Oh Sawyer Sauce

Brace yourselves folks.  Prepare yourself for an onslaught of Sawyer Sauce.

So... one of the things I like about this blogging thing, is that I can look back to remember all the crazy stuff my kids did way back when.  Unfortunately, Sawyer's been neglected on this blog of mine.  So today I intend to rectify the situation by giving you all a little recap of the last few months of Sawyer Sauce.

This little cutie has grown up over the summer.  It seems like just yesterday he looked like this...

Before I knew it he was all grown up sitting at the table with the rest of us starting to eat solids.

With Emerson I made ALL of my own baby food.  She loved it.  Sawyer, however, hates my homemade baby food.  I give him a spoonful and he scrunches up his face in disgust, gags, and screams his head off.  But, a spoonful of store bought baby food outta the jar?  Loves it. Will keep eating till I  have to cut him off.

So I've given in.   Who has time to fight a battle like that day after day?  I sure don't!  So I've resigned myself to buying jar after jar of PC Organics green bean/apple puree.  The kid can't get enough of it.

Over the past week he's also added books and stickers to his daily diet.  I keep finding him gagging up pages of the kid's books and Emerson's stickers.  Things like this happen when you've got other kids in the house...

Moving on.

He's done his time in the jolly jumper.  His older siblings have also done their time in timeouts due to the fact that they CANNOT keep their hands off of him.  "How high can we swing him?" has become the name of the game around here.

Gives me a heart attack to see this kid hurtling through the at high speeds...

Sawyer enjoyed plenty of beach time over the summer-- he enjoyed it much more than the picture may indicate.  The kid definitely got around-- we went to just about every lake/beach in the area multiple times.  A good summer was had by all...

Sleep?  What is is?  This kid rarely sleeps at nights.  My other two were sleeping through the night early on.  Sawyer however wakes up 3-4 times a night (and sometimes more) screaming at the top of his lungs until I feed him.  And let me tell you this kid can SCREAM... like ear drum shattering, headache inducing screams.  There is no volume control-- it's always LOUD.  When you've gotta be heard over two other kids, you do your best, right?

 Unfortunately, Sawyer will not nurse or drink from a bottle most of the day as he's so incredibly distracted by anything or anyone around him.  If I can find a completely dark, completely silent room-- there is a chance that he MIGHT nurse during day time hours.  But with the two older crazy kids running around that never happens... so we wake up at night... all night long.

One day I'll sleep for more than 2 hours at a time... one day.

And every so often this happens when we're out running errands during the day... when you're up all night sometimes you just gotta crash in the grocery store... right??  I wish.

Sawyer's been sitting on his own for a a few months now.. and is starting to flop onto his belly as he attempts to reach the older kid's toys (and stickers, and storybooks-- yummy.).  Caleb and Emerson were both late crawlers and didn't walk until after their first birthdays... so I'm thinking it could be a while before this kid is mobile.  Thank goodness!!!

By the end of the summer he was confidently sitting on the beach beside me... and was likely scheming to himself, "How can I get that sand into my mouth?  Surely it's gotta taste better than that food my mom makes for me..."

Seriously though, I cannot believe how fast the last 8.5 months have flown by... this kid is growing up fast!

Before I knew it he was 8 months old and in just over a week will be reaching the 9 month mark.

Sawyer's a handful-- much more so than my other kids-- with his night owl, homemade food hating, intense screaming tendencies.  But we sure do love him.  Couldn't imagine life without him.

I've made it this far on almost no sleep and extreme amounts of coffee... pretty sure I can make it a little while longer :)

Over the Weekend

Friday night.  Doug and I dropped the kids off (ALL the kids) and took off for the evening.  It was the first time since January that we had been away from the kids.  I pumped all week in preparation.  Maybe you can tell-- we weren't excited at all...

Kidding.  We were actually very excited.  Because we went to see Mumford and Sons!  So fun to see them perform live and outdoors in the park!  They definitely put on a good show.

We were feeling pretty youthful that night so we even bought t shirts.  I wore mine all weekend.

Friday was about us-- Saturday was all about the kids.  Doug and I have been talking about buying a trampoline for the backyard for a while now, since Doug had a rare Saturday at home we decided it would be the perfect day to buy the one we've been eyeing and set it up!

You cannot imagine how excited our older two kids were.  They have grown to love jumping on their cousin's trampoline, so the thought of having one of their own was pretty much the best thing ever!

Just look at the smile on Caleb's face.  Can it get any bigger?  I think not.

Since we have the trampoline now we've decided to retire our above ground pool (aka Gladys) for this year.  I was feeling a little apprehensive about setting it up this summer since I have to watch the kids like a hawk anytime they play in the backyard with the pool around and because it's a lot of work to maintain during the summer.  

