35 weeks

This pregnancy is almost over and I cannot believe it!!  I don't have anything ready for Cooper's arrival and I am having such mixed emotions about everything.  Having Sawyer has been better than I ever imagined having a child could be.  To me, he is perfect in every way.  I am sure most people think he is spoiled rotten, and maybe he is.  I try to teach him right from wrong and discipline him as much as you can a 15 month old but his sweet little face, smile, and kisses, usually get him his way more often than not.  Not only with me but with everyone that knows him.  His daddy is the worst.  Daddy doesn't want to say no or make Sawyer upset so when daddy is around Sawyer gets whatever he wants.  I don't know how much this is going to change when Cooper arrives.  I am scared.  Scared that the very little amount of time I have had to spend with Sawyer won't be enough to give both of my boys the attention they deserve.  I am scared that Sawyer will be sad, feel left out, or even be angry at me and the baby.  I want to make sure that I can still show him every day how much he is loved and how special he is.  It may be a little bit easier when Skeet is around more and can take some of the pressure off of me to be both mom and dad.  I try to make the most of my time with Sawyer and I know that with a new baby it won't be as easy. 
Then I think about poor Cooper.  When we brought Sawyer home I didn't want to miss a second of anything with him so I had the hardest time wanting to put him down. I would hold him for hours enjoying the feeling of his warm, tiny body in my arms.  I want to still be able to have moments like that with Cooper but am afraid that I will be spending too much time chasing Sawyer around and trying to keep him out of trouble or keep him from hurting himself (we have a dare devil on our hands).  It's sad to think that Cooper will spend a lot more time in his swing or bouncy chair than Sawyer ever did but I think that will be the reality of it.  It makes me feel bad but I know it has to be done because now I will have 2 babies demanding my time and attention. 
I guess my biggest fear is that when I have 2 kids at home to take care of, I won't be a good mom.  It's been hard to be a good mom while I am pregnant.  I spend more time watching Sawyer play lately, than I do getting down and playing with him (because it hurts too bad to get on his level and don't even get me started about getting up).  I've done my best this pregnancy to make sure that Sawyer isn't affected too much by the fact that I am not as energetic and mobile as I would have been otherwise but it's not been easy these last few weeks and I have had to rely on my parents and my sister more and more.  When Skeet is home it is so nice to know that I can sit and rest and not feel guilty that I am not taking advantage of every moment because I know their time together is precious too. 
I hope I don't come across as ungrateful in this post.  I am so incredibly thankful for all that I have.  I know what a huge blessing this pregnancy is, especially because I didn't think we'd get lucky enough to have another child.  I am so excited to meet Cooper and watch him grow.  To see how much he's like Sawyer, like me or like Skeet.  To wonder if Avery would have been more like him or like Sawyer.  I am excited to see a friendship grow between brothers.  I hope that they will love each other, stick up for each other, and lean on each other as they grow.  I have discovered that there are so many more emotions that come with having 2 living children.  I am sure the worries will double but so will the joy. 
I am still scared about my boys growing up though. I don't want them to grow up too fast.  Especially Sawyer now that he's going to be a big brother.  I hope that we can do everything in our power to make sure he gets to stay a kid as long as possible.  Last night I went in to check on him after he was sleeping and I woke him on purpose accidentally when I adjusted his blanket.  Then I had to pick him up of course and cuddle him until he went back to sleep.  I sat there holding him.  His sweet little head on my shoulder, and I couldn't help but wish there was some way I could engrave that moment into my mind and always remember how it feels to hold my little man that way.  The day is soon coming when he'll be too big and too cool to hug on mom and I don't know if it's the pregnancy hormones or what but that thought makes me want to cry.  I want him to stay sweet and innocent forever! 

Well enough of my ramblings... I'm not going to do a regular pregnancy update until next week but I will share a belly shot from 34 weeks... 

15 Months and More Pictures!

Sawyer had his 15 month check up yesterday and his stats are....

23 pounds (26th percentile)

33 inches (92nd percentile)

17 inch head (I believe close to the 50th percentile... can't remember exactly but it was near the middle).

So he's tall and skinny!!  I really can't believe how tall he has gotten and even though he doesn't weigh much he still has some cute rolls on his legs and dimples on his hands and elbows. I hope those stick around for a while.  And of course those cute cheeks! They are starting to slim down a little but they are still so much fun to kiss!

As I have mentioned before, our little man isn't walking yet.  Well he's taken a few steps but prefers to crawl and boy can he crawl! It's been tough to keep up with him as my belly grows bigger.  I find that when I run after him I end up getting a cramp or a contraction... neither of which are very fun!

His ped seems very impressed with how well he is talking.  He says quite a few things these days some of our favorites being: brother, Cooper, belly, blanket, pretty and he's started saying momma more which totally melts my heart!  He's even putting words together.  He's started saying "hi" when he walks in a room but occasionally he'll say "hi dad" when he sees Skeet or "hi Callie" when I let the dog in the house.  He says "what's that" or "where go?" as he lifts his little hands and opens his eyes wide.  Totally adorable, I'll have to try to get it on film.  He can point to some body parts and even say them as he points, like eyes, nose, mouth, ears and of course belly (belly button).  He thinks it's fun to lift mom's shirt up and point to her (very stretched out and almost outie) belly button and then hurry and pull her shirt back down.  He is also repeating names a lot and can say grandpa, Brenda, Callie and Piper quite well and on a regular basis.  Others he will repeat but he doesn't know who they are. 

