Give Thanks

We have been trying to keep busy and go out and about and visit friends during the day because I want Sawyer to get used to being around other kids since otherwise most of the time it is just him and me, or him with zach, grandma, ect. He loves other kids so I think he will be just fine :) We had a really fun playdate with one of my friends from work- we went and played with her neighbors adorable golden/ yellow lab puppies and they were so sweet and adorable! They started out with a dozen puppies and there were four left- they all already had homes and were waiting to be picked up! I bet they will grow up to be very nice dogs!  Sawyer of course loved them because he loves dogs, but one of them got a bit rowdy and scratched his cheek and then he was done with them.  He still loves his Cooper dog though!

So far we have had two thanksgivings and two more celebrations tomorrow.  Sawyer seemed to enjoy his "first" thanksgiving celebration with my family on Saturday but he pretty much likes anything where he gets to eat and gets a bunch of attention.  It was wonderful- I love spending time with family whenver I can.  We had the most delicious meal, and this is what I like to call our "Martha Stewart" Thanksgiving because my aunt always makes everything so beautiful and I think that makes things even more fun!  Sawyer ate pretty much the whole spread and liked everything, of course sweet potatoes were probably his favorite but he even ate some smoked salmon and seemed to like that too.  Yum! 

This year I have so much to be Thankful for- how wonderful is that!!??  Every year I am especially thankful for my wonderful family- I have always loved the holidays because that means even more family togetherness time!  This year I am so thankful for Sawyer- last year he was just a large belly bump and now he is an energetic, healthy, growing baby boy and there is nothing I am more thankful for than that.  I am thankful that Zach is a wonderful daddy to him and will be there to teach him as he grows.  I am thankful that I have a warm home, and food to eat because many people are not so lucky this year.  Happy Thanksgiving!

Sawyer's First Halloween!

Today was Sawyers first Halloween, last year he and I went together as a "mummy"- which was zachs idea and of course he thought that was hilarious.  Sawyer had two costumes this year, he was a dog and a gorilla.  He didnt really seem to mind wearing either costume- he is so good natured.  We didnt take him trick or treating- he is def. too little for candy.  We did put him in his costume and take his to my grandparents house though and he got to see my parents and some of my aunts and uncles as well.  We had some family in town from michigan so they got to see him too and we all had dinner together tonight and yesterday.  I also got sawyer a glow in the dark skeleton shirt that he work today and I forgot untill this afternoon that cooper had a matching costume!  Sawyer loves cooper so of course I had to try to get a picture of them together!

Three years ago...

...Zach and I got engaged! He totally surprised me, which was funny because I told him there was no way that he would be able to surprise me. That day I had been at work at the hosptial as an intern in the ER where I still work. After work, Zach called me and told me that he would be late getting off work because he had to fix a tire on a car out by the lake. He told me he would pick me up at my parents house when he was done because I was very hungry and I wanted to go together to get something to eat. I didn't mind that he was running late because I had just gotten out of the shower myself and needed some time to get ready. A short while later as I was getting ready, I realized that I needed something that I had left at his house so I called him and told him he didn't need to pick me up, because I was going to drive over to his house and i would just wait for him there untill he got done. He called me back almost immediatly and told me that the work truck had broken down and there wasn't anyone around and he asked if I could just come pick him up so we could hang out and get some food. I drove out to a park at the lake where he said he had been fixing the tire and when I got there he was in the service truck from work with the hood up, so I wasn't expecting anything. He was sitting in the truck when I pulled up but when he got out of the truck he was all dressed up in a shirt and tie- at this point is when I figured something was up. He walked over to me and told me some very beautiful things that I no longer remember because I was so excited and then he got down on one knee and asked me to marry him. After I said yes he asked if I would then have dinner with him. I hadn't even noticed when I pulled up that he had a picnic all set up for us with candels,wine, flowers, a tablecloth ect. I told Zach that I wished I was more dressed up because I was wearing athletic shorts and a tee shirt, and he was wearing a shirt and tie. Zach had thought of everything- he pulled my favorite dress out of the truck for me to wear as well as a change of shoes. I changed into the nice clothes and we had a romantic dinner together overlooking the lake, and then I said that I wanted to take a walk on the beach. We walked together on the beach for a while and I called my parents very excitedly- when we returned there was a limo waiting for us! I was so shocked that at first I thought it was for someone else and made some dumb remark along the lines of "wow i wonder who is in there...oh wait is it for us"! I was so surprised and excited. We rode around in the limo and visited our parents who already knew that Zach was going to propose because he had asked permission the day before and our grandparents who were very excited by our big news. When got out of the limo there were more roses and rose petals waiting for me- what a great night!

