Lately and things to come

Life is getting pretty exciting around here. 1 more week of work and then we are off for Christmas break and hopefully waiting for the arrival of our precious Emmie. Sawyer is getting very excited about Christmas and he is starting to understand what it is all about. His teacher said that when she asked him what Christmas meant the other day he said, "It is Jesus's birthday and all the way to 25!" (meaning the 25th of December, we have a countdown candle and he is very ready to get to the last day) He continues to entertain us and amaze us daily.

Sawyer is continuously talking about how big he is getting, especially now that he has a new big boy car seat. He wants to grow big like daddy so bad, and the sad thing is that he probably will be before we know it. Life is moving way too fast! He told me the other day that after Christmas he would be big enough to drive the car, ha ha!

Last week Chris went on a business trip and Sawyer and I stayed at my mom and dad's house, or according to Sawyer, "we took a trip to Nanny's house." He loved spending a few days there and sleeping with his mommy at night, but it was good to get back home and in our routine. My dad had his knee replacement surgery last week and is doing well. We are praying for a full and speedy recovery! Between my dad's knee, my mom's back problems, and me being 9 months pregnant we are quite a helpless family right now! My poor sister is going to have to take care of us all, ha ha! :)

I will end the update with a little bit of sad news. We recently had to say goodbye to our sweet dog, Barbie. She was diagnosed with cancer this summer and finally got to the point where we had to put her down. It was a VERY SAD day! Last winter we said goodbye to Rocky and less than a year later we lost Barbie. It is lonely not having a dog around here, but we are relieved to know that they are both pain free now. Sawyer asks all the time for another dog so I am sure we will give in and get him one after we get into our new routine of being a family of 4. Let's face it, we are just a dog loving family. So here she is, our sweet precious Barbie Darbie Wilks that we miss dearly...

Long time no blog!

I know I know...I haven't blogged in forever! Most of you know, but I started a new job in August and it has just taken awhile to get into the new routine. Let me say this...I am LOVING our new routine! Life is fabulous right now. I love my new job working in the office at the Branson Junior High School. It is the perfect fit for my working mom lifestyle. We are anxiously awaiting the arrival of Emmie Layne sometime in late December/early January. Sawyer is growing up so much and he is going to be the best big brother! He is very verbal right now and (to put it mildly) he cracks us up every day with the things that come out of his mouth. He is the funniest kid and I could not love him any more! He is learning so much at school and we are so proud of his sucess and accomplishments. He is working on writing his name right now and he almost has it. To put it simply, he is incredible and he blesses our hearts each and every day. Emmie is growing and moving like crazy. We are just so ready to hold her in our arms. We were incredibly blessed with a baby shower this weekend and now we have tons of pink to wash and prepare for her arrival. I love it!! Be prepared, she WILL be a girly girl and I am pretty sure she is going to melt her daddy's heart (whether he knows it or not). :)

Well that is my short update...I will try to do a better job of keeping up with things now!

HOT summer fun

This past weekend we decided to take Sawyer to Silver Dollar City for a little family fun time. It was sooooo HOT!!! The heat sure didn't slow him down though! He wanted to ride every ride in the park. I think his favorite was Fire in the Hole. We were quite impressed. He has definitely become more brave over these past couple of months. Last year at this time you wouldn't have gotten him on anything but the toddler rides, not even the train, but things have changed. He was even sad that he couldn't ride the big coasters with dad. As for this pregnant momma, I just did a lot of sitting, waiting, sweating, and taking pictures. All in all it was a super fun day for our little brave boy.

The Trophy

He did it! Sawyer successfully finished up his first season of tee ball (well, as successful as a 3 year old can be at tee ball). It was fun, but the best part was the trophy that he got at the end. Too bad he thinks it is just another action figure..."baseball guy" to the rescue!

Making Strides

Wow, Sawyer made great strides this weekend! Just a couple months ago while we were in Disneyworld we discovered that Sawyer was terrified of fireworks. I am talking panic/meltdown/true fear! But this weekend he overcame his fear and was actually holding sparklers and asking for more! Yay Sawyer!

Not only that, but he went from clinging to my neck and not getting past his waist in a swimming pool without screaming to swimming all on his own with just arm floaties on. It was quite a weekend and we are very proud of our big boy! :)

Here is proof of both!

