Christmas Day

We spent the rest of Christmas at Carmen and Ernie's. Will and Crew are now becoming good friends and enjoy playing all day together. The older boys played legos most of the day and we hardly heard a peep from them,

Will

Cooper

Nate

Crew was so busy playing most of the day that he hardly ate a thing. When he saw the table being set for dinner he must have been starving because he went into the bathroom to wash his hands and then sat at the table for another 20 minutes waiting to eat.

Crew has started pulling his lips to one side when I ask him to smile and he doesn't feel like it.

Using Sawyers loader as a distraction.

Becky was making one of her kids laugh and Crew was a feeling the joy as well. I love that the joy of others makes Crew happy as well.

Christmas Morning

The boys woke up around 7:30 and ready to move! They looked adorable in their matching tractor pajamas that I had sewn.

I think Crew could feel the excitement and he was so cute hanging out with Dad while I was preparing the front room.

Crew's first reaction. "It's all clean!" He seemed slightly confused on why the furniture was moved. I believe the furniture is what he was referring to since the room is picked up every night before bedtime.

taking note of the gifts under the tree

He stood in the corner talking and then playing with the toys that we had moved.

Finally checking out the gifts under the tree.

I found Sawyer's gift for a screaming deal! I was so excited when I stumbled across it!

Abe and Crew have an entire conversation about the different stages in hay production. Abe had Crew answer the questions as he was opening specific gifts. He got Crew a swather and a tractor with a rake. Very fun!

I gave Abe a multi power tool set and Abe gave me a computer monitor. It was a great Christmas. I love the traditions that our little family is creating.
After eating a yummy breakfast prepared by Abe, we went over to his parent's home. Drew and Becky's boys were itching to get at their gifts, but had to wait until they ate breakfast. We were able to join them in the excitement of gift opening and we received several more beautiful gifts from Carmen and Ernie.

Christmas Eve

We all gathered together at Donald and Kenna's for a big family get together. It was so much fun seeing some of Abe's cousins that no longer live nearby. We ate great food, heard exciting news, and enjoyed a small program consisting of some family videos. It was very enjoyable.

When we got home the boys were exhausted and ready for bed. It was at least 2 hours past their usual bedtime. They were able to open their Christmas pajamas instead of a book like they had for the previous nights. I put them in their beds while Abe worked on finding a loose cow and taking car of it's sickly cafe. I had gotten everything picked up and all of the presents pulled out just as Abe came in. It was so much fun setting everything out and I had looked forward to doing it all month long!

We fell into bed around midnight with the hope of sleeping in but very excited for the next morning!

I think Abe and I were beyond giddy when we found a great deal on Crew's balance bike! We spoke of Crew's bike nearly every night, after we bought it, in anticipation of what he would think.

Playtime

I am in love with these pictures of Crew. It shows his personality very well. 

Crew came home from playing at Grandma Carmen's with treasures in tow. Apparently he found a box of construction toys that are his Christmas gift. Grandma opened them for him and let him play with them anyway. 

Since it's been a little bit colder and we can't spend as many hours outside, I decided I would get a little creative. I put flour on a cookie sheet and let Crew play in it like dirt. I started with about 1/2 cup of flour but he asked for more and ended with about 1 cup.

After an hour and a half he said, "uh-oh" and kind of whimpered a little. I went in and found this . . .

 I could tell he was a little nervous on how I would react to the mess. I laughed and asked him what happened . . .

What a silly boy! He got very involved in his play and made a little mess, but was very good at vacuuming it up.

He continued to play for another 30 minutes. He then played for another hour today. I think this is a good playtime for when I need to get something done without any interruption!

Sawyer: 11 Months

Sawyer is such a good baby! I am always getting compliments on how happy of a baby he is. He has a smile that can melt any strangers heart, which has definitely come in handy when we have a grouchy person behind us in the grocery store. It doesn't take long to get that person smiling and at chatting with Sawyer.

Amazingly enough, I don't think Sawyer grew much, if any this month! I was a little shocked. I did my best to measure him and I think he may have grown a quarter of an inch. Making him 31 1/2" and he is 26 pounds. This is the smallest amount of growth he has ever had in a month. 

He is all over the place. He loves digging in the toys, reading books, playing with Crew, and being loved. Sawyer can drive cars with sounds and can throw a ball rather far. He seems to favor his left hand for throwing but will also use his right. He uses his left hand while eating.

Sawyer has mastered the sippy cup. Hooray!  It's about time! I pushed a bottle and the sippy cup since he was 5 months old. Trying to get him to take at least one of them. It finally clicked at he now loves it.

He loves graham crackers, yogurt, applesauce, oatmeal, pancakes, soups, and cooked veggies. Plus anything he should not be eating that he finds on the floor.

Sawyer can walk, but I wouldn't consider him fully walking. He will walk, unassisted, about 10 feet. But he will push his walker all over the living room. He can back up and maneuver around objects. Sawyer only chooses to walk when someone is cheering him on. 

He is consistently sleeping through the night again. I don't know what his deal was, but is sure nice to have him not waking up anymore! He takes two naps a day. Both are about 2 hours. Sometimes his morning nap is 3.

If Sawyer sees a dog he lights up and loves hearing me ask him if he sees the dog and proceed to make barking noises. 

Sawyer can say "uh-oh," "wow," "Dad," "Mom," (both to the correct person) and roar like a lion. He will also hold the phone up to his ear to talk to Dad as he yells "Dad" while waving hi with his other hand.

He brings me and the rest of our family so much joy!

Sawyer loves the Christmas tree. The bottom third of the tree no long hold any ornaments because I was fearful that he would eat a hook.

Looking out windows is still a favorite pass time.

Evidence that he can walk.

He can now open the bathroom door. It has a levered handle like this one. He has a fascination with the bathroom that I don't get. If the bathroom door is open he will crawl as fast as he can to get there. If he does make it in he will go straight to the bathtub. At least it's not the toilet.

He chased the soccer ball right under the tree.