He is my joy

After a mostly sleepless night, I woke up to a very, very stinky smell.

Our dog, who is about 12 weeks old and has been an outside dog for the past three weeks, had been given a bath last night and allowed to stay inside. He did great for the almost five hours preceding bedtime. No accidents at all. Unfortunately, that was not the case when I woke up this morning. There were eight gross, stinky poops in our kitchen where we kept the dog for the night (but no pee! Ha!). Have I mentioned I'm pregnant? And while morning sickness is mostly absent, it likes to show up when stinky smells and early mornings collide.

About a millisecond after I discovered the poopy crime scene, Sawyer decided it was time to wake up. Thankfully, James jumped to the rescue. He let the dog out, got Sawyer up, changed him, and kept him occupied while I cleaned up the mess in the kitchen (mopping the floor three times over should never happen before 7am).

Needless to say, it wasnt the best start to the day.

But I had my husband and my little man with me to start the day. And Jesus changed my heart to be a little more like His this morning. And I am counting it all joy to have been able to clean up all that poop with my two working hands and legs, to have been able to stay home and do five loads of laundry and scrub toilets, to be able to do fun crafts and learning activities with my incredibly active two year old, to feel a little life jumping around inside of me, and to have been able to kiss my husband when he walked though the door.

I am one blessed wife and mom. And I'm so thankful Jesus is my joy.

Sawyer: 2 years and {almost} 3 months

(this was originally written about two weeks ago. Also, blogger is stinking it up, so my apologies if it looks all weird) This last year has flown by! I'm afraid that if I don't at least post some currents about Sawyer's life, I'll forget all about it by next year. So, here's what's up in little man's life:

 -Weight/ height: at you 2 year doctor appointment back in mid-march, you were about 35 inches and just under 30 lbs (chunk)
 -Your hair is still blonde, but it seems to be getting a little darker these days--you have little darker patches
 -Your eyes are still the most vivid blue, and your dark eyelashes make them stand out even more. I get stopped all the time where ever we go by people commenting on how beautiful your eyes are.
 -You wear size 2T clothes and size 7 shoe.
 -You are about as rambunctious as they come--100% boy and 100% two year old. You love to run and jump and dance and climb and shout and sing all.the.time. Most of the time it's great, but there are times when I wished you liked to sit still a little more. :)
 -You are excellent at verbal communication. You have an extensive vocabulary and you use it often. You even know the names of some dinosaurs. You know the entire upper case alphabet (visually and verbally), although we are currently working on recognizing all the lower case letters and the sounds of the letters. You can also count to twelve, sing-spell your name, and you can recognize circle, oval, star, heart, and sometimes rectangle. You are working on your colors and favor blue. I am so proud of you for loving learning already. I really hope you continue!
-One of your favorite things to do is read. Daddy and I often find you sitting in your room "reading" a book, and you ask us to read stories to you all the time. I love it!
 -You are a snuggler and Daddy and I love it! You don't like to sleep in the bed with us (and haven't since you were a tiny baby), though. You think is play time. :)
 -You are still sleeping from 7pm to 7am, although lately you ave been getting up around 6:30. You are still taking an afternoon nap from 1pm to about 3:30-4pm. That nap seems to be shortening more and more, though.
 -You are an excellent eater. You love all kinds of fruits, vegetables, and meats. The only things you aren't really fond of are pasta, soups, and rice. I think it's a consistency thing. Your new thing is to ask for sandwiches for everything. You love pb&j's. You still drink a cup of milk with breakfast and dinner (2%) and have half juice/half water (or just water) for the rest of te day.
 -You are getting really good about walking with Daddy and me while we're out and about. I still feel like I need a leash for you sometimes--you like to dash when I least expect it.
 -You had your second trip to the beach this month. We went with Aunt Jocelyn, Uncle Jason, and Ellie. You loved the "big sandbox" and "big water." You did really good on the trips up and down (with one little melt down at the beginning of the trip back).
-You've finally started to like to pray--ha! We still have to keep about a two foot distance from you (or else you like to swat us in the face), but you put your hands together and repeat everything we pray. You will even pray by yourself after we've prayed. It is just precious. -You have a new buddy--our dog, Bear. At only 10 weeks, he's already about as big as you. You have a love hate relationship with him. You hate when he tries to nip you (typical puppy), but you love to roll all over him and play fetch with him. I think it will be good practice for you for future siblings.
-which brings me to my next update: you've got a little brother or sister on the way! We've all known since the second half of February, but I think this will be my first time blogging about it. Your sibling should be here at the end of October. We talk with you about it a lot, but I'm not sure you've grasped the entire concept. For instance, when I ask where the baby is, you first point to my belly (or a random body part), then say that he bay is in your belly. Ha! I think you will be an excellent big brother! We are all so excited!
It is such a blessing to have to have you as our son! You are so full of life and joy and it is impossible to be unthankful around you. Your mommy and daddy love you immensely!

Last Week

And here's what was up last week:

Apparently, Sawyer ate paper.

I made Venison Chili.

(sorry for the terrible flash lighting)

Sawyer doing one of his favorites-reading

Then little man stole the photo album, a "pow pow" was given, and that's where the week's photo's ended. 

