Christmas

We finally made it back from our Christmas visiting today. We had a fantastic time with the Browns and the Williams! We are really glad we got to go, and we are really glad we are back at home! Sawyer is a lot more into everything since we've gotten home. He's a little rascal! :) I tell him, "no" and he smiles at me like-"really, Mama??" Guess I'm going to have to get a little tougher now that he can really get into everything! Here's a little update on our Christmas! Hope you and your family had a great one!

This was taken Christmas Eve. Isn't my little man getting big?? He is so much fun! He made this Christmas my favorite so far! I love this little boy! It amazes me how much! The Lee Brown family was in charge of lighting the Christ Candle at church. Then, we and a couple of families from church went back to Mama and Daddy's for good food and fellowship while the Braddock girls put out their milk, cookies, and carrots for Santa and his reindeer.

Here's little Shelbs! She the cutest thing ever! She has about 500 expressions. Her speech is still a little hard to understand at times, but she talks like you know just what she's saying. Grace has to be her translator some...she's so funny! She gets so excited about everything including her breakfast (which at Grandaddy's was oatmeal, Rice Krispees and a donut all in one morning!)

Hers's Miss Grace. Katie and I laughed a lot about how much she reminds us of Katie-her looks and her actions! She's a priss! Santa brought her a Sleeping Beauty doll that is as big as she is and a fun table. Grace is VERY into princesses and playing dress up (especially when she's the bride)! She's definitely a girly-girl!!

Here's Julia who is now 14 months old. Santa brought her a cool piano, but here she's into her sisters' toys. She's all over the place, "Miss Independent" doesn't care if anyone is around or not....She and her cousin Sawyer don't have that in common at all! :)

Christmas Morning

Sawyer was the first one up Christmas morning. He woke me up about 5:00, so we went upstairs and made coffee. He was a little amazed at all the presents, but more interested in his bottle. I gave him a bottle and headed down to Priceville to pick up Grandmother Grace. We got back just in time for the Braddock girls to run into the living room to see what Santa brought.

A shot of the living room Christmas morning

Christmas afternoon, we headed South to Clayton, Alabama (A little smaller place, but lots of action going on in the Williams home as well!)

Us at the Williams's house

We had Christmas with Walker's family on Wednesday. We ate and then dug into the presents! Sawyer probably quadrupled the number of toys he had over Christmas. His big gifts were the Laugh & Learn Home, this cool Fisher Price activity block thingy-that has Peek-a-Boo blocks, and you can slide the blocks like Plinko, a Sit & Spin Zebra, and several John Deere tractors.

Sadie (3), Pitt, Granny Beck, Gracie (5), Jennifer, and Papa Pitt

Gracie is holding her new dog. It knows her name, barks, and grows for 4 days. I think it's pretty fantastic! Sadie got a beautiful doll carriage, a high chair, and clothes from Granny Beck. She loved it!

Diana, Risdon (8 mos), Lil' Mikey (3) and Mikey

I think the McCraneys are pretty cute! Lil' Mikey had a big Christmas full of John Deere tractors and Risdon got lots of the same things Sawyer did. Their house is TOYLAND! Sawyer is going to want to move in with Aunt D when he gets older I know!

Christmas is so much fun! I love the summertime, but not much beats Christmas! It's such a good thing when you get to spend time with your family and friends! Allyson was talking about today how nice it is that she and Wes could just hang out together for the week at Christmas, because they usually have to work! Thank you, Lord, for blessing us like you do and for this wonderful time of year! May we each remember how truly special the gift He gave us is!

California Girls

Katie and her girls are spending the month in Hartselle and have officially taken over Granddaddy's house. Katie has three PRECIOUS little girls, but three girls are A LOT! She definitely has her hands full! Sawyer and I went up to visit on Wednesday and came back home today. Sawyer was kind of in awe at his cousins. He's not quite use to such a loud house. He loved it though! Julia started walking last week, and I think she inspired him a little, because he has become a little more adventurous tonight as he tries to take big steps from one thing to another. He and Shelby took a bath together last night...I should have taken more pictures! They were cute! I'll have to do better at Christmas. Katie's girls like to snuggle with Granddaddy, but Sawyer doesn't like to sit still that long....So, the picture is a pretty good representation of the last few nights at the Brown house. These were taken right after bathtime (as you might can guess from the hairdos)...

I Love a Parade!

Last night was the Andalusia Christmas Parade. Walker and I were really excited to take Sawyer! He loved it! He's really into lights and music, so the parade was right up his alley! Fortunately, we were able to enjoy the parade with several of our good friends from church and their children, Sawyer's buddies.

