oh, sweet sawyer.

How is it that you're already two? I mean, I get that that many days have passed since you were born, but how? And when? And good grief, where has the time gone?

Little man, you are a force to be reckoned with. You are loud and in charge and passionate and loud and emotional and sweet and loud and... Did I mention loud? You are seriously passionate though. Passionate in your sweetness. Passionate in your activities. Passionate when you're upset. I guess you just really know how to express what you're feeling even if you don't quite have the words to say it all yet.

Speaking of words, there was a time a few months ago when we thought that you would never speak. Ha. Bahaha. Bwahahahahaha. Not anymore! If my memory's correct, I'd be willing to bet that you are saying a lot more than your brother was at this age (the only milestone you seem to be ahead on when comparing). I think part of this speech explosion could be due to the fact that you spend all day with your brother and Nana who talk to you with all the words. It's awesome, and we're glad that you can mostly communicate with us now.

And oh, Sawyer, speaking of your brother... You love him with a vengeance! Sometimes you do fight with a vengeance too, but the bond the two of you have formed is so cool. I can't wait to see where this relationship the two of you have goes. I pray that you'll be the best of friends and can always rely on each other during any good times or hardships.

Currently you and Cayden share a room and bunk beds; you sleep on the bottom while brother sleeps above. You still have a guardrail on the side of the bed, but judging from the lack of crazy bedhead, I'd be willing to bet that you've quit sleeping against it like you used to. You seem to show a tiny bit of interest in the potty, so I suppose we're looking at potty training sometime around the corner. You love all the fruits, but are a little wary of some the things that mama cooks for you at night. You do still try everything at least once though, so that counts for something.

Sawyer, you amaze us. You have these dark eyes that seem as though they know more than your two year old self should know. You have the sweetest little crinkle in your nose when you scrunch your face up (either in jest or anger). You allowed Cayden to become a big brother and a role model. And now, we couldn't imagine life any other way.

We have big plans for your birthday day. Starting with donuts. Mmmm.... donuts....
We could eat you up, we love you so...

the fresh 20.

If you follow me on Instagram, you've most likely seen me posting some photos of food here and there. (& p.s., if you don't follow me on Instagram, you can do that here. Now!) Anyway, I've been hashtagging (my computer says that's not a word, but it totally is, right?) my photos with #TheFresh20. And people, if you haven't heard of The Fresh 20 yet, I'm so glad I could introduce you.

I saw some people on the Twitters talking about it a few months back and how cool it was. And I was all like, "I need to check this thing out." What is it, you may ask?

Have you ever gotten home from work, had a fridge full of food and still have no idea what to cook? (If you haven't, please just back away slowly. Ha!) We would menu plan and STILL go out to eat almost every night. We just weren't happy with our menus and had no idea where to go.

And then enters The Fresh 20. Y'all, I got a Groupon deal on a year membership and have not been disappointed yet. Every Friday, they add the menu for the next week. There are detailed instructions on everything you're going to prepare. And my favorite part? They make the grocery list for you! Hurrah! And there are even some make-ahead things to make the nights even easier. Sometimes I take advantage of the make-ahead section, and sometimes I just go with the flow. Either way works!

There are three different menu options to choose from: Classic, Vegetarian and Gluten-free (oh, and I see they've added a Lunch plan too!). We chose the classic plan. It seems like every week there's at least one meal that is a fish/seafood dish and another meal that's a vegetarian dish. There have been very few meals we've prepared that we just weren't in love with.

And y'all, Cayden eats most of it too! That's impressive. (Don't ask about Sawyer. Some days he'll eat what we cook, and some days he won't touch it. Sometimes the food has a lot of flavor, and that could be part of the problem... we don't push it, but definitely still offer it to him.)

I don't know if there are any deals going on to buy a membership still, but it's definitely worth the price either way. We will be renewing our membership when it expires for sure. And I'm actually enjoying cooking now. It's weird. I never thought I'd enjoy being in the kitchen, but I do! Maybe one day I'll actually get better at photographing food? Eh, probably not...

summer light.

Sometimes I forget just how delightful a warm summer evening can be. Especially when it's right around 7 p.m. and the sun is starting to set behind the trees across the street from our house. And the boys are digging in the dirt (all of my boys, mind you). And there's basically no humidity in the air and the wind is lightly blowing. There are squeals of delight from the littles as they pick up sheets of hard dirt and chunk them away.

And then there are other moments where we shine as parents. Like telling your oldest to keep an eye on the hose to make sure the water doesn't come out. And daddy doesn't realize how close Cayden's holding it to his face, or realize how fast the water's about to shoot out. And mean mama sits there with the camera on Cayden and captures the moment. And doesn't even have the decency to NOT laugh. Oh you guys, I cry-laugh when I watch this every. single. time. Cayden started crying immediately after; I pretty much dropped the phone to get to him. He was fine, just a little startled. After we showed him the video, he laughed right along with us and asked to see it again and again. And again. Oh, and again.

a little bubble mower action.

