Silly Sawyer

Today I was trying to get Sawyer to say please in Sign Language, and so I was rubbing my hand over my heart and saying please as I did it and so on. Then I took Sawyer's hand and did the same motion over her heart.. Sawyer looked at me like I was crazy, then I picked her up and she started to sign "please" but it was over my heart! She thought she was pretty cool, I suppose I would interperet that as please!

What we have been up to...

I titled this post with high hopes that I would have all of these fun, exciting things to write... and I've got nothing! I am sure we have been doing something, but I guess we are just surviving as for now! I am taking a class on Campus at NWC - Fundimentals of Physics (yuck.. I know!) and so every Monday, Wednesday, and Friday I find myself in Powell - Lauren goes to the Daycare and Sawyer gets tossed around from place to place, and I am so grateful for the wonderful ladies in my life who agree to watch her! Lauren really enjoys going to the Daycare, and I am so excited for her to start Preschool next year because I know she will love it! Lauren started Dance in the Fall and she loves going to practice with Miss Candida and all her friends!
On Wednesday's we do a little Preschool/playgroup with some of the moms in Byron and the kids learn a little and play alot! Of course the moms enjoy it just as much because we get some fun adult conversations in!
As for the rest of the week inbetween school, playdates, and dance we visit the grandparents and cousins, play/fight (whats the difference, right?!) do hair (thats what I get for having two girls and me in the house) and most of the time hang out!
I would really like to say that I do crafts, teach Lauren letters/numbers/sounds (on a daily basis), makes fabulous meals, and so on.. but who am I kidding here! Lets just say I am trying :)
I got a new van a couple days ago.. yes, I said VAN! I am so excited about it and officially feel like a grown up! We got an '04 Toyota Sienna and for the year the price and the look it is exactly what I wanted! I never thought I would be the happy owner of a van kind of gal, and Erik never thought he would own a van either.. but I am very excited about all the room that we now have in the van (notice that I said I  am very excited, Erik is not so much and doesn't think he wants me to bring him a lunch out to work anymore because he is embaressed of it - and you know, that is ok with me!!) Me and the girls are happy to cruse around in the van because WE make it look good! Haha, ok enough about the van!

Other than that, we are really up to not much more! It is my goal to keep this blog going, so hopefully I will succeed!

Sawyer

Since I haven't been blogging or keeping a personal journal (I know, I know, I should!) I have been mising out on remembering the cute/silly/embarassing/times that make me crazy things that I am so quickly forgetting - and want to remember! So with out further adieu here are the things that I want to remember about Sawyer!

• Sawyer is 16 months old and weighs about 26 pounds
• Sawyer loves, loves, loves cell phone - well I suppose she loves all phones, but mostly phones that work!
• She likes to look at books, and will sit for a short second for you to read to her!
• She can sign the word more and says "mu mu" as she is telling me she wants more of something.
• she can say no, and means no!
• She knows how to throw a tantrum and does the full out throw herself on the ground tantrum when she doesn't get her way!
• She gives "high fives"
• She knows where her nose and belly button are, and when we say another facial feature like eyes or mouth she is only interested in the nose!
• She is not always innocent! When her and Lauren are playing together and Sawyer cry's, I used to automatically blame Lauren - but I am learning that Sawyer is just crying to try to get her way!
• She is turning over a new leaf and has become a little more independant and doesn't cry when I leave her with someone else!
• Her Aunt Aimee says that she passed her screening test with flying colors! (I'm not bragging, just teasing Aimee)
• Sawyer likes to scribble with crayons, pens, pencils - whatever she can get ahold of, and surprisingly she holds the crayon correctly.

My thought is, that if you think that one child is great - have another! It is amazing the difference in each child and how much the older sibling influences the younger one and vice versa!

Another thing I have learned with having two children is that you think your first child was amazing and did things that you thought no other child probably did. Then your second child comes around and does those same things and you learn that most all children hit those amazing milestones! But I suppose we must still brag about our little ones!!

Sister Sawyer just chillin on the couch!

 I would like to say that this next picture is taken right before bed time or even early in the morning when they woke up.. but this was one of those days where it took us until about 10 o'clock until we finally got out of pajamas!

 Miss Sawyer helping me with the dishes!

 Sawyer was trying to sneak her way in and get Lauren's iXL game.

 Such a pretty girl!

 A pretty girl with her phone!

 Sawyer is a climber, Lauren never really was a climber so this is new to me - but we shall make it through this!

 Sawyer and Dad.. As you can tell this was taken around Christmas, but it is still fun!

 Got to love bath time with sister!

