My Papa 

Words cannot even begin to describe my love for my Papa. If you know me then you know I am Papa's girl! I have been since day one. He has been a Christian role model in my life. He has always been there for me and has never let down. He is the man that walked me down the aisle on my wedding day. He has made me who I am today. He is my rock and now he is quickly fading away. He has Alzheimer's. Even though he doesn't remember me,  he still tells me he loves me every time I see him. I don't want to face losing him even though I know that he will go to heaven and will not suffer anymore. Losing him has been one of my biggest fears for as long as I can remember.

So many wonderful memories we have shared. Learning about cars and how to change the oil. Taking rides in his wreck truck and getting to turn on the flashing light. Taking long Sunday drives to nowhere. Learning how to love one another and be patient and kind. Learning right from wrong. Learning how silence is golden. Countless lunch dates. Countless rides to school in the morning. Ice cream at Huff's. Listening to him preach. Reading along with him in his Bible. Listening to him sing hymns, especially "Victory in Jesus". The one tune he would always whistle, wish I could hear it one more time. Watching Andy Griffith with him. Picking strawberries, green beans, blueberries. Letting me mow the yard in any direction I wanted, even in circles. Eating popcorn and ice cream at night. Watching him come up the road on his tractor in the snow after a long day of pushing driveways. Listening to him tell stories about when he was little. Hearing him tell me "don't rush off" or "you are a jewel". Learning about Jesus and keeping the faith. Listening to him pray, even when he could not remember where he was or who we were he could always pray. His prayers were a testimony in themselves because when you accept Jesus as your personal savior you never lose that spirit man. So for those few moments that I would shut my eyes and listen to him pray it was as if the old Papa was back. Listening to him pray you would never guess he had Alzhemier's.

I'll just keep holding on to all those precious memories. I'll just keep holding on until this journey ends. I'll just keep holding on until we are back together again. I love you Papa! I would not be where I am today without you, you have made me a better person and I am proud to say that I am your granddaughter.

First time holding Sawyer

Papa being funny

Having a sweet conversation 

Sawyer loves his papa! 

Nana & Papa's 50th Anniversary

My Wedding Day

My 1st Birthday

Helping not to trip on my dress

Playing with Sawyer

Sawyer 14-17 month update

Weight & Length: Sawyer is 27 pounds. His length is 32 inches long.

Sleeping: He is a wonderful sleeper. Sleeps all night and even lets us sleep in on our days off. Couldn't ask for a better baby. Usually has to play with daddy's ear to help him fall asleep.

Eating: He loves to eat! I put some of his food (pouches, crackers, fruits, etc.) where he can reach them, so when he is hungry he usually just grabs a pouch and brings it to me to open. He isn't a big meat eater, but we are getting there. He enjoys sitting at the big table with mommy and daddy and being able to feed himself. He loves fruits, we haven't found a fruit yet that he didn't like. He loves POPCORN! He says it and uses sign language to ask for it. He ask for it at least once or twice daily, if not more. He loves watching it pop! 

Diapers: Size 4

Clothing: 18-24 months

Hair: curly and blonde

Eyes: Medium blue

Personality: Learning so much! He constantly surprises me with all the new things that he learns to do. I love watching him explore and play. You also quickly realize the habits that you do because he mimics your everyday task. If doesn't know the answer to a question, he shrugs his shoulders like "I don't know". He pretends to put lotion on his hands like I do. He loves giving mommy and daddy kisses. He puckers his lips out and gives a super slobbery kiss lol 

His poppa drives a red dump truck, whenever we pass one on the road, he yells "poppa, poppa, poppa". He loves riding the tractor with daddy. We have had quite a lot of snow this year, he enjoyed playing in it....making a snowman and snow angels. His favorite book is an animal book, he brings it to me and then tells me the animals names or the sounds they make. He loves being outside!! We are so glad it is finally starting to warm up, so we can get outside and play :)

Milestones:

• Runs
• Saying so many new words, definitely knows over 100
• Learning his colors 
• Recognizes and says the letter "S"
• Knows all the parts of his face and other body parts
• Goes up and down stairs 

Sawyer's First Birthday - Nautical

A little late, but I want to document this wonderful day....

My sweet baby boy turned one on October 12, 2013, which luckily fell on a Saturday, so we could have all the fun festivities on his actual birthday!! Yay!!
The theme for his party was nautical, he loves water and he loves the color red. Therefore I decided to go with nautical and we went with the colors red, white, and blue. Luckily with those colors I got a lot of decorations for super cheap after the fourth of July. The location we chose was right beside a reservoir, so this went very nicely with our nautical theme.