Two years ago....we were having the rehersal dinner for our wedding! It amazes me that it has been two year already- it really seems like I was just planning everything and suddenly we are getting ready to celebrate our two year wedding anniversary! And what an eventful two years it has been. We got married and Zach bought Midtown Custom Bending right around the same time (I think right before we got married but I cant remember) 6 months later bought our new home, and moved in a month later. Three months after that we were thrilled to find out we were expecting and in January we welcome our first son into our family! Tomorrow is Also Cooper's 4th Birthday! What a big boy he has become! Our family has grown and changed in the last few years- we are looking forward to what the next two years, and beyond, will bring.

4th of July

We headed back down to the ozarks this past weekend to celebrate the 4th of july and it was a good thing that we did because apparently it was all of 65 degrees back home on the 4th- which is nuts! i guess it was nearly a record low! my cousins from texas were visiting and apparently they were drinking hot cocoa they were so cold!! it was in the 80's at the lake and we actually had a few good hours of nice boating weather. zach, sawyer and i drove down friday night after i got off work which was nice because sawyer slept almost the whole way down but sucked because zach and i were both so tired. on saturday the weather seemed like it was going to be crummy but it cleared up around lunch time!
sawyer with uncle ben



















we were going to hit the mall but when the sun started to shine we all decided to go boating instead and the day turned out really nice! I can't say whether sawyer liked the boat or hated it...he fell asleep everytime it was moving so im assuming he like the noise and vibrations but perhaps he hated it and wanted to tune everything out. We went out all day long and he was cheerful the whole time so I like to think he enjoyed himself.

We saw some people cliff jumping while we were out boating. This was nuts! This guy in the picture had to have jumped at least 50 ft! I was afraid i was going to have to save someones life! No one from our boat jumped off these- Val and I made sure of that, but the boys were heckling the jumpers pretty good- one guy chickend out and climbed all the way back down- even after a little girl jumped off next to him!














Beth and the boys did their own cliff jumping when we got to haha tonka springs. These were a little less scary. Here is Zach mid jump.














Sawyer enjoying the boat with Grandma-he did awesome all day long!



















Sawyer feeling grandpas scratchy face (he loves to touch faces)














Sawyer looks like his is trying to wave














Sawyer and grandpa























After we stopped at haha tonka springs we headed down to bear bottom resort and some of the kids rode on the water slide. The drunk people there (im assuming they were drunk) could not get enough of sawyer and we literally got almost mobbed by a bunch of different random people while we were walking in and again while waiting to use the bathroom. I at least assumed everyone was drunk because they were all admiring sawyer like they had never seen a baby before in their lives... we had some wonderful appetizers there and then decided to hurry home because it was starting to get overcast- good thing we did because it started to POUR rain as we were leaving but we got ahead of it and boated home without another drop. We all got ready and went BACK out on the boat to watch fireworks. It was about 930 and past sawyer bedtime so he didnt even notice them because he nursed and then fell asleep...guess we will have to wait until next year to see what he thinks about them.

