sawyer and i went to michigan for 16 days. it was a much needed break from the daily routines of home and a chance for the two of us to spend time together. every morning i heard, "wake up, mama...wake up, mama." to which i would groggily reply, "i'm awake." he would giggle and say, "ok, i coming" then climb out of the pack-n-play, come over to the bed, climb up, and snuggle for a bit. it was heaven! it didn't matter how little sleep i had gotten that night (too much talking and reading), i loved that we were building our relationship.

it had been almost a year since uncle chris has seen his favorite nephew. they were so cute together! sawyer LOVES uncle chris and chris' girlfriend, rachel. we were able to celebrate both of their birthdays with them while we were there, although you would have thought it was sawyer's birthday with how much he was spoiled by them. uncle chris went shopping before we got there and won big points with the toys he picked out. he definately knows what his nephew likes! one of the days they all went on a slip-n-slide. i don't know who had more fun...sawyer...chris...rachel...or me (watching the three of them goofing around.)
grananna took sawyer and me to marvelous marvin's which has a lot of antique and modern games. sawyer was very tired, but we made the most of it. i don't know how i feel about this picture though...he looks TOO old!!

pop-pop and grananna had a few flashbacks when sawyer got into the guest bathroom and unrolled the toilet paper into a huge pile, then got some powder and decided to shake it all over the floor, the chairs, and himself. of course, they thought it was hilarious (which it was) and took pictures instead of getting upset.
on our last day, we all went to a small farm at kensington park. sawyer was able to run around, see some animals, and find a cute little blond to flirt with.

before we left chris asked me to put sawyer in his gray cammo shorts and black tennis shoes so they could match. it was adorable to see them walking around all matching, even down to the sunglasses. they adore each other!!
this is the barn where the baby animals are kept when they are still really little. there were two HUGE pigs with about 10 piglets each, a few goat kids, a lamb, a couple of rabbits, and some newly hatched chicks.

there was a small herb garden with a path that was fun to run around. grananna found some mint, lavender, and a plant that smelled like lemon to share with sawyer.here are the boys! i love this picture.
sawyer has started singing. he sings songs he knows, but also makes up his own by combining songs. this video is a made up one which starts with something about a ball game. (yes, he is bouncing on me at the end of the video.)


we were also able to go to my dear friend karen's wedding, visit with paula and her twin boys (sawyer laughed the entire time we were there), spend an afternoon with dale, and lots more. it was amazing to watch sawyer with my family. i loved spending time with everyone and can't wait to go back.

last month i bought sawyer a star wars book. i'm not sure who was more excited, scott or sawyer. it has since become his favorite book, he calls it 'star-ers.' it is a simple board book with pictures of some of the main characters. sawyer knows all of their names and likes to point out the 'white babers' that a few of them hold. my favorite page is the picture of princess leia. sawyer calls her, 'mama princess.' who am i to correct him??

being a parent is a blast. i'm sure it helps that we have a stinkin' cute toddler. sawyer is growing so much in so many ways. he can recognize all of his letters and numbers up to 9. he can count to 12. (he goes higher, but all of the numbers are one-teen after that.) he loves books and tries his hand at reading, but only on the books he has memorized. :) (it's my blog, i can brag if i want to...right?) he also enjoys going outside to play at our park and loves to go bike riding, thanks to his pop-pop and gra-nana's generous christmas presents.

on our recent trip to las vegas, my aunt darrelyn gave sawyer his 1st 'big boy' bed. he loves it and has taken one nap and slept one night in it. we are planning on taking down the crib after i finish school in 2 1/2 weeks. for now though, it's another play area.

my favorite thing about being a mama right now is watching sawyer's personality grow. just the other day i was laying on my stomach and sawyer was sitting on my back. he slid down onto the floor and said, 'mama, fun! mama slide!' he does thing to make us laugh, like in this picture, he found 3 binks, gave me 1 and put the other 2 in his mouth. he pulled them out long enough to say, 'i funny.'

last sunday, we decided to watch america's funniest home videos. sawyer laughed so hard, scott and i were falling off of our chairs. it took us a good 2 minutes to calm down ourselves. we recorded it and rewatched it so that we could get sawyer on film. by the end of the video, sawyer is forcing his laugh, but you get the idea of the original hilarity. the part he is watching is a montage of people falling during gymnastics.


it is amazing how quickly time flies and how much babies change. sawyer talks more and more every day and continues to surprise us with the things he knows. it will be fun to be able to spend my days with him for the next few months.