Mas & Sarah + Saylor

She's FOUR!

2012-01-22T18:20:00.000-08:00

Our girl is officially four! We had her party last weekend with family and friends at Unpluggits (a fun little play/paint/playdoh/dress up/etc. place). I was TERRIBLE about taking pictures. Ugh, I'm so mad at myself that I didn't get A SINGLE picture of her and ANY of her grandparents. Yonna, Papa, MiMi, Neil, and Grannie all came for the weekend and I didn't get a one! Thank you all for coming, we really appreciate you all making the trip for the birthday girl!

Saylor and best pal Rylan

Friends and lots of paint

Silly, silly girl

Erin and Saylor

Our precious birthday girl

Today, I had a moment. We went to church knowing Saylor would now be in the four year old class, but when I got to the door and saw that the sign read "4 and 5 YEAR OLDS", I had to take a second. My baby is a baby....and five year olds are BIG. How can they be together?! Eeek! So as I took a few deep breaths and composed myself, she was already in the door, and then I had to beg for a hug. I am so very proud of her for being such a big girl, but my heart is breaking just a little. She told me after church that her new class was fun and she didn't know anyone, but she met new friends. Wasn't it just yesterday that she cried every time I dropped her off at church? Wasn't it just yesterday I couldn't wait until she could walk and talk, and now she DOES. NOT. STOP. It just really hit me today how big and independent my girl is now.

Saylor Grace, I don't even have the words to describe how thankful we are for you! We love every bit of you and are beyond proud of the kind, smart, hilarious, confident, beautiful little lady that you are. Thank you for making our lives brighter with your laugh, your smile, your dance moves, your words, your cuddles, your hugs, and your kisses.

I promise....this was just yesterday!

Saylor Tells All...

2012-01-10T16:51:00.000-08:00

Tomorrow my sweet girl turns FOUR years old! I saw this idea on Pinterest and then on my friend, Libby's blog, and thought it was such a fun idea! Hopefully I will remember to do this each year. So here are her WORD for WORD answers as an almost four year old:

1. What is your favorite color? Blue
2. What is your favorite toy? My toy box with the blue sand
3. What is your favorite fruit? Grapes
4. What is your favorite veggie? Corn and peas
5. What is your favorite TV show? Jake and the Neverland Pirates
6. What is your favorite Movie? Tangled
7. What is your favorite thing to eat for lunch? Spaghetti with the meatballs
8. What is your favorite outfit? Dress
9. What is your favorite game? Candyland
10. What is your favorite snack? Yogurt raisins
11. What is your favorite animal? A tall elephant to ride on
12. What is your favorite song? God is watching, watching over you.... (not sure that is what the song is called, it's from a CD from VBS last summer)
13. What is your favorite book? My bible book
14. Who is your best friend? Rylan and Averey
15. What is your favorite cereal? Chex
16. What is your favorite thing to do outside? Take a walk with Samson
17. What is your favorite thing to drink? Punch juice
18. What is your favorite holiday? Fall time....is fall time a
holiday, momma? (I explain holidays here). Ok, Easter.
19. What do you like to take to bed with you at night? Blueberry with her jammies on
20. What is your favorite thing to eat for breakfast? Donuts with sprinkles on them
21. What do you want for dinner on your birthday? A butterfly cake
22. What do you want to be when you grow up? An astronaut
23. What is your favorite thing to do with mommy? Paint rocks
24. What is your favorite thing to do with daddy? Play-doh and moon dough

Highlights

2012-01-05T19:59:00.001-08:00

See, what happens when I don't blog for four months, is I forget everything worth blogging about. So, I've gone through my pictures to make some late 2011 highlights.

1. This little lady started her second year of preschool. She is loving it, we are loving it! And she's a smarty :)

2. We went to a couple of pumpkin patches....at this one, these two girls got Kellen and I lost in a corn maze....then they wanted to be held while we found our way out.
3. My little bug wanted to be a lady bug again for Halloween this year. Great with me! Less time, less money...let's hope she keeps up this habit!

4. We had a baby shower for Tana and baby Kysen

5. We took our little ballerina to the Nutcracker. We had a great time and a memorable night!

6. This is Saylor, Kellen, and Ave Christmas morning. Actually it was the 26th, but Daddy worked on Christmas day and thankfully Saylor didn't even know we waited a day to have Christmas. (Do you notice a theme here? Saylor likes her lady bug wings a little bit I think.)

7. Saylor, Papa, and Ave on Christmas. So thankful that my parents were able to come again this year for Christmas.

8. This little guy decided to make his debut this week. Welcome to the family little man, we are so glad you are here!

*why do my pictures look fine on my computer until I put them on blogger, then they look blurry/splotchy?? Weird.

Going to the Lodge....

2011-09-26T08:18:00.000-07:00

A few weeks ago before preschool started we made a trip to Great Wolf Lodge. We decided to bring Averey along as well. Selfishly, I am SO glad that she was able to come. While Daddy and Saylor swam back and forth over and over again in the same ol' pool, Averey and I were racing and laughing down all the fun slides. Saylor loves to be in the water, but that's about the extent of it. She doesn't even like to go down the little bitty kiddie slides.

The girls also had a great time playing in the room and going to the night-time animatronic story time in their jammies. When we got home, Saylor told me her favorite part was the story time. Seriously?!? We drove 3 hours and did all kinds of fun stuff for your favorite part to be the story time, which we do all the time right down the street at the library for FREE? Ha! But really, we all had a wonderful time and came home happy and exhausted....with lots of great memories!

Our Summer in Pictures

2011-09-14T12:58:00.000-07:00

I know the amount of pictures I am posting is ridiculous, but honestly there is no way I'm going to find the time or patience to do a post about each event this summer so I am just going to do a quick review with pictures. And I'm leaving out a bunch, but if I didn't take a picture of it, it didn't make the cut this time around.

We got to take Saylor on a passenger train! She thought it was fun going, by the time we were coming back, she had pretty much lost interest.

Saylor and Yonna on the train

Daddy and Saylor getting on the train

Friends Berkeley and Jacquie at our high school reunion

Girl pic at our 10 year high school reunion--we had so much fun! It was so great to see old friends!

A lot of the hot summer days were spent doing this--Saylor swimming, Mommy reading. (and after two rounds of swimming lesssons, she loves to be in the water but STILL doesn't like to go under water!)
Our friends came to see us. I didn't get near enough pictures of this sweet duo. This is a quick one I took on my phone. I love watching these two together!

One Sunday, church had a fun carnival where Saylor got to ride a pony. She wasn't so sure at first. We went to Austin to see my mother in law get married!

Cousin Zach with the blushing bride and groom

Our little family

Saylor took ballet class and loved it!

My little ballerina

We went to a cool museum and got to dress up in lots of cool outfits
Cousin Ave, Saylor and Daddy at the museum
The girls "driving" an ambulance

Hanging with Ave

Enjoying an afternoon of girl time

More dress up with Averey
And a little painting

Now, lets bring on some fall time and cooler weather...and some football!

Remembering snow....

2011-08-03T12:18:00.001-07:00

I'm so very behind on the happenings around here and my list of things I need to post about seems daunting, so I'm going to start with a little wishful thinking! Back in January and February we had TONS of snow. I don't really like freezing cold weather, and especially not snow, but considering it's 110 degrees outside, I would love to see some snowflakes right now!

I tried to go outside with Saylor a few times during the big snows and make snow angels and throw snow balls, but I don't last near as long as she does. It's like three year olds don't really care if they can feel their fingers and toes. But I care!

So one afternoon, Mas and Saylor set out to play in the snow. I started to wonder about them about 2 hours later and I looked out of the window and saw this! Their cold weather adventure warmed my heart. I love how much they love each other! And I'm so glad that daddy braved the freezing cold to build Saylor her first snowman.

So, there ya go! Proof that colder weather does exist. I was beginning to wonder!

Christmas in June

2011-06-04T19:54:00.000-07:00

It's been a while....again. I just can't make myself sit down in front of the computer and blog lately. And I know this post is completely silly, but I'm doing it for my own record. It's June 4th and I'm blogging about Christmas, but better late then never, right?

We hosted Christmas for the first time at our house this year....well, last year. It was so fun to have my parents come to all of us this year. It was definitely different and a little emotional for me--it's the first time in my whole life that I haven't spent either Christmas Eve or Christmas morning in my parent's living room. And we really missed seeing my grandparents! However, it was so fun to start new traditions and make new memories (and not have to pack, unpack, pack and unpack gifts again). Between all the contributions from my parents, Tana, and I...we had a fabulous Christmas breakfast and lunch!

Ave enjoyed going through her big mountain of presents, Saylor, on the other hand, did not share the same enthusiasm. She wanted to play with the very first toy she opened and did not like that we wanted her to put each one up to open the next gift. About halfway through her pile, she looked at Yonna and asked her if she would go home so she could play with her toys. Poor, mistreated baby!

After the girls had had their fair share of fun, food, and presents, we put them down for a nap and had a lot of laughs playing Just Dance 2 on the Wii. Those pictures must have been accidentally deleted ;)

We had a great time having Christmas in Oklahoma! I would say my first time hosting Christmas was a success. And once again, most of all I'm just thankful we were all able to be together, especially considering the nature of some of the careers in this family.

Happy Late Birthday, Jesus :)

BIG GIRL BICYCLE!

2011-03-22T15:07:00.000-07:00

Yesterday was a big day for Saylor. In three year old terms at least. Yesterday she went with me to the dentist and after a little coaxing, was very good :) The last time she went to the dentist, she was happy until they tried to lean her back in the chair. It was over after that. So this time, she got to watch me get my teeth cleaned, then sat in daddy's lap and let the dentist look at her teeth. Baby steps!

We then went to Walmart and got her a 'big girl' bike. Her little radio flyer tricycle was starting to rub her knees so it was time for an upgrade. She rode her new bike around all of Walmart while we picked up a few other things. She had so much fun and all the older people that were in Walmart got a huge kick out of her. Mas and I decided that was the easiest shopping we have ever done and might just take the bike with us every time we go! Then, we went to the park and broke in the new bike.

Later, since she was good at the dentist, she got a treat. And she chose ice cream for her treat--of course, to keep those teeth nice and healthy ;). And she wanted it in a CONE. She was very clear on that. I hadn't even realized she had never had an ice cream cone, just ice cream in a cup. But, she put it away like a pro.

More Saylorisms

2011-03-17T19:48:00.000-07:00

It's hard to really grasp how funny/cute some of these are because you can't hear Saylor's sweet little voice say them (and because I'm her momma and think most things she says are funny), but I'm writing them down anyway for my own memories. I hope I can always remember her sweet little voice!

*the other day day she said "Mommy, when I'm in trouble, you talk like this (she then grits her teeth and continues to talk) 'DON'T DO THAT!" It was so funny! And it made me realize how much I talk to her like that lately. It has been a trying few months to say they least. She also told her daddy and Staci at church that I talk like that when she's in trouble. She's gonna be such a tattle tale!

*We were building a tower with blocks and when it fell down, she dropped her head and sadly said "I just want all my dreams to come true". What the heck?! I actually asked her to repeat what she said to make sure. No more princess movies for her.

*The other day I had a nosebleed (which I can only count one other nosebleed that I've had ever--so she obviously has never been around me when that happened). She was amazed and said "Mommy, your boogers are RED!!" I explained to her that my nose was bleeding. She responded with "Mommy, when my nose bleeds I want it to be purple.................no, I want it to be green........or yellow." Gotcha. I'll get that request right in for ya.

*She wanted me to take a picture of her and Samson and so she put her arm around him and said "Smile, buddy". So sweet!

About 5 minutes after that she told me that "Samson wont quit interrupting me while I'm digging in the dirt".

*Last week Saylor told me that she can't wear blue (it was actually turquoise), green, or black shirts because they are for boys. Then today when I was trying to get her to put on shorts to go outside and play, she told me that shorts are for boys too. And they were PURPLE shorts for that matter! Apparently she can only wear dresses or tutus. But when she goes outside she literally lays in the dirt, digs in the dirt, and pours dirt all over her. Sorry baby girl, but your going to have a long spring and summer dressed like a little boy!!

*She wanted me to wear one of her tutus or princess dresses. I told her I was too big. She told me if I would get smaller I would fit. Therefore, I am on a new diet/workout plan to try to fit into a 5T princess dress! Wish me luck :)

Our weekend getaway

2011-03-15T19:54:00.001-07:00

A few weekends ago, we headed down south to Plano to see my friend Erin, celebrate my birthday, and have the famous (to us at least) Tom Slott photograph Saylor. We had a great time, ate great food (Thanks Karen), and Mas and I got to have a little date night at one of our faves, Texas de Brazil while Erin watched Saylor.

Here are some of the pictures Tom took while we were there.

Thank you, Slott family for your hospitality. We appreciate everything! And Tom, we are so thankful that you continue to share your amazing talent with us!

Birthday Party: Part Two

2011-02-24T18:32:00.000-08:00

At the end of January, we had Saylor's third birthday party with family and friends--most of which came from out of town. Saylor had so much fun being the center of attention and opening presents and most of all--eating cupcakes. The child asked about 30 times to eat cupcakes before her party even started.

The birthday girl
with Erin

In her new tutu. The kid lives in a tutu. As you can see in the rest of the pictures, it didn't come off the rest of the night. (Thanks Erin!!)

About to get to eat the much awaited cupcake!

FINALLY!!

Saylor and Ms. Staci

Ms. Staci is one of Saylor's very favorite people. She worked in the nursery at church when Saylor was about 18 months old and before Staci, Saylor cried every time we took her. Probably because Staci spoils her and lets her do whatever she wants, and held her the entire time....but it was such a relief that Saylor didn't cry anymore when we dropped her off. When Saylor turned two she had to go to a new class and we were so sad to leave Ms. Staci, however a few months down the road, she moved into Saylor's class and we were thrilled! In January, when Saylor moved up to the three year old class, Staci moved right on up with her. We love Ms. Staci so much and are so thankful that she loves Saylor, and I guess we'll just have to take her to kindergarden with us in a few years!

And we also have Staci to thank for inviting us to their awesome Community Group (small group) that we are so thankful to be a part of!

Ave and Saylor

with our birthday girl!Saylor and GG

Ok, I'm going to take just a moment to brag on myself. I am the opposite of creative. I would much rather just spend the money for someone more qualified to do these things and avoid hours of work that turns out to be terrible anyways. But after going to look for a ballerina cake and coming up empty handed, I searched online and stumbled across this idea for cupcake toppers. And I ACTUALLY MADE THEM! And I think they turned out pretty cute. It definitely took HOURS. I cut out all the little dresses and taped on tulle and ribbons and then carefully placed the pearl "3"s. But, I actually think it was worth it! (Gasp!) Saylor loved them, so in my book, that is worth every second!

A few of the tissue paper pom poms. I made these last year for her party too. They are so very easy if you are looking for an idea to brighten up a party.

And no get-together is complete these days without a dance off on Wii Just Dance! It has become our new favorite pastime! I won't share the pictures, because I love everyone too much to do that :). (And just in case they have some not so flattering pictures of me doing a dance or two). But I will share one of Averey, because she was proud of her dance moves. She was workin' it!!

We all had so much fun! And we are so thankful for EVERYONE that drove the hours to come celebrate our THREE year old! We love you all so, so very much!

