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:)!