Happy Halloween!

Sawyer Lincoln's 1st Halloween!

We were both exhausted so we stayed home on Halloween...and got zero trick-or treaters! Oh well...at least I bought candy that I liked and we got a chance to finally carve our pumpkins and bake the seeds. I must say, they were quite tasty.

My Little Greaser...we dressed up the day before Halloween for work and for Jennifer's party...I think we go well together :)

He looked adorable but his side burns kept smearing off on my arm so they didn't last too long.

I Survived!

I survived our first week of daycare.

This is all the stuff I had to take with me...plus Sawyer and his stroller.

Willie is now back to work and his knee is doing pretty well. His muscles were very sore, but that was expected after being off for 6 weeks. He leaves for work earlier than me which means that I need to get everything together in the morning by myself. This was our first week of having to do this and get Sawyer to daycare and me to work on time. I must say, the week went pretty smooth and I only cried a little the first day that I dropped him off. He's in great hands and I know he is well taken care of so that's a huge stress reliever.

This is our routine now...
Over the weekend I lay out both Sawyer's clothes and mine for the whole week so in the mornings I can just grab and go...

5:30-- Wake up and take a shower as fast as I can (before Sawyer wakes up). Then hopefully get dressed and ready by the time he does wake up.

6:15-- Take everything I need out of the fridge, freezer, and drying rack and make a pile of everything I need to bring...my lunch, jug of water, jacket, Sawyer's bottle and extra milk bags, diaper bag, purse, pump and accessories, etc.

6:25-- Feed Sawyer while I eat breakfast at the same time and watch the weather channel to make sure we're dressed appropriately.

6:40-- Change Sawyer's diaper and get his clothes on.

6:46-- Strap Sawyer into his carseat, lug everything down to the garage in 2 trips, and transfer him to his stroller.

6:50-- Push Sawyer in the stroller and walk Giac around the neighborhood so he can poop and pee.

6:58-- Transfer Sawyer to the car and put Giac in the house. Leave for daycare.

7:35--Arrive at daycare and drop Sawyer off, first giving him lots of kisses.

7:45--Arrive at work.

It's a busy morning.

Usually Sawyer sleeps 4 hours at a time, but last night he slept 8 hours. I guess the busy week tired him out too.

Nates Butt Farm

Last weekend we went to Nates Butt Farm (Bates Nut Farm) with my mom, G.U.B. (great uncle bob), Danika, Kelly, and Bren. It took us like 2 hours to get there because of all the traffic but we finally made it to Sawyer's first "punkin patch!"

Danika and I were the only ones who wanted to go through the maze. No one else sounded very excited and we were wondering why. We were all enthoused about it until we paid, THEN realized that any maze that you can see over probably isn't all that great. For kids, I'm sure it was a blast. We decided to just walk around it and talk which was way better than any maze ever could have been. :)

The Fam

We're stickin with the Greaser

There are a few things wrong with this...

1. This costume is supposed to be for up to 9 months. It stops at his knees.

2. He hates it.

3. I returned it.

Sawyer & Grammie

My mom has become quite the little Craig's List/E-Bay junkie...she and my dad are going to watch Sawyer every Friday so now she's fully equipped with everything she needs for Sawyer...she has a stroller, car seat, swing, monitor, crib, wardrope...I know there's more but you get the picture. My dad says they need to adopt twins to get full use out of everything :)

My mom mentioned that there were several pictures of my dad and Willie on the blog, but none of her...not even honorable mention :) So this is for you mom. Rest assured, you're a great grammie!

Happy 3 Month Birthday Sawyer!

Our little guy is 3 months old today!!!! This morning we dressed him up like a greaser because that's probably what he'll be for Halloween this year. He already has his converse, jeans, and white onesie, now he just needs pork chops. He might also be a lion. One of my kindergarteners suggested that and I think it would be cute too :)

He was more interested in tasting the lion than posing with it...and after a couple he wasn't really interested in photos at all. We'll try again later..

Daddy Day Care

Willie is a great stay at home dad! Too bad he only has 1 more week of it :(

Willie's knee surgery ended up getting postponed 2 weeks since the doctor was sick. That meant that he'd still be off work by the time I went back on September 28th, which turned out to be a great thing. He's been home with Sawyer for 2 weeks and done an amazing job. He cooks (yummy stuff like creme brulee and crepes), cleans (everything except the dishes), and takes care of our little pumpkin. What more could I ask for?

Indescribable

I can't even put words to it...he's just captured my heart.