Good Friends, Good Fun

Zach and i enjoyed a weekend spent with friends in the ozarks this past weekend. sawyer stayed with grandma val and got to go to corn carnival and to visit great grandma karen. the report from grandma was that he loved the corn carnival parade and all the lights at the carnival. zach and i also had a great weekend away. it was SO hard for me to leave Sawyer but i really did end up having a great time. it was apparently the hottest day at the lake since 1951 on saturday!! we spent most of the weekend floating in the lake and enjoying some adult beverages- something i hadnt done in over a year! it was great for us to get together with all of our buddies at once- that is hard to accomplish for 9 people who all live in different states! we will be heading to cancun with the same group of friends- plus leeann and caleb, next march! this made me even more excited for that. it was great to get home and het my hands on sawyer again though! i missed him like crazy! he is heading to the ozarks with zach and i again next weekend for the 4th- im guessing he wont like fireworks though..

Tulip Time and Mother's Day Fun!

Well, this past weekend was tulip time and sawyer actually seemed to enjoy his first tulip time celebration! on thursday we got dressed up and walked in the baby parade. sawyer didnt seem to mind wearing his costume at all- and he looked so cute in his little dutch hat! he was really tired though and wanted to be carried- so we each got to carry him two blocks(me, gma cathy, gma val and aunt beth), which actually worked out very well. he did great the whole time. then i stipped his sweaty costume off and he took a nice nap in the bjorn with his hat still on. tourists kept telling me how adorable he was (as if i didnt already know :) )
















we even walked around the entire "dutch market" craft show with him and he took another snooze in the bjorn. i swear that thing is like baby crack- it knocks him right out. i worked on friday and im happy to say that it wasnt crazy at all- thank goodness! actually it was one of the funnest days i have had at work! sawyer got to be in the baby parade again that day with gradma val and grandpa erv. sawyer made grandpa erv carry him and sawyer took a little nap. he is such a cuddler!














saturday my friend from college leeann and her fiance caleb came down to visit for tulip time. we took sawyer to his first parade. it was sort of hot and very bright- he didnt seem to think it was all that great.















we also went back to the dutch market so leeann could look around. zach and caleb got sunburnt- leeann, sawyer and i did not! saturday night we took sawyer to his first night parade- he was mesmerized by the floats! he loved watching them go by.



















then he got super tired since it was past his bedtime- i must be getting cruncier and less inhibited by the minute because i def. let him nurse under our giant blanket- no one even noticed :) that is something i never thought i would do! at the parade we happened to end up sitting next to chase's older brother and his family. chases neices took turns holding sawyer. ashton was sawyers age when chase died- she looks and acts so much like him! she is sooo cute- she kept asking me "hey, is that your baby?" chase would have had so much fun with her-she is a wild woman!!! we had a bonfire at our house after the parade- very fun! we stayed up until 2 am hanging out with chases other, younger brother brett. i seriously adore him!
















today i celebrated my first mother's day!! (even though last year this time i was like 3 weeks pregnant but of course had no idea yet!) being a mommy is the most wonderful thing i have ever experienced in my entire life! the love is just unbelieveable. zach, sawyer and i slept in until 10 today!! i was so tired. then we celebrated with some family at my grandmas house. we came home and the three of us fell asleep on the couch for two hours! like i said- we were so tired! we had dinner at zach's parents house tonight. for mother's day zach, sawyer and i are going to go pick out flowers for my new deck planters!! i cant wait! oh, and my laptop came on friday but no one was home to sign for it so i will get it tomorrow!!!!!!!!!! im pumped! HAPPY MOTHERS DAY TO ALL THE MOMMIES! hope everyone else had a great day too.

