Fall Beach Weekend

Two weekends ago, we went down to Edisto to celebrate my birthday and spend time with my family. We left after lunch on Friday and were able to stay until Monday. What a wonderful long weekend it was! My parents and both of my sisters were there, as well as, a few family friends. Sawyer was spoiled rotten and wanted to be held the whole time. He was not content to sit and play alone, like he sometimes does at home. He wanted all of everyone's attention. Of course, he is cutie and everyone obliged. The weather couldn't have been more perfect! We had a wonderful time out on the boat, sitting on the porch or dock, and watching football. 

After coming home from the beach on Monday afternoon, we headed out to my dad's farm to celebrate both of our birthdays. He got Sawyer a fun dog push and ride toy. He loved it! We also went out to the barn to check out the horses. Sawyer likes to look at them from afar, but is not impressed when they are close up. 

This past week, Sawyer and I had our first date night to Chick-fil-a. Will had a lodge meeting Thursday night, so we went out to get some dinner and have some play time. He loved it! Cheap entertainment :)

October is officially here, so we got out all of Sawyer's Halloween clothes and jammies. I absolutely love this time of year...just wish is wasn't still 90 degrees outside! I also made a new fall wreath for our front door. I think it turned out pretty good. 

Fall Family Fun!!

Sunday, Will, Sawyer, and I took a quick road trip up to Hendersonville, NC. We went to Grandad's Apples for some fall fun! We got up early and headed out on our 2 hour drive to the mountains. We arrived at the apple orchard/farm around 10:30 am. The temperature was about 20 degrees cooler there than at home. Glad we all wore jeans and long sleeves. What a perfectly gorgeous fall day!

We started off our fun by exploring the store and bakery. They have all kinds of fun apple products and pumpkins. I bought some apple butter and an apple crisp mix. Oh yeah, we got some apples too! My favorites are honey crisp. After browsing a bit, we headed out to the pumpkin patch. Sawyer wasn't really interested in the pumpkins at first, so we did a few other things before our photo op. The cow train was a hit! Sawyer and I rode through the corn fields and apple orchards. He was thoroughly amused by all of the sights. 

I am already looking forward to our trip back there next fall. I hope these memories will be something that Sawyer treasures and looks forward to year after year. If you are looking for a great place to go apple picking and other fall activities, I can't recommend Grandad's enough!

15 Months!

Saturday, Sawyer turned 15 months old...that's a year and a quarter! We ended up at the pediatrician's office on Saturday morning because he had been running a low grade fever and coughing a good bit at the end of the week. I wanted to get him checked out to make sure it was something severe. It turns out his throat was irritated due to drainage. The sore throat was making him cough. We started back on the Zyrtec to help dry him up. He seems to be doing much better today.
* Weight: 25 lbs 14 oz.
* Length: 32.75 in. 
* Wearing 12-18 month clothes
* Wearing size 4 diapers
* Eating: Sawyer eats 3 square meals a day, plus snacks. He loves all fruits and vegetables. He gets 3-4 cups of 2% organic milk a day and drinks water in between. 
* Words: mama, dada, dog, tries to say Scotch, makes a barking sound when asked what a dog says, light, bye, Bob, uh-oh, Nana
* He gives big open mouth kisses when asked or sometimes just because <3 nbsp="">
* Other tricks: claps, high-fives, rolls his hands (like wheels on the bus), touch down, blows kisses (not always from his mouth, but somewhere on his head)
* Walking: Sawyer walks really well when holding your hand or pushing something. He will take 3-5 steps on his own occasionally. 
* We are working on body part identification. He knows and points to his toes. We are working on eyes, ears, nose, mouth, head, hair, etc. 
* His favorite toys are his cars, trucks, stacking cups, little people, connecting rings, small sting ray, his lovies, and anything that has a tag (obsessed). 
* He understands small directions/commands: go find your _________; where does your shoe go? points to his foot. 
* He is starting to also hear the word "no" occasionally. He doesn't necessarily like to hear it and will have mild fit if whatever we are asking him to stop doing doesn't suit him. I think you would call that strong-willed! 

We love our sweet boy to the moon and back! I can't imagine our world without him in it. He makes everyday worthwhile, even the not so good days. Will and I both have busy weeks this week, but we are planning a fun family day trip to NC to go apple picking this weekend. Looking forward to this fun fall activity! I hope it will become an annual family tradition. 

Zoo Trip and Labor Day Weekend

Wow...time sure does fly when you are having fun! We have been so busy soaking up the last few minutes of summer! Labor Day has come and gone, so summer is officially over :( However, with temps in the mid-90s, it sure doesn't feel like it! I am looking forward to some fun fall activites, ie apple picking, pumpkin carving, Halloween, Boo at the Zoo, etc.

We took at trip to our local zoo, Riverbanks, a couple of weekends ago. It was a perfect Sunday morning to hang out with friends and animals! We hadn't been all summer, and when we saw it was going to be in the upper 70s/low 80s, we couldn't pass up the chance to use our membership.

What a wonderful day with friends! The little boys had a great time and so did the parents! I hate that we don't get there more often! We have a membership and it is only 15 minutes from our house.

On to our next adventure...
We spent Labor Day weekend at Bennett's Point, where we started our summer Memorial Day weekend. Sawyer enjoyed it so much more this go-round. It is amazing how much he has grown and changed in a few months.