The first "at bat"

Here it is, Sawyer's first "at bat" at his first Tee Ball game. Hmmm, maybe we will play this at his Hall of Fame induction one day, ha ha! :)

Our little mover and shaker

We have learned recently that Sawyer has quite the dancing ability. Check out some of these moves! He doesn't even need good music, in this video he is dancing to the weather channel! :)

Wilks x 3 is becoming 4!

Yay yay yay! We are so excited!!!!! Sawyer is going to be a big brother!!

If you have any ideas on a new blog name let me know. I am taking suggestions :)

Sports...It Begins

Well, it is finally here...the day Sawyer begins to play organized sports. Yep, today is his first official sports practice ever and Chris could not be more excited. I am pretty sure he has been waiting for this day since we found out we were pregnant several years ago. We are starting his sports career with Biddy Baseball (aka, T-Ball). It should be entertaining! He is definitely the youngest and SMALLEST on the team, in fact his jersey might fit him like a dress, but it will be fun! Pictures to come...

A few favorite pics from the Disney trip

Best Trip Ever

Here are the words I would use to describe our Disney vacation: fun, eventful, busy, tiring, exciting, thrilling, happy, amazing, wonderful, but mostly…MAGICAL!!! Seriously, there is no place like Disneyworld, especially when you have a 3 year old in your presence. So you might be thinking, did Sawyer enjoy it? Oh my gosh, he could not have enjoyed it more! He blew away my expectations with how much he loved everything Disney. He loved everything about it (minus the fireworks)! He loved the airplane rides, he loved the characters, he loved the parades, he loved the park rides, he loved the shows, he loved the beach and he even loved the tram rides from the parking lot! Although I was a little hesitant to take him at such a young age, I have absolutely no regrets. He could not have loved it more! My favorite part of the trip was just seeing him get so excited to meet characters and see them in the parades. It was like he was meeting celebrities over and over again. I loved that we were able to do this for him. This face pretty much sums up the trip…



Here is a quick rundown of what we did during our week in Florida

Day 1 (April 30, 2011)
Flight to Orlando (Sawyer’s first time to fly, loved it!)
Rental Car fiasco, got upgraded
Checked into our HUGE condo

Day 2
Animal Kingdom and Downtown Disney
Highlights-Lion King show, First Parade, Loving characters, Scary Bugs Life 3D show that prompted Sawyer to bring back an imaginary friend that happens to be a purple spider named Poohka (more on that later)

Day 3
Epcot
Highlights-Meeting more fun characters, Sawyer loved the Space ride, Layne got sick on Mission Space, Sawyer got his ears, Sawyer hated the fireworks show, Didn’t even make it through the countries…too tired, but still a super fun day 

Day 4
Magic Kingdom, Hollywood Studios Fantasmic Show
Highlights-So many fun rides for Sawyer, Space Mountain for Mommy and Daddy, Finally met Buzz Lightyear, 2 more parades, Fantasmic show was incredible

Day 5
Daytona Beach, Outlet mall, Giordanos
Highlights-Sawyer wasn’t so sure about the beach, but ended up loving it, fun in the sand and sun, Crazy big outlet malls in Orlando, got to eat our favorite pizza ever…Giordanos!

Day 6
Hollywood Studios, Magic Kingdom Electric Parade
Highlights-So many fun things here…Disney Junior show, Beauty and the Beast show, more parades, Pixar Place, meeting Woody, and the Electric Parade was A.W.E.S.O.M.E (that is where the picture was taken of Sawyer’s super excited face), trying to get out of the park after the electric parade and before the fireworks started was not quite as awesome (no lights, people everywhere, nobody moving, slight panic on my face)

Day 7
Magic Kingdom all day, Hollywood Studios at night without Sawyer
Highlights-Doing whatever Sawyer wanted to do, loved the Pirates ride and Jungle cruise, rode It’s a Small World again (not mom and dad’s fav, but Sawyer loved it), Sawyer got a kiss from his princess, accomplished all the must do’s at Disney, Mommy and Daddy date night at Hollywood Studios including Tower of Terror, Aerosmith Rockin Roller Coaster, and dinner at the first place we ate at on our honeymoon 9 years ago…great way to end the week.

Day 8
Sawyer drama in the airport, made a scene walking through security, all ended up well with a smooth flight home
Whew, what a fun and busy week we had! I wouldn’t trade it for anything. A special shout out to my mom for braving the trip…we are so glad she went! So many memories were made and we will cherish them forever.

