Cutest Baby Boy EVER!!

Abbey Kyhl from AK Studio and Design (http://www.akstudiodesign.com/) also did Sawyer's newborn pics.  I have to say she did an amazing job.  I am so in love with ever single picture.  There are more but I didn't have the patience to upload all of them.  They turned out amazing and captured my little man's sweetness so well. I am so glad that we have all of these amazing pictures and I don't think I have enough wall space in my house to display all of them like I want to!  Sawyer was exactly a week old when these were taken.  Skeet got pooped and peed on and I took my turn getting peed on too but it didn't even phase either of us.  Who would have thought that only a week after becoming parents we would be okay with getting peed on??  But seriously, how could you get upset when it comes from someone so dang cute?  I think cute is actually an understatement... there is not a word good enough to describe how incredibly adorable my little man is!!  Can you tell I am in love?  He does get cuter every day too... not lying.. he really does! 

Maternity Photos

 Abbey Kyhl from AK Studio and Design (http://www.akstudiodesign.com/) did my maternity and Sawyer's newborn pics (will be seen in a later post).  I could not be happier with the way they turned out.  I have always regretted not getting pictures done when I was pregnant with Avery and since we don't know if Sawyer will be our last or not, I wanted to make sure I got them this time around.  I absolutely adore Abbey.  She did an amazing job and is so sweet.  We clicked instantly.  She made me feel so beautiful at a time when I know to most people I just looked large and puffy!!  Thanks Abbey!!  I will cherish these forever!!

3 Weeks and Some Thoughts on Motherhood

I know I keep saying it but time just keeps flying by!  My little man is already 3 weeks old!!  He grows and changes so much every day.  I still cannot get enough of him.  I keep thinking that if I blink I might miss something cute he does or he might grow 3 inches in an instant.  It sort of reminds me of that Aerosmith song from the Armageddon movie... you know which one I am talking about I think it's called "I Don't Want to Miss A Thing" or something like that. 

I am loving motherhood.  More than I ever thought I would.  I finally feel like I am serving my purpose in life.  Like I was put here to be a mom and I am finally getting to do just that!!  It is such an amazing feeling!!  A few months ago, when I was still pregnant, I was watching some home movies that my dad had given me for Christmas.  In one of them he was interviewing all his kids, asking them how old they were, what grade they were in, if they liked school, what they wanted to be when they grew up, etc.  I was 5 at the time and when my dad asked me what I wanted to be when I grew up I told him "a mom".  He asked if there was anything else.  After some shrugging and a minute or two to think about it I added, "and rich".  Even at the age of 5 I knew that I was meant to be a mom.  When I watched that video I cried.  At 5 I was so innocent.  I had no idea that becoming a mom would be one of the things I would have to work hardest to achieve in my life.  I am glad that I had my priorities straight too and that being rich came second.  I am not rich, in the $$ sense, by any means but when I think of my sweet children and amazingly supportive and loving husband, I feel like the richest girl ever!  I know it sounds totally cheesy but it's true! 

I have to admit, I haven't been getting much sleep.  Sawyer is only partly to blame for this.  You see, I was so stressed out when I was pregnant with him, that something would go wrong.  I just wanted him here so that I could just look at him and know he is okay.  Well now I can do just that.  Although I seem to think that looking at him, and making sure he is okay is much more important than sleep.  If anything ever happened to him I just don't know what I would do.  I don't know what is going to happen to Sawyer does still like to wake up every couple of hours to eat and only sometimes does he like to go right back to sleep.  Like last night for instance,  he woke up every 2 hours and then wanted to be held while he looked around for another 30 minutes at least, before he would go back to sleep.  Am I upset about the lost sleep?  If you would have asked me a month ago I would have probably been upset if someone kept me up all night long.  I love, or loved, my sleep.  If you know me, you know just how true that is.  However, now, when I look down at the warm little body in my arms and see his big bright eyes staring up at me, well let's just say I would stay up all night, every night for that moment.  He gives his best cuddles in the middle of the night and I could swear his little head smells sweeter.  I could stare at his sweet little face and kiss his head all night long.  This might change, as I get more sleep deprived.  But for now, I am just going to enjoy it. 

At three weeks Sawyer is still eating like a champ!!  He sleeps like a champ too, but only during the day.  I swear I can see him growing.  He is getting cute little rolls on his arms and legs and I love his chubby cheeks!!  He is finally wearing 0-3 month clothes and is in size 1 diapers. 
Sawyer loves his activity mat and the star that plays music and has flashing lights.  He will stare at it while he kicks and grunts!  So cute!!
Sawyer has the cutest smile EVER!!  We only get to see it when he's got gas or when he's having a good dream but I know we'll be seeing it more soon and I can't wait to show it to you all... seriously... the CUTEST!! 
He has developed reflux, gas and we think he may be a little colicky (sp?) but it's not too bad and we are hoping it doesn't get worse.