The Week Before Last

Here's what was up the week before last:

February Painting Day 2012

I'm pretty sure he was trying to eat the canvas here

One of the finished works (we did two)

Homemade Play Dough Fun

Oh, how I love those little hands!

homemade dough

work it

all done!

the {first half} of the week in pictures

So, I started this post on Monday. That means it's only taken me all week to get the thing finished. Bare with me. I may only have one little, but he's a busy one!

good gracious, he's handsome, right? we couldn't resist the amazing weather--65 degrees in January!

reading (The Grinch)--one of his favorite things! I hope he continues to love books as he grows.

typical boy (sorry for the blurriness-I couldn't resist)

sawyer hanging out with uncle jason while I got me some ellie time.

this is the first flower that Sawyer picked for me. he pulled it right up, handed it to me, and said, "flower, mommy." my goodness, how my heart swooned!

ok, now here come some photos from a real camera (aka: not the iphone). ha!

coloring and cheerios--perfect combination.

you can only kinda tell here, but he was picking up his cheerios using the tip of his crayon. who needs a spoon when you have a pointy crayon?

hey woman, what are you looking at?

Eat then color. Eat then color.

here, you color, mommy!

So, pictures, as promised. Only a week late.

And please excuse my  lack of non-focused photo taking ability. That's why I have a photographer husband, right?


Hope you have a lovely Friday!

Toddler fun

Today, by about 8:15, I started counting down the hours and minutes to nap time.

It has already been one of those days.

After talking to lots of other seasoned moms, reading plenty, and allowing myself to acknowledge the fact that Sawyer's showing THE signs...you know where this is going, don't you?

Yup, potty training.

He's got the vocab down, tells me when he needs to go pee-pee and poo-poo, knows the whole sit on the potty process, and absolutely detests wearing diapers.

The thing is, he doesn't want to sit on the potty without some sort of pants/undies/diaper on.

The boy loves to sit on the potty when mommy and daddy do, and even when I ask him to sit while he goes potty in his diaper. Once that bare-bottom is out, though, the melt-down begins. And oh my goodness, have I mentioned he has his daddy's lungs? And probably my dramatic tendencies.

So, today, we've had three pees on the floor, and zero wins for the potty. We watched potty videos (which he thought were awesome), we danced, did lots of positive affirmation for the little wins. But nada for the potty. I'd love to hear suggestions, I think. Actually, maybe just prayer.

Also, I'm out of toilet paper.

Also, it's pouring outside, which I normally love (I'm a rain and cold weather--why am I in Alabama, again?), but my toddler needs fresh air, and so do I when there's a crazy toddler inside.

Also, I need to go grocery shopping, but as I said, it's pouring.

Also, I have yet to shower (next on the list after mopping my pee-pee floors)

Also, this morning, Sawyer found a muffin and now there are crumbs everywhere--and I mean that very literally.

So, while I am utterly thankful for my hilarious and charming little boy, and the blessing of being able to stay home with him and manage our home, it was just one of those days where nap time couldn't come soon enough.

Thank you, Jesus, that nap time is here!

Cranberry Peach Pie--yum!

A day or two ago, I had the urge to bake. More specifically, I had the urge to bake with peaches. This was mostly because the peaches I had prepped and frozen from summertime were staring at me--seriously, every time I opened up my freezer, there they were.

That's when that handy little website, Pinterest, came to my aid.

I simply began a broad search for peach recipes.

Cranberry Peach Pie was one of the first recipes. It sounded perfect because I just happened to have some cranberries in the freezer, too.

The recipe that I found was linked back to Simply So Good blog. She's got some other yummy-sounding recipes listed, too--definitely worth a look.

Notice that I managed to take a few pictures while I was at it? I promise I'm getting better!

Also notice that I didn't do the crumb topping as the recipes prescribes below. I was out of brown sugar (of all things!), but I did have an extra pie crust (I just bought the rolled dough stuff). I also haven't mastered making my pies pretty, so that's why it looks goofy.

Here's the recipe (courtesy of Simply So Good blog) :

Cranberry Peach Pie

1 (29 oz) can peaches, drained, reserve syrup

1 cup reserved peach syrup

3 cups fresh or frozen cranberries

1 1/2 cups sugar

3 tablespoons cornstarch

1/2 teaspoon almond extract

9-inch pie shell, unbaked

Crumb Topping:

3/4 cup flour

1/4 cup sugar

1/4 cup brown sugar

1/2 teaspoon cinnamon

1/4 teaspoon nutmeg

5 tablespoons unsalted butter

1/2 cup rolled oats

1/2 cup chopped walnuts

For the filling:  Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.  Mix sugar and cornstarch together in a medium sauce pan.  Add reserved peach syrup and cranberries.  Cook over medium heat until the cranberries crack.  Add drained peaches and almond extract.  Stir together.  Pour into unbaked pie shell.

For the crumb topping:  Combine the flour, sugar, brown sugar, cinnamon and nutmeg.  Using a pastry blender or your fingers, mix in the butter.  Stir in rolled oats and chopped walnuts. 

Sprinkle topping over pie filling and place in oven to bake for 40-50 minutes.

Yeah, I'm lazy and don't want to edit this picture so it's not on it's side. So.

It was so good, and perfect with vanilla ice cream. I love how the cranberries and peaches complimented each other. Mine did turn out a little juicier than her's appeared, but I say the more the merrier!