Fifteen...

Fifteen what you are asking?!? Well, months of course! My sweet little Sawyer is growing right before my eyes. Not only is he growing, he's getting quite the little personality to go with that growth! Remember my quiet, easy, go-with-the-flow baby? Well, not only is he not a "baby" anymore, he's also not quite so quiet, easy or go-with-the-flow anymore either! He is still just as sweet as ever, but the quiet and easy part has pretty much gone right out the window. As a matter of fact, it FLEW out the window. It is like he woke up one day and decided "Today I am going to make myself heard!" And, heard he is. Let's just say that is where the quiet went out the door! As a matter of fact that is where the quiet, the laid back and the easy went out the door! Somehow when the quiet is gone the other two are gone right there with it!:) The absolute best word to describe him right now is, well... Stubborn. With a capital "S". Just like "S"awyer... how appropriate! He WILL get what he wants, and if he doesn't you will pay. And by pay I mean want to pull your hair out pay. He gives new meaning to the phrase "He'll give you a run for your money"! For example, he prefers to drink his milk out of a bottle. If you give him his milk in anything else he just throws it at you. He will.not drink milk out of anything other than a bottle. So, yes, at 15 months I still let him have milk out of a bottle. He wins that battle. Not because he can't drink out of a sippy cup, but because he prefers it out of a bottle! We all have preferences right?!? I know, I know... one bad Momma. I promise I will take it from him before the new year!:) He drinks water just fine out of a sippy cup, but you put milk in it and it is tossed right across the room. It doesn't matter how much he wants milk, it is never enough to make him drink it from anything but his bottle... STUBBORN! Yes, I realize me giving in and giving him the bottle is making his "stubborn" personality trait come out more, but I just don't have it in me to force it on him just yet. Exact same way with walking. Can Sawyer walk you ask? Sure he can. Does Sawyer walk you ask? Not one little step. Scoots faster than a bolt of lightning flashes across the sky, but refuses to walk. He just doesn't want to. I'm not going to complain too much about this at the moment, because most of the time it is just easier that he chooses not to. But, it is slightly frustrating to know that he can walk and just won't. I didn't know babies were allowed to be that smart. I always thought if they could do something they just would. Who knew they could have a mind like a teenager?!? Ha! I know you are reading this thinking man did this child do a 180 from how she has described him in the past, but he really is still all of those previous things as well. He has just decided to add stubborn to his list of personality traits, which came as a little bit of a shock to those of us closest to him. I think we all thought he would just be easy and laid back his whole life, but oh no... he has come out of his shell and wants to be heard(I knew some of me was in him!)!!! He is still my sweet, lovable, happy Sawyer and always will be. He brings an over abundance of joy to a room instantly. His smile melts my heart daily. It is the biggest, happiest, most loving smile you have ever seen. He truly loves life. If you take the time to sit back and watch him, you can see him stopping to enjoy each and every moment. It is like he knows these moments are something special and he isn't going to miss them. I treasure those times I actually take a minute to watch the wheels in his head turn. I try not to be one of those sentimental, sappy kind of Mom's too often, but it's hard when you have a Sawyer. He's just that kid. He helps you re-define love. Even with his new found personality his likes still far outweigh his dislikes...

What Sawyer Likes:
- Clapping - I know this seems like a silly thing to list, but he is so into it right now. Especially when he is clapping for someone when they do something he likes or clapping to the beat of the music. The way his face lights up during his entire clapping process is just priceless!
- Being outside - The boy would probably live outside if I let him. The way both of my boys love the outdoors is unlike anything I have ever seen. We actually have meltdowns around here when we have to go inside for dinner!

It's easy for me to get pictures with smiles like this when we are outside!

He just can't get enough of it!

- Closing doors - I'm pretty sure this is something he learned from Hayden(who still loves to close doors by the way) and he loves it just as much as his big brother. What is it about closing a door that is so much fun? The loud bang? The fact you can do it without an adults help? Both? Whatever it is, Sawyer loves it!
- Stairs - If you take your eyes off of him for 1 second and don't have the gate closed, you can be rest assured he is half way up the stairs. It is amazing how fast he can scoot over to the stairs and get up them... and even more amazing how fast he can fly down them on his belly! He does know he isn't supposed to go up or down them without an adult present, but I guess the urge just hits him sometimes and he has to try to get away with it without an adult. The funny thing is, he gives himself away every.single.time. He literally will not even make it up 2 stairs before you hear him stop and say "WHOA!" I'm pretty sure he thinks he's pretty cool! Oh, and he is definitely proud of himself!!
- Dancing - This boy definitely knows the beat(he gets it from his Daddy!)! Anytime he hears music, he starts his dancing. It is pretty much the cutest thing EVER! It is especially funny when we are out in a store or at a restaurant with music. Let's just say he doesn't get embarrassed with a crowd. He gets just as into it away from home as he does when we are all alone in the living room! So cute!