Lauren's Surgery

It was decided that Lauren was to get her tonsils out, and so the time had finally come. (7.27.11)We planned to meet Grandma Debbie, Hillary, and Marcus in Billings the day before and eat at Chuck-E-Cheese and try to relax and have as much fun as we could (for Lauren) before her surgery.

After Chuck-E-Cheese we ran a few errands and then headed to the motel that was convienetly right next to the Yellowstone Surgery Center. Lauren had to check everything out in the room we were staying in! She thought the fridge was pretty neat!

So the day of the surgery fnally came.(7.28.11) I slept pretty good that night, but I was up early. My mom had loaned us her Ipad so I was able to occupy my time with that and getting myself ready for the day as well. I woke up everyone else when at about 8:30 (because I didn't want Lauren up too early because she wasn't supposed to eat or drink). My mom had come up that morning so she could be with Sawyer while we were with Lauren. Our arrival time was 9:00 and we got checked in with no problems. The nurse that came and got Lauren was so sweet and talked to Lauren a little in the waiting room before she took her back. They weighed Lauren and she was 18.1 kg (I thought it was weird they weighed them in kg, but I guess it is more precise). Then they took us into a little room and we put Lauren in a gown. The doc came in and said hi, and then the nurses gave Lauren some medicine that made her loopy, relaxed, and all sorts of fun! Erik thought it was hillarious! She was talking really slow and she would rub her thumb and pointer finger together while she talked! haha! Anyway they strolled her away (happy as could be) in a wagon and we went to the waiting room! About 40 minutes later the doc came and said all was well and what to expect and said we would have to wait for about 20 more minutes while she woke up. A nurse came and got us and took us to a crying Lauren. The thing that seemed to be bothering her the most was the IV, but we were able to rock her and she feel asleep. The poor thing couldn't talk really well and would cry unconsolubly and we would try to take her mind off things asking do you want a trampoline for your birthday, did you know we didn't tell Aimee happy birthday (she loves birthdays), should we have Grandma Jolley come here... and on and on and on. We were able to talk her into eating some pudding and taking some medicine and then she was able to get her IV out. After the IV was out she was doing pretty good, she was drinking and eating a little bit. The nursing staff was great and gave Lauren lots of little things to take home including a little stuffed sheep named Ramsy! We decided Lauren was ready to leave and so we checked her out and her nurse wheeled her in the wheel chair all the way to our hotel! I was impressed with Lauren because she wanted to get off the wheel chair herself and walked (wobbling) to the bed! So at this point things were looking up and I was grateful that it wasn't the horrible recovery I thought it was going to be (I shall be proved wrong later in the story). So Lauren was happy to watch Caillou (a PBS show) on Grandma's Ipad and we tried to relax! My mom had stayed a while at the hotel with us only because she had locked her keys in her car and my sister Lila so graciously brought them to Billings for her!

Grandma and Lauren watching Caillou..

Sawyer relaxing :)

This was later on in the evening, Lauren was up and moving and playing with the water! I was again gratefull that she wanted to play with anything!

You can tell she doesn't feel well, look at those eyes.

Erik and Lauren playing with the FILM camera they gave her at the Surgery Center! Haha! I haven't used a disposable camera for a long time!

Me and the Lady!

Lauren watching more Caillou.

That night of her surgery we were talking about what we should eat for dinner and so Erik and I decided that we would go for some Taco Bell, and Lauren said she wanted a taco. Ok, so we got her the taco thinking she wouldn't eat it. Well she ate it! I was surprised, but glad she was eating! We later went to sleep, Lauren and Erik in one bed - and Sawyer and I in the other! It was a good night and Lauren slept all the way through with no problems! The next day we slowly got on our way, did a few more errands in Billings and then headed to Laurel to grab some lunch at McDonalds. Lauren requested a hamburger, and to my surprise again, she ate the hamburger with no problems. We made it home and settled in.