This trampoline doesn't have any exposed springs or metal bars and has a huge cage to keep them on the trampoline as they're jumping-- so I feel like it is a much safer backyard activity for them.

It's pretty great to zip them in and let them jump their little hearts out.  I foresee many early bedtimes in the near future!  

I don't want to leave anyone out... so I'll just throw a quick picture of little S-dog up on the old blog today.  Just when I think he can't possibly get any cuter I wake up and bam-- he's 10 times cuter than the day before.

Melts my heart.  Especially when he sleeps through the night THREE nights in a row!

Crib Sheet Confession

I've made a few crib sheets in my day.  

Example #1

When the crib belonged to Emerson.

Example # 2 & 3...

(pictures not by me... obviously.)

** sidenote-- eating chocolate and typing at the same time is seriously difficult and messy.

Anyhow.  Back in the day I even did a little tutorial.  Sewing your own crib sheet can be a cheap (and more stylish) alternative to buying a pre-made crib sheet.  So when Sawyer arrived and he was a boy-- Eme's girly floral sheet just wasn't going to cut it.  I decided to do something boyish and started hunting for fabrics.  I wanted something more small scale so that it would be a contrast to what I did for Emerson.  I fell in love with this fabric from Spoonflower.

Indian Clover via Spoonflower

But alas, at $18 a yard it was going to be a little more $$ than I wanted to spend-- on JUST the fabric.  So, I decided to see if there were any pre-made options out there that I liked, because really-- with 3 kids, who has time to sew??  Serena and Lily had some great options and even sent me some free swatches.  Love that.  They were all great-- but not exactly what I had in mind originally.

But then Dwell Studio had a 30% off baby event.   And I found the perfect crib sheet for my little man.

With that said, Sawyer says:

"Welcome to my crib, yo."

It's pretty darn close to my original vision...

And considering that Sawyer slept for a full 10 hour stretch in his crib last night, I'd say he likes it alot.

Cutie.

This post was NOT brought to you by this pajama clad munchkin who's new favourite game is to climb into Sawyer's crib and "help" him wipe his nose.

So busted.

You can imagine how much the little guy appreciates her efforts.

Enough Said

How much coffee is too much??

5 Weeks

Wow... tomorrow Sawyer will be 5 weeks old!  Crazy.  How have the last 5 weeks been?  I'd be lying if I said they were totally smooth sailing--  the combination of sleepless nights, another round of colds/sickness for everyone, kids that insist on starting their days at 5:30 am, and copious amounts of rain can be a wee bit exhausting.  But on the bright side, I feel like I've recovered pretty quickly this time around and Sawyer is a pretty great baby-- he eats well (and quickly!!), usually goes to sleep after feedings at night without a problem, only really cries when he's hungry or has a dirty diaper, and doesn't spit up-- it doesn't get much better than that!

Anyhow, I thought I'd just share a few new things I've learned along the way over the past few weeks, and a few things I've "re-remembered" from past experience...

1.  Babies who don't hate their carseats is a priceless gift

2.  Youtube videos on my phone are way way funnier during 3 am feedings than any other time of the day

3.  2 year old big sisters love love love their little brothers.  They can also be major smother-mothers-- Eme is constantly shoving the soother into his mouth, she loves to "play" with Sawyer in his crib, she makes sure the baby swing is always rocked extra vigorously, Eme thinks he must be covered with blankets at all times, and the other day I caught her peeling his eyelids back with her tiny little fingers as Sawyer was sleeping-- she was shouting, "He's awake Mama!!  He's looking at me!!"

4. On the other hand, 5 year old big brothers can be surprisingly super helpful.  Caleb has been so great with his little brother-- he's always willing to hold him, is very gentle, doesn't get irritated by crying, is willing to fetch things for me around the house, and is actually quite successful at calming Sawyer down when he's crying in the car-- turns out Sawyer really likes Caleb's rendition of the itsy bitsy spider.  It makes my Mama heart so proud.

5. My mom deciding to start potty training Eme the day I went into labor with Sawyer?  A priceless gift indeed.  I will admit that it is a little crazy taking a 2 year old to the potty 50 times a day when you've got a newborn in the house, but not having to by 2 sizes of diapers is so fantastic.

6.  Keurig machines are an absolute necessity if you are ever faced with a time when you need to live and survive on almost zero sleep.  Seriously-- best invention ever.  In the morning I'll be lying in bed hearing little feet running down the hall at 5:30 am and start to feel defeated-- and then, I remember that I can have instant hot (and awesome) coffee in about 15 seconds at the press of a button-- and suddenly the prospect of crawling out of bed is not so daunting anymore...