Remembering...

2011-02-16T19:40:00.000-08:00

Last Thursday we lost my grandfather, Paul. Even the grandkids called him Paul. I was the first grandchild and apparently I repeated what everyone else called him...and it just stuck, even after attempts to get us to call him a more traditional "grandpa" name.

Thankfully, we went the Sunday before that to say our goodbyes and he had two pretty good days while we were there. He was weak and wasn't awake much, but when he was, he was happy to see us, knew exactly what was going on, and almost everything that came out of his mouth was a joke. He lost his five year battle with cancer, but was Paul until the very end.

Throughout the past few weeks we've laughed and cried over our favorite memories of and with him. I am so grateful that for two and a half years I had the opportunity (I call it an opportunity, they may have called it something different :)) of eating lunch at my Grannie and Paul's house five days a week. I was in nursing school and worked for a doctor that were both just about two miles from their house, so they generously fed me home-cooked meals every day! Occasionally I would show up and Paul would have made me a steak and baked potato for lunch--because he knew that was my favorite. He called me "Tater Head" because I never turned down any form of potato. At the time, those 45 minutes every day didn't seem like anything especially memorable, but today I am overwhelmed with gratitude for those everyday simple moments with my grandparents.

I will miss the sound he made when we hugged him...like it was the best hug ever, I will miss him calling me Tater Head, I will miss him making fun of us for being Okies, I will miss the way he held Saylor in his lap and she would beg him not to tickle her, but when he would stop, she would beg for more, I will miss his laugh. I will miss so much about him, but the BRIGHT and SHINY silver lining is knowing that he's in Heaven and I will hug him tight again someday.

Birthday Party: Part Uno

2011-02-02T19:08:00.000-08:00

The week of Saylor's birthday, we had a fun little birthday party for her at Sara Sara Cupcake in downtown OKC. We weren't able to do a big family birthday party until last weekend because Mas wasn't off a weekend until then....but I didn't want Saylor to have to wait 3 weeks to have a party--that's a super LONG time for a three year old! So we did a little party with two of her friends and her cousin! The girls got to pick out a cupcake, decorate it, and eat lots of sprinkles and icing. The parents got to partake in delicious cupcakes and coffee and I didn't have to clean up a thing! :) I think the girls had lots of fun....and quite the sugar high!

BIRTHDAY GIRL

2011-01-11T19:01:00.000-08:00

Saylor Grace,

Today you turned THREE years old!! I am so in love with the little lady you are becoming. I love how kind and nurturing you are! I love how funny you are! I love how you can't do much anymore without a tutu--it's your must-have accessory! I love that you love princess tiaras and high heel shoes, but also love to play with your garbage truck just as much! I love listening to you pray! I love watching you sleep and your beautiful smiling face first thing in the morning! I love how much you sing and dance! I love how much you love school and your cheerful attitude every Wednesday when I drop you off! I love when you use big words, it makes me laugh! I love your curls, especially at the nape of your neck! I LOVE, LOVE, LOVE everything about you, precious girl!!

You bring us so much joy, Saylor girl! We love laughing AT you and WITH you :) and watching you grow and learn and explore. Every day we are more and more thankful for our little girl and the light you shine into our lives. We will do everything in our power to continue to fuel that little light in you so you can be a blessing to everyone who knows you, and that you will use your light to love and honor and serve the Lord.

Happy birthday, baby bug! We love you more than words could ever express and we are so humbled by the opportunity to be your parents!

Looking back to NOVEMBER

2011-01-04T18:40:00.000-08:00

We had a busy, busy November--these are the memories that stand out in my mind at the moment:

(and some of these pics are from my phone so they aren't so great)

Saylor had a Thanksgiving Feast at preschool. The kids dressed up as Indians and Pigrims and came out and sang a few songs, and then we all got to eat a Thanksgiving dinner together.

My sweet little Pilgrim! :)

Then we went to Amarillo for a few days for Thanksgiving.

Here, Saylor is teaching Paul how to use an iPhone :)

Reading with GG

The day after Thanksgiving we made a fast trip to Lubbock to see Mas' family. This is the first time we had met Paisley, who was born in September.

Saylor and Cousin Zach

To say Saylor LOVED Paisley would be quite the understatement!!

Saylor and MeMe

We also stopped to see our dear friends, Ross and Missy

Missy and I
Saylor and her buddy Reid

They love each other so much, and we love that they love each other. But, I am kinda disturbed that she's closing her eyes to kiss him. In a few years, he'll have some explaining to do to her daddy if we catch them doing this :)

Saylor and Yonna

At some point in November, we decorated for Christmas. It's one of my favorite days this holiday season. Saylor and I decorated the tree together and it was just one of those moments that I want to remember forever. We both had such a great time and at one point she said "Mommy, I'm having so much fun"! It also brought back memories of when we used to hang ornaments all together when I was little and my mom would always get sentimental about certain ornaments that we made, and now I completely get it. Saylor made a few this year in preschool and I know in just a few short years she'll be driving and I will get all sentimental over her little handpainted ornaments that she made when she was TWO. I also love how lots of the ornaments are concentrated at the bottom of the tree. She enjoyed the tree so much this year (and told me to "put that back, Mommy" when I started taking the tree down after Christmas).

Fourth Quarter Review

2010-12-30T13:20:00.000-08:00

It's been a long, long time!! The truth is, I am just plain lazy. My laptop bit the dust several months ago and sometimes it's just too hard to actually walk into the next room and sit down at a desk and blog at Mas' computer. I was very accustomed to blogging from my comfy bed with my computer in my lap (which is what Mas says made my computer croak in the first place, but whatever). Anyways, I thought before the year was through, I could at least do an update for October before I forget what went on. So here is a quick run-through.

Saylor was a precious little ladybug for Halloween. We got to take her to Storybook Forest, which is a walk-through outdoor forest that has storybook characters handing out candy. She had lots of fun! My mom was here with Saylor the last 5 days of October so she also got to take her trick or treating--once to the zoo and once around the neighborhood.

Mas and I took a fabulous trip ALL BY OURSELVES to the lovely city of San Francisco. This was the first vacation we've taken since we got married 4 1/2 years ago. It's funny how life happens and 4 1/2 years seem to pass so quickly. We had an amazing time! We stayed in fab hotel, ate DELICIOUS food, saw lots of great things, and really really enjoyed each other. We missed our little ladybug like crazy...really...the last day, I wasn't sure if that plane was ever gonna land, and I couldn't wait to kiss her sweet face. However, it was soooo unbelievably nice to get away. Thanks again, Mom, for coming to OK to hang out with Saylor!

(The house that the first season of Full House was taped--AWESOME!)

(The Full House house along with the other "Painted Ladies" and the SF skyline)

(Haight Ashbury was quite interesting! I didn't get a picture of all the people smoking joints freely along the sidewalks)

(Golden Gate Bridge on a rainy day)

(The cable car we rode)

(the width of ONE cable that suspends the GG Bridge)

(Alcatraz)

(Napa Valley--Yountville)

Rock-a-Bye Baby

2010-10-17T18:38:00.000-07:00

I'm writing to say farewell to a very special stage of our lives: rocking our baby before bed. About six months ago, it was pretty obvious that Saylor was over the whole rocking at bedtime thing, but she still kindly obliged because I would ask so nicely if she would come snuggle with her momma. She would fold her long legs up into a fetal position so that her legs didn't hang too far off the chair and we would rock and sing a few songs before I put her in her bed. Actually I would usually sing one and then she would sing it back to me. She would say "you don't sing it again, I sing all by self". But for about the last month--since we put her in her toddler bed--she's been just too big to cuddle in our laps and rock. Now we finish praying and she just runs and hops in her bed.

I loved rocking her. Well, usually. Of course there were the nights when she was smaller that she had fussy nights and I couldn't wait to put her back in her crib so I could put my own zombie body back to bed. Those are the nights I carefully watched her fall asleep and then contemplated if she was in a deep enough sleep that I could maybe slowly tiptoe her back to her crib without waking her up and starting the whole exhausting process over again. What I wouldn't give to have one or two of those nights back. Just occasionally!! Nothing like a sleeping baby in your arms!

Now she's big and independent and I absolutely love this stage too. I just miss rocking my baby!

Please, Please Pray!

2010-10-03T19:32:00.000-07:00

I did not know Leslie personally prior to this, I just had the pleasure of being her nurse for a short time. I honestly cannot think of a more devastating situation. Her husband lost his first wife a few years ago from breast cancer and his three children lost their mother. Please take the time to read her blog and pray for this sweet family. They desperately need to be wrapped in prayer!!
lesliejoyevans.blogspot.com

Llama Llama Did NOT Miss Mama!

2010-09-21T19:01:00.000-07:00

Saylor did wonderful last week at her very first day of preschool. The whole drive to school my stomach was in knots and I just prayed and prayed for her to feel safe and secure and have so much fun! He surely answers prayers!! Mas and I dropped her off and there wasn't a tear shed (although her momma got a little teary-eyed). I only thought of her about 23 million times throughout those 6 hours until we got to go pick her up....and I was thoroughly surprised again. Her teachers said that she never cried! My very cautious child didn't cry on her very first day of preschool?! Hallelujah! They also said that she was so sweet, ate very well, and talked A LOT! Of course I know those things, I just wanted her to be sweet at school as well! I am so proud of my little preschooler! And she can't wait to go back, which I am so thankful for.

*As an added bonus--my hubby and I got a date day while Saylor was in school. He took me to breakfast and to see a movie! Great day all around!

You Are My Sunshine, My Only Sunshine

2010-09-19T13:03:00.000-07:00

Here is Saylor singing You Are My Sunshine. She is definitely my sunshine! :)

School is around the corner....

2010-09-12T19:42:00.000-07:00

Thursday we went to Saylor's open house for preschool. She met her teachers and saw her classroom. She starts Wednesday. I am really excited and anxious for her....and me. I'll share pictures after Wednesay morning.

I saw this poem and maybe it's just the emotional momma in me talking, but I thought it was so sweet!
FIRST DAY OF SCHOOL
She started school this morning
And she seemed so very small.
As I walked there beside her
In the preschool hall.

And as she took her place beside
The others in the class,
I realized how all too soon
Those first few years can pass.

Remembering, I saw her as
She first learned how to walk.
The words that we alone made out
When she began to talk.

My eyes were blurred, so hastily
I brushed the tears away
Lest by some word or sign of mine
I mar her first big day.

Oh how I longed to stay with her
And keep her by the hand
To lead her through the places
That she couldn't understand.

And something closely kin to fear
Was mingled with my pride.
I knew she would no longer be
A baby by my side.

But she must have her chance to live,
To work her problems out,
The privilege to grow and learn is
What life is all about.

And I must share my little girl
With friends and work and play;
She's not a baby anymore-
She's in preschool today!
*************************************

Saylor is now also sleeping in a toddler bed!! She was still doing great in her crib, no escape attempts or anything--but we just decided it was time. She still calls me in there to get her out of bed when she wakes up. She hasn't quite figured out she can get out by herself and have a hay day yet. I hope she stays naive for long, long time!

Sleeping in her "big girl bed" and starting school this week--my baby is growing up so fast!

Labor Day Weekend

2010-09-07T18:53:00.000-07:00

This past weekend we made our way to Midland, Texas to attend my cousin's wedding. We traveled about 1,000 miles in just 3 days. It was a little exhausting, but well worth the trip, and we we fit as many friends and family as we possibly could into that small little window of time.

We stopped in Amarillo to stay one of the nights. We saw my grandparents and our dearest friends Ross, Missy and their two boys Reid and Max. Saylor and Reid love each other so much and it just thrills me to watch them together. Seeing Ross and Missy makes me desperately miss Amarillo and all the fun our families used to have together. Maybe someday we will be reunited :)

(I know this picture is blurry, but I think it is just so cute of them yelling at the football game, holding hands.)

Saturday morning we headed through Lubbock to see Mas' sister, Angel (who is due to have our precious niece next week), brother-in-law Francois, and our sweet nephew Zach. We also got to see Mas' mom, Meme, which was a total surprise!

Sweet cousins

Saturday night we celebrated my cousin saying "I do". It was a beautiful wedding and it was so nice to see so many family members. We all had a great time and Saylor made herself at home on the dance floor during the reception. She kept telling me she wanted to dance with the pretty girl in the white dress. (I unfortunately don't have any pictures from the wedding--I'll post some after someone emails me what they have.)

Sunday morning we started the long, long drive home. Saylor did FANTASTIC!! Not a tear was shed, not a whine was heard the entire weekend in the car. I am so proud of my little traveler! Her attitude may have something to do with the awesome DVD players my very handy hubby installed in the headrests a few months ago, but whatever it takes....

August Wrap-up

2010-08-31T18:55:00.000-07:00

Ok, so it's the last day of the month and I haven't posted one time. I've been a lazy blogger. I really don't have any great pictures or anything super exciting so I haven't felt the urge to blog. Here is our August in review:
~Mas celebrated a birthday at the beginning of the month. We didn't do anything too exciting, and he actually worked that day.
~My parents came to town for about 4 days and we had lots of fun. We packed a lot of fun family outings into a long weekend and it was great! And I took about 2 pictures I think.
~Our dog, Samson got very, very sick with acute pancreatitis. Who knew dogs got that? It was terrible, but after many meds, some TLC, and a pretty hefty vet bill....he has fully recovered and is back to driving me crazy and entertaining Saylor.
*That's all I can think of at the moment--super exciting month, hu!

Also, I thought I would share a few of my favorite recipes. One is my favorite because it's super easy, the other because it is super YUMMY!

Southwest Chicken in the Crock Pot--easiest recipe ever!
You will need:
-4 boneless, skinless chicken breasts
-1 can of corn
-1 can of black beans (drained and rinsed)
-1 jar of salsa (we use Clint's Texas salsa in Medium--because we buy anything that says Texas on it. Ha! But it is almost to spicy for Saylor)
-1 (8oz) pkg of cream cheese

Place chicken breasts, corn, beans, and salsa in crock pot. (I add in some salt, pepper, garlic powder, and usually chopped onions.) Cook on high for 4-5 hours. Then stir in cubed cream cheese and cook for another 20-30 minutes, or until cream cheese is thoroughly mixed throughout. We serve it over rice, but we've also discussed putting it in tortillas and making tacos out of it. SUPER EASY, SUPER YUMMY!

Paula Deen's Not Yo Mama's Banana Pudding--yummiest recipe ever!
-1 box of nilla wafers or pepperidge farm chessman cookies
-1 pkg cream cheese
-1 can of sweetened condensed milk
-1 (5 oz) box of instant vanilla pudding
-2 cups of milk
-about 6 bananas
-12 oz of cool whip

Line 13x9 dish with cookies and then a layer of bananas on top.
In a bowl, combine milk and pudding mix and blend well using hand held mixer. In another bowl, combine sweetened condensed milk and cream cheese--mix until smooth. Fold Cool Whip into cream cheese mixture. Add cream cheese mixture to pudding mixture and stir until well blended. Pour mixure over cookies and bananas and cover with remaining cookies or bananas--or both. (I do bananas on half and cookies on half because Mas doesn't like bananas in his BANANA pudding and I don't necessarily love soggy cookies:)
ENJOY!

