letters

Dear Uncle Jesse,
Grandma Kissell is here. Sawyer is asleep. We went to the beach. I have markers. We like to go swimming. We went to the zoo. I helped Grandma make pies. We have a Christmas tree.
Love,
Kate

Dear Uncle Devin,
Grandma Kissell is here. I got marker on my fingers. I need to wash my hands. We have a Christmas tree. We have stockings. We have lights outside on our stairs.
Love,
Kate

handsome brothers

My whole family tagged along on this photoshoot and we had so much fun! Thet got to get out of the house and enjoy the overcast day feeding the funny-looking ducks at Hermann Park and talking with our friends! Afterwards we went to McDonalds together where I enjoyed my first hot chocolate of the season (It was a frigid 50 degrees outside!) Thanks for the fun night, you guys! Your family is seriously beautiful and I hope you enjoy your pictures!

Kate's letters

I think I might start blogging Kate's weekly letters to her uncles on missions because they are such a funny glimpse into her cute little head. We both sit down with 2 sheets of paper each and she colors and writes letters on it until she's done and then I write on the back the words she says, word for word from her mouth.

Dear Uncle Devin,
I love you. Mommy loves you. What house do you live in? Do you know what house Jesse lives in? I be you know Jesse lives in America. I like to play games. I like to be with Grammie Kissell. I like to play with Grammie's kitchen. I like to play. There is a turkey in our fridge. He's dead. Yikes. Goofy says shucks.
That's it!
Love,
Kate

Dear Uncle Jesse,
You love me. Where do you live? What is your house like? Do you have snow? Goofy says shucks. There is a turkey in our fridge. He is dead. What is the turkey's name? Maybe we can name him Hockey. Cows live in barns.
That's it!
Love,
Kate

Kate quotes

Kate: "Look! Its a mystery Mousecatool!" or " Why did you write a mystery Mousecatool?" whenever she sees a question mark

Ryan: "Did you see the turkey in the fridge?"
Kate: "Is it dead?"
Ryan: "Dead as a doornail."
Kate: "I thought sometimes turkeys are dead."

New Moon

Tonight I went with some friends to see New Moon and it was so much fun! I wouldn't call myself an obsessed fan, but I did find myself sitting on the bathroom floor at 4am reading the books and I liked the first movie okay (except for Edward's appearance) but it was really fun to see it in a packed theater with lots of really excited teenage girls and to squeal along with them when Jacob walked in for the first time.
I would officially call myself an Edward fan while reading the books, but after seeing all the press that was going on I was thinking that I would have to switch to Jacob because in real life Taylor Lautner is a lot more personable than Robert Pattison....but I couldn't do it. The story is there and in the story I like Edward.....despite the fact that he is near hideous to me and the fact that Jacob has 35 abs (according to Jimmy Fallon).
Loved the movie! Loved the company! LOVED the girl's night! We should do it more often!

Oh baby!

The beautiful family I took photographed on Saturday soon found their pictures outdated when this new, handsome little (and I'm talking tiny!) new joined their family! Wow, seriously? Could he be any cuter?
Thanks for letting me meet him, hold him, and snap some pictures of him!

Christmas and warm rain

When I saw this wreath on this blog, I knew I had to make it! So I gathered the supplies and turned on the Christmas music and wreathed it up! I really like how it turned out...so much so that it is already hanging on my front door despite the fact that it isn't really Christmas yet. All the shopping centers are doing it, why can't I? (And I have to say, it is hard to take a picture of your door when you live on the second floor so that is all I could get.)
Sawyer woke up from his nap right before it was hung on the door. Can you tell?

While we were outside admiring our new beautiful door, I couldn't help but admire Sawyer's bedhead. Think it is about time for this boy to get a haircut? I still haven't decided!

Kate is always begging to play outside, so I told them they could play for a little bit and they went outside and pretended to plant things. Kate is really obsessed with planting things. It started to rain, but it was a very light drizzle and still very warm so I let them play. I couldn't help but think how funny it was that I was decorating for Christmas while watching my kids play barefoot outside in the rain.

With such nice weather, though, we can't complain!

I am in love with Spring!

I had the chance to take pictures of this beautiful family in this beyond awesome historic part of Spring! It was a great find and I can't wait to go back there again! Lindsey, you and your family are gorgeous and fun and I hope you enjoy your pictures!

We went camping!

