Thankful.

This past weekend in church the message was focused around 1 Thessalonians 5:16-18.  The basic premise was to be joyful always, pray continuously and be thankful in all circumstances.

This Thanksgiving is very different for our little family of three, simply because we are a family of three.  I am obviously very thankful for our family, friends, home, jobs, marriage, church, etc., but this message really spoke to me on a different level.  

I am more than thankful for the blessing that Sawyer has been in our lives.  She has taught me so much.  

She is joyful ALWAYS.  And has brought so much joy to my life.  No matter what kind of day I have had, or haven't had, her sweet smiles and silly giggle bring me joy.  The message was not to be taken literal, as in be in a wonderful, peppy mood at all times; but, be joyful and comforted in that Jesus died for us and is there for us no matter the situation.  I need to remember that more often - I am not alone.

 Last weekend when we picked her up from the nursery at church the lady told us, "She is just her own little party."  

 Perfectly sums her up. Joyful always.

Prayer is a part of my faith that could use some major improvement.  When the topic of praying continuously was brought up in church, the Pastor talked about not necessarily continuously taking part in the act of prayer 24/7, but being aware of God's presence, being THANKFUL for blessings and continuously, not just during the Thanksgiving season, recognizing God's hand in all those blessings.

Sawyer has forced me to be much more aware of all of the blessings in my life and not take the small things for granted.  If she can get beyond excited about having peas on her tray for dinner, surely I can have a more positive outlook on the things in my life that tend to bring me down.  Surely I can focus more on the fact that I have a job and a car, and less on the commute.  Surely I can focus on the fact that I have a closet full of clothes, and less on having "nothing to wear."  

And, surely I can thank God more for blessing me with Barry and Sawyer and continuously pray for our future.

Being thankful in all circumstances has sometimes been a challenge during the first year of being a parent; again, not to be taken literal, but a charge to change your perspective.  

Of course it is difficult to be thankful to be awoken by a screaming baby at 3 AM, but how amazing is it that I had a screaming baby that I had prayed for for so long to wake me up at 3 AM?  That is what I have to remember.  

Of course there have also been plenty of times that being thankful has not been so difficult, her first smile, first steps and, of course, I am thankful for her fantastic dance moves that provide never ending entertainment.

Happy Thanksgiving to all!  

11 Months

She is so grown up.

I can't get over the boots.  I can't get them on her feet at all.  She curls her toes making it especially difficult.

But they sure do look cute in pictures!  I feel like she knows what I am doing with these pictures.  She just sits there and poses.

We sometimes have to tickle a smile out of her...wait for it...

giggle city!  She's super ticklish.

Even though I already posted about some big events in October, Baby Dedication & Pumpkin Patch, Logan's Birthday, and Halloween, I still have so much to write about this past month.

Sawyer is OBSESSED with books.  She brings them to us over and over and will sit totally still while we read them to her.  This was one day when Barry had just walked in the door from work, she immediately found this Halloween book, took it straight to him, threw it at him (because she throws everything) and climbed up (she's part monkey) into his lap.  This one is definitely her favorite.

It really seems as though Sawyer has grown up so much this past month.  She brushes her own hair...

She talks on the phone...

And she is super helpful around the house.  She pulls all the wet clothes out of the dryer helps with the laundry...

takes everything out of the pantry helps clean the kitchen...

and, only wants to be held while I'm cooking helps me bake.

Sawyer has now graduated to eating out of a bowl.

She has been learning sign-language at school and has mastered the sign for "more."  We see it often when it comes to eating and reading books.  She is now up to four teeth.  Two on the bottom and two vampire fangs.  But, she thinks she can eat whatever she wants.  Such as a snickers.

But, then she came to her senses and decided on a carrot instead.  Smart girl.

She loves walking with these push toys.  No steps on her own yet, unless you count half a step immediately followed by a face plant, but lots of standing on her own.  She's pretty proud of herself too, she usually claps for herself every time she stands up.  It's so funny to see this itty bitty person just standing there in the middle of the room.

Her and Julia had quite the time pushing each other on Cora's car when we spent the day in College Station "tailgating" at their house.

We did do some actual tailgating there too.  She's a pro.

And, Cora was nice enough to scoop up all this sand onto an ice chest using a washer (she's so resourceful) for them to play with.

We also spent some time in Yoakum.

Could they look any more alike???  She was loving Grandma pushing her in the swing.

Sawyer LOVES her chair.  She is constantly climbing on it and diving off of it onto us - she things its soooooo funny!

She also loves Lori.

And, giving Lori kisses.  Sometimes Lori lets it happen.

I took Sawyer to a softball game at work.  She was pretty into it.  She would clap whenever the girls would cheer for each other.

I also took her to basketball practice.  She was not so into it.  She only wanted to climb the stairs in the arena.

Turns out she's pretty good at climbing steps!  Sawyer's school had picture day.  So funny!  We practiced at home first.

She did pretty good when it came time for the real thing...

We also celebrated Barry's birthday this month.  We had a little "party" for him the weekend before and then got to meet him and Grandma & Grandpa for lunch on his actual birthday.

The best part about his birthday...this fantastic balloon that Aunt Kasey & Uncle BJ brought over.

She is becoming so expressive and is really starting to communicate.  She says "boom" whenever she falls down, "uh-oh" when she drops something (which is ALL the time and on purpose), "pup pup" (puppy - in a whisper for some reason), and she nods "yes" and "no".  She will do something she isn't supposed to do and then look at us and nod "no" - hard not to laugh!  And, this is how she feels about watching the Cowboys.

I can't believe the next monthly update will be her first birthday!!  It's crazy to think how much our lives have changed, for the better, in the past year.  The party planning has already begun - we can't wait to celebrate the blessing that has been her first year!

Halloween 2012

Sawyer had quite the eventful first Halloween!  Her day started out with a Halloween parade at school, to which I did not bring her costume because I didn't know about it.  Mom of the Year.  Fortunately, she didn't know the difference and she had a pumpkin shirt on...close enough!

She lasted a little white in the buggy with her classmates, but was more interested in me holding her.  Yup, I walked in the parade around the playground.

I think she mostly wanted me to hold her because that was probably a faster route to getting down on the ground and exploring.

Can you see her little vampire tooth in this one?? So timely...

She missed the memo on getting the two front teeth.

After school, we went to a couple Halloween parties - this time in costume!

She was SUPER interested in this candy bowl.

She picked out a snickers and a twix which she carried around with her for a while - until she decided to throw it on the ground over and over and say "uh-oh" - such a fun game!!

All the cute kiddos at party #1...

And then we went to visit some other baby friends.

We got there a little too close to bed time so this was the best we could do when trying to get a picture of all 4 together...

FAIL.  We did get a couple good ones before the mosquitos decided to join the party.

The babies, very surprisingly, were more than happy to play in their costumes inside!

They were so silly crawling around with their little hoods on.

Sawyer & Beckham also enjoyed some time playing on Caroline's chair.  Sawyer basically treated Beckham as though he was part of the chair.

And, I have to brag about our ridiculously cute nieces and nephews!!

Logan the giraffe.  And being a Coogs fan with that little hand!

Cora the princess

Blake & Brody - cute little frogs!

Abigail as Minnie Mouse

I was loving getting all these pictures last night!  I would say Sawyer's first Halloween was a success...even though I only got 1 piece of candy...at least it was a box of Nerds.