Cute pics of Sawyer!

This is one of my favorite pics of him so far!



Both Marissa and Devon have a towel shot - we couldn't leave Sawyer out!



It's been difficult for me to really capture his cute smile on camera, but he first started showing his little smile around 6-7 weeks.




Here is my sweet baby! I have been reminded once again how much I like babies and Sawyer is a good baby! He has his fussy times and I've conditioned him to want to take his naps in my arms (just like my other babies), but he pretty much started sleeping through the night on his own! By seven weeks he was giving me some good stretches at night so that by 9 weeks he was only waking up for an early morning feed!

Happy Halloween!

Here's our cute little Tigger!



Since Halloween was on a Sunday, our ward had a trunk or treat on Saturday and the kids got plenty if candy.



Marissa was a fairy princess so I let her wear mascara and face glitter, both of which she was super excited about! Look at those lashes!



Here's our little fireman! Fuzzy, this piggy snout is for you!

Grandma's in town!

A couple of weeks after Sawyer was born, Ryan's mom came out to help me with the kids. The kids loved playing with Grandma all day and here are some of the fun things we did with her.

We drove up Mt. Lemmon with her and stopped at the Cookie Cabin at the top to get a huge cookie and some hot chocolate!



We also took her to trail dust town. Here are Marissa and Grandma in jail!



They put on a free show there that we went to - Sawyer and I passed. We saw the same show last year and thought it was pretty fun, but apparently Devon got a little scared. The bad guy's name in it was Blackjack and we were hearing about "blackjack" for several days after that!



There was also a little train they could ride on there. Ryan and I sat at the very back with Sawyer because the train whistle was too loud for him, but Marissa and Devon were at the front with Grandma!



One of our first unofficial family pics with Sawyer!

The Ostrich Farm!

Just up the road from us is an ostrich farm that we finally decided to check out. For a small fee you get two large cups of food for the deer, goats, ostrich, and donkeys as well as two small cups of bird food. The kids had a blast - probably almost as much fun as Ryan and I did!


We started with the deer. Marissa was pretty timid - not that I can blame her because I started out that way, too!



Devon was pretty much fearless when it came to feeding the animals and would practically stick his whole hand in their mouths!



This is what the goats were stationed behind and they would stick their heads through the various holes to get the food.



When the owner gave us the food, he said this was the thing to do with the goats and it would make a great Christmas card picture!



I didn't think there was any way Ryan could convince me to do this, but somehow there I was staring down a goat!



Devon thought this looked like a good idea...but he ended up chickening out in the end!



The ostrich were ornery things and the least entertaining to feed. You couldn't get your hand anywhere near their mouths unless you wanted some painful welts!



These are the lorikeet birds that came right up on your arm to get the food...



...as well as on our heads! I thought this was way more amusing watching the birds pick through Ryan's hair...



...than when this bird started walking up my arm to jump on my head! Ryan was also considerably calmer than I was!

Sawyer James!

Sawyer James joined our family September 17, 2010 at 8:42am. He was 6 lbs. 13 oz. and 20 inches long. Labor and delivery were pretty typical for me and we are all so glad to have him in our family! The kids think he is great. He's definitely a keeper - it's the other kids that are for sale cheap!




Here's our little angel baby!





This is a picture of Marissa that we thought best showed the resemblance between her and Sawyer - he is definitely of the Marissa mold, not the Devon mold.

Oops!