Please don't hold the chair in the background against any of these cute kids. It did not belong to any of these Auburn babies! Above is Caroline Reeves, John Luke Colvin, Sawyer, and Maggie Ruth Wiggins.

The newspaper picture man came by to snap a picture for the paper. Walker went to buy an Andalusia Star News first thing this morning, because we thought our little boy was going to be in the paper. Sadly enough, they had cropped the picture, and Caroline was the only cute baby in the paper! Better luck next year, Sawyer!

This was taken during the parade. The parade started at 7:00. Sawyer goes to bed at 7:30, so this must have been right around 7:30. He got an extra burst of energy when the band came by!


These are my sweet Andalusia friends! Walker and their husbands are taking the picture. We are so blessed to have such good friends here! In the picture is Kristen Wiggins and Maggie, me and Sawyer, Shonna Reeves and Caroline, and Beth Colvin and John Luke (who apparently was more interested in whatever was behind us).

The Williams Crew

There are currently 5 grandkids in the Williams crew! Sawyer made number four. This is Sadie Williams. She probably loves Sawyer the most! She is WAY into babies and follows him around saying, "Baby, Baby, Baby!" Isn't she cute! She's 3...

This is Gracie, the oldest Williams grandchild, and her pet chicken, Dalmation. In this picture, Gracie's about to throw the chicken to show us how Dalmation flies! Dalmation also lets Gracie push it in the swing and has a perch on the steps to her swing set! SOOOOOOO FUNNY! She wants to be a farmer when she grows up.

This is Sawyer with Lil' Mikey and Gracie. They had just come in from a dove shoot. They both LOVED it! I guess Sawyer will be just as excited in a few years to go with his daddy to pick up dead birds....Who knew that was fun? Mikey wants a feller buncher for Christmas. Mikey's three years old. Does anyone know what that is? For his birthday, he had an articulating dump truck party. He's a mess! Right now he's debating between being a farmer or a preacher when he grows up!

This is Sawyer's cousin, Risdon. He's a month and a half younger than Sawyer. Walker tells Sawyer he better be quick, because it looks like Risdon is going to be bigger. Sawyer is gaining on him everyday though!

The Braddock girls fly into Huntsville tonight. They will be here through January 8th. Can't wait to see those little girls! We haven't seen them since April!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY tomorrow to Katie! She turns the BIG 3-0!!

Happy Turkey Day

In honor of Thanksgiving, I want to see if you know your turkeys! I thought it was fun! Walker scored 13 out of 20. I only scored 9 out of 20! That's not even passing! I declared him the official turkey expert in the family, a title he is proud to have being an avid turkey hunter!

See how you do!

http://home.aristotle.net/Thanksgiving/trivia-index.asp

Sawyer's been a sick little guy this week! He has a double ear infection and a smoker's cough! Therefore, he and I have been spending lots of time at home! We're really looking forward to going to Granny Beck's and Papa Pitt's for Thanksgivng!

Have you seen Saywer's teeth? He has two. Check them out! They are serving him well! When he got these teeth a couple of months ago, I introduced him to Cheerios...He thinks Cheerios and Puffs are the greatest things ever!

This is the face I get when the Cheerios are coming!

Sawyer is a great supported stander these days, so I got down this little car to see if he could walk behind it. So far, he pushes it away and then doesn't know what to do! He stretches his body out as far as he can to keep from falling! He's funny! I don't think it will take him too long to figure it out though!

This is my cooking buddy! He did this for about 20 minutes tonight dancing away while I cooked supper! Thanks, Bourland, for recommending the table! Sawyer likes it a lot!

Look-a-likes

I definitely think it's the cheeks that lean the

"look-alike meter" my way! He gets those from his mama!

My Sweet Grandmother

We love Granddaddy!

Me & My Mama

Aunt Al & Sawyer

Coleman Mizell & Sawyer (He really had a good time!)

Grandmother passed away Thursday morning. My mom called at 6:00 a.m. to say she was having a very hard time breathing, and then she called again at 6:15 to tell us she had gone to heaven. I've never been this close to anyone who has passed away, so it's extremely strange to know that I won't be able to go to her house to chat or call her and hear her voice, but PRAISE THE LORD we have a God that has her in His care! The Bible talks about how you'll be rewarded for the work that you do on Earth. I can't help but wonder how great my grandmother's rewards are! AND I rejoice in the fact that we will see her again!
The visitation and funeral weren't until Saturday, because Katie had to fly in. We were able to spend lots of time with family. It was a great weekend! This was the first time Katie had seen Sawyer since March, so he has grown a lot! Sawyer enjoyed playing with all the Browns!
Suzanne and her boys, Eason and Coleman, kept Sawyer all morning Saturday during the funeral. THANK YOU, SUZ! I think I have the best friends in the world!