He even gets into it outside if I give him a little song!:)

Such a cute little dancer!

- Sydney - "Dog, dog, my dog, dog." I hear those same words over and over. I hear those words so much I hear them in my sleep! He loves her. He kisses her, he hugs her, he LOVES her. And, she loves him! It is just the sweetest thing!
- Bye-bye - OMG. I have never, and I mean never heard a child say "Bye" the way Sawyer says it. It is long, it is drawn out... it is SO southern! "Bbyyyyyyyyeeee!" And it is every.single.time. He doesn't even have to be prompted to say it. If we are leaving somewhere, or someone is leaving us it is just automatic for him. You can't help but smile from the inside out when you hear his sweet little voice draw that tiny little word out!
- Giving kisses - Not just to Sydney. To all of us. He loves to give out his sweet kisses! They are still open mouth, and still as sweet as ever!

I am not exaggerating when I tell you his mouth will be this
wide open when he goes to give you a kiss!

- Throwing balls - OK, so if Sawyer and Hayden were given a few balls and a backyard 24/7 I'm pretty sure they would be happy 24/7. They could throw to each other all day long. The only problem is when they throw inside and the balls are flying all over my house. We have a "rolling" rule in place now for inside play!:)
- Climbing - Not just stairs. Everything. He is all over the place. Another reason I am sometimes relieved he isn't walking just yet! Climbing and walking really would give me a run for my money!
- Cars - It's a boy thing. If you don't have boys just trust me... it's a boy thing. I just don't get it. It is just in them to love them and love them they do. And by boys, I am including Daddy! The cars are everywhere, they are small, and they take forever to clean up. BUT, they love them. Something about watching the cars fly across the floor and then crash into something is just so great. I'll never get it, but I'm pretty sure Sawyer will always love them!
- Scooting - LOVES it. I guess everyone loves their mode of transportation, but who knew scooting was a mode of transportation before Sawyer came along?!? Oh, and don't get in his way when he is on a mission... he stops for no one!:)

This was him on a mission...

And this was him mid-mission when he finally decided to turn around for me.
Yes, he is holding his hand up to his ear and saying "Huh?" as if
he couldn't hear me after I called his name a good
10 times. Boys and their selective hearing
starts at such a young age!!!

- Front rolls - You read that right, he loves his front rolls... assisted of course! He is the most limber child you will ever meet. If there is such a thing as triple jointed, he is. It is crazy the things you can do with his limbs. I have never seen anything like it. I'm sure one day he'll be using it in a talent show!
-Baby Einstein - I have listed him liking TV before, but had to include it here again because he just loves these movies. Before, he really didn't care too much about what was on the TV, but now he definitely has more of an opinion. That opinion you ask? Well, Baby Einstein. Anything Baby Einstein! He just loves those movies. Hayden always liked them too, so it comes as no surprise, but I just really don't get these movies. They seem so boring! Oh well, he loves them!:)
- Choosing his own meal - I am not kidding you when I say he likes to choose exactly what he wants to eat. He will literally point to the pantry for you to open it when he is hungry and then go to it and pull out what it is he is wanting at the moment. It is one of the craziest things I have ever seen. Who knew a 15 month old was that into what he wanted to eat?!?
- Brushing his teeth - I never knew brushing your teeth could be something to "like", but my children sure do enjoy this task. At 15 months and with only 6 teeth, it's one of Sawyer's favorite daily tasks! I know it is partially because he likes the toothpaste taste, but he also really seems to like having his teeth/gums brushed. Maybe because they are always sore from all of his teething?!? I sure hope his love for brushing teeth will stick around for a while!

What Sawyer Dislikes:
- Being held when he wants down - And to this I say, "You are more than welcome to walk Sawyer." To which he responds "No." And so the daily battle begins. Of course when we are at home this is not problem because he can scoot around the house, but that is a little harder to do when we are out doing errands. At first I felt bad for him thinking he didn't understand, but now I'm pretty certain he understands exactly what we are saying and is just choosing not to "dit down" as he likes to say! Soon enough Sawyer, soon enough!
- Hayden taking his toys - Total dislike. As in will scream at the top of his lungs dislike. Absolutely crazy the noise little Sawyer can make when Hayden has taken something from him. I know no one would like something to be taken from them, but the noise Sawyer makes is just out of control. We are still working really hard on the sharing thing, and we have now added screaming to our workload!:) Fun!

What Sawyer is not sure of:
- Walking - Yep! You knew that was going to be on this list. For the record, he has progressed greatly in his cruising around the house, but still hasn't started walking without holding onto anything. I'm pretty sure he just knows scooting works and gets him to where he needs to go super fast, so he doesn't want to bother with the whole walking thing. He is double jointed like I said earlier, so maybe that has something to do with it also. Who knows! We have his 15 month check up next week, so we'll see what Dr. Papciak has to say about it! For now we are just going to enjoy watching our little man scoot, scoot, scoot!
- His carseat - Although he usually loves his car rides and even manages to get great sleep in the car, he's just not always 100% sure about his carseat. It is super plush and everything, but I think he is beginning to be a little too cramped having to be facing backwards in the car. There are times he is fine with the seat, but times he pitches the biggest fit ever as soon as he realizes we are getting in the car. Not too much longer until I think we will get the okay to turn him around and join the rest of us in the forward facing position, so hopefully that solves the problem!