I was so happy with the way everything turned out, I honestly don't think anything could have made it any better!

I made the personalized life preserver out of a foam board with pillow stuffings from an old pillow and covered it with one of Jody's old T-shirts. I painted the letters on with stencils and bought 1/2 yard of red fabric for the cross pieces. It was very easy to make and I loved the way it turned out. The highchair banner was made with fabric pennants and letters cut out with a cricut.

The bottom part of the walls were a lovely pink color, would have been great for a little girl's birthday  party, but I had a solution. I bought a roll of bulletin board paper to make it look like water around the whole room. Then took a streamer and twisted it to make it look like waves on the top. Covered the girly pink up beautifully! The happy birthday banner was just made with scrapbook paper and letters cut out with a cricut. I borrowed the nautical decor on the fireplace from my friend. If are on a budget or just want to save money ask your friends and family for items they already have that match your theme. I borrowed tote-fuls from both friends and family. 

Since there were going to be a lot of kids at the party I thought a cheap party game would just be a coloring station, so I printed out several nautical themed color sheets. Easy peasy!

Another view of the decorations, the captains wheel came from captain party. 

Sawyer's monthly pictures, made the numbers and anchors with the cricut.

Baby play area, just brought a small rug and basket of toys from home for the kids to enjoy.

On the tables, I just used dollar tree table cloths with a red, shimmery runner that I found on clearance. Topped with one of my favorite decorations....the goldfish in little glass bowls.

Food table - The pennant banner was made from fabric (no sewing involved), I simply cut the peanuts using a pattern, then used stitch witchery to attach them to white binding. I loved the way they turned out and can reuse them for future 4th of July parties.

The ship and other nautical decor was borrowed. I placed pictures of Sawyer from his first year throughout the table. The cupcake toppers were made from the cricut as well. The little boats on the water are blue jello in the bottom of a clear cup with a mandarin orange for the boat and a toothpick and white tape for the sail.

Friends and family that came to celebrate! 

Sawyer enjoying some grapes. His shirt says "Anchors away I'm one today!"

Birthday boy!! 

I made his cake from a healthy recipe with blueberries and bananas. And for the icing I just mixed together greek vanilla yogurt and cream cheese. It was delicious! 

Hmmmmm, what is this stuff??

I think I like it! 

Birthday board I made for Sawyer's first birthday

Opening presents with mommy and daddy

Riding his new tricycle

Don't think I took a picture of the treat bags, but they included model sailboat kits and 

little bags of goldfish crackers. 

Loved planning his party and seeing his happy little face when he came in. He loved all the balloons and played with them for weeks after! He loved all his new toys and we had a great time with family and friends!! 

Sawyer is ONE!!

12  & 13 month update

Weight & Length: Sawyer is 25 pounds. His length is 31 inches long.

Sleeping: He was sleeping all night till a few weeks ago then started waking up once a night, now it is hit and miss. Sometimes he sleeps all night, others he doesn't. Hopefully he gets back to his old self soon.

Eating: Drinking mommy's milk in the mornings and at night and whole milk during the day. He eats 3 meals a day, and generally eats 2-3 snacks. He loves to eat. He is eating lots of new foods now that he is older. We try to stay away from fried or processed food and only give him healthy foods. The longer I can keep him away from unhealthy foods the better!

Diapers: Size 3, but they are finally getting snug

Clothing: 12-18 months

Hair: curly and blonde

Eyes: Medium blue

Personality: This last month he has really been a super sweet baby. Enjoys snuggling, kisses, and hugs! He will lean his forehead to mine and just grin, melts my heart. He has been very playful and is beginning to play by himself for longer periods of time. He has not been as clingy or whiny as he was a few months ago.

Milestones:

• Walks all the time
• Starting to run too
• 8 teeth
• Helps get dressed and undressed
• Saying more words - Dixie, Kitty-cat, Deer, Fish, Nana
• Takes apart and puts toys back together

Firsts: Sawyer celebrated his first birthday! Friends and family joined us for a nautical theme birthday party. Everything went perfectly! Sawyer went to his first pumpkin patch and picked out a cute little pumpkin. We also took a trip to Mabry's Mill. Sawyer attended his first family reunion.

Adventures this month: Sawyer celebrated his 2nd Halloween. He dressed up as Bamm Bamm from the Flintstone's and his friend Sophie was Peebles! We went to several birthday parties in the last two months.