We went camping last weekend and I'm finally getting around to blogging about it. You know how it is with camping, you have a ton of fun and then come home with mounds of dirty laundry and all the other things that need washed, cleaned out, or aired out. I think I am finally caught up, though.
Ryan got off work pretty early on Friday and we headed up to Brazos Bend where we went camping last year and saw all the alligators. By the time we got there, it was already dark and we had to set up camp and cook dinner. It started to get pretty late but both of my kids were running around the dark campsite with big smiles on their faces all night long. While Ryan started the fire, I had them help me set up our sleeping bags in the tent and they were rolling all over, giggling and tickling each other. We ate some yummy tin foil dinners and s'mores with homemade graham crackers. Kate really liked cooking marshmallows for other people which I find amusing because that is what I remember doing when I was little. I was never a huge fan of roasted marshmallows as a kid. Sawyer kept throwing his marshmallows in the fire and finally we gave him a roasting stick and let him have at it (with lots of adult supervision, of course!) He would knock it into the dirt and roll it along a fire long and eventually it would just be covered in sticks and splinters and dirt. And then we would throw it in the fire and do it all again! He's going to have to work on his roasting skills!
We all settled into the tent around 9:30 and had a pretty good night's sleep....except for the party animals next door who were up past 2 am drinking and having a ball....a really loud ball. They had everyone in the camps around us yelling at them and cussing them out and in the morning the park ranger came and kicked them out because of all the complaints.
We woke up early and a little tired but had yummy pancakes and bacon for breakfast and then headed off with our bikes for some adventures. It turns out they were having Prairie Days at the Nature Center and we got to go around to all these booths and do leaf tracings or bean mosaics or learn about why opossums are clean and good for your yard and you shouldn't hate them. I still am not sold on that last one. Like last year, the Nature Center had a baby alligator and a snake you could touch. Sawyer did it pretty easily with Ryan's help but Kate wasn't crazy about the idea....until she learned you got a sticker if you did it! Ah, the motivational power of stickers. She got up her courage to touch them both and she was pretty proud of herself!
After we saw everything there was to see at Prairie Days, we rode down a bike trail to a picnic area and ate lunch. It was only a really short ride but when we got there we realized Sawyer had already fallen asleep! After we ate, Kate got back in and Sawyer took a pretty long nap in the bike trailer as we continued on our biking adventure.
We spotted some alligators and they were all a good distance away. Kate and Sawyer's favorite thing about camping by far was the little binoculars they shared. Kate liked to look through them and tell us the things she was seeing and Sawyer liked to suck on one end. It was funny because we really didn't know if she was actually seeing anything through them until we were sitting on the edge of the water looking across the way at this huge alligator and she said, "I see him! He has green stuff on his back!" Sure enough, the he was covered in the green slime from the water!
Sawyer eventually woke up and announced it to us with an "uh oh" and we pulled over and fed him some lunch and looked for more alligators.
This camping trip was the first for our family where both kids were old enough to really enjoy it and they both certainly did! As I'm posting these pictures, Kate saw them and told me, "I want to go camping!" She probably wouldn't be so eager if she was the one doing all the laundry afterwards, but it was a small price to pay for seeing how much my kids loved it!

Could he BE any cuter?

I got my camera out to document yet another bug bite this afternoon and I got these cute pictures...seriously, I could squeeze this boy to death! But instead I'll share yet another bug bite story with you! Today we got ready for the gym and left the house, walked down the stairs and into the garage and as I was putting Sawyer into the car I noticed his ear was a little red. We drove to the gym and I go to get him out again and his ear is now completely bright red and huge! I had no clue why my son's ear was blowing up before my eyes so I started looking at it and I see this tiny bug bite on the very tip of his ear. Seriously, mosquitos? So I took him into the gym and asked Ms Connie if she had any hydrocortisone cream in a first aid kit and thankfully she did. So we applied it to his ear and I left my big red ear guy to play while I got my workout on. It has gotten a little better since then but it is one big red ear! This boy can not be outside for one minute without bug spray! Too bad it stinks....