And that's little Sawyer at 15 months! Here's a few more pictures for you...

He's double jointed and he can make his
tongue do this crazy little thing!

Fun with leaves!

Fun with faces!:)

"Uh-OOOH" he says as HE takes his hat off!
Yeah, my exact definition of an "uh-oh!"

How could you not LOVE that face?!?

Happy 15 Months sweet Sawyer! We love you!

* Update - At 15 month appointment on December 9th with Dr. Papciak, Sawyer was 22 pounds exactly(10-25%), 30 and 1/2 inches tall(25%), his head measured 49cm(90%) and Dr. P said we'll worry about his walking at the 18 month check-up. I guess that means you've got a few more months to scoot buddy!:)

Pigs, Pumpkins, Pottying and Hayden's "New Arm"!!!

Crazy title right?!? Y'all know how I get behind on my blogging, so it shouldn't surprise you too much that I'm just now sharing October stories! At least I'm sharing right?!? We have so much fun on our little adventures that it would be hard for me not to share that kind of joy! So, now you can finally see all about our apple orchard fun that is always so much more than apples. Don't let the pig title fool you, it IS about Hillcrest!:) And, you can enjoy our version of the pumpkin patch experience here as well! Definitely the biggest.pumpkins.ever! As for something that actually is recent, poor little Hayden had an elbow injury last week at school that caused him to need a "new arm!" OK, so it isn't actually a new arm... it's just his very first, and hopefully very last, cast.:( So sad. Who even knew they could make a cast so little?!?

Hayden Gets A Cast...

Hayden was such a trooper all.day.long. And when I say long, I mean long. His day started around 7:00am and I don't think it ended until close to 10:00pm. Yikes! The day started like a typical Tuesday around here(November 15th to be exact!), with Mommy going to work and Gigi taking Hayden to school, but it certainly didn't end normally. Apparently Hayden decided to do a little dive and spin on his head(at least that is his story!) while at school, which somehow injured his elbow. I say somehow because Hayden does things like this quite often around the house and hasn't gotten injured, so who knows how the injury actually happened at school! This happened right at the end of the school day when the kids were being picked up, and somehow the teachers missed seeing the actual incident. So, without an individual over the age of 2 witnessing the event, we will have to go with the story Hayden tells us which is the dive and the spin! He was pretty proud of how he did it(the 2 year old dive and spin move is pretty cool after all!), just not too happy with what happened afterwards. Gigi was in line to pick him up when she heard him scream out so she went right up to get him. One of his teachers was holding him and explained to Gigi that she hadn't seen what happened but knew this was a different kind of cry. She was right about the cry being different. It was unlike anything I have ever heard come out of him. That's right, I heard it all the way from work. It's those Mom superpowers/the awesome invention of the telephone. As soon as I talked to Gigi I came home from work and took Hayden to the pediatrician. Although I hoped for good news, I knew it probably was not going to end that way for us on this particular day. When your predominately right-handed child will not use his right hand to any extent and flinches when any movement comes remotely close to it, as a Mom you just know it's more than a really bad bruise. Yes, when I called the nurse to make him a same day appointment(after telling her ALL of the above info) she let me know it could just be a bad bruise on his funny bone. I just politely told her thank you for the info and went on with my appointment. I'm one of those "better safe than sorry" kind of Moms when my child is screaming like a hyena and can't be calmed down. It would be worth the copay just to hear the doctors "everything is going to be okay"speech even in the case it was a really bad bruise! Unfortunately for Hayden, it was a little more than a bruise this time.

Waiting our turn...

The picture above is from the waiting room at Children's Healthcare of Atlanta - Scottish Rite. Yes, we ended up at the big hospital downtown. Dr. Papciak evaluated Hayden's arm and although he didn't know exactly what was wrong, he said it would be best for us to make the drive and go to the children's hospital and have them x-ray it. He said he didn't think it was broken, but because of how uncomfortable Hayden was he knew it was something and Children's was the best place to go to find out what it was. By the time we made it down there Hayden was feeling much better. Why you ask? The special sling Dr. P made for him of course. It had some kind of magic powers in it that made Hayden feel SO much better. I could not believe it. It even crossed my mind for a minute... "maybe it is just a bad bruise." One that needed a bandaid! I'm pretty sure that went through my mind because that is what I wished it was... you know how your brain likes to play tricks on you! Logically, I knew Hayden wasn't in as much pain because his arm was being confined to one location, which meant something was definitely wrong. The "him thinking of the sling as a bandaid and therefore making his boo boo all better" would have just led us to a better outcome, so it was nice to entertain that thought for a moment! Either way, I was just glad the sling provided him some pain relief. I'm pretty sure the wait would not have been bearable without it! Well without it or the shows they had playing in the waiting room! Even with all that, it tired this duo out...

