Sayer's par-tay

We had a joint birthday party with Sayer's friend Truman who is just a week younger than him. They're in our ward, so we figured we'd be inviting most of the same people anyway, so just did one big bash. Liz and I each made a soup, she brought fruits and veggies, I made homemade rolls and we each made a cake. Truman has a Lightening McQueen cake,

and I made Elmo pops, which I was SO proud of, for Sayer.

We didn't do much besides eat, talk and let the kids play. It was a lot of fun. Thanks to everyone who came and made it a special day for the little guys.

Here is some video of Sayer jammin' on the harmonica, opening his presents and singing happy birthday at his party. Please ignore my annoying voice throughout.

Photo and video editing at www.OneTrueMedia.com

Sayer's 2nd birthday

Don't worry that this post is almost a month old. I started it a couple days after his birthday (March 2nd) but haven't had time or desire to blog until now. Oh well.

We planned a joint party with Sayer's friend Truman for Saturday evening, so we didn't do much for the actual day of his birthday. Nate did pick up a little cake from the corner grocery store so that we could sing and celebrate just the four of us. It wasn't a very good cake, but the kids sure enjoyed it...

Don't mind his red, girl's turtleneck. He borrowed it from his little neighbor friend.

Oh, our little Sayer. What to say about him. He is a charmer, that is for sure. He is really starting to turn into a two year old... tantrums and all. He is getting so much more social with his friends and gets really sad when he is left out of playdates. My favorite thing is that he is talking so much more since we got rid of his binky. His pronunciation of words is so cute, and a lot times, Nate and I are the only ones that know what he is saying. But he is very good at saying everyone's names. Sometimes he will go through the whole list of everyone that he knows. He starts with Asher and Mommy and Daddy and continues on with all of our neighbors and their moms. It's pretty adorable.

He loves to read books. I am not able to sit down much these days, because when I do, Sayer will undoubtedly end up in my lap with a bunch of books. I love it most of the time, but it makes it very hard to get anything done, or just be able to relax for a minute. But I LOVE that he loves books. I was a little worried about that, as I didn't read to him much as a baby, and when I tried to when he was a little older, he wasn't into it at all. When he did get into books, he did it all on his own.

Sayer is getting into trains and trucks and loves Elmo, even though he has never really seen Sesame Street. But we have a lot of Elmo books, so that explains it. He loves to play with his big brother and learns so much about pretending and creative play from him. That is, until he gets physically or emotionally hurt. They have good days and bad with how they get along. He is getting more independent and is wanting to do things, like get dressed, by himself. "I do it" he says. He's not quite coordinated enough to get stuff completely on by himself, but he's getting there. He loves playing with friends and feels like such a big boy when he gets to go somewhere by himself. He has been going to a little preschool co-op in our building. The kids are all different ages, so it's nothing too formal. Sometimes I am teaching Asher's preschool, so Sayer gets picked up by my neighbor Debbie, who he absolutely loves, and goes all by himself like such a big boy. Everyone tells me he does such a good job without me there and gets involved with all the fun things they do.

Sayer is about 10 times better at listening and sharing than Asher was at this age. Not saying he's a better child or anything, but it was such a shock to me when I asked him to do something, and he actually did it. Asher never would have done that. With Sayer getting bigger, I am seeing a lot more clearly how strong-willed Asher really is.

We love our little Sayer so much!! He really is such a little sweetheart. He loves to snuggle and give hugs and kisses. He is a huge charmer and knows just how to get people smiling. He always acts shy around new people at first, but it's not long before he is climbing into their laps and snuggling with them. I have to admit, that this little guy really tugs at my heart strings. I just think he is so cute in every way, and just can't get enough of him. I also adore his precious little curls.

Nate told me the other day something that he remembered from Sayer's baby blessing that always stood out to him. It was that he would be a peacemaker in our family. I can definitely see that, and I hope he will be. Heaven knows we will need at least one!! ;)

Happy Birthday Sayer! We are SO happy that you are in our family!!

Welcome March!!!!!!!!

Yay! It's finally March!! I can't tell you how excited I am for this month to be here. For some reason, February just dragged on. I know that is hard to believe, seeing as how it's a short month... I think it's because I was expecting it to go by fast. But now, it's March, and there is lots to look forward to this month.

First, Sayer turns 2 tomorrow, which is just absolutely crazy. But I am so excited for the little guy to not be "almost 2" anymore. Speaking of Sayer, I stayed strong and he is now completely binky free. He had a rough first week, which probably had quite a bit to do with the fact that he got sick with ANOTHER cold right after I took it away. He struggled a lot more during the day than he did at night. He did take longer to fall asleep, but he is doing so much better, and only asks for it every couple of days, more just to test the waters I think. But he is all healthy and happy again these days. Not to mention that he is already talking SO much more. I knew the bink was holding him back.

Second, I am FINALLY 30 weeks today. This is actually a little depressing to me, as I feel enormous... much more enormous than I ever remember being at this point, and I still have 10 weeks to go. That feels like such a long time for this belly to grow. I have also just reached the point where sleeping is almost a chore because I am NEVER comfortable. But, other than that, I still have good energy during the day and am feeling great. Here is a belly picture that I actually took last week. I look super dorky, but you get the idea. I think I actually look a lot bigger today than in this picture. I guess I will have to take another one for you. So much for thinking that living in NYC would help me stay smaller during pregnancy. I guess when it is cold and miserable outside, you don't do as much walking.
Third, my mom and sisters are ALL coming to the east coast for a NYC/DC extravaganza! This will give me something to look forward to and hopefully take my mind off the 10 weeks looming before me, or at the very least, break them up a bit. For example: "in only 4 weeks, my family will be here, and I will be 34 weeks, then I will only have 4-6 more weeks to go!" (hopefully more like 4) See how that works? But either way, I am excited to see all my sisters as well as spend some time in DC sans kiddies.

And last but not least, March means we are closer to Spring and Easter!! It is still a little chilly and rainy in March, but I think we will also start seeing more and more sunny days, and as soon as this snow melts, you better believe we will be bundled up at the playgrounds. I am also excited for Easter too, which seems random, but my kids have been reading lots of Easter books and are really excited about it, so I'm excited for them.

So anyway, YAY for March! Happiness all around!