The many faces...

of Sawyer

Surprise

inquisitive

What's up yo?

mischievous, otherwise known as crazy eyes

so funny

Where's Nora

Where is 

 Nora?

There she is! 

She could play this game all day!

1st Catch

I was just looking at pictures on our old point in shoot that we rarely use.  I came across these pictures Kyle must have taken in June when we went camping.  I had to post these pictures to remember Sawyer's first catch.

Garage Door

We were busy this summer so we didn't get a whole lot of house projects done but we did make one upgrade that really helps the curb appeal.  The garage door was old and the paint was peeling very badly.  Our first inclination (to save money) was to scrape the door and repaint it.  Well that experiment did not turn out so well.  After we started scraping the peeling paint we realized the door was just too far gone to fix.  So we purchased a new door and Kyle and my stepdad, Randy, put it up.  It took some time to install but the end result looks amazing!  Here are a few before and afters.

Couldn't find a true before, but here it is after the scraping experiment

and here is the simple and clean new door

And just for fun below is what the house looked like the day we moved in

Before

Current: no more huge tree, giant bushes, or peeling garage door

 We still have a ways to go.  We desperately need shutters and a new driveway but it's coming along.  And thanks to the drought and high temps are lawn is not so green, but that will come with some moisture.

Facing Forward

Sawyer has hit a big milestone!  He is now forward facing in the carseat.  Actually this happened several months ago, but I forgot to document it.  We turned him around right before we traveled to South Carolina in May.

It never phased him to be rear facing, but I enjoy him being forward facing as I can now see his face and hand him things.  Plus I never get tired of looking in the rearview mirror and seeing his adorable face.

Football Camp

Each year the beginning of August marks the end of our summer and the start of football season.  The first 2 to 3 weeks of the season, before schools begins, is called camp.  I'm not quite sure why they call it camp.  To me camp signifies a fun and entertaining place however I don't think anyone involved in football camp thinks it's much fun.  All the practices (2 or 3 a day) and meetings (2 or 3 a day) take a physical and mental toll on the players and coaches.  Then there are the coaches families who go days on end without seeing their spouses/daddies for more than 20 minutes a day.

I'm not saying this to complain this is the place God has put us and we really do enjoy the football lifestyle.  I've just come to accept these 3 weeks of football camp as a part of each year.  And only by the grace of God do I make it through each day. I think this year has been more difficult simply because last year while I had just had a baby I had lots of help from family visitors.  This year it's just me, a spirited 2 1/2 year old and a clingy 1 year old all day long.

In light of this dynamic I have made it a point to keep pretty busy so the kids don't get bored and I don't go crazy.

We've had lots of playdates to the park, to our house, and at our friend's houses.  If we have no plans for the day we usually run errands in the morning.  Every night for dinner we go to the cafeteria to eat with daddy. Which is a special treat each day! We got to visit a fire house, eat at Chick-fil-a, go to church, visit the park, go bowling, and attend a wedding.

My time with the children has not been without some harrowing experiences.

One night while eating in the cafeteria Sawyer leaned over in his booster seat and fell off the chair onto the hard tile floor while hitting his head on the chair.  A cookie from daddy made him feel better.  After leaving supper that night we went to a nearby children's store.  Sawyer was walking around when the saleswoman came around the corner and he tripped over her foot sending him flying through the air and his first point of contact was his eye on a changing table shelf.  Immediately his brow bone swelled to the size of a ping pong ball.  The sales lady felt bad so she gave him a sticker and that seemed to calm him down.  I was a little worried about a concussion so Kyle left a meeting to check on him.  We vacillated about going to the ER.  Since he had stopped screaming we decided to give it until the morning.  Thankfully besides a swollen black eye he seems to be fine.

The night it happened

A few days later looking like he is wearing eye shadow

 Later in the week I was getting the kids ready for a bath.  I was checking on the water.  Sawyer was going potty and Nora was playing with a wash cloth.  The next thing I know I turn around to help Sawyer, he is already off the potty flushing the toilet and Nora is throwing the washcloth in the toilet.  I quickly grabbed for the washcloth as it went spiraling down...we all just stood there in disbelief as it disappeared.

In other news Nora wore her first ponytail.

After 2 weeks of the children never leaving my care it was time for a girl's night!  We dropped the kids off with a babysitter(s) and the coaches wives had a spa night.  We really just got facials and talked but it was so refreshing to be sans kiddos!

In my free time :) I also helped coordinate a wedding.

Amidst all the activities I had a doctor appointment for my thyroid.  It was not good news.  I don't want to get into the numbers but lets just say they are significantly out of normal range.  They want me to get on medicine right away, but I have to be done nursing.  I'm ready to be done nursing but until Nora decides to drink from a cup regularly I can't quit cold turkey.  Thankfully I am still experiencing no symptoms (to the dr.'s disbelief).  I may try to get a second opinion.  I don't question the blood test results or the diagnosis but my dr. is very black and white and doesn't really explain things well.  He tells me how it is and what we are going to do and doesn't like when I ask questions.  So, I am looking for other options.

The end of football camp is in sight. We are all looking forward to the start of football games so we can get on a schedule that includes more daddy time!

Daddy Daughter Interaction

While momma may get the best laughs out of Nora she is also pretty fond of her daddy.  Plus she is very ticklish.

Love these two!  And love seeing my manly man being sweet on a little girl.

