Cute Kids & a Campout!

I guess the title says it all. I may be biased, but I think these two are pretty cute :). We are doing well over here at the Larson household. I am fully enjoying being home all the time and not working right now (even if I was only working Friday nights before---it's still better not to be doing any shifts!) Sawyer continues to love and coddle his sister...and occasionally bop her on the head. And Violet is doing awesome. She turned 6 wks old on Monday and she's still such a great baby!

He's such a goof...

And again...total goof

I'm mad at myself for cutting her hands out of this picture...oh well. Still looks pretty stinkin cute! :)

So now for the next part of the post, the long part---the Father & Sons Campout. Nathan has talked about taking Sawyer on a Father/Sons since the day Sawyer was born. He wanted to take him last year but I think I was in Virginia with Sawyer so he missed out on that one (darn ;)). Well this year he was determined to take him. At first I was super skeptical. I could just see Sawyer being the next kid on the news who got lost in the wilderness while camping. I was honestly worried Nathan would lose him (more like Sawyer would escape him). But the closer we got to the weekend, the more those fears were replaced with extreme excitement for an entire day of peace and quiet and ME time (well me and Violet time---same thing)! I practically kicked the boys out the front door by the time they left 2 hrs after they had originally planned. I think my exact words as they left were "Take your time in the morning...don't hurry back :)". Ok so I think what I really said was, "If anything happens to Sawyer, don't come back". Haha...and that was that. I might have slipped an 'I love you guys' in there somewhere too. Once they were gone, I couldn't decide if I wanted to sleep, clean, or shop. Since I had to go out and go Visiting Teaching and was already in the car...I opted for the shopping choice. Violet and I went and wandered around Target for an hour and bought some girly clothes...it was wonderful. Then I went and picked up some lettuce wraps from Pei Wei for a little girls night we had planned. My two friends, Jen and Jen came over (since their boys were on the campout too) and we spent the evening talking, watching a movie, and stuffing our faces with yummy food. Perfection. Violet and I stayed in bed till about 9 am (heaven!). And the boys returned around 1030...not quite 24 hrs but close! It was just nice not to have to clean up after anyone for that long!

Now for the boys' story:

Nate & Sawyer drove to the campsite with Isac Simpson and his 11 month old son, Tyler. Their friend Bryce squished himself in between the two carseats in the back! Seriously. I know. I'm surprised he got himself back out of the car! So as far as I know the evening went really well. Sawyer had a blast running around in the open and playing in the car (almost more than running around). They flew a kite, had a fire, and played with Tomahawks (well I hope Sawyer didn't play with the tomahawks). Another of our friends, Nate Lundstrom, arrived later on in the evening with his 18 month old son, Isaac. They all slept in our 10-man tent. And by slept, I mean the opposite. Well, Sawyer slept awesome, Nathan slept OK, and the rest of the guys were out huddled with their children around a fire at 3 am. That was after Isac had been wrestling with Tyler to go back to sleep for the umpteenth time and finally little Isaac had enough of it and wouldn't go to sleep either. I think Nate L. took off for home at about 5:30 am, after frantically stuffing his gear (including an inflated air mattress) back into his trunk while his son screamed bloody murder in the car seat. So what did the boys learn? Maybe Father & Sons should wait until at least 2 years old. Also--it sucks to go camping in Arizona when it's a fluke 33 degrees at night!! I think the babies were just cold...can you blame them?

All in all it was a great experience for Nathan and Sawyer. It gave me hope for the day that I put Violet into Sawyer's room...sounds like he's a deeper sleeper than I thought!

Nate, Isac, and their friend Bryce who took sitting in the back with 2 kids like a champ!

I'm so glad that Nathan and Isac have been able to continue their friendship down here in Arizona...and now they've both got sons of their own...so great!

Some of the boys with the Tomahawks Nathan made

It's a blurry picture but I thought Sawyer looked like such a big kid out there!

Up at the crack of dawn... (pun intended :) )

...hope this made you smile :)

Mother's Day & 1 Month Old

Ok so I'm a little frustrated right now because I already wrote & published this post yesterday and somehow it has just disappeared!! I have no idea what happened... So I'll try to recreate it as best I can (at least it wasn't one of my massively long posts).

I had a fantastic Mother's Day this year! Nothing huge...just a great day spent with my family. We were all happy and healthy and the weather was nice and church was wonderful...what more can you ask for?! Nathan did get me some blackout curtains for Sawyer's room in hopes that he would sleep in a little later for me. I thought that was such a thoughtful gift! And he even walked to Costco with Sawyer on Saturday night in 90+ degree weather to get me flowers (cause I had the carseats in my car and was out with Violet). What a guy! I felt very loved and appreciated all day and I couldn't be happier about being the mother to these two awesome kiddos. There isn't another job in the world that would bring me more joy than this one! And thank you to my own mommy and all the wonderful women in my life who are such great examples to me each day!

Outside of church on Mother's Day

I can't get this goof to smile normal for the camera anymore!!

I know, I know...the flower is huge. But I couldn't resist!!

Violet turned 1 month old on Wednesday! She's growing up so fast, haha :)

I just love this little expression...hilarious

Sawyer Turns 2!