Some Singing, Saylor-isms, And A Shout-out

2010-07-28T18:35:00.000-07:00

Saylor's microphone is a toilet paper holder that I use for extra rolls in our guest/Saylor's bathroom. I don't even know how she knew to associate it with a microphone...but she all of the sudden felt the urge to sing into it. So, here is one of her songs. I need to record all of her regular songs that she sings before she starts sounding too much like a big girl.

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*Saylor's new thing in the mornings is to yell "Mooooooommy, tan you pease tum wake me up!"

*Saylor told me the other day "Mommy, you have a big bobo, I have a little bobo. Mommy has big legs, I have little legs." Really....of all things you picked those two to compare. Awesome! Way to make a girl feel good!

*On Monday Saylor was begging her daddy not to go to work and stay home and play with her. Mas tried to explain to her that he has to go to work so we can pay for our house, our cars, give money to Jesus, and buy her toys. All he had to do was mention toys and she said "Ok, Daddy, you go to work now. Bye bye!"

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Yesterday, my amazing husband and I celebrated 4 years of wedded bliss. I know I say this all of the time, but I am beyond thankful for him. And I'm so thankful that the Lord thought that I somehow deserved this wonderful man as my husband! He's everything and much much more than I ever dreamed of in a husband and partner. Looking forward to many more wonderful years, babe!

Where the Wild Things Are

2010-07-21T13:06:00.000-07:00

Mas and I took Saylor to Arbuckle Wildnerness last Saturday. It's about an hour and a half drive--halfway to Dallas--a perfect day trip. We thought Saylor would really enjoy seeing and feeding all of the animals, but the truth is that Mas and I probably had way more fun. Saylor really enjoyed it too, though. It's basically a drive thru safari and you buy feed to give to all of the animals out of your car (they also have a walk thru area and go carts--but it was over 100 degrees that day, so we skipped on that). We actually went through twice because we didn't get enough food the first time. Most of the animals are just roaming around free. The giraffes, buffalo, rhinos, and wolves are "behind bars". Giraffes are my absolute favorite and I got to be literally face to face with them and feed them out of my hand. It was AWESOME!! They are so beautiful--especially up close. Our God sure was so creative when he made all of these animals.

We weren't giving the zebra pepsi, the feed just came in those cups. And those animals were sneaky and would grab ahold of the cup and try to rip it out of your hand. We were trying to save some food for the next group of animals and they weren't having it. One camel took a whole cup of feed from Mas in about 2 seconds.

The zebras were so beautiful as well! (Although I think they may need to see a dentist!)

We had a blast and will definitely make the trip again!

SAYLOR 2.5

2010-07-11T11:21:00.000-07:00

My sweet pea is two and a half today! That's just six months away from THREE!

Miss Priss is definitely going to be tall like her daddy. She wears mostly 5T shirts, 4T pants, and size 9 shoes! How can that be? I refuse to buy little girl clothes. I want a T behind those sizes for as long as possible...although I don't think that is going to last much longer for her.

She is completely potty trained during the day. Still far from it at night.

Her favorite books right now are Silly Tilly and Fancy Nancy.

Favorite food is still fruit and cheese....and goldfish.

She NEVER gets tired of Sesame Street, but will now sit still for Imagination Movers as well.

She starts preschool in the fall. Just one day a week for now. I'm so excited for her and so heartbroken for me at the same time.

She's fun and silly and loves to make us laugh. She loves to learn, loves music, loves to eat, loves to be outside, loves water, loves the trash truck, loves for her nails to be painted, and really, really loves her daddy. She's so darn sweet and loving sometimes that I just can't stand it. She talks or sings non-stop all the time. And I mean ALL THE TIME.

2.5 years with this little girl have been the very best of my life!

OK-A-HOMA

2010-07-07T20:24:00.000-07:00

Here is a cute video of Saylor in all her nakedness--I asked her several times this afternoon if I could put a shirt on her, she declined that request.

She has the greatest memory. We can talk about something one time and she will remember it....for weeks and months later. She learned all about Idaho from Kellen and Tana because she was over at their house the day they were teaching Averey about Idaho.

A little sunshine

2010-07-01T20:12:00.001-07:00

Some of the bright spots of my day:

*I got to wake up at 8:30 this morning, instead of 5:00 like I have the past two days for work. And work was CA-RAZY. So I was so excited to wake up late and to a sweet little voice. Even though that sweet little voice did say "Tome here mommy, I pooped!"

*Saylor completed her two weeks of swimming lessons today. She made LOTS of progress! Her class was just for beginners. They didn't actually learn to SWIM--just go under water, blow bubbles, kick, etc. Every day on the way there she would tell me she did NOT want to go under water, but that is the first thing her teacher made her do, and she did just great!

*I found a little bit of heaven in Oklahoma. It's called CREST MARKET. It's a lot like MarketStreet for you Amarillo peeps. We had nothing, and I mean nothing like that here. Our best fresh produce could be found at Walmart. That's how bad it was. Oh, and occasionally Target, but they didn't always have a huge selection. I'm so happy to have found a good place to buy fruits, veggies, and meats!

*My hubby is back on days for a few months. Hallelujuah! I love getting to have dinner as a family in the evenings, getting to watch movies with him at night, getting ready in my own bathroom instead of Saylor's so I didn't wake him up, and not try to keep a very vocal 2 year old quiet during the day while he tries to sleep.

*Saylor asked Mas a few days ago what his name was. He told her Tomás. She then proceeded to say that her name was To-Saylor and today she told me that my name was To-Mommy. :)

Saylor-isms

2010-06-22T20:36:00.000-07:00

Thought I would jot down a few of the funny things Saylor has told me in the past week. I'm sure there are many more, but these are the ones I can think of right now. 2 1/2 is so stinking fun! She keeps me laughing!
________________________________________

Tonight while I was washing Saylor's hair, she said "Mommy, what are you putting in my hair? Is that air conditioner?"
"Nope baby, just plain ol' conditioner."
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

I wore a dress today (which I DO NOT do often). Saylor told me "ooooh Mommy, you look so pretty! You Tinkerbell!" Why, thank you Miss Priss, I'll take Tinkerbell any day!
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

She now loves The Beatles--as in Ringo, Paul, etc. What the heck? So she will tell us "I want to listen to The Beatles". Then she will quickly scroll through the iPhone music and tell us "I am going to listen to the Orange Beatles". She calls them the Orange Beatles and the White Beatles based on their album covers in the phone. Silly girl!
*She definitely shares her love of music with her daddy. And she likes everything from Stevie Wonder to Lady Gaga!
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

We were dancing to a Lady Gaga song a week or so ago and she asked me who sang it. So I told her. Then a few days later she was signing "Our God is an Awesome God" in the car and said very matter-of-factly "Mommy, this is Yady Gaga!" Um, I think she is a little confused!
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Today she was playing the guitar with her daddy and she looked at him and said "Daddy, I need a pickle!" Pick, Pickle--same difference!
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

This kid needs LOTS of air conditioner for her hair--

look how crazy it is when she wakes up in the morning :)

We never know what is going to come out of her sweet little mouth!

Happy Father's Day Babe!

2010-06-20T14:23:00.000-07:00

From the very beginning, she has had you eating out of her pudgy little hand!

Happy Father's Day to the very best daddy! We are very blessed to have you as the leader of our family. I couldn't imagine a better Christ-like example for our daughter.

You balance a lot of things, but always put her (and me) first!

Thanks for being so great! We love you so much!

Love,
Sarah and Saylor

Sugar High

2010-06-08T20:53:00.000-07:00

Saylor had a week full of firsts last week.
First she got her very first snow cone. She had a bite or two of mine last summer, but she got her very own this time!! She loved it, but was VERY SLOW at eating it. Thankfully, she dropped about half of it in her lap, because it would have taken her two hours to eat it! ;)

Then she enjoyed...and I mean thoroughly enjoyed...her first donut!! Isn't her ladybug donut just precious!! She ate this little beauty in about 2.5 seconds and then started crying because she wanted another one!

And on a less sweet note....Saylor FINALLY ate some mashed potatoes! I know, I know, what kid doesn't eat mashed potatoes--or any kind of white potato for that matter? Mine! But she helped her daddy make some the other day so she thought it only fitting to take the plunge and try some and she actually liked them! Imagine THAT! She's a weird kid. She also doesn't eat any kind of pasta. Not even mac and cheese. It makes her gag. Poor girl doesn't know what she's missing by not eating pasta! But at least she eats lots of fruits and veggies, so I'll give her a break for now!

Oh How He Loves Us

2010-05-27T20:02:00.000-07:00

Saylor often tells me that she wants to be held by someone that isn't around us at the moment. For the most part, it's her daddy. She also tells me the same thing pretty often about her grandparents. For example, she will say "Mommy, I want Daddy to hold Sayer". I usually follow up with a "baby, when Daddy gets home from work, he would love to hold you" or "next time we see Yonna, she will hold you, okay", etc.

Last week we were driving and listening to some praise music. Saylor wasn't feeling it and wanted to me to play her VeggieTales CD that we got from a Chick-Fil-A kids meal, which we had listened to a BAJILLION times. I told her that we were just going to sing to Jesus for a little while. She listened to the music intently for a few minutes and then responded "Mommy, I want Jesus to hold Sayer".

Melt. My. Heart. But, how do you explain to a two year old that Jesus can't hold her in the way her little toddler mind literally defines 'hold'? How do you explain to her just how often He will hold her throughout her years?

This has been on my mind a lot lately. I love how my Savior ministers to me through the innocent thoughts of my sweet girl. I love how He holds me through my joys, dissappointments, and everything in between!

"Saylor, Jesus would LOVE to hold you! And I pray that you ALWAYS let Him!"

The Great Wolf Lodge

2010-05-19T19:54:00.000-07:00

Well.....I guess I'm gonna average about 1 blog post a month. I've written several posts in my head in the past few weeks, but have never actually gotten them typed out. So, instead of backtracking, I'm just going to post about our last few days.

This last weekend we headed to Grapevine to try out the Great Wolf Lodge--a hotel with a huge indoor water park, and tons of activities geared toward kids. Mas has been on vacation for the last week, but I worked a day in the middle of his days off so we couldn't really got on a very long trip. So we decided to head down the road a few hours. (I've actually wanted to go there for a long time because when we spent months in Fort Worth and Kansas City (they have one in Kansas City as well as several other locations)--I always saw commercials for The Great Wolf Lodge and I loved their little jingle on the commercials. I would get it stuck in my head and sing it for days. I was so excited when we got there and they were playing that song! I'm a geek!)

We had a wonderful time there--other than my poor hubby developing an abcessed tooth the second day we were there. He got to celebrate his last few days of his vacation with a root canal and swollen face. Saylor loved the "Great Woof Yodge"! She swam her little heart out and we will definitely be back!

Since I've been gone...

2010-04-18T20:36:00.000-07:00

I haven't blogged in a while so I thought I would just share a few 'catch-up' thoughts and pics. (Most of the pics are just from my phone--my apologies)

~We colored Easter eggs!

~Saylor and I went to Amarillo for Easter while Mas stayed here in OKC and worked :(
Saylor had a ball seeing grandparents, great-grandparents, and a few friends. And I got to eat at all of my fave Amarillo eateries!! Yum!

Saylor's first experience (that she was old enough to be out of her carseat) at Kabuki!

Swinging with Papa

~Saylor has been a champ with potty training! PTL! I would venture to say that she is completely potty trained during the day, but we still have a ways to go at night. However, she did wake up absolutely dry yesterday morning. (And if mommy would get up as SOON as Saylor starts to stir in the mornings, we might have more dry days, but instead I let her sit in there and jabber while I slowly coax myself out of bed! I am SO lazy in the mornings.)

~Saylor decided to TP her bathroom. She wanted to potty and do the toilet paper "all by SELF" so I went and started a load of laundry real fast and came back to this! Lovely!

~I got some of my flowers in the ground before the rain hit this week. I LOVE, LOVE, LOVE this time of year and being able to plant flowers! It's very therapeutic for me. I think I get that from my mom...she loves to be outside doing yardwork. Someday, hopefully I can actually be good at it like her!

~Cookie Monster came to church last weekend. Saylor couldn't get enough!

Papa got Saylor this shirt. Unfortunately the poor kid can't read yet and has no idea the crazy clothes I'm making her wear! Ha!

~I am just absolutely, positively loving my child at this age--not that I don't love her at every age, but REALLY!! I was somewhat dreading the "terrible twos" and I know we are still far from out of the woods, but at 2 1/4, Saylor is such a JOY! We have so much fun together and Mas and I are constantly laughing at the things she says and thinks up! Not that she doesn't throw her share of fits and somedays spends quite a bit of time in time out--but overall I start and end my days thankful and amazed that every single day she becomes more fun, bright, entertaining, and perfectly sweet! (I had to be sure and document this so in 6 months when she's testing every ounce of me--I can remember much fun we were having at this time!)

Birds of a Feather...

2010-03-27T19:32:00.000-07:00

Yesterday we braved the crazy wind and headed to our favorite Oklahoma City attraction--the zoo. They recently opened up a Children's Zoo area there and we really enjoyed all the new exhibits. They have a cool area for lorakeets that you can walk into and hold the birds. Saylor thought it was awesome but the little birds just wouldn't sit on her arm long enough.

The lorakeets were very fond of Mas, though!

So much that one of them decided to leave a little present on his shoulder! HA!

Doesn't she look big in this picture?

These boots were made for walkin'....

2010-03-09T19:56:00.000-08:00

This is what a 2 year old who tee-teed in the potty SIX times today looks like....and I think it is just about the most adorable thing ever. She's totally rockin' those Elmo big girl panties and rain boots!

Also, HAPPY BIRTHDAY to my fabulous Mom today! We love you and appreciate you so much! Big hugs from all of us in Oklahoma!

My birthday weekend

2010-03-07T19:08:00.001-08:00

My mom is awesome, I'll just put that out there!

She came on Thursday night to stay for the weekend. On Friday we all took the girls to a Children's Natural History Museum. It was fun, although Saylor was very stuck to my leg for some reason.

For my birthday, she gave Mas and I a night at a Bed and Breakfast. First, we had a quiet, intimate meal at The Melting Pot. YUM! I stuffed myself to the brim--so much so that I had to hold my purse in front of me when we left because I was looking about 5 months pregnant with FOOD! It was well worth it though!

Then we headed out the Whispering Pines B&B a little outside of Norman. What a wonderful RELAXING little getaway! We got to spend some quality time together, got to sleep in, got served breakfast right to our little cottage, and then got to go BACK to bed for a little while after breakfast! How great is that! This is the very first night we have ever both stayed away from Saylor. Mom, we are SO, SO, SO thankful for you--thank you for watching our little monster and giving us some quiet time away! We had such a great time.

Then Saturday night, Kellen and Mas grilled kabobs for us all! We had a great night of fun, family, and laughing.

My mom left this morning and now its back to reality, but I am so grateful for my great birthday weekend with my family, especially my husband.....lots of yummy food....and a mom that knows exactly what I need! Love you all, thanks for making my birthday special!

XOXOXO

2010-02-13T18:55:00.001-08:00

Happy Valentines Day to the love of my life

and my little love bug!

You both make me happier than you will ever know!

