sawyer: four years old.

Our Sawyer Wray turned four yesterday. Which is still unbelievable for us. He just got here, right? Yeah, I guess not...

Anyway, we had his birthday party over the weekend. Since he's practically a July baby, we knew it was going to be hot out so we prepared to have an outdoor party with water fun. And as the party approached, the skies got darker and darker. With the party set to begin at four, and it literally raining cats and dogs at three, I was beginning to get a little worried. But the sky cleared out around 3:30ish and stayed clear until much later in the evening.

So everyone played and yelled and screamed and got wet and had a blast. And we didn't have a bunch of kiddos in the house running around. Win-win, right? We fired up the grill, had some hot dogs, sang happy birthday around a cake that almost had hot pink icing rather than red (red icing be hard, y'all!) and Sawyer opened some super fun gifts surrounded by awesome friends and family.

We've had a bit of a whining problem with our nugget and he promised us that when he turned four he would quit whining. One day in? That hasn't changed so much, ha! But we are looking forward to how he grows this year. He makes us laugh constantly and know that's only going to continue!

diaper clutches.

They're here! Diaper clutches are back and stocked up in the sewLOVED shop. I've created nine different beauties and I love them all for many different reason. I'll just keep using the diaper clutch I've been using though and offer all of these lovelies to you all. What's your favorite combination? That mustard waves with teal accent is making my heart sing today. Tomorrow? Might be a different story!

nap time.

I've always treasured nap times, but never realized just how much I would need that time as a stay at home mom. Graham still mostly takes two naps a day; thankfully his second one coincides with Sawyer's afternoon nap. So win! And when Cayden got out of school for the summer, I decided that even though he doesn't nap anymore, he could probably still use a rest. So he lays in his bed and reads while his two younger brothers sleep.

During this afternoon me time, I used to just watch TV. And then I realized how many other things I could actually do while all the boys were resting. Those few hours started being my cram-all-the-things-in time. Sewing, eating lunch, watching a show, blogging, photo editing... you name it and I'm cramming it in.

But over the last week or so, Cayden's started creeping out of his room after about an hour. I can usually count on Graham to sleep for at least two hours and Sawyer sometimes three! That was cutting my me time in half. So yesterday when Cayden asked if he could hang out with me after only 45 minutes of rest, my immediate response was no. And he was ok with it. But me? I wasn't ok with it. I immediately felt shamed and completely selfish. I was taking photos of my sewLOVED products. Would it really hurt for Cayden to hang out with me while I did that and see what his mama does? Absolutely not. So I called back to him to come hang out with me and he happily bounded to our playroom. It's kind of fun having a little time that it's just us.

So next time he comes creeping out of him room too early, I think we'll sneak in a little mama/Cayden time. It's pretty awesome.

sewLOVED: crib sheets

While the sewing bug hit recently I realized I had a couple of fabrics that I had purchased to create into crib sheets. And then never did. Sad trombone... But today? Today it's a happy trombone! I love both of these fabrics and while putting them in the crib to take photos, had to seriously consider keeping them... I suppose the floral one wouldn't look that great in Graham's nursery, but whatevs...

The teal feather arrows crib sheet is super modern, a great color and would look good in either a boy or girl's nursery. I love it with our white crib, but know this would look beautiful with a darker crib or even a gray crib! While the whimsical floral crib sheet is beautiful, it most definitely works for a little girl's nursery best. There are so many great colors in this fabric – navy, orange, mustard – that would make coordinating a nursery a breeze. And again, love it in a white crib, but think it would look just as nice in a darker crib.

Both are now available in the sewLOVED etsy shop! More updates to come soon!

getting out of the house.

There are days where I never want to set foot out of the house. And sometimes, those days exist. I don't even walk to the mailbox. Which I know sounds lame, but I'm working on those being fewer and happening less often. It's a process. Especially with three young kiddos. But even that has gotten way less intimidating and we're enjoying our little adventures.

This morning I knew I wanted to get out of the house. And not just to the back yard (which is awesome too!). But at the same time, it's hot outside. So I grabbed my phone, checked the current temperature (78º) and declared it "PARK DAY!" and out we walked. Of course, in the fifteen minutes it took us to get out of the house the temperature had risen to 80º. It was only 9 in the morning, so I knew it was only going to get hotter. But we persevered anyway.

And when we got to the park, there was no one there. I mean, there were people exercising on all the tracks, but no one at the playground. The boys were in heaven! And me? I forgot this playground has some big trees and benches that were paired up perfectly. So yes, it was hot, but it wasn't miserable. The boys were able to get their sillies out. The littlest one was able to toddle around (which also led me to buying the poor thing some shoes that fit afterward) and all was well! So well that we've already talked about going back to the park next week. I would venture to a different one (we're so lucky to have three super-close to us!), but the shade and the quiet makes me want to go back to this one. Another plus to park days? Free. And the boys loved being able to run wild just as much as they love anything else.

the climber.

