Happy Birthday Sadie!!!!

A year ago today little Miss Sadie came into the world and immediately had us asking that same question that parent's have been asking since the beginning of time....what did we do before we had a kid? Well, I honestly can't remember what made our lives so rich before but I can tell you beyond a shadow of a doubt that nothing has made us happier and laugh more than our precious gift from God. I can't tell who has more fun, us or her!
Now her big party is on Saturday but we wanted to do something special (and preferably free) on her birthday. We figured we have years of Chuck E Cheese, swimming, movie, and sleepover parties in our future so we decided to start off slow and go to the Ft. Worth Botanical Gardens and let Sadie practice walking around. It was pretty hot but there is so much shade that it wasn't too bad.
I would love to tell you more about it but since it is Sadie's day she insisted on narrating herself so enjoy the day through Sadie's eyes! (as usual, Sadie's words will be in pink as per her instructions)

Actually, I want my words in blue today!

Whatever.

So, happy birthday to me! I really loved the Botanical Gardens and I can't wait to show you the pictures. Here we go...
Our journey began at a beautiful fish tank filled with all kinds of brightly colored fish from around the world!

Are these for sale? I asked Mom and Dad. They said no. BOO!!!

Ohhh, I think I found Nemo!

Sometimes, I need a little help getting my balance but who doesn't?

I'm starting to get this walking thing down. Mom and Dad didn't want to forget how old I am so they made me wear a big 1 on my shirt.

I thought this looked like a good place to sit and get my bearings. So much nature, so little time!

The lavender smelled so good and it was so pretty. I couldn't resist taking a few petals, literally...I am still trying to control those fine motor skills. Oh well.

As I sat surrounded by the beauty of God's creation I pondered our existence and the reason we are put on this earth.

I came up with a wonderful metaphor about the fragility of flowers and human life and tried to paint a picture in my parent's minds so that they could fully appreciate all the wonders this life has to offer...I don't think they are as deep as I am though.

See what I mean, look at the goofy, "devil may care" look on my dad's face. It's so hard to be young and misunderstood.

Why they keep insisting on making me play with water I will never know. I mean, what is so exciting about water? I gave a few good splashes to appease the parents so we could move on.

I was flattered that Mom gave up the camera to get a picture with me. I could tell she was wanting to tell Dad exactly what to do but she held her tongue...big step for my control freak Mamma!

Halfway through our garden excursion I was parched. Luckily, the parents packed a sippy with juice for me.

Look! A squirrtel eating a piece of grass. I like squirrtels.

Actually Sadie, they're called squirrels. There isn't a T.

Geez Mom! You could have told me that before I made a fool of myself.

I was struck once again with a deep thought about nature and how the harshness of the Texas sun does not prevent the flowers from growing because God has ingrained them to survive despite the odds, much like us as humans!

Then I forgot about my philosopical thoughts when I realized this was perfect opportunity to steal Dad's hat...hee hee!

Well, here's a beauty shot if ever there was one. I bet this one is going in a frame.

You're right about that one Sadie.

I'm always right Mom.

Here's another one that's frame bound!

Funny story behind this picture. I was so proud of Mom because she didn't freak out when she saw this bee, instead she took a picture of it. As it turns out, she thought she was just taking a picture of a pretty flower and she didn't see the bee until she looked at the picture on the screen. I've never seen her run so fast, it was hilarious.

Thanks Sadie.

Hee hee hee.

This part of the garden was very interesting. It had little learning stations for kids. I would have learned a lot but I can't read yet.

Whoops! I got turned around when walking. Don't you hate it when you pivot accidentally and suddenly you're facing the wrong way? That happens to everyone right?

It does when your learning to walk.

Ahhh, the trials and tribulations of being a toddler.
You probably won't do that by the time you start high school.

What's with the italics? Thanks for the vote of confidence Mom!

Moving on. Now this little contraption Dad and I are playing with was amazing. You would press a button and it would make different bird sounds and you had to guess what bird it was. The parents got every single one of them wrong. It's like watching Jeopardy with them all over again.

I don't actually remember the name of this particular plant but I do know that it is indigenous to Texas.

Ooooh, big word for such a little girl.

Don't be condescending Mom.

Another big word!

Sigh!

This tree is massive! I didn't know such trees existed in this part of the world. Maybe it was imported.

I knew at this point that our journey through the garden was pretty much over and I wholeheartedly thanked Mom and Dad for bringing me to this wonderous place. But I think next year, I want to go to a movie for my birthday! I hope you enjoyed my blog and I will try to write another one after my fabulous birthday party!

