Sawyer in Paradise...

Sawyer and I decided last minute to go to Kauai so we booked our flight on the 27th and left 2 days later... Willie couldn't get it off work with such short notice so we went and met Sonia, Sophia, and Ciria there (they left the day before us), and I also convinced Danika that she wanted to go too. Thank goodness, because she was a huge help, especially with Sawyer and the plane ride. Here's what we did...

We saw tons of beautiful places and I can't imagine a more perfect place to vacation...waterfalls everywhere...just mesmerizing...and all the wild roosters were cute too!

We stayed in a different place from Willie's family but we were still really close by so we saw each other a lot. Sonia was going to have to start chemo as soon as she got back so we wanted to spend as much time with her as possible. Here we all are at Fern Grotto on our last morning in paradise...

We drove to the top of the canyon on the west side of the island and found the MOST breathtaking sight ever...I felt like we were in the clouds...

Sawyer's first trip to paradise...here he is in happier times...most of our photos of him are not so happy, but he had a good reason....

Waimea Canyon Lookout...

We met some awesome people...Larry and Linda Eyestone...we actually met them 17 years ago when our families were vacationing and our parents told us to give them a call. We didnt' even remember that so we made our parents call first, but we ended up talking to them for 3 hours one night and then on our last day in Kauai, Larry was our own personal tour guide and drove us around for hours. It was so amazing...and Linda had a friend who worked for our airline so she totally hooked us up and we ended up with an empty seat in 0ur row (one of about 2 on the flight). They were soooo nice and we are so grateful for them!

Everyone was so into Sawyer...I felt like we were treated royally. Everyone wanted to hold him and kiss his hands and just oogle over him...so cute!

But the poor little muffin got sick toward the beginning and had to go to the doctor. The nurses were amazing and he ended up wth a shot of antibiotics for an ear infection. The next day he kept spiking fevers over and over and he vomited so to the ER he went for day 2 of doctor's visits. By the end he was feeling much better and if you've gotta be sick, it may as well be in paradise, right?

Our Hawaiian Luau...

The beach bum...before he got sick...love those wrinkly feet!

Sawyer exploring the sand on our first day in Kauai...

I love this becuase he hates crawling on grass. Instead, he poses like a dog and tries to go on all 4's.

The view from our lanai...

This was the flight to Kauai...we didn't have much room but thankfully we had a wonderful "seatmate" who played with Sawyer and let him crawl on her. Let's just say he didn't sleep all that much on this flight...

Our "seatmate" Kaylee...

It's hard packing and carrying everything for yourself and a baby...thankfully Danika was there to help me...this was just after we had arrived in Kauai...

And this was on the way home...it was a red eye flight and Sawyer slept almost the entire time...it was wonderful.

Danika and I both agreed that we definitely want to go back to beautiful Kauai. Even though Sawyer was sick most of the time we still felt like we got to see a lot and would love to return!

Happy Birthday Sawyer!

Today Sawyer is officially 1 year old!! He's now considered a "toddler" which feels so weird to say or think about! This had been the best year of our lives and we can't wait to see how much more joy he will add to our lives everyday!!!


I made special chocolate owl cupcakes for his birthday guests but for him I made a blueberry parfait...graham cracker crust with blueberry yogurt, then real blueberries, and finally, a dollop of cool whip on top...he loved it!

I made him this birthday shirt a few months ago with the owl in the tree and the eyes are buttons that move around. Willie liked it so much he wanted one on a black shirt with a rat in the owl's mouth. I was going to make one for me and him but our trip to Kauai didn't leave much time left for birthday prep...it was well worth it though!

Our 1 year photo op in his luau outfit...and finally a big smile!!

Sawyer is so loved and we can't wait to see what's next...well, we can wait actually...we don't want him to grow up quite so fast!

Happy Birthday Sawyer!

On Wednesday, June 16th, I dropped Sawyer off at daycare and minutes later he took his first steps! I was just thinking the day before that since I only had 2 more days of school I would probably get to see his first steps...nope. They were so nice though and video taped him, then e-mailed it to me at work. I can't believe it, I cried! Since then he walks A LOT--he's too cute! I'm not sure how to rotate videos so just tilt your head to the right and get ready...and try not to blink!

Willie's Big Month

This was a big month for Willie...here are a few highlights...

1. He turned 30! Yesterday was his real birthday (the 21st) and he picked out Van Gogh's Starry Night cupcakes months ago, which actually were fun and pretty easy to make. I felt like a real artist and his mom made yummy barbacoa nachos (his absolute favorite) to celebrate his big day!