I'm pretty sure this happened after his first set of x-rays!

I had my little digital camera in my purse/diaper bag that I had brought with us and boy am I glad I had it. Especially since we had a sweet set of nurses that were dying to take pics for us!:) I'm super glad the nurse thought to grab it and snap this moment when I finally got to close my eyes for 5 minutes! Such a sweet moment. I loved that I could lay with him and comfort him.

Look at that tiny little hospital bracelet...:(

Resting while we wait on x-ray results. So glad he could get a little rest!

He probably got a good hours worth of rest before the nurses finally came back in to let us know the results were back. Who knew it took that long for an x-ray result? I guess it makes since seeing as he's not the only patient, but gosh it seemed like forever! This is what we saw when the doctor came back into the room...

The inside of a tiny little arm with not one visible problem...

It was pretty cool to get to see the inside of Hayden's arm... especially for him. But, extremely frustrating for me when the doctor said he didn't see anything wrong. No break. No fracture. Nothing. Uggggghhhhhh. What is it then? What could be causing all this pain. He said he thought maybe it was nursemaids elbow and tried to work that out, but him messing with it caused Hayden nothing but more pain. So, he opted for another set of x-rays instead of going with his first theory of nursemaids. He still thought it was something in his elbow, just maybe something he couldn't see in the original x-ray. Here is the close-up x-ray...

See anything alarming?

Nah, they didn't either. Ahhhhh! At this point we had been at the hospital for at least 3 hours. Nothing. I know it's not their fault, but I just felt so bad for Hayden because he was in so much pain and there was nothing they were able to find wrong with him. It was awful. So, the doctor decided to do one more set of x-rays... this time on his whole arm including his wrist. Let me just note here how difficult it was to get these x-rays. I had to hold him. Two x-ray technicians had to help. Hayden was screaming like he wasn't going to make it through it, and I just wanted to cry for him. We did it though...

Wrist and all...

Still nothing. Yep, you read it right. Nothing. Couldn't find one little thing. I know it is a good thing that nothing is broken, but it is still awful because he is in so much pain and the medical team doesn't know why. The doctor that was staffing that night(yes it was night by this point) decided it would be best to just cast Hayden's arm so that at least he would not be in pain. He said a cast would alleviate the pain for him and keep him from injuring it worse. He said maybe there was a small fracture that he couldn't see on the x-ray and said it was a possibility it was still nursemaids elbow. Either way he thought a cast would be the best option to fix either problem. He said after 1 week we could follow up with a pediatric orthopedist and they should be able to give us more information. He also said there was a good possibility that they would take it off after the 1 week and Hayden would just start using it like normal again. Lets hope for that. I can't believe my baby is having to get a cast. And doesn't even have a broken bone. How crazy is that?!? Here goes nothing...

Hayden wasn't too thrilled about getting the cast. The graham
cracker the sweet nurse gave him didn't even seem to help!

But nurse Megen sure did do a great job!
That is one good looking cast huh?!?

Hayden checking it out!

And then relaxing and watching a show while it finished drying!

Lookin' good!

This is the exact moment Hayden decided to call his cast his "new arm"
and he has never called it anything but that to this very moment!
As much as we refer to it as his cast I'm sure that will be
changing before too long! At any rate, this was right
before he was getting ready to touch
it for the first time...

He was nervous and excited all at the same time...

And literally only touched it with one finger!:)

But, told me it was cool when he was finished!

Never knew a cast could make someone this happy!

The whole thing is just as crazy as ever. No one saw the injury occur. Nothing shows up in the x-rays. Hayden is in the worst pain of his life. A cast fixes everything. Well, for the moment that is. I just hope everything is okay at our 1 week check up tomorrow. I am super happy it doesn't seem like it is going to be anything serious, but I'm still a little nervous about it. It has been challenging to have a cast to say the least. Oh, how bath time has changed around here! At any rate, I just want everything to be okay. I must say, Hayden is extremely happy with his "new arm". He loves it. I'm afraid he won't ever want it off. It gives him a since of security I think. He is just back to his normal self doing all the things he used to do. He just has a "new arm"! No big deal for him! So glad he has such a good attitude about it. Hoping I can follow suit after our next appointment. I just want a better explanation(like a diagnosis!) and want everything to be okay. I know that's not always possible, but a girl can hope can't she?!? Let's just hope for the cast to come off and Hayden to use his "real" arm like normal tomorrow!:) As for the other posts I was talking about earlier in this post, you can view those here...

Run, Pig, RUN!!!

Whoa, That's A BIG Punttiiinnnn...

It's Potty Time... Big Boy Style!

Until next time... ENJOY!:)

It's Potty Time... Big Boy Style!