18 month stats

We had the pleasure of going to the Dr again yesterday...between the 2 of them and all their flu shots, it seems like we've been there a lot recently! And you could tell Sawyer remembered because he wasn't happy about anything. But he continues to be strong and healthy and we're happy about that! Here are his 18 month stats:

weight: 25 lb 2 oz (50th percentile)
height: 33" (75th percentile)
head: 19 1/2" (90th percentile)

The Dr asked about what words he is saying and I told him that there really weren't very many and probably I am the only person that would understand what he was saying. He said he wasn't worried because boys go at their own pace and are often times slower. The Dr also let me know he has an ear infection....again! Last time I went to the Dr Sawyer had an ear infection and I had no idea! I think Sawyer thinks that is how his ears are supposed to feel or something because he never rubs them or lets me know that he's hurting. Poor kid. Anyways, despite my lack of mothering skills, they sent him home with me along with a prescription so we can get his ears taken care of.
Well we sure love our Sawyer boy...but you know who loves him even more? MOSQUITOS! Now that it isn't 100 degrees outside and muggy I kinda forget the bug spray sometimes and he always has a ton of bug bites....especially right before we go to the Dr! Well this morning after the gym I wanted to take a picture and we were seriously outside for 5 minutes and check out Sawyer's left eye? Yup, its a bug bite. He must taste pretty good because Kate can come inside with zero and Sawyer has a million.....sigh.

Happy Birthday Grandma T!

Happy Birthday Grandma T! We tried to call you today to sing to you but the line was busy! You must be pretty popular today!
Thanks for teaching us your cinnamon roll tricks, giving us your cowboy cookie recipe and naming your meatballs after me! (It has been way too long since I've had some Kristen's meatballs!) Your house was my favorite childhood vacation spot!
We love you and hope you have a Happy Happy Birthday!

Love,
Kristen, Ryan, Kate and Sawyer

Birthday Boy!

Today my Sawyer is 18 months old. He is seriously the cutest boy in the whole world and we are so lucky to have him and his cute smile and big belly and fun personality in our family! Here are some fun things about Sawyer at 18 months:

- He loves to try on shoes, especially his sister's shoes
- He thinks its hilarious to "shhhsh" people with one finger up to his cute grin
- When he hears someone crying, he shhhhsh's them in a comforting way like I do to him
- He loves Kate's preschool and is always right in the middle of everything, trying to put dates on the calendar or stick something else on the wall
- When we say prayers at night, Kate has a turn and then we say, "Sawyer's turn!" and he folds his arms and mumbles these cute, quiet, reverent mumbles until one of us says "amen!" Afterwards, he gets pretty proud of himself!
- He loves milk and chugs it like its going out of style and then grunts for more
- The words he says now are: "all gone" "sister" "uh oh" "mama" "dada" and "shoes". He'll also grunt along with the ABC's and Ring Around the Rosie
- He loves following his sister up and down the slide all by himself and doing a little "whee" scream on the way down exactly like his sister
- He has already gone to nursery at church for over a month and he went in just fine at first but has started to have a hard time. He cries when he is dropped off and then has a fun time but cries again when we come to pick him up. Why he cries when he's being "rescued" I have no idea!
- Sawyer comes to me crying when he's hurt but only wants about 2 seconds of comfort before he is ready to go play again. I enjoy those 2 seconds of hugs!
- He loves watching Mickey Mouse clubhouse with his sister and he grunts something similar to "miska, mouska, Mickey MOUSE!" along with Mickey every time!
- I find him sitting next to Kate in her room "reading" books just like Kate
- He loves bathtime with his sister. They make pretend water cakes and he tolerates when his sister dumps water on his head
- After his bath he runs to his room in his towel and lays on the floor on his belly, curled up with his bum in the air
- He loves throwing things in the trash and gets really excited when you tell him something is trash
- When he is pooey, he will run and get his diaper and wipes
- He eats everything and lots of it
- He loves to be chased
- He loves to ride on his dad's back on the way to his sister's room when we're headed to reading books and going to bed
- He falls constantly. I started telling him to "brush it off" when he does so now he falls and stands up and wipes his hands with a big grin on his face
- It is hard to get him to look at the camera. But if he is in the mood, he will with a big grin on his face. (You can tell he wasn't in the mood when I took these pictures)
- When we play outside on our bikes and other toys, Sawyer wants whatever his sister has. She is pretty good at sharing so she'll go to one toy, Sawyer follows, she gives it to him, she finds another toy, Sawyer follows, she gives it to him....he just bounces from one toy to the next!
- He still loves to give Marvin (the old man who greets us every morning at the entrance to the gym) a five when we're coming and going. If I'm holding, he'll wiggle down, run and give him a five, and then come right back to me to be picked up.
- He is a happy boy and we love him!