Birthday Fun

yesterday was very fun- we went to my aunt ann's house for our joint bday party- it was aunt ann's birthday yesterday! in my family we have 5 birthdays in the same week in april, strange, i know- but mostly awesome! since friday had been my golden birthday (24 on the 24th) she had a golden birthday theme for me- with golden foods and drinks (think lemonade, cheese and crackers and organic yellow carrots!), golden silverwear, golden plates and napkins, golden flowers ect. it was awesome and i felt very special! it was much more fun than my actual birthday when i worked! sawyer was awesome all day long yesterday- he rode the whole hour there in the car without any fuss at all- which was awesome! he even took a bottle AND a nap while we were there- and then we went to babys r us, micheals and best buy and he was happy. he was fine in the car on the way home too- maybe he is over his carseat hatred now..lets hope so. zach and i looked at new laptops at best buy because zach said i could get a new one as my birthday gift!!!! yay!!! i have been using my laptop from college since our desktop decided to not recognize our web browser a few months ago....i havent figured out how to fix this yet...i need to get my pictures off of it and then reset everything and see if that works- but the deal is that zach is now going to use the desktop for midtown custom bending- his bending business and i have to transfer his files from his old shop computer to the desktop and get everything ready to go... I decided that i wanted to order my laptop online though so I could customize it the way I wanted..i got bluetooth, a tv tuner, photoshop, ect. Should be pretty sweet. I cant wait for it to come!! AND i saved over 40 bucks just by googling for a coupon- and zach made fun of me until he saw it work! Ha!
oh and sawyer is sleeping through the night again, im wondering if he was just having a growth spurt last week and that is why he was waking up at 2am wanting to eat- he is fitting in lots of his 3-6 month stuff this week so he must have grown... he is getting SO good about sleeping no though. I guess i shouldnt have obsessed over it so much because he is doing great now all on his own. He falls asleep on his own so much easier now- I can lay him in his bed after he eats and is tired and he will fall asleep- it is so awesome! Granted its not 100% of the time but's still...amazing.
When Sawyer was born cooper decided to move into our walk-in-closet to sleep, im assuming to get away from the crying- Zach lovingly dubbed the closet coopers "doggy bedroom". Now that sawyer is sleeping through the night more consistently, cooper decided that he was going to come out of doggy bedroom and sleep in his dog bed..i guess i didnt realize how much of his snoring was blocked out by him being in the closet, needless to say, dog bed now lives in doggy bedroom and we all sleep much better- coopers snoring literally woke sawyer up one night at 2am- not cool!

For my birthday I got the most adorable deck planter boxes and I can't wait to put them out and fill them up with stuff-I also have two big pots of flowers. Our deck is going to be an awesome plant oasis!! Ill put up pictures when I get everything going. I cant wait- not too much longer and then we can plant- I think after tulip time is when the last frost date is...

1800's bath...

it was an eventful weekend in our house. thursday sawyer was excited to get to play with his buddy megan again and on saturday he met lindsay again. he was MUCH bigger than last time he met lindsay- he was only a week old then! He has changed SO MUCH since then!






































on saturday morning we were thrilled to discover that our water heater decided to go on strike. we then got to enjoy taking "1800's baths" as zach lovingly dubbed the experince, for the rest of the weekend. this is when you have to heat water on the stove and then pour it into the tub until you have enough to bathe in- yes it was awesome. especially after zach worked out in the yard all day and got VERY dirty- he was very excited to clean off all the dirt in 2 inches of lukewarm water. Sick! You might ask- why didnt you just take a cold shower in the unheated water. Well, the water that came out of the tap was LITERALLY so cold that it made your hand hurt if you just stuck it into the running water and it would actually get warmer if you ran some into the tub and let it sit, and by warmer i mean still stinking FREEZING but not ice cold. It was SO FUN!

zach got so dirty by spending most of the day saturday saturday lining the little creekbed with stones to facilitate and beautify the flow. It looks so neat now! I think it is going to be really pretty this spring once the grass gets greener. its pretty hard to tell in the following pictures since the rocks are all dusty and everything is all brown but you can sorta see the water flowing into the little pond. its muddy from getting all stirred up by the work- but it should look neat soon once things start getting greener- it really does look pretty darn sassy compared to before- and i thought it was cute already :).
