Trip Down South

2010-02-03T20:28:00.000-08:00

We made a little trip to Fort Worth and Plano this past weekend. Mas had meetings there for a few days so Saylor and I took advantage of that and had a little getaway of our own. I am thankful we went because our house didn't have power for part of the time were gone. And thank you so much Kellen and Tana for taking care of our house and our pup!

We had dinner with some good friends (although I didn't get any pictures of Saylor and her buddy Caleb, who is an absolute cutie pie). Then, we went and hung out with my friend, Erin. We had a good time catching up, didn't do too much because the weather was cold and rainy the whole time, ate lots of delicious food that Karen made, Tom took some wonderful pictures, and poor Saylor girl got a cold. (And now Erin has a cold. She took full advantage of cuddling with little miss, but is now paying for it. So sorry, friend--hope you feel better soon!) Here are some more great pictures from the wonderful and patient Mr. Tom!

Thank you all so much for having us!

They just adore each other, and I think this picture captures that. I love it!

And this one is just so Saylor. love, love, LOVE it! You can't even tell it was FREEZING outside or that she had a miserable cold. Thanks, Tom for sharing your talent with us!

PARTY TIME

2010-02-01T18:55:00.000-08:00

I am a little late posting this (we have had one crazy, busy month) but here is a picture recap of Saylor's second birthday party.

Lots of family came to town to celebrate with us! We were beyond thrilled that our families made the drive to Oklahoma City to partake in the birthday festivities.
Saylor's Papa, Yonna, Meme, GG, Grannie and Paul all came to visit her! (And of course Kellen, Tana, and Ave were partying with us also).

She had a ball! She loved the balloons and the cake the most. We had to MAKE her open her presents because she was so busy playing with the balloons. I will remember that next year!! She ate LOTS of cake and literally jumped up and down in her bed until at least 10:30 that night. Can you say SUGAR HIGH?

Meme, Aunt Tana, and Paul

Yonna and Uncle Kellen

Grannie and Saylor

Thanks again, guys, for making the trip. It means a lot to us to be able to celebrate our precious angel with you all!

And HAPPY SECOND BIRTHDAY my little pumpkin!!

Reunion

2010-01-19T19:45:00.000-08:00

Our friend, Lamont, came to town this weekend for a quick visit from Nebraska. He and Mas were in training together (while we were traveling and living in hotels) and we kinda adopted him as part of our little family. We all went to dinner and outings together quite often.

He and Saylor seem to share a special bond. She really liked him even when she was going through her 'I only let Mommy or Daddy hold me' stage. She was very particular, but he was her buddy! They had lots of fun playing for the few days he was here and I'm thankful that we have been able to stay in touch!

Saylor is TWO!

2010-01-15T20:07:00.000-08:00

I'm a terrible mother. I'm just now getting around to blogging about my baby's birthday! Shame on me.
Monday, my little girl turned TWO YEARS OLD! We had a low-key day, made blueberry muffins together that morning, went to our usual "Movers and Shakers" at the library, and had an extremely healthy dinner at Chic-fil-a with some cupcakes and play time!

Saylor and her friend Rylan

Ave

Super Saylor and Super Dad

Mommy and the Birthday Girl

Family is coming in next weekend for her party, so we will celebrate more then. Basically we are gonna celebrate most of the month.

In the last year, my little Miss Priss has really come out of her shell and within the last few months has become much more independent! THANKFULLY!! I had terrible visions of her being stuck to my leg until I peeled her off and drug her kicking and screaming into preschool or kindergarden. She now LOVES to go to church and asks about it repeatedly throughout the week. (Mostly because she absolutely loves one of her teachers. And this week she graduates to a different class--we will see how that goes.) She is still very cautious, but I kinda like that about her.
She loves to run, and jump, and sing, and dance, and throw, and catch, and count. She's quite the little entertainer! She sings Row, row, row your boat and Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star really well! And she loves the attention she gets for it. Yesterday she was singing Twinkle, twinkle at the top of her lungs at Hobby Lobby and excitedly watched all the little old ladies giggle as she sang.

She loves to make people laugh.

She loves to play with her kitchen and her baby doll.

She loves Sesame Street, especially Elmo. Elmo pretty much makes everything better.

She still sleeps with her monkey and a baby doll and has to be covered up PERFECTLY! Oh my word, if it's not perfect, she screams "TOVER UP" over and over again until we go in there and make sure every possible inch of skin is covered. She is still sleeping in her crib. Is it bad that I really, really like that she is contained??

She's so dad-gum sweet! She will just randomly run up and hug Mas and I and say "I wuv you, Mommy/Daddy"! It melts my heart! She loves her babies and is so sweet and gentle with them. She reads to them, feeds them, rocks them, etc. It is absolutely precious to witness!

She's a big girl....she is 37.5 inches tall (97%) and 31 lbs (90%)! And if that whole theory about doubling their height at 2 yrs old to determine their adult height is accurate--she will be 6'2". Holy cow!!

Our sweet little two year old is so much fun! We are enjoying every single minute with her and she definitely keeps us laughing! We are honored to be her parents and are thankful for our healthy, happy baby....er, toddler!

Christmas 2009

2010-01-03T19:00:00.000-08:00

I'm very, very far behind on blogging....but here is my attempt to catch up. We went to Amarillo the Wednesday night before Christmas, then left Christmas Eve morning to head to Lubbock to see Mas' family. The roads we TREACHEROUS to say the least!! We were in the car over 7 hours that day in the miserable icy weather. But, the Lord kept His hand on us and we made it safely! We got to see Mas' sister, her husband, and son Zach--who we haven't seen since Saylor was a few days old! And we also got to see MeMe!

And Saylor met her Grandpa, Vern for the very first time!! It was so great getting to see family that we rarely get to be with!

Angel and Saylor

Me and the kiddos! I can't believe how much this kid has grown. It seems like just yesterday I was rocking that little baby to sleep and now he is 5 1/2 years old! It was so wonderful to get to love on him a little! (Saylor is in a daze--she had just woken up)

After Christmas Eve, I really struggled with remembering to get my camera out. We were just super busy! We had Christmas Day with Yonna/Papa and all of my grandparents and then we left the day after Christmas to head back to a snow COVERED Oklahoma City.

Here are the girls with Aunt Tana in their matching PJs that she got them!

And here is Saylor playing in her ball pit/jumper thing.

We are still struggling to find a place for all the goodies we brought home from Christmas. We barely got it all in the Tahoe to bring home. I'm pretty sure we need a bigger house, at least Saylor does--or maybe the office needs to be turned into a playroom! She got so much great stuff--but a lot of it is big stuff and we are OUT OF ROOM!

That's my quick run-down of Christmas! Nothing too exciting going on around here.

I'm still trying to get in the groove of being back at work a day or two a week, but it has been so great! I'm thankful for my job and that I truly love what I do!

We are just looking forward to all the blessings that 2010 holds for us!

Happy New Year!

Being a Mommy

2009-12-13T11:42:00.000-08:00

I want to look back and know exactly what being a mom to an almost two year old was like--its crazy how fast you forget each stage of their little lives because they change so quickly--although it doesn't always seem like it when you are in the midst of the "stage"!

Being a mommy to Saylor means that sometimes I open my Burt's Bees chapstick, only to find a thin layer of saliva because little miss independent put chapstick on all by herself.

Being a mommy means I have more iPhone apps for toddlers than I do for myself, truly.

Being a mommy means I have to go on a house wide search to find any kind of tupperwear or serving spoons because someone needed to feed their baby or monkey or bear.

Being a mommy means I do lots of silly dancing and singing, or pretty much anything to get a laugh from my girl.

Being a mommy means that I save my cookies or ice cream or cheetoh puffs for naptime or bedtime so I don't have to share!

Being a mommy means that I carry half of the grocery store around to make sure there are enough snacks to get us through any dilemma.

Being a mommy means helping to put the same diaper on the same bear over and over again because "bear poop" and "he stinky!"

Being a mommy means I get the BEST and most sincere hugs and kisses in the whole world!

Being a mommy means bouncing through the house doing 'horsey' twenty thousand times just to hear a sweet giggle.

Being a mommy means that I get to spend about 20 minutes treating all her clothes with SHOUT before I can even put them in the washing machine.

Being a mommy means that somedays I count down the minutes until bedtime, only to wish that I could go scoop her up from her bed and cuddle with her.

Being a mommy means I will never sleep the same, I'm convinced.

Being a mommy means I say "no" about three thousand times a day and I probably hear it in return about that many times.

Being a mommy means that I cry at the simplest of commercials.

Being a mommy means that the holidays are even more special.

Being a mommy means that most days I think my child is an absolute genius!

Being a mommy allows me to wake up to the sweetest sounds of singing and talking that I have ever heard. It is probably my favorite time of day.

Being a mommy means experiencing an unwavering love that I never knew existed before I knew her!
What a great adventure it is to be Saylor's mommy!

Future Commentator

2009-11-16T19:18:00.000-08:00

Saylor just about talks NON-STOP all day! She is to the point now that she gives you a running commentary of EVERYTHING she is doing. It is super sweet. For example, tonight she ran from me to her daddy to give him a high five and then back to me...so this is what she said "wunning, wunning, DADDY HIGH FIVE, wunning, wunning, sit down!" She will also tell you "I seet (sweet), I pincess, Saysee siwy (Saylor silly), and so on and so on! And what I love the most is she tells on herself all the time! I will hear her playing in another room and she will say "dat not nice!" or "no, no" and I walk in and usually catch her doing something she shouldn't be doing. Car rides are non-stop singing and talking performances. Whew--there isn't a quiet moment around here unless she is sleeping! And it is definitely constant entertainment!!

On a completely different note--I started my new job today. It is just new employee orientation all week, mostly just sitting and listening, but that means I am away from my girl for five whole days, which is super tough! Thankfully I have a great husband that switched a few days around so he could be home with her all week while I was working. (That means he worked six out of the last seven days--and 12-13 hour days at that!) I am so thankful for him! Otherwise I would have had to get up SUPER DUPER early to get us both out of the door by 7 am! I know many of you moms do that every day...and I admire you so much....but this momma is way out of practice. Getting us all ready and to church or the library by 10 is about as good as it gets around here. Also, with Mas being home, my sister-in-law didn't have to test her patience with two feisty little girls all day long!

But, after all this orientation stuff is over with I will only be working one, occasionally two nights a week!

That's about it with us!

I'll leave you with a few pictures of my Saylor girl so you aren't too extremely bored with my ramblings.

Playing Daddy's guitar

Little Miss in Daddy's hat

Daddy's workout buddy!

2009-11-09T20:27:00.000-08:00

A few nights ago, after Saylor's bath, she wandered into Mas' office/workout room and found him doing P90x (an exercise program) and decided she wanted to join in the fun!

(We actually had some really great footage--but I am a dummy and used the video camera like a regular camera and turned it sideways at one point, not even thinking. Obviously, you can't flip a video halfway through!)

Precious little Indian

2009-11-02T19:45:00.000-08:00

Here are a few pictures from last Tuesday night when we took the girls to "Haunt the Zoo" and then some from Halloween night. I am pretty sure that she is the cutest Indian I have ever laid eyes on!

And of course, don't forget about the "punk-in-cook-eeeee"

Our little Staycation

2009-10-28T20:28:00.001-07:00

My mom came last weekend to stay with Saylor while Mas and I went out on the town to do things we wouldn't or couldn't normally do with Miss Priss. It was SO.ABSOLUTELY.WONDERFUL!! We went and saw a movie, had fabulous dinners with friends, spent an evening down in Bricktown, etc. It was like we had our own personal nanny and we could just go and do as we pleased all weekend. (Although I don't know that nannies spoil kids like Yonnas do!) It's Wednesday, Yonna left on Sunday, and Saylor is still asking for her!

Mom--we can't thank you enough! We had a wonderful weekend and loved getting to reconnect with each other during our little time away! THANK YOU, THANK YOU!! You are the BEST!
(And I was too busy selfishly having fun to even get my camera out. I'm disappointed now that I didn't take any of Mas and I or of Yonna and Saylor.)

Also, Friday I finally had an interview and got a PRN labor and delivery job at a brand new hospital that opened this week! So, I basically get to choose my schedule, and I am planning to work a day or so a week on Mas' days off! I am so excited to be back doing what I love!! And I think a day a week will give Saylor and I just enough of a break from one another--I think she gets pretty tired of my sometimes. It's quite obvious because as soon as daddy comes home--she doesn't leave his side and wants nothing to do with me. I think this will be great for all of us. I'm pumped!

Farm and Family Fun

2009-10-20T10:21:00.000-07:00

Last week Mas, Kellen, Tana, the girls, and I went to a place here in OKC called the Orr Family Farm. They had a train ride, a hayride out to a pumpkin patch, a small petting zoo, a playground, etc. They also had LOTS and LOTS of really yummy food. I would have been completely content to just stay in the warm building with all the cider, fudge, kettle corn, and so on! It was pretty darn chilly, but I will speak for everyone else and say that we had a really great time! I am so, so thankful that we are all here together and get to share these experiences--especially for the girls!

Tana and Saylor riding some kind of rubber horse thing. Tana's the expert at the horses, so I let her handle all that! :)

The Smith's (Ave is saying "choo-choo")
I just love this picture of Averey!

Sweet Saylor

It's just about impossible to get a real smile from this kid!

Daddy and Saylor on the train

The girls

What a sucker!

2009-10-16T21:10:00.001-07:00

I took Saylor to the doctor's office today because she developed a terrible cough and runny nose all the sudden yesterday afternoon. H1N1 is going around here like crazy (as I'm sure it is many other places) and I wasn't going to take any chances. She definitely didn't feel well but that didn't keep her from insisting that she wear her boots and then modeling a little for momma!

And after a flu nose swab and strep throat swab (which both came back negative) and a few tears, she got her VERY FIRST sucker which made everything better as you can see!!

What a little cutie! So we are now treating croup, which is definitely the lesser of the three evils, and on the road to recovery!

EXTRA! EXTRA! Read all about it!

2009-10-15T12:57:00.001-07:00

Daddy went with us to story time yesterday at the Moore Public Library and there just happened to be a photographer there from The Oklahoman (the newspaper). He got a few cute shots of Saylor and Mas doing motions to some of the songs. Check them out here: http://newsok.com/multimedia/photos/gallery/501721

What?!?

2009-10-11T18:50:00.000-07:00

Today Saylor is twenty-one months old. That means in a mere three months, my baby will be TWO YEARS OLD!! I'm amazed at that fact!!
And here is Saylor's amazed face, when I told her how old she was....

And her 'putting on chapstick' face
And her 'putting chapstick on daddy' face (excuse Mas' obvious enthusiasm)

And her 'big brown-eyed angelic' face
...back to my point--I'm just amazed at how big my little princess is getting! Love my growing girl so much!

Slacker!

2009-09-29T20:36:00.000-07:00

I know that I have been majorly neglecting my blog and I still don't really have anything extremely interesting to write about now, but I thought I would list a few things we have been up to lately.

Me, my brother, and Saylor spent another beautiful afternoon at the zoo. (Tana and Ave were out of town and Mas was working).

We went to the Oklahoma State Fair and Disney on Ice. Saylor unfortunately wasn't that impressed. She didn't have a nap that day and she hasn't actually ever seen the movies they portrayed in the ice show--so we may try that again in a year or so. I think she was still a little young. I think if it would have been Elmo, though, it would have been a whole different story!