That afternoon my mom was at the Byron park with my nefews so we walked over to the park and played with them for a little while! (When you don't have a double stroller, you just have to get creative!) Again at this point I am still a little shocked that she was doing so good. The only reason I knew she had just got her tonsils out was because she talked so funny! We got everyone in bed and it was another successful night of sleep for Lauren. The next day was Thursday (Day 2 after surgery) Erik had to work that night, so us girls made our selfs sparce and went to my moms house so we could make noise! Lauren was doing ok, but wasn't interested in eating or drinking as much as she had been. But this day was still a good day. The night came and it was just me and the girls because Erik was at work. This night was not a good night, Lauren woke up and was crying and was unconsolable. I tried to be as patient as possible and be sympathetic, but at the same time I didn't want her to wake up Sawyer. So after a while all I could sadly do was put her in another room and let her cry :(  Friday (Day 3) was an ok kind of day for Lauren, but medicine was harder to give to her because she didn't want it to hurt her throat, and she didn't want to drink much either. (note. she wouldn't eat icecream, popsicles, anything cold, soft, or sweet, along with all other yummy foods you think kids would love to eat)  We had family picutres for the whole Jolley family set for that evening and I was hoping we could have a happy Lauren that evening for pictures, and they went ok! Friday night was a repeat of Thursday night but a little worse.. Lauren woke up a couple times crying and I couldn't sooth her... Small house + everyone in one room + no Erik to help = unhappy Lacey. Anyways we made it through the night, and the next day was her birthday (Day 4). We didn't do much this day because we were going to have her birthday party on Monday the 4th. We let her open a few presents to give her something else to think about other than her mouth hurting. We went out to Horseshoe Bend with my mom, Lila, Kandace and her kids. The night came and Lauren woke up crying a few times and to top it off Sawyer puked! Yes, what a good night! It was one of those pukes that come every 20 minutes, so after a couple rounds of pukes we all got back to bed. Day 5, Sunday- I called my mom that morning to see if she could come and get Lauren because I could tell Sawyer was going to want to cuddle and sleep most of the day because she was still running a fever. At this point I knew that Ibuprofen was the only thing that made Lauren feel better and it would only work for about 2 hours, then Lauren would be misserable.. and you are only supposed to give them ibuprofen every 6 hours :(  When I called to check on Lauren that afternoon my mom said she wasn't doing so good.. very lathargic and had been sleeping most of the day and NOT drinking. Not peeing. ugh. So I worried and thought she was most likely dehidrated or pretty darn close. We tried and tried to convince her to drink water every chance we got, and made it through another not fun night - Erik got to experience this night with us because he was done with the night shifts. The next day (Monday, Day 6) was her birthday party, so I tried to occupy her thoughts with that! She was ok during the days, but I never knew what would set her off.. and once she started to cry about something it was VERY hard to get her to stop. Oh yeah.. I don't know the last time Lauren had taken a bath, or when the last time it was she washed her hair, combed her hair... I hadn't been to the store in a long time so I depended on my mom and Debbie to bring most of the party supplies and food (Thanks!) I also talked my mom into coming early to help me get things ready because I was close to crazy and Sawyer was needy, as was Lauren! Lauren had a few melt downs at her party, but it was nothing we couldn't handle. The pattern continued and the recovery seemed to be never ending. My mom graciously took Lauren on Tuesday night (Day 7) and when I went to get Lauren that morning for swimming lessons she willingly (after a dose of ibuprofen) drank water and ate some coco puffs. YES! THERE IS HOPE! When she was willing to drink, we took advantage of that precious time and had drinking contests and tried to make drinking as fun as could be! But our sweet Lady Lauren just did not feel good, her eyes didn't sparkle and it was so hard to see her like that.

I think it was Day 10 or 11 when I finally started to see the sparkle back in her eyes. This picture is so comforting to me because this is the day that she started to come back around!

We made it through the tonsil surgery and are extremely happy that the recovery is over with! I waited to write this post because I would have been much more bitter about the whole situation, but now I can just sigh a big sigh of releif and be glad that is over! I am gratefull that Lauren doesn't have any hard feelings about the doctor and she seems to have forgotten the whole recovery!

Happy Birthday Lauren

Wow! Lauren is 3 years old! I cannot believe how fast time fly's! Most people already think Lauren is 3 and sometimes she has be mistaken as a 4 year old! She is so tall and is such a talker that it's sometimes hard to believe that she is just only 3! Lauren is such a sweetheart (when she wants to be!) She has started to say (out of the blue) "I love you mom" or "I love Sawyer so much", "You're the best!" and sweet little comments like that! She also says things like "I'm a good mommy helper" (if she is helping me) or if I am using her brush she says "mom it's ok if you use my brush" (well thanks Lauren!) then her newest thing is "mom when I say I want more juice then more" I think she gets that from when I tell her, Lauren when mom says it's time to go you say ok mom.. She loves anyones birthday, and birthday parties, but she is especially excited for hers! She just had her tonsil's taken out the Tuesday before her birthday (Saturday), so she wasn't fully feeling well but we partied anyway :)

At 3 years old Lauren loves clothes, but mostly loves to change clothes! She will change her clothes every hour of the day if I would let her. She has her opinion of what clothes she likes and what clothes she doens't (those choices are usually the opposite of mine and I have to pick my battles!) Lauren likes to change into anything different, at any time or any where! Grandma Jolley always has extra panties that where left overs from Kynlee and Kaya and Lauren always sneaks in and changes her panties! Grandma Debbie has a few different outfits that Lauren always has to check out and change into! I put exclamation marks at the end of those sentences, but sometimes it is quite anoying, like I said... I pick my battles.