On Friday, April 29th, Sawyer Rafe turned 2 years old! I can't believe I have a 2 yr old. It's so crazy how fast the time flies. Unfortunately I don't have many pictures from his birthday. We had a super fun day, but I'm still learning how to juggle everything with 2 kids (and that includes carrying around a camera and actively using it). We were going to have a full blown birthday party at the train park, but I decided a week before that that might be a little over-zealous of me at the time. So we'll do a big party for # 3 next year. But we did have a fun little family party for him . Nathan's sister Ashley was in town with her two oldest girls, Macie & Marley. So Brooke and her family, Andrea, and Ashley with her girls all met us at Uncle Glen's amazing pool. We had fun in the sun all afternoon and Sawyer loved the attention he got from all his cousins! When we walked into the pool they all started singing Happy Birthday to him...it took him a second to realize that it was all directed at him...but once he did he soaked up every minute of it with a grin on his face! He also became ALOT more comfortable with the water that day. We have floaties that have a connecting piece in the front of the body...he's never been to fond of it up until now...but his daddy and cousins took him in the water a ton and he is now a Pro. He will even jump off a bridge about 3 ft above the water with no one to catch him below...he sinks down a little and the floaties bring him back up...he LOVES it! Summer-time...here we come!! After our pool adventures we headed over to Grandma & Grandpa Larson's house for some dinner. It was a fun-filled day.

So a few words about Sawyer...what an energetic kid! He is still such a busy boy. Now add to that the typical 2 yr old tantrums and stubbornness...wow! I can't believe how easy having a newborn has been compared to what I go through with Sawyer on a daily basis. But while he definitely fights me on many issues throughout the day...I often have to remind myself that if I am patient with him and get his attention I am almost always able to redirect him and keep things under control (almost always ;) )...

And then there are so many fun things about this age as well. He is talking up a storm, and I can pretty much understand everything he says. He is so loving and will ask for hugs or blow me kisses or ask me to cuddle with him at night. He loves reading books now and we sit with him in his bed every night and read a couple. He enjoys singing songs, especially the ones with hand motions. We just started having him repeat prayers with us...it's hilarious because he whispers the entire thing so quietly that we can barely tell if he is speaking...then at the end he YELLS amen! He even likes going to nursery now (thank goodness). Sawyer LOVES trains...we have expanded his wooden Ikea train set and it now fills the coffee table...that is probably his #1 toy and the only one he will spend a fair amount of time playing with. He still prefers technology and anything that belongs to us over any toys. At the Apple Store the other day he was playing with an Ipad and the sales person called her manager over to see the '2 yr old promoter' that was navigating the Ipad as well as any adult. Haha...we are seriously in trouble with this one. He loves his little sister...calls her "Baby Vite...or Vat"...and tells her she is 'so cute' all the time. I am continually impressed with how quickly he learns things and how much he retains. He is constantly saying words that I don't remember ever saying or teaching him. He's a smart kid and full of life. I've c0me to realize that perhaps he can teach me a lot more than I can teach him...and I'm trying to follow his example and take the time to stop and smell the roses. As someone said at church yesterday...the days may drag by, but the years will fly by! With all of the transitions that I've been going through lately, that has been the best advice ever. And with that perspective, the chaotic happenings of my every day life have seemed to diminish and I am fully appreciating the joys that come with being the mother to such a sweet little boy. Happy Birthday Sawyer! We love you!!!!

So I bought the cake from Costco this year..but I did make the fondant cake topper!!

On the morning of his birthday we took both kids to the doctor for well-checks (Sawyer's 2 yr & Violet's 2 wk). Poor Sawyer had to get a vaccine on his birthday :(. He got over it pretty quick and was super excited about his cool bandaid. Here are the stats for both:

Sawyer (2 yrs):

30.6 lbs (80%)

36.75 in (96%)

49.5 cm head circ. (72%)

Violet (16 days):

8lb 1 oz (34%)

20.5 in (46%)

35.5 cm head circ. (55%)

Nothing in Particular

Just a few more pictures from the past couple of weeks. Mostly the last week before my mom left us. On Violet's one-week anniversary we took my mom to Oregano's in Old Town Scottsdale. We love this place. It is so nice to sit outside there in the springtime. Such a fun little atmosphere. Both kids did amazingly well through the whole thing!

After Oregano's we made a stop at Buy Buy Baby to purchase our very first double stroller! We have been eyeing this stroller for a while now and since we successfully sold our single jogger the week before, we decided to go for it! If anyone is interested in looking it up...it's the Baby Jogger City Select. Pretty amazing actually. My only concern is how well it will do as a jogger. I'll let you know once I test it out! Below is a picture of Sawyer playing on this awesome toy at the store...a mini-roller coaster! If we had a play room I'd be seriously tempted to get this thing.
The day before my mom left she took Sawyer to the zoo! His one year membership expired this past week so I was glad that he got to go one last time. I'll probably renew it again but we don't tend to go much during the summer months anyways. Here he is at his favorite place at the zoo--the petting zoo. Giving the goats a nice brush-brush.

I don't know if Violet is quite ready to play with Daddy and Sawyer yet...poor girl!

For some reason I just can't keep this kid out of the fridge!!!!

My mom made sure to dye some Easter Eggs with Sawyer before she left. I'm glad cause that's about as festive as we got this year! He was a little disappointed that we didn't let him drink the dye...but overall he loved it!

Not the best picture of Violet but I wanted to show off one of my little flower onesies I made. I took a bunch of old onesies from Sawyer and added little flowers to them...so fun! (also, she super reminds me of baby Sawyer in this pic)

My mom went back home on Thursday the 21st. After almost 2 full weeks with her around, let's just say I was not a happy camper when she left! She made everything so much easier for me while she was here. And I loved having her company. I am so grateful that she was able to take so much time to come out and help me. Thank you, Daddy and David, for letting me have her! We love you Omi!