I'm so disappointed in the outcome of the last few Texas Tech games--that's all I will say about that. Let's hope things pick up in the coming weeks.

I went to Amarillo alone this past weekend because I had to do hospital competencies, but I went a few days early and spent some much needed quality time with my parents and grandparents! I also got to do lots of cuddling with baby Max who is now 6 weeks old! It was a WONDERFUL break! And Mas did an AMAZING job with Saylor for two days/nights. He took her to church and toddler play group all by himself while I was gone--and even did her hair! What a good daddy! I even came home to a clean house. Im a lucky girl!

I missed my baby girl so much, but she is having some MAJOR attitude since I've been home. I guess she's a little upset with me for leaving. Whew--I've been saying lots of prayers for patience today! But at the moment--she is sweetly slumbering with her little hiney in the air and I could just kiss her all over!

That's about it! Hopefully I'll find something fun to talk about soon!

Park Perfection

2009-09-04T20:53:00.000-07:00

This is such a typical Saylor expression

I love this weather! Its been a perfect 75-80 degrees (with 100% humidity, but we'll ignore that little tidbit) for the past week and I. AM. LOVIN. IT! So, we have been frequenting the playgrounds a lot. And we have about 5 parks within about 5 miles of our house, so we have plenty of variety. I love going to the park and watching Saylor branch out a little more each time. She is an extremely cautious child--so I love to see her challenge herself and take a few risks! Today we had the playground all to ourselves and she had a ball. She gets a little intimidated when bigger kids are running and jumping around her and she clings to me, so today was just perfect for her.

I have to say--there is nothing better than watching my sweet girl grow, learn and mature. I feel so blessed to be her momma!

I got nothin'

2009-08-30T20:33:00.000-07:00

I have nothing really to blog about so I thought I would share a few of the pictures I uploaded off my phone from the past month or so. Completely random, but I dont really have much else.

Saylor on the potty. She is still telling me occasionally that she needs to poop and actually makes it to the potty! Yay! (although I wish she would wait on me to take her to the potty in the mornings. The past three mornings I have had to change sheets because there has been poo leakage in her crib. Probably TMI, but oh well! It's frustrating the heck out of me. I have tried every possible diaper--with no luck! They just don't hold all she has to offer overnight. :) She is gonna love me for the picture someday!

Miss Priss helping me water the flowers. Isn't her little belly just kissable. She has really slimmed up everywhere else, but she is keepin' the belly! I love it!

A GIGANTIC spider in our garage. Saylor wanted to touch it and then sing Itsy Bitsy Spider. I love her!

Crazy week!

2009-08-18T19:48:00.000-07:00

We have had a crazy busy last week. Last Tuesday we made a mad dash to Amarillo to be there for the birth of our friends' baby! Ross and Missy and big brother Reid welcomed sweet baby Max into the world on Thursday, August 13th. He weighed a whopping 9 lbs 2 oz! What a precious, chunkly little thing he is! I am so glad that we were able to be there to help them welcome their little miracle into the world. We love you guys and wish we were right there to watch him grow every day. (These are the times I just H.A.T.E. living so far away, but I am thankful it is only a four hour drive. And thankfully Mas was off too, so I didn't have to handle the little munchkin in the car all by myself. Praise the Lord!)

My parents had already planned several weeks back that they would visit this last weekend, so after Max was born, we made another mad dash back to OKC so we could spend some fun family time with them. Unfortunately Mas had to work all weekend, so he just caught up with us here and there when he could. We went to the water park, pool, Bricktown, and lots of good places to eat! We had a great time with them.....I really, really miss us all being together. (And I was terrible and didn't take one single picture while they were here. Maybe because I was in a bathing suit half of the weekend.)

Other little random tidbits going on in our life right now:

~I'm working on getting my RN license in the state of Oklahoma so I can start working again, just a day a week or so. I was already beginning the paperwork, but laboring/delivering with Missy the other day made me that more motivated to get this done. I absolutely LOVE and MISS my job. Please be praying for our family that the Lord provides the perfect job for us!

~Mas has started P90X. He is actually in there dripping sweat as I type. I think it is a little too hard core for me. Or maybe I'm just lazy.

~We just bought Saylor SIZE EIGHT shoes tonight! Holy Cow!! She is growing like a weed. I know that is very random, but I just can't believe it!

~I'm sad that summer is almost over. I AM looking forward to some cooler weather, but I don't know what I'm gonna do when we can't play outside in the water every day. I think I will move to sunny southern California. Ok, maybe not. You see how much I complain about being four hours away from my friends and family. I don't think Cali would be worth it--even if it never snows. I'm rambling....

~Hope you all have a wonderful week!

POO

2009-08-09T20:40:00.001-07:00

I've been bored with my blog lately, and I'm sure if I'm bored, everyone else reading is even more so.....so I was just going to hop on and post a cute pic that I got from Erin. But then I remembered a very exciting thing that happened today that I thought I should probably document. Don't get too excited yet, it's really not anything that impressive--unless of course, you are a mom of an eighteen month old.

Saylor has been telling me for a while now when she needs to poop, and so the past couple of days when she tells me I ask her if she wants to go sit on the potty. The past two days, she would run happily into the bathroom, sit on the potty, giggle and then say "all done". I would put her diaper back on and she would poop. I am really not "potty training" her yet. She is not ready, and I'm not going to rush it (she still doesn't recognize the sensation to pee). I just want her to be comfortable with the whole process of sitting on the potty. But today before her nap she told me she needed to poop and so she went and sat on the potty and she tee-teed!! I was shocked and excited and she, on the other hand, just turned around and wanted to touch it! I will spare you the picture that I took of the pee in the potty so her daddy could see her big accomplishment today, since he was at work. I know he was thrilled when he got that email!

My baby is getting so big! I just love her more and more every day! I know I say that all the time, but I could just eat her up some days!

Anyways, that was our excitement for the day. I will leave you with a sweet picture of Erin's dog, Olive and Saylor. Saylor and the tiny pup were big buds, Saylor would wake up from her naps while we were there and ask for Olive. Saylor was bound and determined to get in the "poo". It was actually raining off an on, but she didn't mind, so we stripped her down and she splashed around in her diaper with her little friend keeping an eye on things.

GOD OF THIS CITY @ People's Church OKC

2009-08-04T19:57:00.001-07:00

This was one of the worship songs performed a few weeks ago at our church. (I actually wasn't there--but I'm sure it was awesome in person!) I LOVE IT! Some of the youth started a rap group called Exodus and this is the second time they have "performed" at church. There is a little something for EVERYONE there and you never know what to expect when you show up on Sunday morning! God is doing AMAZING things through this church!

Weekend Getaway--Part Tres

2009-08-02T20:51:00.000-07:00

Ok, I'm way behind on blogging about last weekend, so I'm just gonna get it done real fast.

Last Sunday night, Saylor stayed at the Slott's house while Mas and I went out and celebrated our three year anniversary at Texas de Brazil! YUM-MO!! Oh my goodness, it was divine! And so nice to have dinner just the two of us! Thanks, guys for watching the little pumpkin so we could have a wonderful dinner!

Then Monday (our actual anniversary), Karen made us a delicious breakfast, then we went shopping at IKEA! I've checked them out online before several times, but this is the first time I've actually been! I could spend three days in there! Then Karen proved her culinary skills again at dinner. Mas is still talking about it, actually. I guess I will have to get the recipe. Thanks for feeding us! It was mah-velous!

Tuesday morning, we said goodbye to our great host/hostesses and headed for home!

Saylor, Erin and I

Also, this great weekend wouldn't have been possible without the greatest brother and sister-in-law! Kellen and Tana came over to our house and took care of Samson while we were gone! We so appreciate you guys! And Samson does too--considering he didn't have to spend 5 days in a kennel! Perks of having family in town again, hu.....

Best buddies, reunited

Mas: We have come a LONG way in the past three years and I can't wait to continue this amazing journey with you. I am so proud to call you my husband! Love you so, so much!

Weekend Getaway: Part Dos

2009-07-30T19:23:00.000-07:00

On Sunday afternoon, after we left the "interracial convention", we headed to Plano to see my friend, Erin and her parents. Her dad, Tom took us downtown and took some much anticipated pictures of Saylor. He took pictures for us last year and he does an OUTSTANDING job--I couldn't wait for some new ones! Saylor was pretty grumpy--she hadn't had a nap all day, and it was about 100 degrees outside, but he can take great pictures, even with a high maintenance, crabby model! Thank you so much, Tom. We can't even begin to thank you for all your hard work and patience! To say we LOVE our pictures, would be an understatement!

Here are a few:

Weekend Getaway: Part Uno

2009-07-28T19:16:00.000-07:00

Just a warning: the next few posts might be slightly overloaded with pictures.

We went back to Fort Worth on Friday to hang out with three other couples and their kiddos. I really love that although three of the four couples have moved away from Amarillo, we still make a point to get together, hang out and fellowship with each other. On Saturday we went to a water park called NRH2O, and we had an absolute ball!

Annie and Bennett

Daddy and Saylor

Dara and sleepy Caleb

Saturday night after the kiddos went to bed, we played a hysterical game of Guesstures and Battle of the Sexes! Here are some funny pictures of the boys. I didn't get any pictures of the girls because I obviously had to concentrate while they were acting out our clues....and of course the girls WON both games!!

Jessica and Snap

Snap acting out a flamingo, I think

Annie, Jared, and Dara

Jared

Mas

We had lunch Sunday at the Rainforest Cafe and then said goodbye to our friends and the "interracial convention" as DaShawn calls it!

DaShawn and Caleb

Beautiful Bennett

Caleb and Dara

Caleb and Bryce...Bryce is such a good big brother and was a huge help to everyone this weekend.

Saylor and Caleb--they would kiss, but we kept missing it with the camera. They were so cute!

Jared, Snap, and Jessica

The Whole Crew

We love each of you, and are so glad that we got to share in the fun this weekend. Hopefully we can do it again soon! We are so thankful that we have been blessed with such wonderful friends. Thank you, thank you, thank you, Dara and DaShawn for planning and organizing such a great weekend!

SPOON FED

2009-07-20T21:33:00.001-07:00

I took Saylor to her eighteen month doctor's appointment today. She exceeds most of the developmental milestones....except for the spoon feeding. It takes her almost an hour to eat a cup of yogurt and I doubt that half of it gets in her mouth. This is so my fault! My OCD tendencies keep me from encouraging that she constantly practices with a spoon. But, from here on out, that is my new goal! Although, I really don't mind feeding her myself until she starts kindergarten. :) Anyways, she is still my big, tall girl measuring in at:
26.6 lbs=75th percentile
33 inches= 90th percentile
And she now has 12 teeth--four front top, four front bottom and four molars. It took her a while, but she is finally catching up!
She was such a good girl today during her appointment, she was all smiles the whole time, and didn't even cry (or even wimper) when she got two shots! I was so proud of her! Mostly because it makes my heart hurt when she cries from those shots--and I was ecstatic when it didn't hurt her!
Sure do love my curly-headed, brown eyed beauty!

Back to TEXAS

2009-07-19T18:58:00.000-07:00

Saylor and I tagged along with Mas last week when he went to Fort Worth for a conference for work. I was in need of a little mini vacay and some really nice cold air conditioning and I also went to see a few friends. My have things changed since we last stayed in a hotel with Miss Priss (when she was nine months old). She is a lot harder to entertain now in a little bitty hotel room. And my child is SO SCHEDULED and LOVES her routine. She had a hard time falling and staying asleep in her pack-n-play--especially since she could see us right there beside her in the same room! However, it was a really nice change of pace.

We got to see Lamont, who was in Mas' training class last year while we were living in hotels. He and Saylor had a special bond. At that time, she would rarely go to anyone but Mas and I, but she would gladly let Lamont hold and play with her. Lamont joined us for dinner most nights during our travels last year. It was great to see him again! We had not seen him since last October. Saylor didn't quite remember him at first, but soon warmed up to him. Here is pic of Lamont and Saylor--sorry it's terrible. I took it with my phone in a hotel room, but that's the only one I got.

Saylor and I also spent a day in Plano at my friend, Erin's mom's house. We hung out in their awesome pool and had some much needed girl time. Saylor loved the pool, their dogs, and climbing up and down the stairs! She would have gone up and down the stairs for hours if I would have let her. Thanks Erin and Karen for letting us hang out. We had so much fun!

We went and had dinner down in the Fort Worth Stockyards. It was so nice to be back in Texas for a few days.Here is Saylor showing us what a fish does.
Erin and Saylor
Erin and I--miss you friend!
We are actually going back to Fort Worth this coming weekend for some fun in the sun with our friends! More pictures to come!

A WHOLE YEAR AND A HALF!

2009-07-12T21:35:00.000-07:00

Where did this baby go?

Yesterday Saylor turned eighteen months old. How did that happen? I’m gonna have to say all the cliché things that all parents do, but they really are true! It seems like just yesterday we laid our eyes on our sweet baby girl for the first time. It seems like just yesterday we brought her home. It seems like just yesterday she learned to roll over, and sit up, and crawl! Where has the time gone?!!

Her favorite things at eighteen months old:
~She still LOVES all animals. They fascinate her. She still sleeps with her big monkey that she calls “Ah Ah” (as in the sound a monkey makes “ooh ooh ahh, ahh”). She can make about a bajillion animal noises. Seriously. I really need to video it. It’s adorable. Sometimes I wonder if she will ever learn the name of some animals because she calls most of them by the sounds they make—like the monkey for example.
~She still LOVES to read. Her favorites at the moment are “Brown Bear Brown Bear” (which has been a favorite for quite a while now) and “The Little Mouse The Red Ripe Strawberry and The Big Hungry Bear” which my mom read to us when we were little and I just love it! She is even starting to tell me what’s coming up in the book because we read them so often. (And of course I think that makes her brilliant :)
~She loves windmills (“in-miw”) for some reason. They have a huge wind farm between here and Amarillo, so she exclaims “in-miw, in-miw” over and over and over again for every single windmill she sees—and there are A LOT of them! And she gets so excited if she happens to see an occasional windmill here in town!
~She also points out EVERY SINGLE airplane (“aiwpane”) that passes our house or car all day long. Sometimes I am amazed that she can see the little speck in the sky, but she doesn’t miss a one!
~Her very best friend, besides Momma or Dada, is Averey! Saylor adores her and wants to hold her hand almost the whole time they are together. They are having so much fun together and I love that they are getting to spend so much time with one another!
~She loves food. Thankfully we have only had about one week ever that she did the “picky toddler” thing and refused to eat much. Her favorites are still fruit and cheese, though. Strawberries, oranges, and raspberries are her favorites right now.
~She loves the library. We go 2-3 times a week to their toddler activities and she is really getting to know other kids and slowly coming out of her shell when there are a lot of people around. (And it is also great for me to get to know other moms). We have learned lots of fun songs and games from the groups and she wants to me to sing them all the time at home. I love seeing how much she has learned since we first started going in November.
~She now knows three shapes—heart, star, and circle—and she loves to point them out to us whenever she can.
~She loves being outside—even in 105 degree heat, but she hates being barefoot in the grass. As soon as her little feet touch the grass she will sit down and stick her feet up in the air. She is such a girl! Her favorite things to do outside are ride in her car, blow bubbles, play with the water sprayer, put all kinds of things in her wagon and pull it around, and to help me water the flowers.
~She likes to help me brush my teeth. She will run to find me if she hears me in the other room brushing my teeth. She doesn’t think it is as exciting when I brush hers, though. She makes me smile!
~She loves for me to sing to her--just about any and everything. She has even started trying to sing Jesus Loves Me with me when I rock her before bed. MELTS MY HEART!
~I swear she learns a new word or two every day! Her vocabulary is constantly amazing me!