Disney Lovers,
Chris, Layne, and Sawyer

The little floppy ear

Most of you know, or have probably noticed, that Sawyer has a cute little floppy ear. We have known all along that we would have to probably get it fixed and yesterday we had our first consult with the specialist. Basically he said that since he is so little that we would need to wait until he is 6 and it is best to do it before Kindergarten so that it doesn't cause any social problems. Basically each ear has something different wrong with it, but both ears need a little "fixing." Because of this we have confirmed our decision to hold him back a year before starting school so he can grow a little and get his ears all taken care of. I will be sad to get them fixed because I think he is so stinkin cute, but I understand why it needs to be done and he will be so thankful for it one day. The best news of all is that Insurance will help pay for it...it is not considered and elective cosmetic surgery, but an actual congenital defect. Yay for my pocketbook!! So that is the scoop.

Funny story...
When we went to the doctor Sawyer was confused and said, "I not sick mommy." I told him we were just going to get his ears looked at and that seemed to please his curiosity. After the appointment we were in the elevator and he said, "that doctor was great, my ears don't hurt at all!" Oh how I love him!!! :)

Rain Rain Go Away

It has been raining for days!!! Sawyer is so tired of it. He goes to his window every morning and looks out and says, "the sun not come out today mommy." But today he went to his window and said, "it not raining, it not raining!!!!" Yay for a break and a little sunshine! :)

I think maybe possibly...

I don't want to jinx it but I think we are maybe possibly, dare I say it, POTTY TRAINED!!!!!!!
Last Thursday I was off work for the holiday weekend and I decided that it was time. We got up that morning and said "no more pull ups!" I made the committment and was not turning back (although there were moments that I second guessed myself)!! It was very rough at times but we persevered and I think as of today we might just be, for the most part, TRAINED!!!
YAY, YIPPEE, WOWEE, WOO HOO, and any other exclamation you can think!!!!!!!!!!

We are so excited and proud of our big boy.

Jesus and the Funny Babbit

I love Easter, and I am pretty sure Sawyer does too!! We had so much fun this year going to Meemaw and Peepaw's church egg hunt, getting surpises at their house, getting a visit from the "funny babbit" at our house and Nanny's, playing with the K's, and learning all about Jesus and the meaning of the special celebration.

I did have a little trouble trying to explain to Sawyer about Jesus's death and rising from the grave and then talking about the Easter bunny. I really think I confused him and after opening his basket on Easter morning he said, "The funny babbit brought me a tractor and Jesus brought me a train, I so happy!" I laughed so hard!! He says the cutest things and makes me smile every day. Here are a few pics from the fun filled weekend...

A "Super" Birthday!!!

Wow, I can't say thank you enough to everyone who helped to make Sawyer's birthday AMAZING!!! It was so much fun and he had a blast all day long! It started with presents from mom and dad, birthday pancakes, lots of playing with our guests, and then a super hero birthday party that he totally loved.

Here were my favorite moments of the day:

1. After we put his "Super Sawyer" cape on him he was standing against the wall contemplating what was about to happen, then to all of our surprise he struck his best Superman pose and took off "flying" very fast and very seriously through the park. It was hilarious and made my heart so happy to know that all the work I put into the party was about to totally pay off! Wish someone would have gotten it on video!

2. Sawyer had no trouble blowing out his candles all by himself, which is a huge improvement from last year when he was terrified of them!

3. So many family and friends came from all over the state to celebrate this day with us. Wow, Sawyer is so very loved and we are so very blessed.

4. We all got to enjoy breadsticks and pasta at Olive Garden after the party, that is always the perfect end to a perfect day.

5. 5 days later he is still SOOOOO excited to go home and play with all his new birthday toys. I love that he loves to play with toys instead of watching tv all the time.

I LOVE BIRTHDAYS!!!!!!!

Besties

This is Sawyer and his best friend, Brooklynn, at her birthday party Saturday. She just happens to be the daughter of one of my greatest friends, which makes it so fun. Maybe we will be able to show this in their wedding slideshow someday!?! Who knows!?!?! :)

Warm weather is here, well it was!!

Yesterday was an awesome day! Warm spring weather was FINALLY here! Today, on the other hand, is another story. But, we enjoyed yesterday and went to the park with some sweet friends. I LOVE April, it is the best month of the year! Birthdays, Easter, Vacation, flowers, warmth....glorious!!