We had a fabulous weekend with family and friends! Will and Sawyer got to cheer for their Tigers! We had a great day on the beach. Sawyer actually enjoyed it this time. The water was warm and calm, and there was a tidal pool for him to splash in. We came home Sunday afternoon with plans to get together with friends for dinner. We first had to stop by Verizon to get a replacement phone for me....mine took at little swim while getting back on the boat! My insurance was great and I was given a brand new phone. We enjoyed dinner and the race withe friends on Sunday night. Our Monday was busy too! We had a long list of errands to run before the work week started on Tuesday. At least it is a short week!

14 months

14 months ago today, we welcomed our precious Sawyer into our lives. What a wonderful, joyous, whirlwind it has been! I fall more and more in love with him everyday. I can't imagine life without him. Our little family means the world to me! Sawyer is so much fun right now. He giggles and laughs all of the time- the best sound in the world! He walks really well when holding your hand, pushing a toy, or cruising around the furniture. He just doesn't quite have the confidence to let go, although he has taken 2 or 3 steps on his own. I guess he figures he can crawl faster. My best guess is his weight is around 25 pounds. He weighed 24 lbs, 7 ounces at his last doctor's appt a few weeks ago. We have his 15 month appt scheduled for September. He still eats very well. He has 3 meals a day plus snacks. He drinks at least 3 full cups of milk each day, plus water. The only things we have found that he doesn't like are pickles, lemons, and just recently squash and zucchini. I am not giving up though. We will keep trying these same foods. Sawyer usually takes a short nap in the morning and longer one after lunch. He goes to bed between 7:30 and 8 pm and sleeps until 6:30 or 7 am. Sawyer had his first real boo-boo on Sunday. We were at church and he leaned forward from Will's lap and banged his head on the wooden pew in front of us. He immediately started to cry and we rushed him outside of the church. I was certain he was gushing blood, but it was just a goose egg. It never turned in to much, except for a small bruise. It sure was scary for a minute though!

Lately...
A couple of weekends ago, we had some friends over for pool time and cook out. It was fun getting the boys together (little boys and their daddies (college buddies))!

The following weekend, we celebrated a sweet little boy's baptism. Will is his godfather!

We don't have much planned for this weekend- just hanging out with my boys! My mom is having shoulder surgery on Thursday, so I'm sure we will spend time helping her out with her recovery. She is upset that she will not be able to keep Sawyer her usual two days a week. It will be 6-8 weeks before she will be able to see about him. We are planning one last hurrah for summer- Labor Day weekend at Bennett's Point!

Lately...

1. Board of Directors meeting at work last week = busy, no free time

2. Sawyer turned 13 months on July 14th! I feel like it was just his birthday. He weighs just over 24 pounds. He is all but walking on his own. He just needs the confidence to let go! All four bicuspid molars have come in and he is working on a couple of his canine teeth. 

3. We spent our Saturday morning at the pediatrician's office. What a fun way to start the weekend! Sawyer sucks his index and middle finger on his right hand when he is really sleepy. Once he is asleep it falls out. Anyways, he has developed a pretty nasty blister on his middle finger from sucking. We took him in to get checked out to make sure it wasn't infected. We were prescribed an antibiotic cream to treat, and told to keep it out of his mouth as much as possible. The doc suggested we put a sock and long-sleeved shirt over it at night. Well, easier said than done. Sawyer pulled it off on our first attempt. We ramped up our game for the second go-round. We added first aid tape over the sock and shirt to secure it a little more. It stayed put, however, we had one angry, tired baby on our hands. He cried for an hour before finally giving it up and falling asleep. Night #2 went much smoother! He just whimpered for a few minutes before drifting off to the land of nod. 

Bedtime outfit - sock-on-hand! Sawyer is not impressed!

 4. Sunday afternoon, we went to the lake to spend time with Will's mom's side of the family. All of her siblings, and most of the cousins were there. We enjoyed a boat ride, and the company of course. It was wonderful catching up with family that we don't see that often. 

5. Looking ahead: This weekend, we have a two-year-old birthday party and a baby shower, both for church friends. Our August looks pretty open, hopefully we will get in some pool time and relaxation! We plan on going back to the coast for Labor Day weekend. Hope everyone is having a fantastic summer! It sure is flying by!

Edisto Beach Week 2013

It's back to the grind today after a week of vacation! After being off work for all of those days, I was definitely not looking forward to today! The day started off like a typical Monday....that was until I managed to get into a little fender-bender after dropping Sawyer off at his Nana's house on my way to work. I bumped into the back of a Moe's catering truck! The damage was not bad to either vehicle. However, the driver of the Moe's van called the police because it was a company vehicle. The nice West Columbia police officer arrived fairly quickly. Insurance information was exchanged and we were on our merry ways. 
On to the good stuff.....vacation recap! We got down to Edisto around dinner time on Friday, June 28th. We had a busy weekend of house guests and entertainment. The weather was spotty with rain and pop-up showers. After the weekend, the guests headed out and we had a nice quiet atmosphere the rest of the week. The pop-up rain storms continued most of the week, but that didn't hold back our fun! We spent time in the ocean, boat, porch, and kiddie pool! 

Picture overload...

First night at Edisto....awestruck

Beach time! Sawyer was not exactly a fan of the sand and waves. 

First boat ride of the week!

Cool Dude wearing Mama's shades!

Boat ride with the Prices....so glad we got to hang out!

Mama and Daddy Date Night ~ Dinner at Whaley's

Happy 4th of July!

Salute from the Shore flyover

Afternoon cruise on the 4th!

We came back home on Friday, July 5th. I cannot say how much we enjoyed this week! It was a much needed break from reality and our busy work/home life. However, all good things must come to an end! We look forward to a quick weekend back to Edisto in September to celebrate my birthday. We are also talking about going in October for the Bluegrass Festival.