This kid has the best personality. He is so funny and has the best facial expressions!  He eats up the attention too.  If you ask him to show you his muscles he'll flex for you and make the funniest face.  He keeps us all laughing.  Also, he can say "bye" but prefers to blow you a kiss when he's leaving.  Sometimes, if he's in a giving mood, he'll even offer up a kiss on the lips.  He really is a sweetie most of the time!

He is such a curious boy and we love to watch him try to figure things out.  I want him to learn and be challenged but I don't feel like I spend enough time with him to actually see that happening.  It makes me sad but we can already tell that he's pretty dang smart and we are so proud of him. 

Sawyer has 2 molars on the bottom and it feels like one is coming in on the top.  They were tough on us as he got an ear infection with each molar's arrival.  The 2nd ear infection was very persistent and required a round of oral antibiotics as well as 3 antibiotic injections (which really hurt... it broke my heart).  The good news is that those were his first ear infections ever but the bad news is that if he gets another as bad, we will probably be looking at getting tubes since we have exhausted most of our antibiotic options for that type of infection.

He also had a runny nose and cough that lasted almost 2 months and that didn't help the infections either.  We knew it wasn't a cold and were beginning to worry that maybe he was allergic to Callie.  However, before the Dr. tried a blood test to see what the allergies were, he wanted to try some Singulair to see if it would help his symptoms.  Sure enough, about a week later everything seemed to clear up and Sawyer has been snot and cough free!!  He is able to play with Callie without getting stuffy so we are hopeful that she will get to stay a part of our family!

Depending on the day, Sawyer can be a great eater and will at least try everything but if he doesn't like it on first taste, he usually won't let it back in his mouth.  He was doing really well at eating all his food and not throwing any on the ground but as soon as the ear infections arrived the throwing came back.  He loves to look me in the eye, grab a piece of food and chuck it as hard as he can off of his tray.  He is definitely a stubborn little guy!  His favorite is still french toast but he loves green beans and peas, snow cones, cheetoes, grapes, fresh peaches, watermelon, cheese, and pretty much anything that is sweet and not good for him.  He got his sweet tooth from both his mom and dad. We need to be better examples to him but don't count on that happening until after Cooper is born!

He is still in 18 month clothes but can wear some of his 24 month stuff.  He fits in size 5 shoes but never wears them.  As much as I love buying shoes, I would live shoeless if I could (and if some of them weren't so cute) so I never remember to put them on him plus when I do, he just takes them off.  I am sure once he starts walking that will change and of course as winter gets closer I plan on getting him used to wearing them. 

He is still napping twice a day, which surprises me but I guess with a 6 a.m. wake up time, the little guy is tired.

He loves the water!  We have taken him swimming a couple of times and to the splash pad in St. George once.  He had so much fun.  I hope to get a few more pool trips and maybe a splash pad trip in before Cooper arrives and before summer is gone.  I love watching Sawyer have fun. It brings me so much joy that I want to see it all the time. I just wish I had more time with him to do fun things! 

 It has been a crazy, busy fire season and Skeet hasn't been home much. I can tell that when Skeet isn't home, Sawyer really misses him.  I try to take him to see Grandpa as much as I can because Grandpa is his favorite, right after daddy!  ( I like to think I come in 3rd... I hope that's the case)  I love to see him get so excited when daddy walks in the door, even if he smells like smoke and is covered in soot, Sawyer still clings to him and cries any time I try to take him or Skeet tries to set him down.  I love that they are so close and hope that it will be the same with Cooper.  I think a boy's relationship with his dad is very important and I know that Skeet cherishes his time with Sawyer.  It's been really tough on him having to spend so much time away from home lately.  We really love the few hours a week we get to spend with him (if we get that much time) and we appreciate how hard he works all he does to make sure that our winters are comfortable and that we don't go without. 





4th of July at the City Park

He found yet another item to carry around in his mouth!

July Jamboree (ignore my fat face and big nose... I am not one of those pretty pregnant women!)

So tall he can reach the top of the table.

Learning to use a fork

First 4-wheeler ride... he loved it!

Watching the 4th of July parade with grandpa.

Still trying to master the art of walking.

That mixing spoon was a little hard to keep in his mouth while he was crawling

Climbing around like a monkey!

Spaghetti face

Cool dude!

Loving the splash pad and river.  That is the sweetest face!

June 2012 Picture Overload

Sawyer has his 15 month appointment tomorrow so I'll do a better update then but here are some pictures from June that I haven't shared yet.  Have I mentioned how much I adore this little boy?  Our lives would be so dull without him. He is awesome!!

His infatuation with carrying things in his mouth started with this ball.

Decided to help daddy with the dishes! What a good boy!

He wasn't happy about the haircut but he loved the sucker (although you can't really tell from the picture)

This kid is always cracking us up... we can't get enough of his facial expressions.

We did find out later that he was actually suffering from his first ear infection.. poor boy!

He got his first fat lip at daycare (a consequence of carrying his toys in his mouth) I almost cried when I first saw it but it went down fast and barely phased him at all!  He's one tough kid!

Cute pudding face!

Sawyer has discovered that he loves drinking from any faucet

This one didn't turn out so well though, he put his entire mouth around the faucet... he hasn't tried that again.

He walks great with his toy... without it, not so much!

Best buddies!