I sewed! And due to a recent baby boom among our friends I sewed all kinds of fun baby things.

Lots of burp clothes in fun patterns

Tag blankets

Little girl barrettes & headbands: using the following tutorials:

Rose barrette tutorial from The Purl Bee

Rolled Felt Flower tutorial from I Am Momma Hear Me Roar

Tie onesies (sorry no pictures)

Ruffle onesies: using the ruffle butt onesie tutorial from UCreate found on Homemade by Jill

Ruffles on the bum...what could be cuter?

Ruffle on the front

I had a leftover ruffle so I transformed it into a rolled flower barrette to match the onesie

The whole ensemble

I think I'm set for all the upcoming babies. I love making all the fun girly things. I'm now addicted to making baby/children's hair accessories. They are so fun, easy, quick, and cute!

When Sawyer Met Brooks

On our way home from Christmas break we stopped in NE, so a couple of little guys could get to know each other. Here's their 1st interaction.

Hi there!

Won't you play with me?

Mom, Dad who is this guy?

Let me show you how this whole play thing works.

Don't cry this is fun :)

I've mentioned Brooks and his parents a couple of times. Kyle and Blake were and are the best of friends. They were born about 1 month apart and until their junior year of college (correct me if I'm wrong) they had never spent more than a week apart from one another. While their sons can't play together very often we're hoping that they too will form a strong bond of friendship over the years...maybe some summers spent in KS at the grandparents? They could have a lawn mowing business :)

While it wasn't love at first sight I think they will grow on each other. Even though they are the same size Brooks is 3 months younger and not quite used to the whole walking and loud talking baby in his space. But they tolerated each other. And you can tell from the pictures now that they have checked each other out the friendship will continue to bloom.

Ice Cubes Mini Tutorial

For Sawyer's birthday we had marshmallows dipped in chocolate (blue) and dubbed them ice cubes. These treats are very yummy and simple. I dare say it's even a kid friendly project. Here are the details.

Supplies:

2 bags of large marshmallows

lollipop sticks

Melt away chocolates or almond bark (these are what I like to use)

Food coloring (optional, if you have white chocolate and want a color)

Toppings: sprinkles, peppermint, just use your imagination

Block of foam

Directions:

Place marshmallows on lollipop sticks

Melt the chocolate according to package directions

Dip half the marshmallow in chocolate

Sprinkle with topping (important to do while still wet)

Place in foam until cool

It's nice to do this project with a partner. We had an assembly line of 3 people: 1 person dipped the marshmallow, 1 person sprinkled, and 1 person inserted the pops into the foam. I'm sure kiddos would love to do the sprinkling :)

Quick, easy, tasty, and cute that's my kind of project!

Unfortunately, I did not take any pictures of the process. Here's a tutorial with more pictures for those visual learners. And how appropriate that the tutorial is valentine's day inspired. V-day is just around the corner and this would make a great treat for the classroom or office.

Photos courtesy of the amazing and talented Liz Hehman.