Ice Cream Truck

Some may find the ice cream truck creepy, but I've been waiting for the day Sawyer was old enough to get something from the ice cream truck.  In fact it was on my list of activities to do this summer.  All summer the truck rang its bell and came around the corner during nap time.  While I really wanted Sawyer to experience the ice cream truck there was no way I was going to interrupt nap time :)

Then our last weekend of summer as we were heading out the door on an errand I heard the bells of the ice cream truck.  As it turned the corner Kyle and Sawyer were outside ready to hail him down.  It actually coincided with our potty training weekend so it was a nice treat to reward Sawyer for his hard work.

New Kitchen

We decided Nora needed a kitchen for her birthday.  Instead of buying one we decided to make one out of an old TV stand.  It was a great joint effort by mommy and daddy and everyone is thrilled with the result!

before picture

We bought the TV stand at Habitat Restore for $12.  Kyle sanded it down, took 1 door off, switched the hinges on the other door, and drilled holes for the sink, faucet, and oven knobs.  I painted the inside and outside, painted the stove and made the curtain and dish towel.  The sink is a stainless steel bowl we already owned.  The faucet was purchased at a salvage yard.  And the oven handle was also purchased at ReStore.  We already owned the paint (I used it for our bedside tables) but I did buy the fabric for the curtain.  The whole project came in at less than $30 so not only was it less expensive than a store bought kitchen it's way cuter :)

It is Nora and Sawyer approved!
For her birthday the grandparents helped outfit the kitchen with play food, pots and pans, and organizational baskets. So now she is all set to enjoy hours of cooking with mommy!

Potty Training {3 Day Method}

For over a month Sawyer has been telling us he needs to use the bathroom.  We took him when he asked to go (mostly #2) but we didn't make a big deal about it because we were busy traveling and not in our normal routine.  Now that we have been home a few weeks and this is the last weekend before football starts in full swing I decided it was time to focus and get down to business with potty training Sawyer.

My friend told me about a 3 day potty training method and I liked the sound of it.  It's all about positive reinforcement and consistency.  One thing I love about it is you throw away all diapers even at nap and night time.  The thing I was most scared of was the major commitment and having to be cooped up inside for 3 days. But I knew he was ready so we took the plunge.

(Warning this is pretty detailed and not really important, but I need to remember it for future children, feel free to skip to the bottom :)

Day 1
7:30 remove last diaper, put on underwear
7:35 Sawyer tells me he has to go potty and he does!
8:45 Sawyer has his first accident, but he tells me during it and we rush to the bathroom, put on 2nd pair of underwear
8:50 Sawyer had 2nd accident, he once again tells me, rush to the bathroom, put on 3rd pair of underwear
9:45 3rd accident
10:05 4th accident
10:30 successful potty in the toilet, he let me know and we ran to the toilet!
11:05 successful potty in the toilet
12:05 pm successful potty in the toilet
12:30 pm successful potty in the toilet
12:50 pm successful potty in toilet
1:00 pm nap
3:30 wake-up
3:45 pm successful potty in the toilet
6:40 pm successful potty in the toilet
7:10 pm successful #2 in the potty
7:20 pm 5th accident, peed on daddy's pillow
tried several times before bed but no go
9:00 pm bed time
10:00 pm woke him up to see if he had to go, he didn't

Successful night with no accidents!!!

Day 2
6:45 am we woke him up to ensure he did not pee right when he woke up, went successfully in the potty
9:30 am 1st accident, while in timeout
9:30 am - 1 pm 5 successful trips to the potty with 2 #2's.  Also he once ran to us when we were in different rooms to tell us he had to go
1:00 - 4:15 pm nap, made it through nap with no accidents
4:20 pm 2nd accident while hiding from daddy
5:00 pm went out to dinner, this is a big no-no according to the rules, but we all needed to get out, made it through dinner
6:00 pm went to Walgreens to rent movie and he had to go to the bathroom, successful trip
went to the bathroom several times before bed
8:30 pm bed time
9:00-10:00 pm went to the bathroom 3 times
Successful night with no accidents! but it was an early wake up call

Day 3
5:30 am Sawyer is up for the day, goes potty
8:30 am 1st accident
8:45 am successful potty and poop in the toilet
9:00 am successful potty in the toilet
11:00 am went to church
used the potty numerous times throughout the afternoon, no accidents, woke up from nap dry,
9:00 pm bedtime, got out of bed several times to potty

I know there can and will be some regression and I'm still incredibly nervous to take him out anywhere (though he has shown he can be trusted in public as he has had no accidents outside the house) but I think I can say with certainty he is fully potty trained.  The method worked!  In all actuality he "got it" within 4 hours. Pretty crazy, huh?  Incredible what a lot of positive reinforcement, snacks, and 100% commitment can do...well it probably also helps that Sawyer was interested in the process.

I did take a picture of Sawyer in his undies, but I don't really think it's appropriate to put online.  Just trust me when I say he has the cutest little tush (or bum as he calls it).

(I wrote this post as potty training was happening a week ago and I'm happy to report he is still doing very well.  He has a few accidents every now and then during the day but he has continued to stay dry during all sleep times.)

A zoo trip

I'm playing a little catch up after all of Nora's 1 year posts.  The next few posts document the last few days of our summer.  It officially ended for us on Monday when football started.

We have gone to the zoo a lot in the past year, but this is the first time Daddy has been able to go along.  It was so nice to have an extra set of eyes and hands.  And Daddy had a fun time seeing all the animals with Sawyer.

This was our last big outing before football and potty training started.

Sawyer showing Daddy all of the animals

She is getting too big

Nora is starting to notice the animals

Sawyer sharing his cookie and Nora eating an apple like a big girl

Looking at Sawyer's favorite, the lions

Sawyer loves to ride the carousel and this time Daddy got to ride with him.