That's right people! As of October 2011, Hayden is fully potty trained! So blog worthy right?!? Oh, he's gonna kill me one day! At almost 3 years old, our big boy no longer needs a diaper during the day! As much as I was dreading the potty training experience I thought we'd never get around to doing it, but boy was I wrong. One day it just happened. Hayden decided he was going to wear underwear. He decided, and we never turned back. I think that was the key... turning back was never an option. He did ask for a diaper once after the day he decided to wear underwear, but I told him his size was all gone and he never questioned me about it after that. If he had I guess I would have just repeated myself. I knew I was not turning back. Good thing for me I was prepared. I knew I was going to start the process soon, I just didn't know exactly when. He's one of those kids that like to be in charge, so I didn't want to push him or I knew it would be the longest process ever. SO glad I waited on him. Two weeks. We're done. It was awesome. I found this Elmo potty chart/activity book at Old Navy a while back when we were getting him some underwear for when he was ready and it proved to be the best $2 I have ever spend in Old Navy! Who knew they sold potty charts?!? I guess there's a market everywhere! Anyways, Hayden didn't just come up with the idea himself, we have been talking about it, he just hasn't been interested in being without his diaper. We have had potty chairs in the house for quite a while now, and he has even used them for a while, he just hasn't been interested in only using them! Then one day he told me "Mom, I'm not wearing a diaper anymore!" To which I replied "Great! We better go get you some more underwear!" I had a couple of pairs, but not enough for the amount of accidents I was sure we were going to have. Off to Target we went. He helped me pick himself out some more underwear, I got a pack of Pull-Ups for naps/nighttime, some "Cars" big boy wipes, big boy soap for washing our hands and to the house we went. That day during nap time I set up the potty chart in our bathroom upstairs and when he woke up I explained how it would work to him. He would get a sticker to place on that day for every time he went potty in his toilet. To say he was excited about that would be an understatement. He was thrilled! I guess he likes sticker charts! I also used other incentives like suckers, pez, etc, but the stickers worked just as good. He did have a few accidents in the first week or so, but not near as many as I thought he would have. Barely any at home, with the exception of the time I got peed directly on! Oh, and the couple of times the floor got peed on when he was too into doing something to stop!:) Just a couple when we were out which was to be expected. Most happened when we couldn't make it to the restroom in time. He knew he had to go, I just could not get him there quick enough. Hardly any in the car, but that is mostly because we bought a car potty. Best investment ever by the way. We use it all the time, and it saves us all the time. Who has time to actually stop and find a restroom when they really have to go?!? Sometimes I can barely make it, so I knew this was something we were going to need for him. It works for us! I can't believe how easy it actually was to potty train him. Why was I dreading it so much? It is WAY easier to only have 1 diaper to change!:) Oh, and poop in the potty is so much nicer than poop in a diaper! The pooping took a few days longer than the peeing part, but not bad at all. He does still wear a pull-up(which we call nap underwear and night time underwear depending on the time of day) for naps and bedtime, but other than that he is good to go. He's a pro! Needless to say, we are super proud of him! Check out his potty time pics(this is what he will kill me for one day!)...

Can you tell he's as proud as we are?!? Notice his stickers
waiting and ready on the floor! He can't sit
down without them!

He's very proud of the fact he can do it by himself!

Daddy or I help with the process of dumping it into the big potty(and clean-up), but the flushing is all up to Hayden...

Yes, he waves bye to his poop! Hilarious!

I know you are probably wondering why we don't just use one of those potty rings, but the truth is, Hayden does better on the potty that sits on the floor. We have one of the potty rings, and he will use it, but it takes much more assistance so he's not too crazy about it. He likes to do it himself! I'm sure when he's a little taller, we'll move on to the ring, but for now he likes his "little" potty! I also think it is a little more comfortable for him. Mostly though, I just use it because that is what he prefers and pottying in the potty chair(no matter what kind) is better than pottying in his diaper in my opinion!:) It' really not even a big deal to clean up. You just dump it, wipe it and go! Easy peasy!

Showing off his sticker!

During week two he started to run out of room to put them, but
don't worry... that didn't make him want the sticker any less.
He just started putting them on top of each other!

After two weeks time, this is what the potty chart looked like!

I'm pretty sure after the first couple of days he just started going potty to get a sticker. I guess I'll make him a new chart to use so he can keep going! Who knows when the chart will stop! I'm just glad he liked it. It worked for us!

His potty books helped too! Just like a man to
want to read and sit on the pot!

Yes, the Elmo book is a bit large, but he still likes it so we use it! I am not kidding you when I tell you he knows every word to the potty book. Auntie May got that for him back on Sawyer's birthday and Hayden has loved having it during this time! He asks for it nearly every time we go in the downstairs restroom! It is so funny to watch him read it!

Almost as funny as this picture! Ha!

I called his name and caught a smile!
I love how huge the book looks!