Well, there's not much more I can add onto that. We did take Sadie out to eat after the garden and she filled up on chicken, mashed potatoes, corn, biscuits, and pink lemonade. We would have gotten her a little dessert but it was getting late and she still needed a bath because she was so sticky and sweaty. I don't think she minded because she likes to stay on schedule. Look for the party blog coming up next!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY MY SWEET SADIE!!!!

Summertime...and the livin' is easy!

This entry is going to be short and sweet. I just want to let everyone know that the camera's are fully operational and hopefully we can get some swimming pictures up soon. Sadie isn't a water rat by any means but she is relatively pleasant in the water once she gets over the shock of being cold. Here are a couple of pictures from the last few days.
Since Sadie is going to be 1 on Tuesday (AHHHHH) we thought she needed to start pulling her weight around here. NO MORE FREE MEALS!! We started her off easy with helping fold the laundry...



She really "gets in" to her work. Hee Hee.
She is starting to mimic what she sees us do. She will brush her hair, drink from anything that resembles a cup, use a fork etc... so it was only natural that she pull some clothes on over her head...after all that's what Mommy and Daddy do :)

She was so proud of herself that we just let her wear Daddy's boxers around her neck for awhile. Don't worry, they were clean, she got them from the basket.

Ahhh, the unstoppable duo! Sadie and Cousin Jordy are only 6 months apart and the closeness in age is starting to show. They ALWAYS want the same toy. Most of the time they play nicely together but babies will be babies and it isn't always easy to share. Becca and I have already played the "whose vomit is it?" and "who do it?" game with these two. We still don't know the answer to either question :)

They look more like brother and sister than cousins! So cute in their stripes.

And of course, the girls have a very special relationship! Amaya can't wait to teach Sadie everything she knows and Sadie can't wait to get a hold of those glasses!

I tried to find a picture of Caden and Sadie but he is a very busy boy and he has quite a bit to do in the summer, we'll catch him eventually though!

Sadie is very close to her cousins and they are all so sweet with her. The oldest two were so excited when she was born (Caden practically climbed up my leg when he first met her) and their excitement hasn't waned a bit! They still love to hug and kiss her when they see her and she just melts under their attention. Whenever she stands up or takes a few steps alone Caden and Amaya scream for all of us to come running because "Baby Sadie is walking!" We will really miss those three kiddos when we move :( Hopefully they will be able to come visit us in Hart!

That's all for tonight. Tomorrow we are celebrating Robby's first Father's Day! Then we are cleaning and getting ready for Sadie's party on Saturday! YEAH!! Many more pictures and stories to come.

Sadie has not been pleased with my lack of updates because apparently "her fans" need to know what is going on in her life. So, she has decided to take matters into her own hands and send out her own blog explaning all of her fabulous adventures in her own words. I am merely being used to transcibe what she says because she has a lot to say and I am the faster typist. However, she has insisted that her words be in pink so as to not confuse them with mine. So enjoy: Sadie's blog...

Ok, so mom hasn't updated everyone on my life in over a month so here goes...I have been a very busy girl. A few weeks ago Mom and Nana took me to a place called "the PARK" to play with my cousins Amaya, Caden, and Jordan. I have gotten used to our "going out" routine but this time Mom put some white lotion on me beforehand which I did NOT enjoy. I was concerned that the lotion was a precursor to what I would experience at "the PARK" so I tried to ask Mom about what I could expect in the car on the way there but apparently she just saw a photo opportunity:

As it turns out, "the PARK" was a blast. I got to do many things I had only heard about from my cousins. I got to swing (I was a little perturbed that Mom and Nana insisted on putting me in the baby swing but I hid it well)

I thoroughly enjoyed the swing even though I felt like I was sitting in a bucket.

I think I enjoyed the swings a bit more than Jordan though. They make him a bit uneasy.

I begged and begged but Mom wouldn't let me go on the slide by myself. *sigh* She probably won't just throw me in the deep end when we go swimming either. She's not a believer in the "sink or swim" theory. In the end though I was happy she was there because it was kind of scary.

I rode a two seater motorcyle with Amaya. At first I was concerened that she wasn't watching the road but than I realized it was stationary. I felt so silly :)

My favorite part of "the PARK" was eating ice cream with Mom. I say ice cream but I actually think it was flavored ice...it was still yummy though. There was gum at the bottom but Mom wouldn't let me have it, I was bummed about that.

The best part was getting to play with my big kid cousins. I am so glad they are starting to see me as one of them and not a baby.

I had so much fun with my cousins at "the PARK" I was thrilled when they invited me to go to a place called "the MUSEUM" One of our first stops was at a place called the Dino Dig where we were to take a brush and dig up dinosaur bones from a giant sand box. At first I was underwhelemd...

Once they put a brush in my hand though, I was a natural. I didn't find anything but I managed to cover myself in sand so I consider that a Dino Dig success!