We just got back from a long weekend trip last week and we are still trying to adjust to the routine of school. I had somehow forgotten that every Friday Marissa gets out of school at 1:45pm instead of 3:10. I put Devon and myself both down for naps and all of a sudden I woke up to a phone call from Ryan. This was strange seeing as I NEVER talk to Ryan in the middle of a shift - apparently he's busy or something at work:). He said the school was waiting for me to pick Marissa up. Oops! I rushed over to the school and as I opened the door to the office it dawned on me that Marissa could very well be in tears and I was not prepared to handle that. I walked in, however, and she was just sitting on a chair eating her apple from lunch like she did this all the time. The office ladies said they were going to find her a snack, but she told them she had her apple from lunch. They said she was being really good and were nice about the whole thing. I naturally felt terrible and took Marissa to get an ice cream sundae from McDonald's on the way home. When Ryan came home, he asked her if she was scared when I wasn't there to pick her up. She said, "No, actually it was kind of fun sitting there." And also proceeded to tell me some of the office "gossip" she overheard while sitting there. Thankfully, for Marissa, this was a pretty cool day where she got to sit at the office and then go get an ice cream sundae after school!



We are now officially two weeks into the school year and so far Marissa is loving it! I have heard a couple of other mothers tell how their kindergartner is having trouble adjusting, but Marissa has made it as easy as possible on me. I asked her one day if she was glad when it was time to come home at the end of the day or if she wished she could stay longer. She replied, "Well, I wish I could stay longer, but I know it's good for you if I come home." I made sure she knew that she has to come home when she does because everybody comes home then.

The other day she came home from school all excited because she had her homework folder. Each week on Monday, their homework folder comes home with a few activities that are due back on Thursday. She said when she brings her homework folder back she gets a sticker and after five stickers she gets a popcorn party, which absolutely thrills her. She then proceeded to finish her homework for this week...on Monday. I couldn't be more pleased or more at ease at how much she is enjoying school and I'm so proud of my little kindergartner!

My little kindergartner!

Today is a day I have been dreading now for quite some time. I have not been ready to send my little 4 year old off to school, but unfortunatly for me, my little 4 year old is more than ready. I didn't quite make it out of the classroom before the water works started, but that got me out of there fast. Marissa has been so excited, and although I am quite sad, I am very excited for her as well. She is such a bright little girl with an amazing capacity to learn new things, and she loves to learn! I know she will love kindergarten, which will make it so much easier for me, too!




Devon was really choked up about Marissa starting school, too, as you can tell. Luckily for me, Devon provided a good distraction in the car on the way home from dropping her off by throwing one of his characteristic meltdown fits about who knows what:)!

L.A., anyone?!

Ryan had a random stretch of 4 days off in a row and we thought, "Why not L.A.?" Ryan booked the hotel and the next morning at 3:30am we set off to sunny California! We went to the beach everyday and the kids had a blast! To make this trip even better,
Grandma and Grandpa Earp decided to meet us there and hang out with us on the beach!

The only lowlight of the whole trip was that it was a little chillier than we (I) expected. We didn't bring a single pair of pants or a jacket between the four of us - I had no idea it wasn't going to be 90 some odd degrees. I was informed, however, that this was typical of California beaches - information that would have been nice during the packing process. It would have been perfect weather had I been wearing pants instead of a swimming suit, but having said that, we still enjoyed some beautiful sunny weather and we all had a great time!



Grandma and the kids'



Here's Grandpa getting some water with Marissa for the kids' (Ryan included) sand creations!



Ryan and the kids working hard!



Ryan's tutorial - 101 Sand making - Ryan has never accredited my Michigan dunes trips as a kid to true "beach experience" so naturally he was the one qualified to enlighten and expand the kids' knowledge of sand creations.



Devon took about 2 seconds to break out! Devon was fond of the sand - he liked to sprawl on it whenever possible, and both kids enjoyed making sand angels.



Marissa wanted to savor her triumphant breaking out. The kids' favorite sand creation was in fact a deep hole Ryan dug out for them. They would go hang out in the hole, jump across it, and Devon was a personal fan of falling into it head first.



In the hotel room the kids' shared the pullout bed. One minute we looked at the kids and they were both kind of hogging the middle, the next minute we looked and we saw this!