Lauren loves to talk on the phone if it is pretend or for real and sometimes she calls and talks to people without my knowledge!

Lauren has a pretty sharp memory, and it is amazing at the things she can remember! She remembers what clothes she wore for certain events, like the shirt she wore to chuck-e-cheese and the shirt she wore for family pictures! It was about a year an a half ago when I was looking for my keys one Sunday morning and could not find them.. I was a little irritated and finally decided we needed to walk to church and Lauren went in the stroller. Why I told you that little story was because I was with my sister and Lauren just recently and I think I had misplaced my keys and Lauren out of the blue said when you lost your keys we had to walk to church (or something to that effect). Sometimes she remembers the silliest things!

I could go on and on about my Lady Lauren, she is such a sweet girl, a wonderful sister to Sawyer and the perfect daughter! I love her so much and am so glad she is part of my family!

Now for the birthday party! We had her party on Monday July 4th and poor Lauren had just had her tonsils out the Tuesday before (6.28.11). At this point she wasn't as chipper as I would have hoped but we made it through!
Lauren got a tramp for her birthday :) (After last nights wind 7.19.11 it is now a goner, I.am.so.irritated.)

Lauren with her Dora!

The Bassett clan!

Some of the Jolley clan..

Lauren with her sing-a-ma-jig!

The ditch is always a hit! Notice my nefew Triffen with the cowboy boots... here is pants are on

His pants are off (we are lucky he has anything on really! I think it was made clear he could not go naked!)

Kennedy and Lauren with Dora. Kennedy was so sweet and asked me if I would take a picture of them with Dora at the table!

Lila and sweet Sawyer

That changing thing I was talking about, this is her in action! She got new clothes from Grandma Debbie and just couldn't resist!

Hillary and Marcus, even though they live in Texas Lauren has been lucky enough to have them at two of her birthday parties!

Aww, Benson!

More time enjoying the ditch! It is truley fun for all :)

Lauren and her cake made by Grandma Debbie!

The Dora cupcakes that Grandma Debbie made. Is it clear that Lauren likes Dora!

Dad helping Lauren blow out the candles! There are 3 candles this year and it was pretty tough to blow them all out I guess!

And we ended the night with some fireworks!

Sawyer @ 8 (and a half) months!

I love the summer time, but most of the time it equals crazy busy time! Our sweet Sawyer is growing like a weed and is gaining her own personality more and more! She has yet to crawl and has no teeth! She is close to crawling though.. when she is sitting she will bend over her belly and get to her knee's and then just stretches out to her belly, so it's coming. I don't know why I am so anxious for her to crawl, because I know when she does start to crawl I will wish she would stop!! She is already starting, and has sucessfully pulled her self up to standing position a few times! I was looking back at Lauren's baby book and this is the time when she started to crawl and broke out her first tooth. I have been saying for the past two months that Sawyer is teething (and we even went to the doc a month or so ago for him to tell us that "oh yeah she is teething") but NO teeth! I guess she is grouchy sometimes because she wants to be grouchy.. nothing wrong with that I guess, I fall into that trap sometimes myself! I really have thought today that she is teething because she has been sleeping alot and has a fever, and threw up a little bit, but again.. what do i know! And believe me when I say this, I am not trying to brag.. I am her favorite person! She has been a momma's girl from the start and now she has the lungs to prove it when she would like to be held by me and not by dad, grandma's, grandpa's, aunt's, and uncles (aside for Uncle H.B. who feeds her icecream! They are great buddies!) I try to enjoy it, but sometimes I want someone else to be able to enjoy her :) She loves to babble, and still just knows the bababa, or to Erik it is dadada! She is at the stage where if she is sitting on my lap facing me she wants to turn around, and when I turn her around she wants to face me, then she wants to dive off my lap, and so on and so forth! She sometimes gets bored with her toys so I have to get creative with giving her wrappers, straws, and those things that she shouldn't probably play with.. but hey, it buys me a few extra minutes!! (just being honest here people!) Sawyer is not lacking in the hair department, and it is still full of curls! She definitely gets peoples attention, and people always say "look at all that hair!" She is a show stopper :) My mom had her in Costco and she commented on how many people stopped to comment on Sawyer's hair! I love your hair too Sawyer! Sawyer is a good 20 pounds, and maybe more! She is not missing any meals! She is healthy, and happy (to be with mom) and we love our Sawyer so much!!