Potty Training for Dummies

Do they make a book called "Potty Training for Dummies?" If they do, would somebody please buy it for me?!?!? I always knew potty training could be hard, but I never imagined that my child would be the one that struggled so much. I mean, you always hear stories about kids that were so stubborn and took forever to get trained, but that would never be MY kid, right? Wrong. Sawyer finally had some great success this weekend and I am feeling better about it today than I have for the longest time, but wow, he has not been easy. He is the most laid back kid, which has been great up until now. He simply doesn't care if he goes on the potty. He doesn't care if you put him in time out. He doesn't care if you take his toys away. He just doesn't get too upset about anything! I wish I were more like that, ha ha! Please pray that he turns the corner and decides that going on the potty is important to him, otherwise we might be sending him to kindergarten in a pull up! Ahhhhhhh!!!! :)

Disney Toy Story on Ice

We took a quick trip to Kansas City last weekend to see Disney Toy Story on Ice. Nanny decided that she wanted to do that for Sawyer's birthday this year so Sawyer, Me, Nanny, and Kaylor piled in the car and headed North. We never imagined that we would be driving through sleet and snow to get there! It was a crazy cold freezing weekend in late March, but we still had a blast!! Sawyer and Kaylor are such sweet friends and they enjoyed the show and the time spent together. I just love my family and I love that we have opportunities like this. We made memories to last a lifetime!

He says the funniest things...

This was my conversation with Sawyer this morning after his preschool was closed for 2 days because of snow...

Me, "Are you ready to go back to school today?" Sawyer, "I miss my friends." Me, "Which friend do you miss the most?" Sawyer, "Brooklyn...(pause in conversation)...mommy?" Me, "what buddy?" Sawyer, "I love Brooklyn." :) So sweet! Brooklyn is a girl in his class and the daughter of a great friend of mine.

After that conversation I got a message from his teacher saying this...

"hey! Sawyer was so cute this morning...walking back from breakfast i asked another to take my class so i could help a parent and sawyer says. "where you going Cawa?? i told him and he said "ok. come back!" lol."

He is so funny and cute...I just can't get enough of him! My favorite thing is when we are playing and I get up to go do something he always says, "be back mommy, ok?" It is so sweet and how could you ever say no!!??!!??

LOVE him!

Forced to slow down

Everybody always told me that being a full time working mom would be hard, but I had no idea just how hard! I feel like I am always being pulled in so many diffrent directions, trying to keep everyone happy and taken care of, but in my heart I only want to take care of one person...Sawyer. I want to devote all my time and attention to his every need and desire but I often times find myself focusing on other things first. Last week the Lord blessed me by allowing Sawyer to catch an illness that lasted a full week. No you did not read that wrong, I said He BLESSED me by allowing Sawyer to be sick. Now don't get me wrong, I never want my child to feel bad and I hate not being able to take his pain away. But, the blessing came in the fact that I was forced to stop what was going on in the rest of my world and focus on my little love. In fact, the first morning that he was so sick I set my phone in the other room and just held him all morning long. No emails, no work calls, no texts, no worrying about if everyone is where they need to be and doing what they need to do...just snuggle time with Sawyer. Even though he was sick, it was probably the best morning ever! He needed me and I needed to be there for him and I am so thankful to the Lord for giving us that time. While I am being completely honest, I must say that my heart has never longed for being a stay at home mom more than it did last week. Other than that morning, I spent most of the week juggling trying to get work done that had to be done, take care of my little boy that had to be taken care of, and feeling guilty every moment I was working (because I wasn't with Sawyer) and every moment I was with Sawyer (because I wasn't working). By Friday I was so ready for him to feel better just so I could get our lives back in a routine and not feel that guilt anymore. But I was wrong, the guilt never goes away. Every morning that I drop him off I feel guilty. I feel guilty that I am paying someone else to do MY job. I am paying someone else to teach, love, and take care of my child. I know that I shouldn't feel this way, but I do. That is what is on my mind today. I pray every day that the Lord will help me through these feelings and either make it an option to stay home more, or change my heart to handle my current situation better. I have faith and trust that He will get me through this time in my life. It is a WONDERFUL time!!! I wouldn't trade it for anything, just have moments where life gets a little overwhelming. This too shall pass. Thanks for listening!

