Resemblance

It is the weirdest thing. I look at Pierce and think he looks nothing like Saffryn. I have never thought he looked like her. But then the other day I came across this picture of Saffryn around 5 months old....



Saffryn 5 months old

 

 



Pierce almost 5 months old

Pierce at 5 months old!

What do you think??? Yup... me, too! :)



Toddlers

Toddlers...oh my the things I could say about them. Somedays you just want to pull out your hair...but I have found something out, a little secret....Do you want to hear it??? It has helped our days tremendously...ready for it???

LAUGH.

Yup its that simple. When my toddler gets super sassy, says the weirdest things, is defiant and well you know acting like a toddler and I feel my stress and anger level start to go up I just laugh. And you know what happens...the tensions goes away. Saffryn starts laughing because I am laughing, Pierce starts laughing and Crash runs over and gives everyone lots of kisses. Then my day seems managable again. I suggest you try it! Then write down all the funny things they say or do..even if it is sassy or naughty. Then we can all laugh at them! Trust me some of these things are FUNNY if you let them reach you that way! Good luck!

Here are some of her spoken treasures..some are sweet, some are sassy and some just plain ol make me laugh!

"vacu boomer"....for vaccum cleaner

"oh look tiny trucks"...pointing at golf carts

"yes you did momma"...saying it in a good job tone

"give me some moochies"....trying to say smooch...as in kiss

after not eating a good lunch she tells me "I'm hungry". i say i bet you are. you didnt eat any lunch. when you dont eat your lunch you get hungry. with a straight face she says, "no i dont". i say no you dont what? "no, I DONT get hungry when I don't eat my lunch." This one had the potential to annoy me tremendously..but oh its funny!

With her head down on the table at lunch I ask if she is getting tired..."NO...I'm just eating some cheetos."

Pointing to some #2's in the toilet. "look they are teeny tiny. They are swimming!!!"

"Good job hunny!" To me after I turned on the t.v

"I don't take naps, I play"---haha oh really?!?!

"Leave me alone"---can you believe she already says that???? hahaha so sassy!

"I do it!!!" Her favorite phrase!

I will be thinking and looking out for more. Be sure and enjoy a good laugh with your toddler. Its good for both of your souls!

Saintly

I know I have bragged on my little dog before...but I just have to do it again. He is so sweet...even if he does get out and run around the nieghborhood...sigh! But he is SOOOO good with our children. I think the pictures will speak for themselves (and just so you know he came and sat down next to Pierce...not the other way around)! Love you Crash.

Exploration

It all started with a lonely nesting cup that Saffryn filled with water:

Then she got this idea in her head that she needed a spoon. So she went to the kitchen and pulled one out. She came back and got drinks from her spoon. Then she thought she needed another one...and another...

She lined her spoons up and took turns sipping water out of it. Then she took it up a notch...we added a few more nesting cups. She practiced dumping and filling. Then she thought those spoons weren't enough. So she went and got her stool and got more utensils.

And here was the end result:

She lined them all up like that!!!

Look at her exploring. This was so fun for me to see!!! The whole thing unfolded from her ideas and initiative. She was having fun and learning so many things! There was so much early math and science going on! Dumping and filling as well as using different sizes of spoons help her with spatial reasoning (not to mention eye hand coordination). Sorting and classifying (did you notice she sorted the metal spoons from the plastic tip spoons???) is a great math and science skill. She used problem solving to get into the drawer and pick out what she wanted to use. She practiced her colors with the spoons and cups. We counted the different cups, spoons and measuring cup. It was SO fun for both of us!!!

Did she make a mess...yup! But it was just water, and I had her get a towel and clean up what got spilled! (Woop woop for self help skills :) ) I am just so proud of her and love watching her explore. I love getting to be her teacher!!!!!

Look at this cutie! Who wouldn't love being her teacher????

Go Wildcats

Its that time again...football season! We love going to the K-State football games. We have had season tickets for the last 3 years and we have loved having them every year. This year I was a little nervous about taking two children to the game...one of which is a very busy toddler. We have talked about the games for a few months before hand hoping that would help her be interested in the games when we took her this season.(I think it helped a ton). We had been reading the book, "Hello Willie." She loves it!!!! Dan has been teaching her all the songs, too. The fight song, Alma mater and the wabash cannonball. I am so glad we did because she loved getting to see and hear them all in person.



The cutest shoes ever!!!! Thanks to our friends Rainer and Jessie for them :)



Daddy and Saffryn getting ready to leave for the game!



Our cutie baby wildcat!!!



So here is kind of how the day went...we drove up at naptime in hopes that both children would fall asleep...and they did! Woop...great start so far. As soon as we drove past the stadium and saw all the people she got so excited. She kept saying, "look at all the people!!!" it was so cute.