Sawyer's First Trip Down the Slide Solo

Standing Alone-Right Before the Dramatic Fall!

Swingin'...Swingin'

Sawyer in the Swings

Sawyer and I made a quick trip to the Dream Park for the first time last Thursday. He LOVES to swing, and he made his first solo trip down the slide. I thought I'd share a picture.
Walker was off all day Friday, so he spent the morning painting our laundry room. We're trying to get last minute things done before we put a for sale sign in the yard. We have really enjoyed our little house! It has definitely kept Walker busy! My uncle said the other day that we should just put a sign in the yard and sell it "as is." He may be right, but I thought to myself he must not know Walker at all! My husband is not a "that's good enough"-type guy. He has spent countless hours on the windows alone in this house. We know this house isn't ever going to be perfect, but Walker has tried his best to get it in good shape! I am blessed to have a husband who actually enjoys working!
The only thing really he feels he has to do before we try and sell our house is paint our bathroom. It's just a matter of finding a weekend or at least a few hours at home.

We went to Hartselle again Friday afternoon. We really had two good reasons for the trip. One was that Allyson and I are kind of heading up our 10 year reunion, and we had a meeting. The other was that we needed to go see Grandmother Brown again.
She had been pretty unresponsive last week. She has really gone down in two weeks! She did perk up though when Sawyer and I got there Friday night. I have a squirmy baby, but he amazes everyone when he will lay still with her. I think he can tell how precious she is (and probably how much she enjoys him!)

Saturday and Sunday we visited again. Allyson and Wes made it up late Friday night, so by the time they got there on Saturday, Grandmother was not able to talk hardly at all. It's definitely a hard thing to go through, but we know (and have talked to Grandmother) about heaven.

Walker and I were talking Friday night about how this is what we're preparing for. In his words, "it's like game-time for Christians." I agree! I pray that my days are spent doing things that would glorify Him!

On a lighter note...Sawyer pulled up for his first time yesterday! I was impressed! I took a picture of him holding on to the footstool today. He thinks it's a game to fall right now, because he knows I'll catch him. He thinks it's pretty fun to let himself almost slam into the floor. :)
Hope you have a great Wednesday!

Bok Bok Ba GAWK!!

I have been so excited about Sawyer's first Halloween! It was a hard decision yesterday whether or not to stay at home, which is a HOT SPOT for trick or treaters OR to go to church for Awana, which we do every Wednesday night. Since we've lived in Andalusia, one of the highlights to living so "in-town" has been Halloween. I think we bought $50 worth of candy last year, and we gave it all out, because we get so many cute kids.....but they were having Awana last night, and Walker and I are leaders, so we hated to miss that.

Anyway...we decided to turn the lights off at home (pretty Scroogy), and go to church where everyone was going to dress up and do trunk or treat.
It was fantastic! All of the kids at church were dressed up. They all loved our little chicken! The girls in my group LOVE Sawyer! It's funny how some kids are SOOOO drawn to babies! Some called him Chicken Little. Other kids said since I was a black-eyed pea (thanks to AC-do y'all remember that?) and Sawyer was a chicken, we were a delicious meal!

Sawyer wore his chicken outfit for 2 1/2 hours (including the hood) just as happy as a lark! I don't think I've ever seen anything as cute as my little boy in a chicken costume! I told Walker I'd never loved him more!!

Costume Winners

I wanted to share the cutest couple award also! In this picture along with the kids is Mr. Johnny and Mrs. Lynn Fuqua. They are sweet people that help with "The Puggles," which is the preschool group of Awana every week! I thought their scarecrow costumes were too cute not to share! Too bad Ty (Superman) did not recognize them!

Tailgate

Although we didn't make it into the game Saturday, we sure enjoyed seeing you, Aunt Al, Say, Lenzie, Bourland, and Erika in Auburn with your sweet husbands and cute kids! Thought I'd share the pictures I snapped in our short time on The Plains. I apologize for our quick departure and for not telling everyone goodbye. Sawyer was having a fit, which made me a little frazzled. He did calm down once we got to the car, so the Williams family stopped by Niffers' on our way back. Sawyer still has a runny nose and a cough, so I'll see about taking him to the doctor this afternoon.
Next year, we'll try and choose a warmer day when Sawyer isn't sick or leave him at Granny Beck's house. Live & learn....Enjoy the pictures! War Eagle!