I don't remember Cayden and Sawyer climbing things when they were little. They were happy being on the ground... maybe they would occasionally try to climb the stairs, but they never climbed to just climb. Graham on the other hand? Climbs everything! The couch, the bed, the stairs, plastic bins, cloth bins, any and everything he can. This is such new territory to me. I can't keep him from climbing on the couch, but he hasn't exactly mastered his dismount and has a tendency to fall off. At least in our bedroom the bed is close to the ground and it's carpeted? Oh, Graham...

the mcwane center.

We were incredibly blessed to receive a McWane Center family membership for Christmas. We've only made it out one other time so far this year, but with the weather already being as hot as it is, I can see this being a fairly frequent outing for us. The boys are entertained with every little thing and there's even a new area just for the itty bitties! Fun all around!

We spent almost two hours there this morning and didn't have time to look at all of the things. Which is awesome because that means there's just more to look at when we go back. And we haven't even ventured into the world of IMAX yet... but I think we'll have to before the summer is over.

I love that we have a venue like this so close to us. The boys are learning all sorts of things and they just see it as play. I think that's a win for sure.

the allen three.

I don't often get photos of all three kids together. But when I do, there are several guarantees. One, all three of them will never look at the same time. (Sawyer's side-eye? Killing me!) Two, someone is always going to be moving. And three, there will be a cuteness overload. This photo? Triple guaranteed!

little bit.

This kid. The one with quite a few nicknames. The one who has managed to get in more than the older two combined. The one who likes to climb all the things. The one with eyes that we can't tell what color they'll be. (But seriously, anyone? Brown? Green? Definitely not blue anymore.) The one who loves his brothers fiercely. The one who cries crocodile tears when he doesn't get to go outside. The one who's stolen all of our hearts. And the one who can give us a look that cracks us up instantly...

Graham. A loud little thing that walks and climbs. That yells his own words at us. And also sweetly says some real words to us. Currently cutting six upper teeth all at once (to add to the only two he currently has). And possibly cutting his one year molars at the same time. (Um... that's fun.)

Such an amazing little thing wrapped up in this tiny package. And as challenging as he can be, we wouldn't have it any other way.

cayden: last day of kindergarten.

Again, about three weeks ago... but who's keeping track?

::laughs, sobs... how does the time get away so easily?::

Anyway, Cayden had an awesome first year of school. Awesome. We felt like he went in super-prepared this fall, but we're amazed at the progress he made over this short time span. It seemed like he would never start reading, but y'all, the dude can read. In our school system, they want kindergarteners to read at a level D upon graduation. Cayden's reading at a level K. K! According to some charts, that's entry-level second grade. And yes I'm bragging; I'm proud!

His handwriting has also gotten so much better. He still writes a couple of his numbers backwards (mainly the number 2 because I think he gets it confused with 5 just a bit), but otherwise he's writing whole sentences. Creatively. And illustrating those sentences too. It's all sorts of cool.

Jeremy and I can no longer spell things around him either. Which is great if we need to communicate something with Cayden that we don't want Sawyer to know about. It's not so great if we're trying to communicate privately and he can sound out what we've spelt. Ah, good times!

He's a bit of a social butterfly... which, on occasion, got him into a little bit of trouble this year. Never enough trouble to warrant a meeting with the teacher. We'll see how this goes as he gets older. It's tough being a five year old stuck in a classroom setting for most of the day you know? He's also a little bit of a clown... if you couldn't tell from the photos above.

Overall, he's an amazing kid. Super smart. Super cute. Super sensitive. And super awesome.

sawyer: last day of 3k.

Running a couple of weeks behind on getting things shared because summer. Anyway, Sawyer wrapped up 3k a couple of weeks ago. This was his first year at "school" and he loved every single second of it. He loved the school. He loved his teacher. He loved his friends. I think he really just loved having something all his own. As a middle child it's hard to get that, you know? But school for Sawyer? Was just that. His own.

I feel like he's grown leaps since he started last fall. His vocabulary most certainly has – we'll often get the response, "That's just... impossible!" from Sawyer. And it makes us laugh because he says it the best way a three year old can. He knows all of his letters (with the exception of getting "M" and "W" mixed up every so often – who can blame him?). He can write most of his letters too. Ask him to write his name and he'll sit down, grab a pencil, put his tongue in the corner of his mouth and go to town.

Every night that Cayden had homework, Sawyer asked to do his homework too. As in, he asked to do Cayden's homework. Short of sight-words/reading, Sawyer would tell us each letter of the alphabet (in a random order) and let us know what sounds they made. I feel like he's pretty brilliant. I'm also pretty biased.

We've got him signed up for 4k in the fall, moving to a three-day-a-week schedule. I'm already unsure of how to use all the quiet time this fall, but I'm pretty sure I'll be able to find something to fill that time. Ahem, the ridiculously curious one year old would be the something.