We do actually read these books at other times too, but he usually wants to read them most when we are having potty time. It does drag it out, but who cares. It makes it more fun for him, and more fun equals easier for us! Who knew potty training could actually be a fun process?!?

It sure was for Hayden! Especially when he got a sucker!:)

I don't want you to think it was all fun, because he did have his accidents, but for the most part it was pretty fun and simple. Especially compared to what I thought it was going to be! Potty training... you scare me no longer! I'm ready for you when it's Sawyer's turn!!!

Trick or Treat...

How cute is this?!?

Smell My Feet...

MMMmmmmmm... smells delicious!!! Ha!
The boys got a good laugh out of it!

Give Me Something Good to Eat...

Definitely their favorite part of Halloween!

If You Don't, I Don't Care... I'll Pull Down My Underwear!!!

That's right people... this little man is finally potty trained!
Yay Hayden! Don't worry... another post will follow
shortly telling you all about the potty
training experience!

Or Maybe Just My Hat...

Get this thing off of me Momma!

Happy Halloween 2011!!!

We went on a safari and caught us some wild animals!:)

This Halloween has been one of the best yet. The boys got so into all of the activities which was super fun for this Halloween crazy Momma!:) They even got into the choosing of our costumes this year(more so Hayden than Sawyer, but you know what I mean!). He started out wanting to be a cow, but ended up deciding on a giraffe which I thought turned out super cute. The best part was... we found his costume at TJMaxx. I wish each and every one of you could have been with us the day we were in the store and he spotted HIS giraffe. The "mmmyyyyyy giiiiiiiiaffffffeee" scream was loud enough to be heard a few stores down! Needless to say, it was the perfect costume. I showed Sawyer a couple of different costumes online, and he seemed to get most excited when the tiger costume would pop up on the screen so we went with the tiger for Saw! It was perfect too! Oh, and not to forget Sydney... she didn't exactly have a say in her costume, but I know she loved being a little zebra! Thanks again to TJMaxx for her great costume!! The only problem with their costumes was I had no idea what we were going to be to go with it. I love doing the family themed costumes, so of course I had to come up with something... elephants just didn't seem like the right fit! We decided on Safari Guides and it actually ended up being pretty cute. I was happy with it anyways!

Happy Halloween Safari Style!!

If I saw little guys this cute running around on a safari
I would most definitely have to catch them!:)

I just want to squeeze them to pieces they are so stinkin' cute!

Never in the history of tigers has one been this cute!:)

If this giraffe doesn't make you smile I don't know what will!!

I take that back, I know these cute skeletons have got to make you smile...

You didn't know a skeleton could be cute huh?!?

We were having so much fun taking PJ pics! Hayden thought it
was SO funny when Sawyer would scoot right on out of
the picture! Mommy... not so much, but at least
they got a good kick out of it!

Nothing better than some holiday themed PJ's huh?!? Is it sad that I still wear holiday themed PJ's as an adult?!? Obviously my Momma must have thought this was super cool too and it stuck with me! There is just something so fabulous about getting ready for bed in your holiday appropriate pajamas. And of course the matching part is a must!:) I don't do the whole matchy matchy(as in exact I mean) thing very often when it comes to the boys clothing, but I love doing it with the pajamas. Usually I just like for us to coordinate, but when it comes to the PJ's matching makes me smile! It is just so cute I can't stand it. The best is when I can find one for Sydney to join in the matching fun! Yes, she has skeleton pajamas also!

Having SO much fun! I don't think Sydney knew what to think about it all!!!

So cute!

So sweet!

I like to call this "Fun with Skeletons!"

Cutie Pie!

Love these skeleton faces!

The boys like wearing their pajamas so much we even carved and decorated our pumpkins in them!

Carving and decorating fun!

I actually cannot believe how into the pumpkins the boys actually got. They had so much fun "helping" Daddy carve out our big one, and decorating a few of our others. We found some Buzz and Woody pumpkin decorations at Target earlier in the season and could not wait to use them. Toy Story is still one of our favorite movies around here and as you know Woody is pretty much a member of our family. So, what better way to decorate our pumpkins than with Buzz and Woody?!? No matter how many times I told them in Target what we were going to be using Buzz and Woody for, I don't think it registered until we actually got them out of the package and started making places for them in our pumpkins. Sawyer was SO funny during this process. He loved getting to help out! And Hayden, of course, loved helping Sawyer help us out. It was really cute. I'm so glad we opted for these little guys instead of actually carving more than one! Much easier and more fun for the boys! Don't worry, we kept the pieces so we can use them again next year!:)

Hayden got really into the part where Daddy was
getting ready to take off the pumpkins head!

But Sawyer... not so much! He enjoyed rolling this
ball around the kitchen during that time!!!

And now for the pumpkin results...

Monster Pumpkin!

Buzz and Woody - Pumpkin Style!

The Creepy Spider Pumpkin!

And of course I got a pic with the boys...

Love them... and love how much they loved these pumpkins!

