Terrific Three!

My birthday buddy, how is it possible that you are three years old?  Wasn't it just yesterday that I could hold you in my arms and rock you?  What a sweet little boy you are growing up to be and my, how we love you! 

You've come out of your shell so much this last year and will chatter away when you can grab someone's ear.  You still tend to be more reserved in a large group of people, but you're more than willing to have a good time, especially if brother is leading the way. 

You want to do just about everything that brother does, which is making you less cautious, little by little.  You're my little thinker and so often I can see the wheels turning before you do something.   

There are very few days that I sleep in since you are an early riser.  While I usually wake with the sun these days, I wouldn't trade the world for your sweet little face in front of mine asking for a "cuddle" and a "spot" in the bed.   

You are the perfect main middle man for our family.  You are fairly even tempered (with the exception of a few things that your brother currently does to you : ) and play so well with both of your siblings. 

I pray that as you continue to grow the Lord would give your sensitive spirit a sensititivity to the things of Him, that you would know Him. 

We love you sweet buddy!

Family Pictures

So we just had family pictures done a few weekends ago and I'm in love with so many of the shots!  We have sweet pictures and absolutely hilarious pictures (you can decide which belong in each category : ), but they are all ones that I cherish.The gal who took them is someone I met through my college roommate and that I can now call a friend.  She and her sister were so patient with my crazy crew and a certain little girl's crankiness, and in the end she was able to capture so much of their personality!  Libby was less than thrilled with this venture (hence the large number of family pictures that she's scowling in : ), but even she couldn't help but smile for Maria and Diana in the end.  Maria has a blog where you can read about her adoption journey as well as see some more of her work.  She uses her photography skills as a fundraiser to bring home their sweet baby girl!  If you live in the Columbia area, you are in luck, because this awesome lady will be in town doing photo shoots on June 2nd!  If you would like to help support her and get some awesome pictures in return, leave me a comment or e-mail me, and I'll be happy to give you the details! 

Soccer!

I never thought I'd be a soccer mom, but after just finishing his first 8 week season, I have a feeling I might be for a little while. : )  I felt pretty confident that Sawyer would like soccer.  I mean, he gets to run outside, kick a ball and people cheer when you score a goal.  What's not to love??  What I wasn't expecting was for him to be on a team with all girls!  Ha!  It didn't bother him at all, and it turned out to be just fine.  Until the end the games usually went something like this:  the coach would let one of the girls kick the ball while holding Sawyer back, and then once let loose, he would run like a tornado to get the ball.  For a while he would just run past everyone kicking the ball, in any and every direction,  until someone stopped him!  : )  In the end, he finally started learning to go towards the goal . . . the correct goal!  All in all, he had fun, learned to run without pushing and to go in the right direction.  In my book that's a successful season!

Here are two of the cute members of the cheering section.  The first game was the coldest day I think we had all winter!

Note the fact that he cares a lot more than the little girls do at this point. : )

 Some of his cute team members!

Note where Sawyer is in reference to the rest of his team. : )

One of the best parts, besides snack, was that all the parents would make a tunnel with their arms for the kids to run through.  They thought it was so great!

Edventure!

Where else in Columbia can you play African drums, pick peaches, milk a cow, drive a skid steerer, grocery shop, drive a fire truck and so much more??  Edventure, of course!  This year Grandma and Grandpa got us an Edventure membership and we have loved it!  We've taken several trips, but over Christmas break we got to take Daddy with us!  He was a great sport and jumped in to play, which of course made the boys day!  Granna kept Libby so she could take a nap, and we got to run around with no stroller or diaper bag! : )  What a fun day!