A Sneak Peek

My sister-in-law is one of the most talented photographers ever! We are so blessed to have her and she is SO generous! She took Sawyer's pictures, and some family pictures as well for us in December. They turned out so amazing and I can't wait to share them. However, it is late, and I still have to get up for work tomorrow, so here are a couple of my faves, and then I'll add more later. Like I said, she is AMAZING!

Andy's New Present

Andy and I have been debating this purchase for a while now. It is not cheap, and we wanted a nice once because we plan on using it a lot this summer. And here it is! The Deuter baby backpack! In the store, Sawyer cried when we took him out. The nice thing is we can use it until he's 40 pounds, which is awesome! We actually tried it out at Disneyland last week. We went without a stroller and only used the pack. It worked really well. He fell asleep in it and everything. We are very excited to go hiking once the winter comes and goes. Andy is very very pleased with our purchase!

Universal Studios

We decided to go to Universal Studios because I had never been there. I had been to the one in Orlando, but never to the original one here. It was an adventure! The day turned out to be FREEZING in L.A. Luckily we brought warm stuff for Sawyer, but I was so stinking cold!

Despite the cold, it was a super fun day. The backlot tour was so cool! I live in this imaginary world where people go to these small towns and film these shows and of course, none of it is fake. Well, seeing the places where they actually film movies and t.v. shows was so crazy! I kept telling Andy that they were lying and that they really go to these tiny towns and take over for a couple years so they can film the show. That is the world I live in.

The rest of the park was fun, but not quite as kid friendly as Disneyland. Sawyer enjoyed the shows and being outside all day. So I can now say I have been to Universal Studios in L.A. and perhaps I think it is more fun in Orlando...but I will say that the backlot tour is worth seeing!

The Many Faces of Sawyer Paul

Sawyer has changed so much in the last six months. I can't believe how big he is getting, and even more, how much personality he has! He is such a chill kid, but what I love is how loving he is. He is a snuggeler and will cozy right up to you. We had to go through a couple of rough weeks sleep training, but now he is doing so well sleeping at night, and he doesn't hate us for doing it! There were a lot of tears involved, but what I love about babies is that they are so quick to forgive.

The last couple months have been hard for me. I'm away from Sawyer so much, and I miss him like crazy every day. I am so grateful that Andy has the chance to spend this time with him, and he is an AMAZING dad! He and Sawyer have so much fun, and even on grouchy days, he handles every situation so well. I have to remember that this is just a short time and one of these days, I'll get to stay home and play all day long with my sweet baby. I'm so glad he shows me how much he loves me when I come home, and for now, that is enough.

He brings us so much joy, and I can't imagine what life would be like without him. Here are just some random pictures to show how much fun he is every single day!

The Muppets

One thing I must mention is Sawyer's first movie. We went and saw The Muppets the day after Thanksgiving. We went to the 11:00 am showing and I fully expected to spend the majority of it playing in the lobby. We got there, the previews came on, and Sawyer was entranced. He had some star puffs, drank a bottle, and still didn't fall asleep. He loved the bright colors and music. Next thing I know, I look down, and he's passed out. He lasted about an hour, which was pretty good, and then slept until the last 20 minutes of the movie. Overall, it was a success!

More Disney

I realize I post a lot of pictures of Disneyland on here. We absolutely love it there. Having season passes has been one of my favorite parts of living here. We get the opportunity of going on days in the middle of the week when the park is ten percent full, and just enjoy the atmosphere and have fun! So here ya go, lots of pics!

This is usually what happens when we go on Small World..

Thanksgiving, Christmas, and New Years

I can't believe how quickly the Holidays came and went! I'm really upset about this fact, but we didn't take any photos on Thanskgiving...boo! It was a really nice, chill day. We had dinner at Andy's family's house and it was a lot of fun.

Then it was time for Christmas. We went all out decorating this year. Our tree we bought at a small place up here and we bought it all tied up. Then we got home, untied it, and realized we bought a bush! It was HUGE! It took up double the space it was supposed to and we could barely cover it with our decorations. However, we had a lot of fun making it work. Every year, Andy and I go to Pier 1 and pick out a "special" ornament to add to the tree. Here is Sawyer with his first ornament.

Also, I learned how to knit and tried to make Christmas presents that way. This is Sawyer loving my ball of yarn and making my life much harder. He was so cute though, I didn't mind his "help."

We spent the holiday here in California. We spent Christmas Eve with Andy's brother and his family. It was full of presents, the park, and pizza! Sawyer ate his first dirt clod, and also threw it up, so that was fun. It really was a great day.

We did take a lot of videos of Sawyer on Christmas morning, but I haven't found the cord to put them on the computer yet. We went to Utah the next week for New Years. We had so much fun! We stayed with Andy's grandparents, and also my parents. Andy and I miss our families so much so it was great to see everyone again. Sawyer loved it! He absolutely had a blast with all of his cousins, and of course he loved great grandma and grandpa, and Pop Pop and Granny V. We are so glad we got to go!

As I went through all the photos we took in Utah, I realized we didn't take any with Grandma and Grandpa Carabine. I'm so sad. It is official, we are getting a camera. We will brave the camera curse, because I'm just not happy about this. So I'm sorry Gma! Next time we come out, we are having a photo shoot! Here are the rest of the Christmas pics!

Sugar Cookies!

Packing for Utah on Christmas Day

Granny V and Pop Pop