There was a pool and hot tub at the hotel where we stayed. By the time we came home from the beach we were just chilly enough that we all wanted to jump in the hot tub to warm up. In this picture Marissa is sporting the lei and flower clip that Grandma and Grandpa got her at the beach that she loves! Even though this was pretty quick trip we had a fabulous time and we were all glad Grandma and Grandpa could join us!

What, Mom??

The other morning Devon got up bright and early, as usual, but was also demanding oatmeal. When Devon demands something, he's loudly persuasive (unfortunately, this is one thing I haven't taught Marissa to do for him:) so I got up to get him his oatmeal. After I made it I went to lay back down on my bed thinking I'd just rest and left my door open so I could hear if the kids got into any trouble (by this time Marissa was up). After a few minutes I heard the water running in the kitchen. Devon has lately taken up playing in the bathroom sink. He's usually sitting with his feet in the sink with the water dripping while he's trying out all the toothbrushes. When I heard the kitchen sink going I thought to myself "worst case scenario he's obviously pulled a chair over to the sink and I think I may have left a cup or two in the sink so he's probably 'cleaning' the sink and I have a cup or two of water on the floor and around the sink. I wasn't too alarmed and then Marissa came in to tell me "Mom, you've got to come here. We have our own little spray park in the kitchen!" Marissa often exaggerates so I was still not jumping out of my bed - obviously my grogginess was clouding my judgment. I finally drag myself out of bed a minute or two later to find this:

What, Mom? Is this not allowed?!

Devon had the sink on, sprayer in hand, spraying Marissa over the kitchen counter. There was a pool of water all over the counter and floor - they had indeed had their own little spray park in the kitchen. Luckily, we live in Arizona and after taking several towels to sop up most of the water, the heat took care of the rest!

Trip to Texas

Ryan had a break in May and we drove to Texas to see Uncle Dan and Aunt Fuzzy.

Highlights:
1. Grandma and Grandpa came at the same time and spoiled all of us!
2. Devon thought Max was there just for him and could frequently be found laying on the poor dog!
3. Aunt Fuzzy was able to get a boat for the afternoon and we all went out on the lake for a ride and swim - the kids had a blast, especially taking turns driving the boat!
4. The hot, humid Texas weather reminded me to be grateful for the dry Arizona air!
5. We spent the afternoon on the bank of the San Marcos river where the kids got to try their hand at kayaking!
6. Ryan and I were able to do a session at the San Antonio temple with free babysitting!

Lowlights:
1. The 15-hour drive is not something we would like to repeat anytime soon!
2. We couldn't lock Devon in his room and although contrary to his obedient 2-year old nature would not stay in bed - some nights he was up until midnight!
3. Ryan's vacation went by way too fast especially on this trip!

Here are a few pictures (Unfortunately, we did not get a single picture of the kids with Max!):



This is Devon with his "I'm too cool for you" look. They had the radio on while he was driving and he was thinking he was hot stuff with his hair blowing in the wind bobbing his head to the music!




Marissa had a great time driving the boat as well although her turn was much shorter than Devon's. Once Devon got behind the wheel he was staying there for awhile. Luckily, Marissa was very gracious about it!

Preschool Graduation!

Marissa's preschool had a little graduation ceremony for them at the end of the year. They had the graduates walk out from behind the stage, walk around the gym and sit down in their seats. Then each different class sang a couple of songs after which, they all walked up individually to receive their award. Marissa was too fast on the handshake for me to get a picture of her getting her "diploma" but she posed for me afterwards. The highlight for Devon was the cake after, and the highlight for Marissa was that she even got to keep her cap and gown!

Baby #3!

We are due September 18 so I get to enjoy the already hot Tucson summer hotter! Marissa is pretty excited and she would love to have a baby sister - honestly, I think Ryan might be a little relieved if she had a little sister, too, so she wouldn't dress Devon up in princess clothes! When we ask Devon if he would like a baby brother or a baby sister he says, "No." Unfortunately, if he really knew what was going on, his response would probably be the same!