and here sawyer and i (and cooper but he is hard to see- he is to my right) are on the bridge zach and i built last spring over the little creek. i put sawyer in his bjorn and then wore zachs coat- but he didnt enjoy having to wear his hat! he fell asleep and i got to enjoy the day outside for a while! Im excited to plant some more climbing flowers on the bridge again this year even though my morning glories last summer didnt climb or bloom until SEPTEMBER! Ill plant much earlier this year in hopes of getting some nice greenery all the way to the top of the bridge! The morning glories were BEAUTIFUL once they started to climb and flower! Im also pretty excited to see if my hydrangeas that are planted on either side of the bridge flower this year- they never got big enough last year to actually have any flowers but they did grow green leaves so maybe THIS year they will be big enough to have a few flowers! One is supposed to be pink and the other blue. They are def. still alive because they both are turning green again already, but they are still TINY, you can't even see them in this picture and they are on either side of the bridge!































Zach thought I looked funny with sawyer zipped into his coat- like i had a "potbelly" or a "funny big belly with little legs poking out" But it was nice to be able to take sawyer out without having to put him into a whole snowsuit since it was too nice for a big bulky snowsuit! He loves the bjorn so much! I was happy to see that my AMAZING, ADORABLE weeping willow tree did good thorough the winter and now has little green buds! - ok so i guess its kinda sawyer's too since we planted it when i was preggo with him last fall- but grandma and papa did pick it out with me in mind- because i LOVE weeping willow trees- i think they seem kinda whimsical i guess?? I just think they are special :) Im excited to watch sawyer and the willow grow together! Its hard to see the little green buds in this picture actually...



















And planted just to the left of the willow was THIS!




















its the daffodil plant that i bought from marcus LAST YEAR for honor society's daffodil days- i bought another this year so now this one will get a friend! I was so excited to see that it bloomed! Zach actually had to point it out to me because he planted it for me last year! What a cutie! Im also excited to see if my rose bush I got about this time last year (got it a few weeks after my birthday so probably actually 11 months ago) is still doing well! It was so pretty last summer!

Zach also put rocks around our firepit on saturday afternoon so we celebrated by having a big bonfire with bryan and linds. It was fun- love bonfires, but turned out to not be the wisest plan for zach and i- we ended up having to heat up water for ANOTHER 1800's bath because it is DISGUSTING to even consider getting into bed without showering after a bonfire...take note of that- if your water heater is broken, a bonfire isnt the best activity for you.

Sunday was easter so we took yet ANOTHER 1800's bath before church-this one wasn't so bad, we put sawyer's bathroom heather into our bathroom to warm the air more, and also got the water pretty warm. Im not saying i envy people with no heated water but it wasn't as bad as the rest. We left the house at 1030 am and went to church and then both sets of our parent's houses and didn't get back home again until 830 that night- sawyer skipped his bath that night, i did NOT feel like heating up any water for him. He actually went to bed ok without his bath first, i think he was pretty worn out. It was great to get to spend the holiday with both of our families. I really do love living with all of them so near by- and we got two amazing meals! Sawyer looked so cute in his big boy button up shirt, and even matched daddy AND grandpa but naughty mommy forgot her camera at home and by the time we got back sawyer was ready for jammies!

finally tonight Zach and grandpa erv put in a new water heater! It is much cuter than the old water heater (as you can tell i dont know much about water heaters). Brandon (from the tire shop) had to come over and help but they got it done, which is AWESOME because im not sure i ever feel like taking another 1800's bath again ever! I might go shower in the warm water just to celebrate!

Happy St. Patrick's Day

HAPPY ST. PATRICK'S DAY!



























































































just wanted to share those adorable spd pics! sawyer, cooper and i celebrated by taking a walk to the library with gamma to return some books. sawyer was tired and made it to the library but ended up riding home in the baby bjorn and he loved it and just looked around as we walked. it was gorgeous out today! We also stopped by the store on the way home and despite minimal napping today he was cheerful as i grabbed some steaks to grill for dinner- too nice of a day not to grill! when we got home zach and cooper were already out working in the yard burning off the brush so new stuff can grow. yay spring!