For some reason the word "indescribable" looked weird when I typed it (maybe because I spelled it wrong ?)...anyway, Jennifer's boyfriend Jake said, "Just put hard to explain."

It's "hard to explain" how so incredibly precious Sawyer is...

Back to the Grind...

I'm wrapping up my 2nd week back to school and Sawyer has gifted me with some extra sleep these past 2 weeks. These picture were taken after an 8 hour stretch of sound slumber for both of us. What a happy baby he was!!... and what a happy mommy I was!! Every school night he's slept between 5-8 hours and gone right back to sleep after eating...and in his own crib no less! Love it!

I'm officially a working mom now but luckily Willie is still home with Sawyer. He had his knee surgery almost 4 weeks ago and will be home another week and a half at least. It certainly made the transition to work much easier...

My mom calls this the "straight jacket" but Sawyer LOVES to be swaddled! We watched the DVD "The Happiest Baby on the block" and learned about the 5 S's (which really work), one of which was swaddling. He sleeps best when he's all bundled up in the DUDU wrap. The name sounds silly but seriously, all new parents need to watch this DVD!

They Finally Meet!

My Cousin Erin came to visit last week with her son Jake (2 1/2) and baby Anderson, who is 3 1/2 weeks younger than Sawyer. Anderson kept reaching out and touching Sawyer's hair as if to say, "Wow, is that real?" Sooooo cute! I wish they lived closer :)

Jake, Anderson, & Sawyer...

It's a Miracle!

Last night, we had our very best night of sleep yet!

At Sawyer's 2 month check-up the doctor said we could start "training" him to sleep longer if we wanted to, instead of waking up every 2-3 hours. It involved moving him from his Pack-n-Play in our room to his own crib and letting him cry for a little bit. I tried that about a week ago and he hated his crib and screamed for 20 minutes. I didn't have the heart to keep at it so I abandoned that ship along with several other failed attempts at the crib.

Until yesterday.

I'm going back to work on Monday and really felt like we should give this a go again. So last night when I knew he was fed, changed, burped, and tired, I put him in his crib. Of course, he was fine for a few minutes, then woke up and cried for 45 minutes. Heartbreaking. But then, miraculously, he fell asleep and slept until 5 in the morning! That was about 7 hours!! I then fed him and he went back to sleep for a couple more hours before I woke him up to go walking with Giacomo. I'm so proud of this little guy!!! Keep it up Sawyer!

I found this onesie on clearance and thought it was made just for Sawyer. It says, "If my toys could talk..." and the helicopter is saying, "Wow, this baby is cute!" and the baseball is saying, "Yeah, he has great hair!" I completely agree. Such smart toys!

As Danika says, he may as well have wings on because he's so angelic :)

Happy 2 Month Birthday Sawyer!!

Today our little man is 2 months old. Here's this morning's photo shoot...

Sawyer's 2 Month Check-Up

This is my calm baby...

and this is my not so calm baby after getting 3 shots in his thighs. Poor little guy.

But that's ok...he left them a parting gift. This was the 2nd time he peed all over the table (in the same office visit).

and all was well when we got home...

So here are his stats now...13 lbs. 6 oz, and 23 1/4 inches. That bumped him up from the 55th to the 75th percentile for height and from the 80th to the 95th percentile for weight. What can I say, the boy likes his milk.

One Stylish Little Boy

I think Sawyer officially has more pairs of shoes than his daddy (and almost more than his mommy). His Tia Sonia has given him all the designer cool shoes, my favorite of which happen to be the blue checkered Vans. They are also the only ones he fits into at the moment but he has almost outgrown them :(

Giacomo also likes to wear Sawyer's shoes (no, not really)

Love this Boy

Auntie Jennifer came over last Friday and took Sawyer's 8 week pictures. What a little angel he is...I just love this little guy.

You Can Decide...

"Hmmm, who do I look like?"

"My daddy?"

"Or my grandpa?"

I get a lot of "He looks just like his daddy!" and "He looks so much like Anthony!" Most people say Sawyer looks like one of these 2 but no one ever says he looks like me (besides his small ears). Either way is just fine with me because both Willie and my dad are handsome so maybe he'll be an ever cuter combo of the 2 of them!

In-N-Out Take 3

I think this is as good as it's going to get...

As you can see, the boys are easily distracted.

In-N-Out is a special place for us because Willie and I met while working there almost 10 years ago. Our friends, Lenny and Anna, gave Sawyer this In-N-Out onesie a few weeks ago and we've been trying to get a good picture ever since. He gets to wear it for our weekly In-N-Out night with my parents and Jennifer. Pretty soon he's going to need a bigger size if we keep up this tradition!