7.  Mini vans-- yup, I've got one now.  The jury's still out as to whether or not I'm going to love driving one for the next 15 years, but I must say that being able to strategically place your children in separate quadrants where they cannot reach each other is pretty fantastic.  Just saying...

8.  In the past 5 weeks I've started watching Duck Dynasty-- and I'm not afraid to admit it.  At first I was a little concerned that the lack of sleep was beginning to affect my sense of humour, but the more I watch it the more I laugh uncontrollably...  I feel like the Robertsons are very familiar to me... I feel like I know them in real life... I'm fairly certain that I know people like them back home and possibly in my family... it just makes it all the more funnier...

9.  The fact that Eme still cannot open closed doors is a rare and precious gift.  It is the only way that Sawyer can be completely safe in his crib...

10. Receiving sweet little notes from my 5 year old completely melt my heart.
 

 11.  Friends who stock your freezer with yummy (and dairy free!!) meals are lifesavers.  They are also wonderful, and thoughtful, and awesome, and pretty much the best thing ever :)

12.  French fries at Wendy's are also awesome... and so are photo ops of Caleb and I about to enjoy said french fries.

13.  Having Doug around during the day at times is the best thing ever.  I love that he's always willing to help out with the kids.  And last night he was totally willing to hang out at home with Sawyer so that I could go to my bible study without the distraction of a newborn-- it was so great.

14.  And to follow up on number 13-- babies that take a bottle on occasion so that you can leave the house for more than 2 hours at a time is pretty great.

15.  And to follow up on number 14-- my 5 1/2 year old electric medela breast pump is still going strong-- best investment ever.

16.  And finally... there's nothing better than a little sunshine.  The promise of springtime?  So exciting...

And there you have it-- a little glimpse into my life over the past 5 weeks.

It was kind of nice to take a little blogging break-- but I think I will be back soon-- there's been some progress made on a few projects around the house that I need to share!

We're Officially Outnumbered Now...

We knew we'd be welcoming baby number three to our family over the weekend... we just didn't think it was going to be on Saturday!  I was schedule to be induced on Sunday, but our baby boy decided he couldn't wait another day and decided to surprise us a day early!

His name is Sawyer James... and we all love him like crazy!

I woke up with mildly painful contractions on Saturday morning and by about 2 pm in the afternoon I called labour/delivery to see what I should do-- felt totally fine to stay at home still, but due to some of my risk factors (previous c-section and placental abruption) wasn't sure if I was supposed to stay home. They recommended coming in so the baby's heart rate could be monitored a bit before making any decisions, so Doug and I made our way over to the hospital.  Everything looked good and I still felt pretty fine as the contractions were pretty inconsistent, so I figured I'd be going home for a while.  But, when they checked me I was already 4-5 cm dilated... and we were all pretty shocked.  So, I stayed.  By 6 pm there wasn't any real change, so the doctor decided to break my water.  An hour later the contractions were coming fast and furious, my nurse was calling the doctor every few minutes telling him to get his butt back to the hospital asap, and I knew this baby was coming... like right now.  The doctor walked in the door and after 2 minutes of pushing little Sawyer was born.  A little 8 lb 5 ounce bundle of cuteness that shrieks and squeals louder than any little baby I've every heard.  

I was shocked.  After having two complicated and somewhat dramatic deliveries with my first two kids this quick (but still painful :) and uncomplicated delivery went better than I could have ever imagined.  We  have been praising the Lord for his goodness and protection throughout this experience.  Every baby feels like a miracle-- but Sawyer's safe delivery seems so much more miraculous after the drama of my other two kid's births.

And now we're home.

Life with three kids feels pretty crazy-- but pretty great too.

But I've gotta tell you-- it feels good to be home!

In the end, I'd like to acknowledge the following things for making the first few days at home so great...

1.  My Mom for entertaining our other two kids, starting to potty train Eme, and for doing my laundry (and all of Eme's potty training laundry!)

2.  The epidural free delivery that has kept my legs and ankles from swelling up like crazy

3.  My gestational diabetes for allowing me to slip right back into my pre-pregnancy jeans this morning.   Never in a million years did I think that was gonna happen :)

4.  My new Keurig machine that provides me with hot coffee at the push of a button at all hours of the day.  Not having to wash another coffee pot or clean up messy cold coffee grounds is SO worth it these days.  And let's be honest-- when you're awake at all hours of the night with a squeaking, squawking (but still very cute and snuggly) 3 day old baby you need caffeine-- instantly.

And now Doug and I are outnumbered... and loving it :)