I know they're not perfect, but it's not supposed to be a forgery, just my interpretation. Jennifer was making fun of me saying that the way I was staring at them looked like I was giving myself a mental pat on the back...I was actually critiquing my tree at that moment, but I am indeed pretty proud of how they turned out :)

2. It was his 1st Father's Day! He's so proud of our little guy and takes such great care of him. He even dressed him up to match his own outfit on Father's Day. You can just see Willie's face light up each time someone says Sawyer looks exactly like him (which is all the time). We celebrated a few days early by taking Sawyer to his first Padre game, where everyone in the stadium won 2 free Jack in the Box tacos--well on the way out they handed Willie enoughf or 10 free tacos. They must have known he likes those :)

3. ... and last but not least, he graduated!!!!! For the last 5 years he's been in an electrical apprenticeship and gone to school at night 2 days a week. Well, it's officially over and he's now a journeyman! His ceremony was last week so here he is with a few of his buddies from class...

It was a sit down dinner and ceremony at a hotel in San Diego so grammie and papa watched out little munchkin for us and off we went...

They even gave each new journeyman a "goodie bag" donated by different companies with some tools, gift cards, cash, and Padre tickets...I thought that was really cool. Then at the end Willie took me to meet the VP of his company, who I thought looked familiar...turns out I played soccer with his daughter for years...small world, huh? Willie thought that was really cool :)

So Willie, congratulation on graduating, your first father's Day,and turning 30!!! We love you so much!

A boy and his dog...

Jennifer and I took Sawyer out in his new wagon (early birthday present from grammie and papa) so we could take his 1 year photos. He wasn't really in a smiley mood but instead just hugged Giacomo and layed his head down on him. These are my favorites...

I love these boys...

Isn't that just precious?

Sawyer's First Bus Ride

Last weekend we went to the Del Mar Fair with Lenny, Anna, & Joneaux. We parked off site and rode a school bus into the fair so this was officially Sawyer's 1st bus ride. He loved standing up and looking around...

Happy 11 Month Birthday Sawyer!

Yes, it's true...we're only 1 month away from his 1 year mark! Time flies by so fast but he gets more and more fun every second. He's amazingly adorable and so spunky these days! He's equipped with 7 teeth, loves to eat "normal" food as opposed to the baby kind, and he can magically pop off keys on laptops (sorry Bren, they went back on pretty easily though). He can make a great ssssss sound and he's almost walking! He can stand on his own but hasn't taken that first step yet without something to push...he's so much fun to watch and play with!

We went to the eye doctor's to try on sunglasses...I had bought him a pair of cheapies at Old Navy with cute soccer balls on them but Willie informed me that those kind are actually worse for the eyes than having nothing at all. So here's Sawyer with his nana Ciria trying on his new sunglasses. He actually loved them and even stared at himself in the mirror for awhile. He didn't even try to pull them off either!

We got a bunch of Little People stuff from 2 different friends and it turns out that Sawyer and Giacomo are the King Kong and Dogzilla of Little Town. Sawyer tramples over everything and wipes out the town like a tornado and Giacomo is like a silent assassin...some of the Little People are mysteriously missing arms and the pig has no snout. It seems that he picks one off everyday then pretends he has no idea what could have happened when we find a chewed up arm on the carpet. That bad dog...at least he's cute.

Before we know it Sawyer will be running around and talking up a storm but in the meantime we're loving every stage! Happy 11 month birthday Sawyer!

How to Make a Taco...by Giacomo

If Giacomo could write a recipe book, here's what it would say...

Step 1: Wait until the baby is sitting in the dog bed.

Step 2: Shove your toy under the bed and then root underneath the baby with your long nose and push your head up to tip him over.

Step 3: Fold the bed in half like a baby taco and then successfully tip him all the way over. Don't worry, he won't cry, he's tough and plus, he thinks it's funny.

Step 4: Wait for the baby to crawl back into the bed and think he's victorious because he now has the toy, and then you can do it all over again!

Tada!

Memorial Weekend

We had a wonderful Memorial weekend! It's always nice having an extra day attached to a weekend...we spent a lot of time hanging out with both our families and BBQing. On Monday we went to Lake O'Neill and Willie and I even got to go to the movies--that's rare!

Sawyer got this new hat for the warmer weather but Willie said he looked like a tourist and kept folding the front up. I think he's cuper cute, especially with daddy's sunglasses on!

The Fam