In-N-Out Take 2

Last week we tried again to get that picture in Sawyers In-N-Out onesie but he wasn't exactly cooperating. Well, at least we got a picture of him sporting his new Vans that his Tia Sonia gave him. We've been trying them on several times a week waiting for them to semi-fit. They're still a smidge too big but he'll just get to wear them longer and at least they stay on now. Take 3 of the In-N-Out onesie coming soon...

The Great Name Debate

This is how the great name debate started...with a sign. Willie would say that it was more than just a street sign, but a sign that it was meant to be our little guy's name. Here's how it began...

We were on our way to Danika's house in Downey back in February I think it was. Willie and I had talked about names but we couldn't agree on anything yet and I was just calling him baby G. We passed this sign on the way to Danika's house and I looked at Willie and said, "What about the name Lincoln?" He verrrrry slowly nodded his head pensively as if this could be a possible name but he'd have to give it more thought first.

So we get to Danika's house and a few hours later Willie says, "I was thinking of the name Lincoln at the exact same time that you mentioned it." So he thought it was now meant to be, but gosh, by then, I had already moved on and decided that I liked Sawyer better, especially since I went to Lincoln Middle School and it was nicknamed "Stinkin' Lincoln." From then on we were at a deadlock...he wanted Lincoln and I wanted Sawyer. Neither of us wanted to feel like we "won" but we weren't giving in either. So we stopped talking about it.

The day after our little guy was born we were still calling him baby and the nurses were coming in asking us to fill out paperwork...so Willie wrote down our options on napkin scraps and put them in a cup. He handed them to me and I pulled out "Sawyer Lincoln." And that's how the great name debate ended.

Grandpa's First Babysitting Job

I had a dentist appointment last week and about 6 months ago I asked my dad to babysit Sawyer while I went. I was gone for about an hour and a half and my 2 great aunts came over to help my dad take care if him (and to get extra holding time in). It was also Sawyer's first time taking a bottle...he looked at my dad and smiled while licking the bottle, as if to say, "Why are you feeding me? You're not my mommy, this feels silly."

The great thing about my dad is that everyone gets a nickname from him. For example, Giacomo is EC, which stands for the "Essence of Cuteness." Growing up, I was YAMS, which meant, "You Are My Sweetheart." When I got back from my dentist appointment, Sawyer had his very first nickname from his grandpa...FTJ. They had fun but his nickname lovingly stands for "Full Time Job!" I concur but it's well worth it!

This is extra special because my dad made this cradle 37 years ago while he was getting his masters in art. All 4 of us were once in it and our 3 Lugo cousins plus Erin's son Jake have used it. Sawyer is baby #9 and it still looks beautiful and newly crafted. What a talented grandpa Sawyer has! In this cradle has been...

John, Kelly, Danika, Erin, Brendan, Kier, me, Jake, & Sawyer

Growing & Growing...

Sawyer went in for his 4 week checkup yesterday...it's been 14 days since his last visit and since then he's gained 2 pounds, 5 ounces, and he grew an inch and a half!! He's now 9 pounds, 15 ounces and 21 and a quarter inches long. That bumped him up from the 50th percentile to the 80th!! All of a sudden his 0-3 month clothes finally fit, but I'm sure not for long.

Meanwhile, I have the best weight loss plan ever...nursing! I have lots of sit-ups to go but weight wise I'm loving the scale right now. I gained exactly 20 pounds while pregnant and now I'm 7 pounds below where I started before Sawyer. That's 27 pounds down in 4 weeks. Love it.

I Couldn't Say it Better Myself

I do know that I'm biased but Sawyer's cute factor raises by the second. His Auntie Danika said it best..."How is it possible to get cuter when you start at the maximum cuteness? I don't know but he does everyday!"

This Stinks

It's always scary getting a phone call at 5 am...this was our phone call this morning. Willie was on his way to work when a truck had a blow out and caused a 4 car pile up on the freeway. His trusty little Honda is no more...totalled. Not sure why, but only the passenger airbag deployed. The back seat was pushed forward because of the force of his tools in the trunk, which went flying everywhere. Through it all though, there's also a blessing...

and here he is. alive and well. only by the grace of God.

Thankfully he was the 4th car and not sandwiched in by anyone else behind him but 2 people were taken by ambulance to the hospital. They were going to be ok though and Willie and 2 others walked away with only sore bodies.

I'm thankful I still have a husband and Sawyer has a daddy. We love him.