The most common things I hear from strangers (other than “she is beautiful” of course!):

~“She is so EXPRESSIVE”—Yes, she is! She takes after her momma on that one!
~“I love her hair”—Don’t know if they really love it, or just feel sorry for me that I have to TRY to manage that crazy mess! It’s a full time job!!
~“She is SO TALL”—yep, takes after her daddy. She has been in the 95 percentile in height since she was three months old. Mas thinks it’s wonderful that she is so tall. I, however, can foresee the difficulty in finding jeans to fit those long legs someday. And we already have trouble getting shirts to cover her long torso (and big ole belly). Some of her 2T shirts are too short.

My little princess is stubborn, sensitive, so sweet, and fully of personality. It has been a fast and amazing eighteen months. I really just want my baby to quit growing! I want to be able to rock her and hold her forever! What a beautiful blessing Miss Saylor is to us! She keeps us laughing!

Our Fourth of July Weekend

2009-07-06T19:53:00.000-07:00

Friday morning Saylor woke up with a high fever but with no other symptoms other than crankiness. Averey had been diagnosed with a virus on Wednesday and she had an outrageously high temp with it so I am assuming they shared their bug. The doctor's office said there wasn't much they could do so we just alternated motrin and tylenol all day trying to keep her temp down (in a pretty warm house--not easy or pleasant). On Friday night she fell asleep like this after her bath before I could even get her PJs on. Poor little pumpkin.

On Saturday Kellen, Tana, and Ave came over for a cookout before we headed to see the fireworks. Unfortunately the fireworks got postponed for the next night because of a nice big rainstorm we got. We definitely needed the rain and Saylor still wasn't feeling fantastic and was running a fever off and on, so it was probably better we just got her to bed at a fairly decent time.

Sunday evening, Kellen, Tana and I took the girls to the carnival and fireworks show here in Moore (Mas had to work). It was a lot of fun! Ave loved the rides and Saylor cried when we had to leave the "herse" and the "e-atant" (elephant) on the carousel. She wasn't too excited with the carousel actually moving, though--she would have been fine just to sit on the still horse for hours.

I love this picture that captures her excitement for the fireworks. She loved them!

Happy Birthday, America!

Little of this, little of that

2009-07-01T20:49:00.000-07:00

This is the latest on the AC situation....thankfully our next door neighbor's dad is in the heating and air business. On Sunday night he came over to check things out. He spent almost TWO HOURS checking different things and thoroughly cleaning out the unit. (The guy that the warranty company sent spent less than 20 minutes and told us there was nothing they could do.) He also told us we had too many filters so we removed one. He did tell us that our unit was the original one that was put in when the house was built in 1985 and at that time the ACs here were only equipped for a max temperature of 95 degrees. Obviously that doesn't cut it here! So, we will need to replace it, but for now he bought us a few degrees by cleaning it out and removing a filter and later this week we are having some wind turbines installed in the roof so that should help some too, and maybe buy us a little time to get some estimates for a new AC. We have to do something fast though, because our electricity bill is going to be OUTRAGOUS! Our poor air conditioner runs non-stop, all day long until about 5 in the morning and then starts back up about 7. It's going to be a sad day in our house when that bill arrives.

Nothing else too exciting has been happening...just trying to stay cool. Saylor got to share her FIRST popsicle with me last weekend and we even went to the ice cream truck to get it. She loved it! (I know some of you are shocked that she got a popsicle--but it's just too hot to deprive the kid of a cold treat every now and then. I'm actually a little shocked at myself as well.)

Blowing bubbles with DaddaShe seems to think the bubble wand should actually go IN your mouth. And she doesn't seem too concerned with the soapy aftertaste!
Little more swimming pool fun!

She loves to wear our shoes

She's got some BIG shoes to fill!

Just to clarify

2009-06-25T18:25:00.000-07:00

I noticed that in the last post, I didn't really make myself clear. I'm not mad that the air conditioner is actually out, I'm frustrated that we have a home warranty (for the first year of living in this house, unless we decide to renew it) and they won't do anything about our air conditioner because it is technically still running. Not cooling our house, but still running. I called the warranty complany again today to try to reason with them and give them my sob story, and they didn't really care. I'm annoyed that we paid for a warranty that really isn't doing us any good. I wish they would come spend an hour in our house at about 5 pm. It is really not fun. And its supposed to be 102 tomorrow and 104 on Saturday. I could cry just thinking about it. Anyways, thank you so much for all the suggestions. Right now we are weighing our options (and counting our pennies :) and I'll keep ya posted on what we do.

In other news....I'm just having a plain bad week. Saylor is super fussy, has been for about a week. I can't really figure out what it is, other than a mixture of getting her upper molars and being just plain uncomfortable from the heat. Honestly, I'm uncomfortable too and don't have much patience right now. However, I'm currently reading Love and Logic Magic, so hopefully we can work on some of these tantrums.

But, Kellen and Tana move here this weekend and that's great news! I might be spending a lot of time hanging out in their air conditioned house until we decide what to do about our dilemma :)

One more thing--I just can't believe Michael Jackson is dead. I loved his music, his older music at least. He was definitely an odd duck. But he WAS the KING of pop! He will be missed.

Im steaming....

2009-06-24T12:42:00.000-07:00

LITERALLY.
Last week our air conditioner quit cooling our house. It was still barely blowing air but in the afternoon it gets into the 80's in our house! It is miserable to say the least. I called last week and someone finally came out today to look at it.....just to tell me that everything was working fine, we have an old unit, and that is just as good as it's going to get in the middle of the summer in Oklahoma City. Are you kidding me? My poor child can't take a nap without waking up sopping wet from sweat! I can't run our dryer during the day, I have to wait till the middle of the night when it's not so hot. I also have to wait till really late to dry my hair so it doesn't just heat the house up that much more. That IS NOT ok with me! The repairman told me that we could buy a whole new unit, but the inside ductwork would have to be done too because there are new standards on ACs now, blah blah blah and all that would cost SEVEN THOUSAND DOLLARS and up! So, that's not gonna happen.
PERFECT. I'm mad, frustrated and really tired of sweating and I just can't imagine living like this all summer. Just had to vent.....I'm off to Walmart to get some more fans.

17 months ago...

2009-06-21T21:39:00.000-07:00

You were this happy to meet your precious baby girl.....and you still get that giddy look on your face every time she calls your name!

Today I am reminded how blessed I am to have such a wonderful man as my husband and as Saylor's daddy! I love what a great example you set for our daughter, I love that you are constantly praying for her, I love how much you truly enjoy her and LOVE to hang out with her, and I love how much she has you wrapped around her little finger! It is such a joy for me to see the bond that you two share.

You are such a great Dada and we love you so, so much! Happy Father's Day

Friends

2009-06-17T20:03:00.000-07:00

Our very dear friends, Ross, Missy and their little boy, Reid came to visit for a few days! We had so much fun with them and miss them so much! That Reid is ALL BOY, full of energy, and as tough as nails! He is already a little athlete and can throw a football way better than I can. It's amazing the difference between boys and girls--or maybe my girl is just super prissy, I'm not sure! He and Saylor are 5 1/2 months apart and it is so fun to watch them play together. (They were supposed to best buds, and still live right down the alley from each other--but the Lord had other plans :) And Missy has another boy on the way due to make his arrival in about 8 weeks. She is going to have her hands full with these little guys--so they were getting a quick little vacation in while they still could!

We went and saw some sites of Oklahoma City while they were here, but the heat was almost unbearable. These Amarillo peeps (us included) are not accustomed to this HUMIDITY. It is torture!

Here are a few pics from our day today:

Ross and Reid on the river ride in Bricktown

Missy and Saylor on the river ride

Reid driving the boat at Bass Pro Shops
Missy and Saylor
Saylor driving the boat

They were exhausted from all the fun and the heat

(Please excuse Saylor's bulging diaper--we were making them drink lots of water)

Still completely out

And tomorrow, Saylor and I are heading to Amarillo for a few days! I'm having a really fun week full of friends and family--just how I like it!

One year ago...

2009-06-14T21:08:00.000-07:00

Tomorrow marks the one year anniversary that we left our home in Amarillo, said farewell to our family and friends, and became nomads for over 5 months. Wow, what a year it has been! And I know that I mention this situation a lot—but it was seriously a slightly traumatic time in my life. Sad, I know, I have lived a pretty quiet and sheltered life and this rocked my world. But, also don’t judge me until you have done it. It didn’t sound too bad to me either when I was preparing myself for it, and then I actually lived like that for almost half a year—it was insane! I have learned so much since this time last year….

I learned that I really, really hate hotels. They are filthy—regardless of how they LOOK! I’ve seen how they clean them, ewww!

I learned it’s really hard to move, pack, and unpack boxes—especially with a baby. We did it 6 times in a matter of 5 ½ months.

I learned that I am a pretty selfish person.

I learned that long distance car trips are NOT fun with a baby and dog, but they could have been so much worse. At least Saylor was still at the age that she slept a lot. It would be pure torture now!

We learned that Samson can stay inside the house when we leave. Obviously we didn’t have a backyard to put him in when we left and we soon realized that he does not chew, pee, poop, or destroy anything at all if you leave him alone with Animal Planet on. Now that he has a backyard again, he refuses to stay out there for more than about 20 minutes at a time. We have a very high maintenance Labrador.

I learned that I am not as tough and independent as I thought I was.

I learned to make baby food in a hotel kitchenette—not fun! That didn’t last long. (and Saylor gagged at my baby food anyway—I thought it tasted just like the Gerber kind—she did not.)

I learned that I relied on my friends and family a lot.

I learned that the house you bring a baby home to will always hold a very special place in your heart.

I learned that you really can get tired of eating out, even at Cheesecake Factory. I am an eating out kind of girl! I like it. Or maybe I just really dislike cooking. But I was so ready to have some home cooked food when we finally got settled. (Don’t worry, I’m back to my old self now, though.)

I learned that no matter where you are, hotel or not—being together as a family is what truly matters.

I learned of the greatness that is Panera Bread and their Strawberry Poppyseed Salad! YUM.

I learned that I love being home with Saylor every day. She keeps me laughing.

I learned that I like blogging. It has become my outlet. It keeps my family informed. And, most importantly, Saylor will be able to look back someday and hopefully get some kind of idea of how much joy she brings to my life!

I learned that it’s really fun to go to the grocery store—or really anywhere for that matter—in places you don’t know anyone. You can literally crawl out of bed, look a complete mess, and not have to worry about running into ANYONE! It’s awesome!

I was reminded that God is Faithful, He answers prayers, and He provides.

I was reminded that my relationships with my close friends and family are so very precious to me.

I was reminded that no matter how old you are, or how far away—You always need your mom! Especially when you are a new mom yourself.

I was reminded that my husband is a very patient, understanding man.

I know that my marriage is stronger!

I know that this girl will ALWAYS, ALWAYS be a Texan at heart.

I know that I have so, so much to be thankful for.

I know that I am a better wife, momma, and believer because of our adventures!

Our little family the day we left last year--wow, how my baby has changed!!

My family (minus my mom) the day we left.

So I've created a monster...

2009-06-07T20:17:00.000-07:00

Miss Saylor hates to be dirty! I honestly don't think it's a problem and I prefer to believe that it is not my fault--however, Mas begs to differ.

Saylor is absolutely loving playing outside every day, but if she falls down, dirt or "diwt" as she calls it, sticks to her sweatly little palms. She refuses to continue playing until I get it all off. I've tried to toughen her up and tell her "it's ok, it's just dirt, you're fine". She isn't having it! (And I'm not complaining.)

Here she is telling me that her hands are dirty

Then later, she was telling me that her foot got dirty. See how concerned she is! he he
And here are a few more of my girl playing outside. WE LOVE SUMMERTIME!

Daddy's little girl

2009-06-03T20:48:00.000-07:00

So, my precious angel that used to LOVE, and I mean LOVE her Momma, is now officially a Daddy's girl. It's actually been very official for about a month now. She wants him to change her diaper, read her a story, sing to her before bed (really can't blame her there--he sings WAY better), pick her up, hold her hand....just about everything, she would rather Daddy do.

He is working nights right now and as soon as I go get her in the morning she starts asking for "dada". Then she knocks on the bedroom door and says "hi dada". (Thankfully he wears earplugs). Poor baby asks for him all day! And as soon as he wakes up, she is finished with me for the day.

Really makes me happy--I love the bond they share and that they love each other so much! And he is pretty fun, I do have to agree. But, kinda makes me sad--I love this child with every ounce of me and everything I do, I do for her. Not to mention, I'm the one that makes the food, gives the baths, washes the clothes, and deals with FITS! My entire day revolves around this cute little person and she could CARE LESS!

She's gone to the dark side....literally! HA!

She'll be back and I'll be her favorite person again someday!

Nothin' much

2009-05-27T20:29:00.000-07:00

I haven't posted in while, but don't really have anything too exciting to post about. My mom came for Memorial Day weekend just to hang out and chill with us and that was fun. Mas even watched Saylor while my mom and I went and had a dinner and a movie date--just us girls! It was a nice break! I've also been TERRIBLE about taking pictures lately, but my friend, Erin is complaining that she hasn't seen pictures of Saylor in over a month....so here are a few random ones to tide you over until I take some better ones:

We went to a parade this morning that our Moore Library organized to celebrate the beginning of summer.
The library usually has a puppet stage, but they have replaced it with a "dress-up stage" for the summer. I was trying to dress up Miss Priss but she wasn't really havin' it. I snapped a quick picture before she got the tutu off. She is all about necklaces and princess wands, but that's about it--not so much diggin' the clothes.

And here is a picture of Yonna (or YaYa as Saylor calls her) and Saylor this past weekend. Saylor sure has that fake cheesin' smile down, doesn't she!

Please Wont You Be My Neighbor

2009-05-18T18:59:00.000-07:00

Guess what? My brother, sister-in-law, and niece are moving here next month!! We are beyond thrilled to have them near us again!

Kellen applied for jobs all over the country--really--and he just happened to get a job in Oklahoma City!! Wooohooo! It is absolutely a God thing--He is GOOD! A few months ago, we never would have imagined this would happen! Thank you, Lord, for bringing some of our family close to us again! We have so much fun with them and we are so glad that our girls will get to be together again!

And guess what else? I think that my parents will come here twice as often considering they will have twice the number of granddaughters here! Right!?!?

Congratulations, Kellen, on your new job and new adventure!

Just a puddle

2009-05-12T19:26:00.000-07:00

At a beautiful 16-months old:

~Your smile and your laugh and your dimple just like your daddy's makes me melt.

~Your eyes make me melt.

~The way you stop everything and dance to any and every song you hear, no matter the time or place, makes me melt.

~When you are right out of the bath and wearing your footie pajamas, you make me melt. (You are about to outgrow footie pajamas. What am I going to do?)

