Happy Birthday Sawyer! (and a visit from Omi & Opi!)

My little Sawyer turned 3 years old on April 29th.  3 yrs ago I couldn't imagine how life could get any better.  I had my first little baby and I loved him more than I could even express.  But I can confidently say now that things just continue to get better and better and my love for these kids just grows with each passing day.  I can't believe the rate at which he is growing and learning and maturing!  It is amazing to watch!  He is getting to be so much more helpful and listening better all the time.  

Sawyer is quite the talker.  He definitely knows how to use his words.  But he still prefers to throw a tantrum on occasion.  Thankfully, those have gone down in frequency a lot since last year.  He's a pro about going potty.  I think he's only wet his bed about 3-4 times total since potty training him last September.  Now if we could just get him to put those clothes back on after he's done! :)  We are working on letting him dress himself in the morning and he can totally do it--it's just a matter of how much patience mommy has for it on any given day.  

Sawyer's favorite shows right now are Super Why, Chuck & Friends, and Mighty Machines.  He LOVES anything that has to do with monster trucks, cars, airplanes, super heroes, etc.  A real boy through and through. He loves to play on the playground with friends, go to Costco with mommy and Violet, swim in his cousin Jakey's pool (and pretty much do anything with Jake), play on the I-Pad, go to the dinosaur museum, go to the zoo, visit his cousins in Mesa, go to nursery, and even play with his sister.  His favorite foods are quesodillas (how on earth is that spelled?!), chicken nuggies, pizza, mangos, strawberries, and pretty much every fruit, really.  But of course that list does not include junk food...because the list would be way too long if it did ;).  Thankfully Daddy the Dentist has done well teaching him how to get the 'sugar bugs' off of his teeth everyday.  

Sawyer has been such a good big brother to Violet.  Honestly, even better than I expected.  Sure, he has his moments, but overall he loves her so much and is almost always willing to help her or share something with her.  He often calls her, "Baby"...which I think is just so adorable.  The other night we saw on the video monitor that he had woken Violet up when he came out to get water.  We then saw his arms moving into the crib and we were about to go into the room and scold him for messing with her, when we realized that he was actually covering her back up with a blanket.  He then whispered 'night night' before heading back to his bed.  Moments like that just melt my heart.  And truthfully, that moment showed a very real side of Sawyer.  Beneath all the rambunctiousness and loud 'boy behavior' is a super sweet boy who cares a lot about others and never hesitates to tell us that he loves us or give us a big hug.  He is always honest, even if it means he's going to get in trouble.  And he's always quick to apologize.  I'm realizing as he gets older that he and I are going to be great little buddies.  He is going to continue being a great brother to Violet and whomever else decides to join our family in the future.  And he is going to be a great friend to all those around him.  I read somewhere that as parents to toddlers and preschool age children, our primary purpose is to help them increase their capacity for joy.  If that's true then I feel like we are on the right track because when I look in those bright blue eyes of his I see a little boy who is just FULL of joy.  And he brings SO much JOY to our family.  We love you, Sawyer!  Happy 3rd Birthday!

A Monster Truck Cake, as requested...

We had a combined party for Jake (4) and Sawyer (3) at the Train Park on Saturday morning.  My parents were in town because my dad had a business meeting in Mesa so that was a nice little perk.  We just invited Nate's sisters and Jen & Isac and it was the perfect little get-together.

Sawyer's Birthday gifts on the big day...unfortunately half of us came down with a stomach bug that day (including both Birthday boys) so we didn't get to celebrate as planned).  We were all better the next day (before the second half of the group got it) so we got to celebrate some more :)

One day while my parents were here we took them to the zoo.  They went in to Stingray Bay with the boys.  Sawyer was afraid of the stingrays the last time we did this but he LOVED it this time.  He was soaking wet by the time they were done.

Sawyer thought this person's stroller was pretty cool...I made him get off and told him we couldn't just climb into other people's strollers even if they looked like cool cars.  Ya...  That resulted in the following scened...Yikes.

of course we spent some time at Kristie's pool...

I'm excited for these two to start becoming friends :)

I am in love with this picture.  Look at that adorable little back!  Thanks for catching this on camera, mom :)

We had such a great time with my parents that weekend (aside from the getting sick part).  It was a nice little surprise to have them come out.  Thanks for helping us celebrate the boys' birthdays! We love you guys!