With Great Grandma and Grandpa!

He fell asleep like this... too cute!

Sawyer steals any one's heart that meets him.  His grandma Sherrie can't get enough and is more than happy to just sit and hold him whenever she gets the chance.   He is such a sweetie and his daddy and I fall more in love every day!

Chunky Monkey

Our appointment with Sawyer's pediatrician, Dr. N, went great today!  Our little boy is filling out quickly!!  He weighed in at 8 pounds 7 ounces today and 21 and 3/4 inches.  His head grew an inch as well!  He is in the 38 percentile for weight, 84th for height and 56th for head circumference.  Dr. N said that it is normal for most newborns to gain about an ounce a day and our little guy, being the over achiever that he is, almost doubled that in the 10 days since his last appointment.  His daddy and I couldn't be more proud!  I love chunky babies and if he doesn't keep getting taller, we might get a chance at a chubby baby!!  Of course I'll think he's the cutest either way but from the rolls and chins I am seeing develop on this little man, I think we have a chunky monkey in the making!!  Love him!!

2 Weeks and Mother's Day

I haven't been posting as much as I probably would like to lately but I am sure you don't blame me... I just want to spend all my free time loving on my little man.  Right now, he is napping in his crib as I am trying to get him used to it so we can get him sleeping in his own room.  So far he is doing great and seems to like all the room he has to stretch out.  I think the move will be much harder on me than it will be on him. 

Mother's Day this year was so fantastic!  I celebrated my first Mother's Day back in 2007 when I was pregnant with Avery.  We didn't know she would leave us at that point and I just remember being so excited to be a mom!  The next 3 Mother's Days came and went and they were bittersweet.  I was still a mother but I wasn't able to hold my child and people didn't wish me a Happy Mother's Day because I wasn't a "normal" mom.  This year Skeet kept asking me what I wanted for Mother's Day and every time he'd ask my answer would be the same.  I have already received the best gift ever... nothing could top it.  It was an amazing day.  I spent the entire day loving on my little guy and enjoying every second.  I thought a lot about Miss Avery too but I think she wants me to be happy and to enjoy her brother.  I don't think she wants me to be sad right now.  I knew that having another child wouldn't make me forget her and wouldn't heal my heart completely but I could never have imagined how much it does help to hold my little man.  I can't help but be blissfully happy!  Being his mom is just so much better than I ever could have imagined! 

Today is Sawyer's 2 week birthday.  I can't believe how much he changes and grows every day.  Time is just flying by and although I am trying to not focus on that, I can't help but feel a little sad that in 8 weeks I will be returning to work and will be missing out on so much of him.  I wish so badly that I could be a stay at home mom!!  I hope all of you out there that get to stay at home with your kids know how lucky you are!  As much as I adore Kim, Sawyer's soon to be 2nd mom, I am so jealous of all of the time she will have with him that I won't.  It is killing me already!  I can't imagine what a wreck I am going to be in 8 weeks! 

In the last few days Sawyer has had his first bath, which he didn't love.  He did however love his second bath.  Skeet and I are a great team and I don't know what I am going to do when he starts going on fires and I have to bathe Mr. Sawyer myself!!  He still loves having his hair washed and I love how big and bright his eyes are when his daddy is washing his hair!! I always volunteer to hold him while Skeet washes because I get to watch his cute little face! 
Sawyer still hates to have his diaper changed and to be dressed or undressed!  We did however, have a couple of diaper changes in the last couple of days that he didn't scream through.  I think that is good progress! 
He is still sleeping okay.  Not great but I know it could be much worse.  I am getting between 4 and 6 hours of sleep a night, only it is in 1-2 hour increments!  I think he still has his nights and days mixed up because I think he could sleep 5 or 6 hours straight in the day if I didn't wake him up to eat.  But at night he is up every 2 to 2.5 hours wanting to eat!  All of this eating is showing on his chubby little face and his cheeks are getting more kissable every day! 
He has his 2 week check up tomorrow so I will post his stats then!  Let me just say again how much I adore my little boy! I think it's finally sinking in that he is actually mine and that I get to keep him!  He is so cuddly and lovable!  I can't get enough!

With the man who made it all possible, Dr. S

I love this outfit on him!

Cute monkey-butt!!

Wide awake after his first bath!

1 Week

I can't believe my little man is already a week old (I know this post is a couple of days late).  He is already growing up much faster than I am comfortable with.  I guess when your days are filled with feedings every 3 hours, sleeping in between and a lot of visits from all of his many admirers, the days pass pretty quickly. 