It's been raining here a lot, so when the sun broke free last night, we urged the boys to get out and play. Cayden wanted to sit inside and play on the iPad (it's his reward for having a good day/no potty accidents/listening semi-well). Since they hadn't been outside all day, we told him he could have iPad time AFTER some outside time. It took a little convincing, but once he saw Sawyer outside playing with his bubble mower, he was all over it.

We don't normally have two toys of this size that are identical. But we picked up Cayden's bubble mower a couple of years ago at a yard sale. And Sawyer received his as a birthday gift from his Granna. Seeing them both sprinting around with their mowers was pretty cute. They'd get in the grass on either side of the driveway and then yell at each other. "Bruver! Here!" "No, Sawyer, you come here!" And back and forth they would go.

Sweet little moments. And then we went inside and had quiet time/iPad time before bed. The end.

(Side note: Wednesday mornings are trash/recycle days. I promise those huge cans aren't normal everyday fixtures in our driveway. Usually.)

vacation bible school 2013.

Cayden was finally old enough to attend our Vacation Bible School, so we sent him on his merry way this week. He's been having a blast: coming home every day with some new craft, kind of telling us about what he was learning and playing on the playground! Last night they had a little program for the kiddos to show off the new songs they've learned. At first? Cayden wasn't having it. He thought jumping from the steps was more exciting, so he finally decided to join in. And it just makes me smile! We're finally THOSE parents that wave to their child while the child smiles silly and gets bashful. Y'all, I could not have wiped that smile off my face last night... not even if someone had offered me a million bucks. It was just one of those moments, you know?

This is just a little snippet of the fun that was had last night. It starts and stops abruptly, but you'll get the idea. Enjoy!

(Our kiddo is fourth from the right on the second step. Black flops, green shorts. Believe me, you'll see the shorts when he starts jumping. And doesn't stop. And also? I think we need to work on his spirit fingers. Ha!)

sawyer's new 'do.

I wanted it to be short. And then I saw the first picture of it and freaked out. I mean, it's short-short. But as soon as he opened his mouth and his eyes started talking too, it was all good. Yes, he looks completely different, but it's adorable in a whole new way. We keep asking him where his hair went and he pulls on his hair. I don't know that he's sure what to make of it yet either! We were sitting at the table last night and saw him shifting his eyes right and left. Um, pretty sure the boy had no peripheral with that mop on his head before! He can now see in all directions. Ha!

As different as he looks, and as much as I'll miss his curls, I'm glad that we went ahead and got it cut. He'd only been called a girl at least 5 times in the last week (regardless of the clothing he was wearing). Surely there's no mistaking he's all boy now, right? Right?!?!

jake & the never land pirates party.

The photos pretty much tell the story. There was cake! That was covered in fondant! That Jeremy and I made! It's not the prettiest, but it was our first attempt at ever making a cake of this caliber. Which also includes our first time to make fondant. It was a marshmallow fondant and it was delicious. The kids all seemed to love it too, so while it had a not-so-smooth appearance, I think it still went over well.

There was a treasure hunt too! First all the kids had to find their Jake or Izzy garb. Then they all had to find their spyglasses. Then they had to walk the plank to earn their swords (and eyepatches). We had pirates running everywhere. And swords flying everywhere. Thankfully no one was hurt in the playing of swords. Mostly.

It was a weird day. Warm, with a chance of rain. And the chance came through. So the party had to move inside for a little bit. The rain didn't last long (some kiddos, including Sawyer, stayed out in it), so we moved the party back outside. Whew, was it humid. Please note Sawyer's curls. Ha!

Seems like everyone had a great time. The boys were more than blessed with gifts. We chose to open the gifts after everyone left as that sometimes gets a bit crazy, you know? More photos available (I know, more than this? Yes!) over on Facebook...

our boys. in silhouette.

Now that both of our moms have their mother's day presents (yes, I know it's June, but sometimes these things take time!), I can safely share this little print I did of the boys. Back when I shared this little photo shoot, it was in preparation for this piece of art. And I couldn't possibly give one to both of our moms without printing one for us to keep too!

I love so many things that this silhouette captures: How Cayden's pants are way too long and are pooling at his feet; how Sawyer's pants are too long and have cuffs; Cayden's arm wrapped around his brother; Sawyer's little curls sticking out; the tilt of Cayden's head; Sawyer's little fingers pointing out to the side. I could go on, but I think you get it.

This was my first attempt at doing a full body, multiple person silhouette and I can't quite express with how happy I am with how this project ended up. Thinking of maybe adding this option to the shop for silhouettes. What do you guys think?