These were taken Tuesday. We've been to Bible Study this morning, and Sawyer made it the WHOLE time in the nursery! That's big-time stuff for him! I took apple juice and little puffs, maybe that's the ticket! He has two little teeth to crunch them up...you can see them in the top picture.

It Is Magic!

I want to eventually do a favorite things post, but I don't have time this second....BUT I had to pass along my new favorite thing! It's funny how excited I am over this, but if y'all had seen my bathtub, you would understand! I live in a house that was built in 1939, and I'm pretty sure we have the original bathtub. As much as I've scrubbed, I couldn't get it to look clean. That's why Sawyer is 8 months old, and he still takes a bath in the kitchen sink.

Anyway...I had a coupon for this "Magic Eraser." I had a pink spot on my kitchen floor from some toy, and I thought I'd give it a shot. Well, I bought it yesterday and tried it out on my kitchen floor. This spot came up easily, so I took my little piece of magic into the bathroom, and I started scrubbing. IT WAS AMAZING! I'm not kidding! I went back today and bought another pack to finish the job, but this was the best money I have spent in a while! It's less than $3 at Wal-Mart for a pack of two. I bought the "extra power" pack.

Has anyone else tried this? I know they have been around a while, but this was my first experience, and it was too good not to share!

Our Weekend

Grandmother & Sawyer in May


Sawyer and I made an unexpected trip this weekend to Hartselle. We hadn't planned on going until the first of the week to visit, but my dad called and said my grandmother wasn't doing very well. This is my dad's mom-the sweetest lady I know or probably will ever know. She's such an amazing person. When we got there Friday night, she was doing better. We got a call from my aunt Saturday morning that she wasn't doing well again, but when we got there 10 minutes later, she was better. The neat thing about my grandmother is that she's the most selfless person. She is currently suffering from emphysema and congestive heart failure, but I have never heard her complain.

Let me just give you an example of how she is....her sister, Ordene, was there Sunday visiting. Ordene asked Grandmother if she wanted something to drink. Grandmother told her she had something on the table. When Ordene tries to give it to her, Grandmother said, "No. Id don't need it. You drink it." She's laying in the bed, not able to move on her own, but she's still so concerned about everybody else.

Another example...she was in rehab recently because she had fallen and hurt her hip. Grandmother was only able to walk with help and couldn't get up alone. I watched her try to get up, so I asked what she needed. She wanted to get up out of the bed to move her roommate's food tray away from her bed, because she thought it might be bothering her roommate.


I don't know if you can picture this kind act or not, but things like this that she does amaze me. I'm just so proud that she's my grandmother, and I have been able to witness first hand her kindness and sweet spirit.
When Sawyer and I went Saturday afternoon and Sunday my aunt was playing Allan Jackson's Precious Memories cd from the kitchen into her bedroom. Grandmother was singing away. She is precious!


I talked to Katie on the way home yesterday, and she was talking about "the mansions in heaven," which are reference in John 14:2. She was saying how Grandmother deserves a mansion in heaven. That's the truth. She is not the type to worry at all about material things, but her rewards I know will be great in heaven. I thank God for her influence on my life! Please pray for her as she continues to struggle with her health. Thanks!

Sawyer's on the Move

It's amazing how mobile Sawyer has gotten in the last few weeks. A friend of ours gave us the walker, and Sawyer is able to move around the house in it. He's also becoming mobile on the floor. I videoed him today scooting. If he wants something bad enough, he'll scoot over to get it (unless he changes his mind before he gets there). He's so funny! His favorite things right now are his mama's keys and that wooden spoon. We gave him Cheerios for the first time the other day, and I was laughing out loud watching him try to get that little bitty Cheerio into his mouth. The Cheerio would get stuck to his hand, fall on the floor, go down his shirt, get stuck under his chin before he was able to put it in his mouth. We've been working on this skill though, and a few days later...he's about got the Cheerios down. The other thing he really likes is juice. Walker was frustrated with the Sippy Cup people when I was only offering water, because he thought there should be a "transition" cup before a sippy cup, one with a nipple but looked like a Sippy Cup. However, I put a little juice in the Sippy Cup, and Sawyer quickly figured it out.
He's snoozing away right now. Sawyer gets SOOOOOO EXCITED when his daddy gets home, but he's sooooooooo tired by then. He hated to, but he went to bed about 6:30 tonight. I'm hoping he'll make it 12 hours at least.