The day we carved pumpkins was also the day of our annual Halloween costume party. Once again, it was a blast. It is just so much fun seeing everyone all dressed up! This year we decided to add a couple of games for the kiddos since they are getting a little older. We usually just let them play with the toys with each other, but I thought I might want to have some other plan this year if I didn't want the house TOTALLY destroyed!:) It turned out to be great fun. We got down the bowling lane we made last year for Hayden's birthday and used it for Pumpkin bowling and then we also played a little game of stick the smile on the skeleton. Fun! The kids really seemed to have a good time together, which was so much fun to watch!

Pumpkin Bowling!!!

Pumpkin Bowling turned out to be a big hit! SO glad we got this out!:)

Even Daddy had fun with it!

But nobody had as much fun as Hayden... yes he jumped and jumped
every single time he threw the ball down the lane! He LOVED it!

He also thoroughly enjoyed lining up his bowling pins the way he saw fit:)

OK, I take that "Nobody had as much fun as Hayden" statement back...
I'm pretty sure Sawyer had as much fun as Hayden!
Who knew Tigers could bowl?!? Ha!

Stick the smile on the skeleton also proved to be a good time...

So he didn't exactly get the smile in the right place, but he did keep
his blindfold/mask thingy on and try, which totally
impressed me!:) Good job Hayden!

How cute is Sawyer giving it a try?!? I know he's a
little young... but I couldn't leave him out!:)

Piper wins the prize for most entertaining during the game... she
thought it would be a good idea to pull down her blindfold
and use her eyes to chose where to put her smile! Too
bad she didn't pick the mouth!!! Next year
Piper, next year!:)

Although the games were fun for the kids, I don't really think I needed anything but my backyard and a few balls to keep them entertained. They had the most fun racing each other from one side of the yard to the other...

SO fun!

It also proved to be a good photo opt! It is next to impossible
to get all of the kiddos to look at you when you are holding
a camera... you can definitely forget the smiling part!
Incorporate a race into the mix and they
are ready to smile!:)

This was our attempt to get a picture of all the kiddos
once we were inside... not quite as successful!

And, believe it or not, we actually got a couple of group pictures using the handy dandy tripod...

Well all but one was missing. Poor Syd missed the pic. You can kind
of see her in the side of this one, but because she missed
it I just had to get one of her by herself...

Sydney the Zebra! Love her!

Turned out pretty good huh?!? Love all the cute costumes!

How crazy is it that the kids all looked and cooperated for the tripod, but don't really do it for a person?!? I guess it's that we don't use the tripod very often, so they didn't know what the think of it. Whatever it was... I'm glad it worked. So glad we got everyone together! We always love seeing everyone all dressed up and ready for the occasion, and we always have a costume winner...

This year it was The Reeder's... aka the cutest Wizard of Oz
family ever! Can you believe how cute they were?!?
How could they not win?

Mommy and the cutest giraffe ever!:)

Did I mention he was a sweet, fun loving, playful giraffe as well?!?

And this little guy is definitely the cutest.tiger.ever!

Can you tell we have fun with pictures in this family?!?

Especially Mommy and Daddy!:)

How funny is this? I love the person(not sure which of you did it!)
who thought to take this picture. It is perfect. Exactly
what we look like trying to get ready to take the
posed picture I never like as much
as this REAL one!:)

At one point during the night we had a surprise visit
through our back door from these scary
guys! Loved it Willoughby's!

And at another point we caught Sawyer trying to sneak chicken
nuggets from the coffee table!!! Does he look caught or what?!?
I don't have anything in my mouth Mommy... I promise!
And NO, I'm not grabbing another one with
my mouth already full to the brim!:)

The funniest thing about this picture is that Sawyer doesn't normally eat chicken nuggets. As in Sawyer has NEVER eaten a chicken nugget. I guess he felt like he was being slided and when we weren't looking he would snag him one and see what he thought of it. For the record, he loved it! I would have never in a million years given him Chick-Fil-A yet, but so much for that. Why not you ask? Well mainly because Sawyer just started eating more solids and I just don't rank CFA up there with first solids to give a child. Oh well. He liked it! I would also like to note here, he doesn't seem to care too much about it since then. He has tried it a couple of times, but nothing like that first time at the party! I guess after you take the fun "sneaking" part out of the equation it's just not as good anymore! One thing that is good no matter what the circumstance...

Witches Brew! Yummy!:) Gotta love the floating spiders!

And "tool" decorations! SO much fun!

Gosh... I love a good Halloween party! Probably almost as much as the kids love trick-or-treating!!!

My good friend Kahlia brought little Adalie over to the house
to trick-or-treat with us and we were determined to get
a picture of the three cuties together before we went
out for the night... they were NOT so determined.
Ha! Not exactly what we were going
for, but it is a pic!

Hayden was more into figuring out what "Adalie The Chicken"
was all about than taking a picture...

And Sawyer was more into getting OUT of the picture all together!
It was kind of hard not to let him because his little
Tiger crawl/scoot thing was so cute!