~Your smell makes me melt--especially your breath. I know that's weird and Daddy makes fun of me for that, but I have loved the smell of your breath since you were born.

~The way you sleep with your little tush in the air makes me melt. Every night when I go in to check on you, I want to pick you up and cuddle with you--you are just too sweet when you sleep.

~The way you hug, kiss and pat your stuffed animals makes me melt. You are already a little nurturer.

~The way you kiss now with your mouth closed and give me really tight hugs makes me melt.

~Your little voice makes me melt, especially when you say "bubbles"and "apple", oh and of course "mama", well the list could go on and on here, but your voice is irresistable.

~The way you put on my necklaces and stand in front of the mirror to admire yourself makes me melt.

~All the animal noises that you immitate make me melt.

~The way you so enthusiastically give us high fives and then go to Samson and slap his paw and say "high pi" because you always want to include him, makes me melt.

~When we are taking walks or playing outside, you wave and say "bye bye" to every single car that passes and that makes me melt.

~The way you love your Dada and ask for him as soon as you wake up in the morning makes me melt.

~When you grab a book and climb into my lap so I will read to you, I just melt.

Saylor Grace, you melt my heart and I love your sweet, gentle and fiesty personality!

Mother's Day

2009-05-10T18:53:00.001-07:00

Happy Mother's Day to all you moms out there!
I'm blessed to have lots of great moms to look up to. Thanks Grandma, Grannie, Loretta (my mother-in-law), etc., etc.

But most of all, thanks, Mom for all that you have done for us over the years--the sacrifices you made, the booboos you kissed and bandaged, the stories you read, the baseballs/softballs you threw and caught, the lunches you made (especially the ones that had napkins with notes or smiley faces on them--those were the best), the endless mounds of laundry you washed, EVERY SINGLE sporting event you wouldn't dare miss, all the girl scout/boy scout/baseball/church fundraisers you helped us sell, the tuition you paid, the long chats, long hugs, long pep talks, long lunches, and even longer patience....the list could truly go on and on. (I know I'm missing a whole lot but I do need to go to bed sometime!)

Thanks for loving me unconditionally--I now really know what that means--or wait, maybe I won't know true unconditional love until we make it through the teenage years, right ;)
Anyways, I love you and am so very thankful for such a great Mom and Yonna!

This day is also very special to me, other than the obvious reason, of course.
Two years ago on Mother's Day, I took my first pregnancy test, and we learned that we would soon be parents to a precious angel. We got to surprise our moms with news that they were going to be grandma's (again). It was a wonderful and surreal Mother's Day for me and our families. How little we knew on that day what great joy would lie ahead!

I am so thankful I get to be Saylor's momma. It has been an amazingly rewarding, fulfilling, and joyous experience! (And sometimes trying and exhausting, but a wonderful blessing nonetheless!)

Wow, where we would be without our Momma's?

Happy Birthday Little Brother

2009-05-06T20:15:00.001-07:00

Happy Birthday, Kellen!

Just want you to know how proud I am to call you my brother!

I'm proud of the leader that you are for your family, your ability to overcome with a big smile on your face, and most of all, trusting the Lord to guide your way.

You are such a good daddy, husband, and brother!

(I dont have any very recent pictures, so I figured I would go back a few years! Thanks for always making me laugh, or at least always finding a way to laugh at me!)

I hope your day was wonderful and I hope all your wishes come true (wink, wink)!
I love you!

Little known facts

2009-05-04T19:33:00.000-07:00

Julia tagged me and I'm a little behind getting it done. Our home internet was out and my very own personal geek squad was out of town. (I had internet on my phone so I could read blogs, but I wasn't about to write a whole post on my phone). I am to post 7 things that no one knows about me and then nominate 5 fellow bloggers to do the same. Here goes: 1. I own all the seasons of Friends. Mas and I still go to sleep most nights watching one of the DVDs. (we usually alternate with The Office) I just never get tired of it.

2. I really like to vacuum. (Especially now that we have a dyson). But, I rarely get to anymore. Mas usually vacuums when I'm giving Saylor a bath because she cries when we turn on the vacuum cleaner. She used to go right to sleep when she was a baby if we turned it on. That was actually Mas' secret weapon on the nights that I worked and if she got really fussy, he turned on the vacuum cleaner and she was out like a light. However, Samson loves the vacuum--he likes to be vacuumed by the little attachment hose--weird hu! Most dogs are afraid of the vacuum but as soon as you get it out he follows you around until you vacuum him. He's crazy--but it helps eliminate the excess dog hair.

On the other hand, I really, really hate to mop. I would rather clean the toilets.

3. My nose kinda moves up and down when I talk or eat. My brother pointed it out a few years ago to everyone at the table at a family function. He's really good at doing stuff like that. And he still reminds everyone any time we are together. (This one is for you, Kellen--I know it will make you laugh)

4. I have a new obsession--Gourmet Kettle Corn--not the microwavable kind, this one is already popped and in a red bag. YUM!! It's impossible to stop!

5. I really dislike milk. I will eat it in cereal but that's about it. Mas feels the same way. Thankfully, Saylor LOVES milk.

6. I'm really, really sick of all this rain we are getting. I want to plant flowers and play outside with Saylor....and not have to wipe Samson's feet every time he comes in from outside. Come on, SUNSHINE!

7. We didn't name Saylor until she was two days old. We went back and forth between two names. I actually decided on the other name right after my c-section but I hadn't seen her much yet. Mas had announced her name to everyone. Then the next morning, Mas was holding her in his arms and called her that name and I immediately knew THAT WAS NOT her name. She was a Saylor Grace--plain and simple. I was just having doubts because very few people were a fan of the name Saylor and we had caught a lot of flack for considering it. Of course, now I couldn't imagine her being anything else!!

_________________________________________________________________

***I tag Erin, Berkeley, Libby, Kenzie, Gay

A little help, Moms

2009-05-03T18:56:00.000-07:00

This is going to be short and sweet because I am exhausted and need to hit the sack! Our friends from Amarillo and Fort Worth came to town this weekend and we had a great time, but we stayed pretty busy, and stayed up WAY too late last night playing games. It's hard to stop, though when you don't get to see them very often.
Anyways...I just need a little input. Im looking for 'outside toy' ideas. Saylor is 15 months old--what is or was your child/grandchild/niece/nephew's favorite outside toy around this age. Saylor loves to be outside but I would like some new things to keep her entertained (or maybe something new to keep ME entertained). All suggestions would be greatly appreciated. (And she already has cars and trikes).
Thanks in advance for your ideas.

Adventures in Amarillo

2009-04-24T19:56:00.000-07:00

We had a ball in Amarillo. Lots to do and see, and in six days I still wasn't able to squeeze everyone and everything in. I worked one whole night and a little bit of another so I also had to try to sleep a little during the day as well, so that didn't help my endeavors.

Saylor explored the yard with Papa (seriously, their amazingly green yard makes me want to puke)

She saw all the great grandparents

She tackled mommy in the grass

She played with Averey

She ran and ran and ran around the barn (that's what we call the rediculously large shed in my parent's backyard) while Yonna chased her

And she played a little golf (or at least looked cute carrying around the putter)

We had a wonderful time. I'm already ready to go back. I'm just not ready for the four hour drive there and back again. Mas is out of town for another whole week so it makes me want to go back to Amarillo that much more. But, Kellen, Tana, and Ave are coming on Monday and I will really appreciate their company.

***Shoutout to Averey who's third birthday was Monday. I didn't have any pictures to post then so this is a little late.

She was the prettiest little princess at her "pwincess potty" (princess party)

This girl loves to dress up! It amazes me that a three year old likes princess dresses and high heels THIS much. She literally refuses to take them off. She cracks me up. She is so much fun!
We love you Averey! Happy Birthday!

happy birthday Samson

2009-04-19T09:40:00.000-07:00

Happy Third Birthday Sambo!

I know that I gripe at you a lot for all of the hair and dirt you track in our house and your horrific flatulence that somehow lingers in the air for forever!

But, you are a pretty good boy! You protect us when Dad is gone, you entertain Saylor for HOURS, you do a great clean-up job under the high chair, and you make us laugh a lot. We never have to take out the trash or get the mail alone...your willingness is evident as you barrel out the door with us. You were our baby before the baby. You gladly shared hotel rooms and many, many long car rides with us, because you are just thrilled to be anywhere we are! Thank you, Samson for your loyalty! We love you!

Here's a fuzzy picture taken on the phone of Saylor and Samson loving on each other.

Home sweet home

2009-04-15T20:57:00.001-07:00

We leave on Friday to go to Amarillo! Im so pumped! I haven't been there in 3 1/2 months and it seems like forever! My niece's third birthday party is on Saturday, which is the main reason we are going, but we have a pretty full schedule while we are there. We have to pack everything in, and see everyone we need to in a short amount of time. And it seems like we never quite get it all done, but I think that is just the reality of living out of town. Mas flies out of Amarillo to Kansas City for a two-week class so I am staying a few more days so I can spend more time with friends and family and so I don't die of sheer loneliness when I return to Oklahoma by myself. These are a few things on my to-do-list while in A-town:
*work--Im so excited to spend a night with some of my favorite gals, and hopefully deliver a baby or two as well, although I'm nice and rusty in that department, considering I haven't worked in about 4 months!
*get my hair did--I dont trust anyone else but my sweet hairdresser that has done my hair for a million years. I desperately need to have something done with this hair.
*hang out with my best pal, Missy and rub her sweet growing belly that I have completely missed out on--while Reid and Saylor play and Mas and Ross talk about random guy stuff.
*SEE MY NIECE! When they are this age they grow so much so fast. Can't wait to get a big Averey hug!
*Listen to Averey sing in the church choir on Sunday morning. It's going to be absolutely precious.
*Have a double date night with Kellen and Tana WITHOUT children. Thanks Mom--hope you were still planning on that :)
*And of course see all my family--my parents, grandparents, brother, sister-in-law, etc.! I'm so ready to see my mom....and she is SOOO ready to see Saylor! ha!

Happy Easter

2009-04-12T20:51:00.000-07:00

Our church had an extra service last night (on Saturday) so we decided to go to that instead of this morning. And thank goodness we did, because the weather was pretty crummy today. We had a wonderful laid back Easter today. Mas and I made our own little mini-Easter feast, I took TWO--yes TWO naps today, and we had an Easter egg hunt in the house because it literally rained ALL day. I wasn't quite sure how interested Saylor would be in finding the eggs, but she loved it! She was just adorable. (Sometimes I really have to fight the urge to just squeeze her--she is irresistibly cute sometimes! I had to fight that urge a lot today.) I unfortunately didn't get any pictures of her hunting the eggs. But here are a few pictures from last night.

Hope you all had a wonderful Easter with your families! Again, today was one of those days that I really miss the traditional get-togethers with my family. But.....we had a wonderful Easter here with just the three of us....and we will be in Amarillo in less than a week!! YAY

Bye Bye Binky

2009-04-08T20:06:00.001-07:00

I've been waiting to write this until I was good and sure that we were OFFICIALLY done, and since I didn't give in when Saylor was up from 2-4:30 am crying the other night, I think I can say we are OFFICIALLY done, without a doubt!

See these?

They are no longer a necessity in our house!! Thank you, Lord.

I know this is probably not a blog worthy topic, but it matters to me and I want to be able to look back and remember when this took place and how truly easy it has been (for future reference for future children). Because I've been dreading getting rid of it since she was about 6 months old. I just put it off and put it off.
Saylor didn't even want a binky in the beginning. She gagged when we would put one in her mouth, but I forced the issue. I couldn't be her constant pacifier, I couldn't nurse her at every waking moment. Almost 15 months later, we are just now getting rid of it.

Saylor hasn't had a binky during the day for months, hasn't had it at night for several weeks, and has now not had it at naptime for about a week and a half! She isn't sleeping as long at naptime and hasn't been sleeping as late in the morning because she can't soothe herself back to sleep as well without a binky, but we are getting there. It has been so much easier than I thought it would be. It's been much harder on me than her--so many times I have just wanted to give in and give her the dang thing so I could get another hour or so of sleep. But, we haven't--we've all stayed strong!

No more sterilizing the darn things, no more making sure we have one before we leave the house, no more making sure Saylor isn't sharing her binky with Samson, no more searching under couch cushions for them, no more worring that I'm messing up my baby's teeth, no more reaching behind me in the car while trying to drive to search for the binky, no more dreading 'when am I going to get rid of this thing', NO MORE! It's done!

GOOD RIDDANCE, BINKY!

Our weekend

2009-04-06T18:21:00.001-07:00

Mas' mom, Loretta, came to visit us this weekend. She hasn't seen Saylor in a year, so to say that she has changed a little would be a bit of understatement. Loretta thoroughly enjoyed our miss priss and her BIG personality! Unfortunately, Saylor cut two new teeth yesterday and was awake screaming for most of the night on Saturday. Loretta, Mas and I didn't go to bed until 4:30 in the morning!! Saylor makes it known when she's not happy. I felt so bad that her sleepless night happened to occur when we had company, though--NO fun!

We had a good weekend just hanging out, visiting, and laughing at Saylor. Thanks, Loretta, for coming. We enjoyed your company! (Sorry you didn't get much sleep)

Here are a few pictures of Loretta and Saylor last night after Saylor had her bath and was all greased up and ready for bed.

Silly baby

2009-03-31T20:12:00.000-07:00

This is about 20 minutes out of Miss Saylor's day.

Mas put some of my fuzzy socks on her arms a few weeks ago, so now she thinks the sole purpose of my socks is to be on her arms. She thinks it's fun to walk around the house and try to pick up things with socks on her hands. Silly girl.

She does a great job rearranging our bathroom cabinets, DAILY!

Oh, and don't forget the kitchen tupperware cabinet. She organizes that for us daily as well. What a sweet girl she is!

Simple Sundays

2009-03-29T19:46:00.000-07:00

It really is the little things...

We had a great Sunday! Mas got to go to church with us for the first time in a month! He stayed home with Saylor when she was sick about a month ago and has worked the past three Sundays, so it was great to be there as a family again.

Saylor Grace did OUTSTANDING in the nursery at church today. Just a little cry and a few whimpers when I dropped her off and then she was done, which is a complete turnaround from a few weeks ago when I was summoned to come get my child after she had cried non-stop for 40 minutes, ugh! She just likes to be with her momma!

We went out to eat with our friends after church. I really look forward all week to seeing my friends on Sundays! Again, Jessica, we are so thankful you guys are here!

We ALL laid down to take a nap this afternoon. Saylor woke up after only thirty minutes so I brought her into our room and she actually fell back asleep on me, which she hasn't done in a long time. I would be completely content with that baby sleeping on my chest for hours upon hours. Our snuggle time in itself made my day! I love that she is such a big girl now and sleeps so well in her crib, but I miss the many hours of holding that sleeping angel. And after I had stared at her for a while, I read my emails, checked out facebook, etc. on my trusty iPhone (all the while kicking Mas every few minutes to keep him from snoring too loud and waking up the munchkin) . Thanks, Mas for talking me into getting that rediculous phone that I thought I would never use :) Finally, after almost a year, I might be using it to its "full potential" as my geek of a husband would say.

We rearranged Saylor's room, only to rearrange it back about 5 minutes later. I just can't get it how I want it.

And then Mas and I watched The Office together that we had recorded from Thursday. We love The Office--it is one of the few shows that we both agree is funny.