What we know about our little Sawyer so far:

He HATES having his diaper changed, which sucks for him cause he is constantly pooing!!
He LOVES having his hair washed.  Especially when Daddy does it!
He is very tall and very skinny and mom has a hard time finding clothes that fit him.
He LOVES to eat and sleeps hard when he sleeps.  Unfortunately for mom though, he has his days and nights mixed up.  He could sleep all day and stay up all night.  I don't get much sleep but I am not complaining at all... I am just so grateful to have a sweet boy to cuddle with all night.  Actually, he's not that bad... he just likes to eat every two hours at night so I only get to sleep in one hour increments.
He LOVES to have daddy read to him and his favorite song is "I Am A Child of God". 
He hates being put into his car seat but loves to go for rides in the car. 
He hates it when mom dresses him, or undresses him. 
He makes the cutest noises and pulls the craziest faces.
He hates being burped and mom is starting to suspect that she isn't that good at it.  He only burbs half of the time and he rarely spits up.

As of Monday, he weighed 7 pounds 6 ounces and was 21 inches long.  He is in the 85th percentile for height and only the 35th for weight. 

On Wednesday, at 8 days old, his umbilical cord fell off. 

His jaundice is slowly clearing up. 

He really is such a sweet little boy and he loves to cuddle.  When he's really hungry he'll give mommy kisses on the cheek, which I love of course.  He gets cuter and cuter every day too.  Skeet and I are head over heels for this little boy.  I think the only way I could be happier is if his big sister were here as well.  We know that she is watching over him though and that brings us such great comfort.  I still feel like it is all a dream and I am going to wake up any second.  I can't believe I am so lucky! 

Yay for Sue!!

My little man is now 5 days old!  The time is already flying and it is making me panic a little bit! I am trying to enjoy every little second with him but the seconds tick by so fast!  He is already changing and looking less like he did the day he was born but he just keeps getting cuter!!  Things have been going really well since we brought him home.  He was taken off the bili lights on Saturday morning but it seems he still has some jaundice.  His numbers were still up today but his doctor (who we love!) thinks that today is his peak and the numbers will start to go down.  Our first night with him home was okay but hard because he was on the bili bed and had to be naked, so we had trouble keeping his body temperature where it needed to be.  Night two was harder because he was still on the bili bed but he also had a little bit of a tummy ache and wanted to be held most of the night, which meant I didn't get much sleep.  Yesterday he didn't want to eat.  Up until then he had been doing great with nursing.  I felt fortunate that we didn't struggle with it that much but then yesterday he wouldn't latch.  I felt so bad because nothing I did helped him and I could tell he was getting more and more hungry and frustrated.  I finally called the lactation specialist, Sue, and after crying into the phone for a few minutes, I explained my dilemma.  She immediately came out to help. Within 5 minutes of her arrival she had him latched and eating away!  My milk had come in the night before and my boobs were so full she said it was like trying to suck on a cantaloupe.  Poor guy, no wonder he couldn't latch!  She stayed for the entire feeding, answered a ton of questions and made Skeet and I both feel so much more confident with a lot of things that we were worried about.  Needless to say, Sue has been added to my list of heroes!  She is amazing and I don't know what we would have done without her!  Since then Sawyer is back to eating like a champ and he even slept most of the night last and only woke mom up twice to eat!  What a good little boy!! 

I seriously cannot get enough of him.  He is so cute and so sweet!!  He is amazing and being his mom is better than I could have ever imagined!  We have had tons of company and as much as I love hearing how cute he is and seeing how much everyone else loves him, I have a hard time handing him over cause I have become a little bit stingy about Sawyer loves.  He is so cuddly and I never want to put him down!!  Skeet has been so great too and is such a proud daddy!  Sawyer looks so much like him too, the ladies are gonna love him!  Actually... they already do! 

I do miss being pregnant, but not as much as I thought I would.  I was so scared that I would cry every day, well I do cry every day but they are tears of pure joy and pride.  Because I have my little man here with me now I don't think much about not being pregnant anymore.  I miss the movements and my tummy, but having my little boy to love on is so much better so I think it's a good trade off! 

I want to thank everyone for the kind messages and comments!  We are so lucky to have so many out there praying for Mr. Sawyer and cheering us on.  I cannot describe how amazing you all have made me feel and reading the comments always make me cry (the good kind).  I am so glad that I am able to share Sawyer with you all.  He is a very special, and very loved little boy and I can guarantee that he will grow up knowing just how much he is loved, wanted and cherished!! 

With that being said, I will leave you with a few more pictures.  I wish I could post more but my internet at home is so slow, it is really frustrating to try to upload pics. I'll try to do more later!  Here is my handsome little guy over the past few days.

3 days old

 My boys!! 

 4 days old in a milk induced coma

 2 days old, on his bili bed (he's already got his daddy's muscles)

4 days old

3 days old (no mom isn't naked in this picture)