And it makes Hayden laugh for pics!

Somehow we managed to get this picture of all the kiddos
right before we headed out for the night! Yes, our group
is multiplying... gonna have to get one of
those wide lenses for next year!!!

We were so proud of all the kiddos for cooperating for the pics. If you could have seen how crazy the adults were acting you would have been proud too. It was like we were a bunch of loons. All to get a few(9) kids to look at the cameras(yes that's plural - there were probably at least 8 of them) for a picture!:) At least it turned out cute!

And the kids got to go egg hunting once the picture was over!

Yep, you read that right. Immediately after we took that picture on the sidewalk the kids ran up the hill and started hunting for eggs! Hilarious! In their defense we do sit on this exact same sidewalk and take this SAME picture before we hunt for Easter Eggs. If they sit nicely and take a good picture they get to start the egg hunt. They were just using their great long term memory and going to find them some candy after they took their good pic!:) I would say we are going to change it up at Easter and do something different for the picture, but now I just kind of think it will be fun to have that exact same one each and every time. I'm sure it'll be fun to look back on one day... like tomorrow!!!!

Sawyer wasn't too into the trick-or-treating stuff. He really wanted
me to leave him alone so he could enjoy his wagon ride!

And he definitely did NOT want to smile for me for a picture!

Hayden on the other hand was ready to go right
from the start! Cutest.giraffe.ever!

He lagged behind his friends for most of the trick-or-treating, because that's just what Hayden does. He likes to do things in his own time! But, when it came to Banks' house he jumped right up there with his buddies...

Thank you Mrs. Farrah for the yummy treats...

Hayden LOVED them!:)

If only I had a video of this, you could see just how
fast he was running to get him some "tandy!"

While Hayden was having fun running door to door
Sawyer and I managed to have fun with the wagon!

And tried to keep this crazy girl under control!:)

Hayden helped out a lot with Syd when he wasn't "busy"
trick-or-treating. "Loot at me Mom, I'm vwaltin' a
zebra!" was a line I heard a time or two!
I know it's crazy that I even brought
her seeing as Daddy had to work
and all, but I just didn't have it
in me to leave our little
zebra at home!:)

At one point in the night Hayden decided it was time to share
one of his "sutters" with Sawyer. Let's just say I wasn't
thrilled with him! Sawyer on the other
hand was beside himself
with excitement!
His very first
"sutter!"

Almost as excited as Hayden got when I let him take a trip
down the slide before we headed back to the house
for the night! I'm pretty sure he thought
this was as exciting as the entire
trick-or-treat experience!

Speaking of the trick-or-treating experience, I couldn't let the night end without taking Sawyer up for a few trick-or-treats of his own...

You gotta love getting to give candy to a tiger this cute!:)

We have got to have one of the best neighborhoods ever as far as trick-or-treating is concerned. There were a ton of kids and all of the families were so generous and fun. I had almost as much fun handing out the candy to the older kids once we got home as I had taking mine out to trick-or-treat! I love seeing all of the unique and fun costumes! Can't wait for more Halloween fun next year! Until then...

We'll be enjoying all of the suckers we got this year!

For a child who has never put anything like
this in his mouth before he sure seemed
to know what to do with it!:)

And loved every.single.second of it!!!

Apparently he didn't just want his own sucker...
he wanted Hayden to share his as well!

And sweet Hayden did just that!!!

Never knew a giraffe's lips could turn blue huh?!? Gotta love it!

Hayden thoroughly enjoys his suckers!

And I can't forget to mention how much Sawyer
enjoyed having his Tiger tail!:)

I thought it was cute that he liked it, but not so cute that it left
little bits of dirt in his mouth!! Let's just say that
it was not a lot of fun to get out!

All in all, suckers make great picture bribes for us!!!

This one's for you Auntie Tiz... a little "Orange" smile!!!:)

Don't worry, he did a real smile for you too...

And even a mad face! Isn't this funny?!?

Sawyer has graduated to size 11 tiger claws... who would have
thought that a change in feet would have happened so fast?!?

Don't worry, it didn't help him walk at all... he's still our little
scooting king!:) Whatever makes you happy Saw!

Hayden is definitely up there on the list of things that can bring
out Sawyer's smile in an instant! I love how
much they love each other!

Even when they are wrestling on the couch!:)

Halloween 2011 was a huge success filled with lots of firsts for us. Sawyer had his first official knock on the door trick-or-treat, his first Chick-fil-A nugget, and his very first sucker... huge deal around here! And, Hayden was officially potty trained! Pretty big deal for us as well!:) As always, we can't wait until next year to take part in all of the fun activities again.... minus our safari outfits of course. Who knows what everyone will want to participate as next year! Enjoy these last few safari pics until then...

Happy Safari Halloween 2011!

We sure loved our Tiger and Giraffe!

And I think I'll always wonder if the real tigers and giraffes are
as happy in the jungle as these boys were in their cotumes!