Then we parked the car and walked to our friends tailgating. Saffryn was so funny...she sat by the food table and just ate the whole time..hahah! There was even other kids there to play with, but I guess food wins out. Hahah! 



Momma and sweet baby boy!

Look who we got to see while we were there.....

 THE DELIMONTS!!!!!!! YAY.



Sweet Terri! Love her :)

After the tailgate we walked up to the stadium and Saffryn was wide eyed and just soaked it all in. We sat down in our seats and not too much longer the band start playing and getting ready for the players to come out.



Daddy and Saffryn at the stadium!




Momma and baby.




I thought this was kind of a cool picture!




Teehee look at those chubby cheeks!




Such a cute picture!!!




She loved clapping to the songs!




Our family.




Both so enthralled with the game.

Saffryn absolutely loved the game. She looked around for Willie a lot. I mean A LOT  A LOT..hehe. She really loved the songs and clapping along to them. She kept saying, "Go wildcats." It was so cute. She enjoyed some funnel cake with her daddy and watching the players, "fall down and bonky their head." hahaha! I just love her. Baby Pierce did great, too! When it got loud he would suck on his little binky all wide eyed. He finally fell asleep, but the poor baby kept getting woken up when the crowd would cheer.



Wide eyed...so sweet




So cute! Thanks to Jessie for holding him for a while :)

We even got to see some friends at half time. Saffryn really enjoyed getting to see her newest friend Laney. I loved getting to spend some time with her mother! We made it to the 4th quarter and it was after 8pm and the kids were slowly starting to lose steam. They were honestly doing ok, but Dan and I didnt' want to push it too far. So we decided to leave...and Saffryn was MAD. She kept saying, "football game, football game." It pretty much made her daddy's month.  Such great little fans we have. It was such a fun day...glad I brought them even though I was nervous about it.

Saffryn still talks about "k-state football games" and "willie". She does the wabash with her daddy and loves to read her book, "hello willie". I think more games will be in our future....K-S-U wildcats....WOOOO!



Hey all four of us are generally looking at the camera...wow!











one year ago

I cannot believe it has been one year since I got to meet sweet baby Jake. I cannot believe one year ago we all had to say goodbye.

He is so missed. He is so loved. Thank you to his parents for loving him in such an amazing way. Thank you to his parents for continuing to remind us of God's great love in the midst of tragedy.

I wish I had adequate words to describe what I feel. His mother honestly said it best here. I don't think there was a day that went by this year that I didn't think of him and miss him. So many things that we all didn't get to experience this year with him. So many milestones that should have been. But know this, his life has touched more people than I ever could have imagined. With each milestone that was missed there was a new gift that God has granted through his life.

Jake we all miss you. We wish we could have spent more time with you on this Earth. Your parents are the most amazing people I have ever met. They have honored and cherished you in such a beautiful way. They have shown everyone how great and loving Jesus is. They attribute it all to you. You have changed us all for the better. I cannot wait to spoil you in heaven!

Vacation Wrap-Up

We stayed almost a week in Utah. It was such a blast!!! It was hard to leave everyone...I hate saying goodbye. Saffryn really enjoyed being out in the country and getting to run all day long! Dan and I are now wondering if country living could be for us after all :)

Here are a few more pictures of our country adventures!



My favorite thing when I was little...catching horny toads!




The girls pushing the babies in the stroller to go see some horses!




Horses up close!!!




My Great-Aunt Mary now has llamas and we went over and got to feed them some apples!




Saffryn throwing apples for the llamas



The boys checking out the llamas



Pierce and Daddy playing! Saffryn looks a little crazy in the background. HAHAH!



Dad and son!

Well we had a wonderful vacation! So much to see and do! I am SO thankful we got to spend such great time with our families!!! After we left Utah we met Dan's brother and sister-in-law in Breckenridge, CO. We had a BLAST! Saffryn loved watching football with her Daddy and Uncle! It was a really fun weekend. I didn't get many pictures of that weekend...dang. Don't ask me why!

The plan was for Dan to fly home on Sunday and I would drive down to Colorado Springs and spend a week with my Mom. Well the kids were starting to have a hard time. Pierce was not sleeping well and I could tell Saffryn needed to be in her own element. So after a bad night I asked Dan to just take all of us home on Sunday. He agreed to drive us back home and we left at 4 am because Pierce was awake. Dan was my hero driving us back!!! Thanks Dan :)

I was sad not to get to spend the extra week with my mom, but when we got home the kids just looked so relaxed and slept so great that night. I know I made the right call. I hate being so far away from my family but I already have a trip planned in November!!!!

We had a GREAT vacation!!!!!