Sweet prayers

Every night before bed we have a routine...Sawyer picks out a book or two, crawls in bed, gets a drink, and we read stories together. Once we are done reading we pray and thank Jesus for the special things and people in our lives. I always ask Sawyer what he wants to thank Jesus for and he usually names family members and friends that he loves. Last night he was very serious and when I asked him who we were going to thank Jesus for tonight he said, "Ummm, my Nanny...and Mater." If you don't know, Mater is from the movie Cars and apparently he is very important. ha ha :)

Snow Days

Elmo Live

Last year Aunt Barbara bought tickets to take Sawyer to see Elmo Live in KC. He liked it so much that she decided to do it again this year. Now let me clarify, when I say she bought tickets I really mean she bought front row tickets with backstage Meet and Greet time!! He was so excited! He talked about it all the way to KC and didn't stop until we got to the auditorium.

Picture this...

We are sitting in the front row in a room full of about 30 people who have tickets to meet and greet with 2 Sesame Street characters. We don't know who they are going to be but we are told they are on there way in. Sawyer says to me, "Elmo's coming?" And I say, "I am not sure buddy, but I hope so!" He was so excited and anxious. Next thing you know in walks Elmo and Cookie Monster (Sawyer's 2 favorite characters)! Everyone in the room gasps and screams with excitement.

Now here is the part where you expect Sawyer to be full of joy and excitement to meet his 2 favorite characters, right? Well, that is not quite what happened. Sawyer immediately starts screaming in fear and buries his head into my chest. He screams "I go bye bye, I go bye bye!!" I took him into the hall and tried to calm him down with no success. He just was not going to participate in what we thought would be the coolest thing he had ever done. HUGE BUMMER. So we took a picture with them and here it is...

Not quite what we were hoping for!! A nice Sprint Center worker saw how upset he was and let us ride up the employee elevator with her. She gave him snacks and coloring pages to try to cheer him up. It was so nice! It must have worked because he was fine once we got to our seats and once the show started he got to "meet and greet" with almost every character at one point or another during the show. They each came up and shook his hand, high fived him, and even took his Ernie doll up on stage for part of the show (they gave it back). He even went out on the floor stage and danced with Honkers.

It was so fun and he LOVED every second of it (well after the first part was over). I really think he was more scared of the reaction of the people in the room than he was of the characters, but it didn't matter at that point. Overall, it ended up being a success and we are so thankful to Aunt Barbara for her generosity and love!!

Rocky Doggy Wilks

Rocky Doggy Wilks

January 1, 2003-December 30, 2010

We will all miss you!

Ooops...I think I forgot I had a blog!

I know I know, it has been forever since my last blog! Maybe my new year's resolution should have been to keep up with this thing more. Ok, here is a quick recap of what has happened since my last entry. Hmmm, let me think...

1. Christmas! We had a wonderful Christmas and Santa was very good to us. He brought Sawyer his Buzz Lightyear that he wanted and much much more. In fact when Sawyer went to the tree on Christmas morning the first thing he said was, "I no see Buzz." Well, he was there, wrapped and in the back of the pile. He was not as excited as I thought he would be when he finally found him, he just said, " there's Buzz." I think he realized that Santa brought some other really cool things as well and Buzz was just the icing on the cake! Surprisingly the gift that got the biggest reaction was his new guitar, which he plays nightly. Stop by for a concert sometime! :)

2. Sad Goodbye! We had to say goodbye to our "firstborn", Rocky Doggy Wilks, 2 days before his 8th birthday. He came down with herniated disc disease and despite the best efforts of us and his vet we just couldn't get him comfortable and pain free. Instead of seeing him suffer we decided to let him go. It was SO HARD. So much harder than I ever imagined. We will miss him dearly and think of him every day. His sister, Barbie, had a hard time adjusting but is now getting used to being an inside dog and getting all the attention. Needless to say, she is spoiled!

3. New Year's! We spent the New Year's holiday with Chris's family since we spent Christmas with my family. We had a blast with both sides and cherish the time we get to spend with all of them.

4. Elmo Show! Our dear sweet Aunt Barbara bought tickets to take Sawyer to see another Elmo Live show in January. Now this is a blog post all on it's own so I will continue this story later.

5. Snow, Snow, and more Snow! We have enjoyed a lot of beautiful snow this winter. In fact, I am sitting here right now looking at big fat snowflakes, the biggest I have ever seen, out my back window. It is so pretty, but so slick so we are staying put for the day. Pictures to come!

Hope your holidays were as wonderful as ours. Stay warm!