What a fantastic day! I love having Mas home. I don't understand why he has to have a stinkin' job--we would have so much more fun if he could just hang out with us every day!

Hope your Sunday was filled with those special little things as well.

***And after my last post, I realized that I probably sounded slightly crazy with the whole washing the stuffed animal thing. I am a little crazy. Stuffed animals, and basically any toy that isn't completely encased in plastic, grosses me out and gets completely sanitized before it touches Saylor's little fingers. BUT, she is not clean and germ-free by any means. She is completely oblivious to my germaphobic mania and attempts to put her mouth on every restaurant table, cart handle, high chair strap, library book, etc. I just do the best I can, and believe it or not, I am getting better! I really believe being a nurse made me this crazy and compulsive. It's definitely a personality flaw. I have issues.
And thankfully, two years ago my washing machine broke and I got a cherry red LG front load washing machine! It is my best friend somedays--like the days that stuffed animals need to be washed. It gets them clean without ruining them! Everyone should have one, seriously, one of our best investments.***

Meet Mr. Monkey

2009-03-25T21:52:00.000-07:00

On Monday we headed to Toys R Us to get Saylor a little basketball goal for her Easter basket (ha--good excuse to get her something). I guess her daddy thinks she's gonna be a baller like him :)

So we spent some time debating on which basketball goal would be the best for her age, which would grow with her better, which would be more sturdy, etc.

And then Miss Independent wanted out of the basket. And within about 20 seconds she found her new best friend. She picked this monkey out of a whole slew of stuffed animals and immediately fell in love with him. She just sat down on the floor in the middle of Toys R Us (big sigh....that floor is disgusting) and hugged and kissed all over that monkey. Mas just looked at me and said "we HAVE to get it, she loves it!" Boy, does he have some things to learn, hu. There are going to many times in her life that she isn't going to get everything she loves! But it really was pretty adorable--I don't know what is was about that monkey, but you couldn't wipe the smile off of her face, and I gave in as well (even though we have tons of other perfectly soft, cuddly, huggable stuffed animals at home.)We decided to forget the basketball goal for the time being because she was interested in nothing but her new stuffed companion!

So Mr. Monkey got a bath in the washing machine when we got home (how many snotty nosed kids drug him all over the filthy aisles just like Saylor did? Yuck!) and he is now her constant sidekick!

We'll work on the baller thing later I guess!

Some of God's Greatest Gifts...

2009-03-22T19:35:00.000-07:00

Are unanswered prayers! (I used to be slightly in love with Garth Brooks--so that is the first title that came to mind)

After talking with Mas, my mom, and some friends this week (sometimes I have to speak things out loud to put it all in perspective) I realize now, once again, that this is true. Sometimes the Lord gives you exactly what you didn't know you needed. Nine months ago when we were leaving our home, I was questioning everything that was going on in our lives. Why was I having to leave my dream job as a L&D nurse? Why were we having hop from hotel to hotel for five months? Why were we relocating away from our family and friends? Why were we dragging our precious baby through all of this? It didn't seem fair, and you better believe I went kicking and screaming!
But now, I'm thankful that because of that move, I get to do exactly what I DIDN'T want--stay home with my little princess. I really never envisioned being a stay at home mom. Really. But now I'm so grateful for the PRECIOUS time I have had with Saylor. I will always be able to get a job, but I will never get this time back. It's exactly what I needed. Thank you, Lord, for unanswered prayers!

~And thank you, Mas for being super supportive and patient during all that kicking and screaming :) Thanks for encouraging me to stay home with our sweet girl--I'm having the time of my life with her! God knew just what he was doing when he sent me you, too!~

I'm blessed beyond measure

A girl and her dog

2009-03-16T20:07:00.000-07:00

Saylor, Samson and I were enjoying the weather this morning and I snapped this picture on my phone. I tried for a while to get a cute picture with both of them, but a squirmy toddler and squirmy dog are hard to capture--especially with a slightly sluggish iphone camera! She adores Samson. She shares all of her toys with him, she thinks he should enjoy tupperware and big plastic spoons as much as she does and never gives up trying to show him all the cool things she finds in the cabinets, and she gives him numerous hugs daily.

He doesn't quite show the same enthusiasm. He lets her pull his lips, his tail, his hair without the slightest aggravation....but just doesn't find her quite that interesting. I can't blame the pup. Our once over-the-top love for him dwindled when our sweet girl got here and he doesn't get near the attention he used to. But he entertains her for hours and he is very tolerant of her excitement for him, so I guess we'll keep him!

*Please dont judge my hideous yard! Someone is scheduled to come out and spray for all those weeds. We are inexperienced in this type of grass or these kinds of weeds and are not sure where to start, so we are letting a professional do it! And how are my parents already mowing their lawn in Amarillo?? NOT fair! The grass around here is showing no signs of turning green any time soon. We are living in a more humid climate now, you would think the grass would be green longer, but we have found that is not the case. Our grass was pretty much dead when we moved in the end of October, so we are ready for some lush GREEN grass to play in! (Wow, I really rambled for a while about some grass :)

Happy Birthday....a day late

2009-03-10T19:01:00.000-07:00

Sorry that I'm a day late, but happy birthday, Mom!!

Hope your day was wonderful!

Thanks for being so supportive and loving to us all!

Thanks for being a great example to me of what a mother should be!

Thanks for all your hugs and phone calls!

Thanks for all of your encouragement, understanding and patience!

Thanks for being a proud and devoted Yonna!

Thanks for being my best friend!

You're the best! Love you so much!

Happy Birthday!

Some randomness

2009-03-08T20:22:00.000-07:00

I have been really good about posting blogs about absolutely nothing lately. Sorry about that. I just got around to uploading some pics off my camera so I thought I would share a few.

Here is Saylor in her daddy's hat

This day, Saylor decided she was going to feed herself--I dont know that Im ready for this!

Erin and Saylor playing! Poor little miss priss didn't get out of her PJs except for about 3 hours the entire 3 days Erin was here visiting. She was feeling crummy and deserved PJs all day! (actually, I will admit that when it's cold outside and we don't have anywhere to go, Saylor and I have PJ days often. Thank the Lord for the recent warm weather so we can get out of this house!)

And I will leave you with a sweet 3-toothed grin! I get to wake up to slobbery sweet kisses from this little angel every day! What could be better than that?

*I had a great birthday--even though I am now officially in my LATE twenties--and am SOOO glad that my mom came to share it with me! We had a wonderful time at the concert!

Every year my grandma has a birthday dinner at her house for my mom and I. (actually she usually has a dinner for every family member, but Im lucky enough to get to share the celebration with my mom). Today they had that dinner and for the first time in 26 years--I didn't get to be there! Days like this make it really hard to not be "home". Missed you guys today!

A few more things!

2009-03-02T19:09:00.000-08:00

My friend, Erin came to visit last weekend and we had a great time catching up! We went for a pedicure for my birthday while Mas hung out with Saylor and let us have a girl's afternoon. It was just what I needed! Thanks, Erin for coming and hanging out, and loving on my girl--she obviously adores you with abundance of hugs you got this weekend! (We forgot to take pictures even after we promised we wouldn't forget this weekend.)

My birthday is on Thursday and my mom is coming for a short visit! Her birthday is next Monday so we are celebrating by going to a Bonnie Raitt concert here! My brother told me "that's cool for mom, gay for you!" But really, Im excited. I remember always listening to Bonnie Raitt with my mom and I enjoy her music and I am really excited to go to this concert with her to celebrate our birthdays! We are gonna have fun!

Isn't my new blog design FABULOUS? Kelly at Fabulous K Creative did it and I absolutely love it! Check out her blog--her button is to the left! Thanks so much, Kelly for your Fabulousness!

My sweet little angel is sick. She has been fighting a yucky cough and EXTREMELY runny nose for several days and I finally took her to the doctor today. She said it was just a cold and there wasn't much we could do that we aren't already doing. It is NOT fun to see my little muchkin miserable! I am very blessed that this is truly the first time she has really been sick! Thank you, Lord!

A few things

2009-02-19T15:23:00.000-08:00

*My mom has come and gone. She watched Saylor while Mas and I celebrated Valentines Day with dinner and a movie! Dinner without a toddler is so unbelievably peaceful and relaxing! Then she and I had a great time just hanging out, catching up, laughing at Saylor, and visiting the OKC National Memorial. It was so wonderful having her here for a few days--I really, really miss my mom!

*Saylor has been quite a little challenge the past couple of days! She is getting another tooth (or teeth maybe) and so that makes her a little irritable, but she also will not eat! UGH! All she wants is fruit and cheese! Nothing else! And the food she doesn't want she throws to Samson, or puts it down her sleeve or in her hair. Im slightly, well pretty frustrated but I know this comes with the territory (and her age). She has just always been such a good little eater--and I just knew we wouldn't have a problem with this! Just another one of those times I have to eat my words.

*My friend, Jessica got us tickets to the circus on Sunday! I can't wait to take Saylor and let her see an elephant up close! She will love it! (The elephants at the OKC Zoo are gone until then end of the year--they are being bred somewhere else)

*Mas doesn't come home from Alabama until Saturday evening! I really, really miss him!

*I got pulled over this morning and got a warning for not having an Oklahoma license plate or drivers license. I knew I needed to get it done but have been putting it off. I don't want an Oklahoma license plate, I wanna keep my Texas one. Isn't that silly!

*Im volunteering in the children's ministry at church on Wednesdays with my friend, Jessica and last night was my first official night! I'm really excited to get more involved and meet new people! I REALLY, really love our new church and am excited for all that God is doing there!

*I think that's it for now! Hope everyone has a wonderful Friday!

Our Friday

2009-02-13T20:58:00.000-08:00

Saylor Grace decided to stay up and hang out with us from midnight until 3 am last night and then got up ready to play at 7 (she's getting her third...yes only THIRD tooth at 13 months old)! So needless to say Mas and I were operating on 4 hours of sleep. Which...has been done plenty of times since this sweet girl joined our lives, but we had family pictures today. We both had the puffy-eyed, drowsy look going on today.
But, as the photographer was calling us back into the room we were going to take pictures, little-miss-I-can-walk, or make that run, all-by-myself fell and got herself a nice fat lip, RIGHT before the dang pictures! I had been careful all morning to avoid falls at all costs, because the past few months, since she started walking, she's had quite a few minor bumps and scrapes! (She definitely gets her gracefulness from her momma.)
So after drying the tears, and then the runny nose due to all of the crying, we made it through a whole round of pictures. I was actually pretty impressed with Saylor. I figured after her lip ordeal, we were done for. But she got over it fast and smiled her sweet, contagious smile! And you really couldn't see the swelling in her lip when she was smiling big, so it all worked out great! And we have a few pictures to tide the families over for a while!

On another note, I hope everyone has a wonderful Valentine's Day tomorrow. We really aren't doing anything special tomorrow, but my mom is coming on Sunday to watch Saylor so we can go out by ourselves and then she is staying a few days here with me to keep me company while Mas heads out of town AGAIN for work! I have the greatest mom ever and I'm SOOOO looking forward to spending some girl time with her for a few days! Happy Hearts Day XOXOX

recipe swap

2009-02-03T20:22:00.000-08:00

Thanks to Ashley at http://ingramgang.blogspot.com/, I am participating in a recipe swap. I am pretty new to this whole cooking thing so I love this idea. Before Saylor, Mas and I mostly wasted money going out to eat. But this has become a favorite lately--especially during the cold weather. And it's super easy. The most time-consuming part is shredding the chicken. The green chilies may be too spicy for the kiddoes, though.

CHICKEN TACO SOUP FOR YOUR CROCK POT

Ingredients:

*1 onion, chopped (we use onion powder instead)
*1 (16 ounce) can chili beans
*1 (15 ounce) can black beans
*1 (15 ounce) can whole kernel corn, drained
*1 (8 ounce) can tomato sauce
*1 (12 fluid ounce) can or bottle beer (we use 1 can of chicken broth instead)
*2 (10 ounce) cans diced tomatoes with green chilies (ROTEL), undrained
*1 (1.25 ounce) package taco seasoning
*3 whole skinless, boneless chicken breasts
*shredded Cheddar cheese (optional)
*sour cream (optional)
*crushed tortilla chips (optional)

DIRECTIONS
Place the onion, chili beans, black beans, corn, tomato sauce, beer or chicken broth, and diced tomatoes in a slow cooker. Add taco seasoning, and stir to blend. Lay chicken breasts on top of the mixture, pressing down slightly until just covered by the other ingredients. Set slow cooker for low heat, cover, and cook for 7 hours.
Remove chicken breasts from the soup, and allow to cool long enough to be handled and shred chicken. Stir the shredded chicken back into the soup, and continue cooking for 1 hour. Serve topped with shredded Cheddar cheese, a dollop of sour cream, and crushed tortilla chips, if desired.

Note: Dont skip the shredded cheese and sour cream--it makes it awesome!

tagged

2009-02-02T21:46:00.000-08:00

I was tagged last week by Megan Cherry to post the fourth picture in my fourth folder...so here goes:

This picture was taken on Mas' phone in November in Amarillo at Brush with Art. I previously discussed our love of that place, we have lots of history there! We were making a Christmas plate--all of our hands made up the Christmas tree branches, and Saylor's foot was the tree trunk, and then we dipped her little fingers in different color paint to make the lights on the tree! We had so much fun and Saylor thought it was really fun to get her hands all messy!

Here is another sweet picture from that day:

I really wish I had an "after" picture of our plate, it turned out so incredibly cute after they fired it! But, I didn't get one and it is now safely stored away in the attic with the rest of the Christmas decorations.

Directions:
1) Choose the 4th folder where you store your pictures on your computer.
2) Select the 4th picture in the folder.
3) Explain the picture.
4) Tag 4 people to do the same.
~No cheating (cropping, editing, etc.) Have fun!!~
I tag:
Erin Slott
Berkeley Boren
Kelly Slott
Gay Ham

Thanks a bunch, Megan for tagging me--it was my first time to be tagged!!

Saylor Moments

2009-01-28T19:12:00.001-08:00

Here is new video of fun Saylor moments over the past few months. It's kinda long, but if you have time, it's very fun! Enjoy!

Bright, bright sunshiney day!

2009-01-23T19:42:00.000-08:00

Yesterday the weather here was a perfect 75 degrees with very little wind and a perfect opportunity to take our little turkey to the zoo! Thanks to Yonna and Papa, Saylor (and Mas and I) got a membership to the OKC Zoo for her birthday and we are planning on taking full advantage of that! Saylor absolutely LOVES animals! She giggled at about the first 30 animals she saw yesterday, whether is was a bird, fish, rhino, etc. She just loves them all! And her joy is so contagious! We just cant help but giggle along with her! We took her to several zoos while we were on the road but haven't been to one in about 4 months--its amazing how much more interest she shows in the whole experience! She's just growing up so much! So we had a wonderful day enjoying the fresh air (well, besides the nice stinch of all the animals), beautiful weather, and each other!

Saylor with the tiger--she was telling him how to roar! She has the sweetest tiger roar!

She wasn't feeling the sunglasses

Giraffes--my favorite

This is Saylor's fake smile....she already knows to smile when I break out the camera--she makes me laugh! It's now a challenge to get a real smile out of her without her realizing I have the camera.