Next, we went to the children's section and I discovered something wonderous...you may not know that I like buttons and I LOVE buttons that light up. You can imagine my delight when I found a row of big, shiny, brightly lit buttons. Jordan even taught me how to hit them really hard and make a loud sound! I can't tell you how satisfying it was to hit all those bright buttons as many times as I wanted. Mom and Dad are always pulling me away from the little blue buttons under the TV.

Buttons, buttons, who's got the button?

I had a wonderful time at the museum but I was equally as excited to try my hand at gardening. Nana was planting some beautiful flowers she got for mother's day and I was eager to get my hands dirty.

After a few minutes though I couldn't stand not doing what I had wanted to do since I stuck my hand in that glorious soil. I tried to be sneaky about it but my dratted mom caught me eating the dirt. She wasn't angry though, she just shook her head but I wasn't allowed to garden anymore after that.

After the garden debacle I had to take a bath. I'm really starting to enjoy a nice soak in the tub, especially when I have my plastic spoon to bang loudly and splash water with! I wanted to use Nana's good-smelling bath stuff but Mom won't let me. She insists on using the non-fragrant stuff so I don't get another rash. I tried to explain that beauty is pain but she was so busy taking my picture and laughing at my hair that I don't think she understood.

This month I expereinced a number of new things but I was also introduced to the holiday Mother's Day. Mom explained to me that she wanted me to sign cards for my grandmas and great-grandmas.

At first I was excited and couldn't wait to get started...

Of course, once I had the pen in my hand I remembered that I don't know how to write or even spell my own name. So I yelled my love into each card and flung them around for awhile.

After personally yelling my love into all those cards and my usual nightly kinethesics, I was exhausted. I'm not yet old enough to "use my words" and Mom wouldn't put down that confounded camera...even when I was yelling and whining she kept snapping pictures. I included this picture to show everyone what I am subjected to daily.

Well, as my throat is feeling scratchy and it is past my bedtime I think I am going to sign off until another day. I hope you enjoyed this little glimpse into my life and I would like to leave you with this one last note.

Don't ever let anyone....wait, what was that?

9 months and 18 days.

Sadiebug is 9.5 months old and in honor of her I thought I would share with you 9.5 interesting facts about our sweet little "bug".

9.5 Sadie's absolute favorite thing in the world is... (this was the .5, I will tell the rest when she is 10 months old)


9. Sadie is crawling all over the place now. She really took off during Spring Break and hasn't slowed down since. She's quick too, especially in the moment when we take the dirty diaper off and right before we get a clean one on. She loves to roam around sans diaper!

Sadie's Thoughts: Please oh please take me outside! I love Spring...I think.

8. Sadie is practing her waving skills. Right now she is only waving with her left hand and she has to watch her fingers closely to make sure it is done correctly. She is very serious about waving.



Sadie's Thoughts: Put the camera down woman and take me outside or feel my wrath!

7. Sadie has two teeth, both on the bottom. I learned today that I should be brushing her little teeth everyday...whoops!

Sadie's Thoughts: Ok, I don't know what this stuff is but I can't decide if it's a pleasant tactile experience or not.

6. Sadie is a total ham and loves it when everyone is paying attention to her and laughing with her! I'm pretty sure she gets this trait from Robby, who as we all know, loves to be the center of attention.

Sadie's Thoughts: I love smiling, smiling's my favorite!

5. Sadie has a security blanket that she needs when going to sleep, riding in the car, being dropped off at daycare, or just anytime she sees it. It's a pink fuzzy blanket that she loves to chew on. She also wrapped herself up in it yesterday and proceeded to hunch over her toybox like a little old lady. Hilarious!

Sadie's Thoughts: I'm perplexed. This bench is my size and NOTHING is my size. What is going on? Did I turn into a giant?

4. Sadie hits...hard. She also pinches, pulls hair, and has been known to throw the occasional toy. But at least she smiles the whole time...like a crazy person!

Sadie's Thoughts: Holy Mother of Pearl! I think I'm standing alone!

3. Sadie is beginning to show signs of separation anxiety. I couldn't leave her sight today without her flipping out. Naptime was fun.

Sadie's Thoughts: It's Daddy! When did you get here...sneaky.

2. Sadie's favorite game is to take turns making raspberry and gasping sounds. She will mimic us if we do it first but sometimes she likes to start the game too. I am hoping to get this on video posthaste.

Sadie's Thoughts: I hope this isn't a long trip because I'm pretty sure pretty strapped down in this chair is torture...I don't care how comfortable it looks!

5 hours later...

Sadie's Thoughts: This is the longest car trip ever! I think my muscles have atrophied...nope still good. (Big dramatic sigh)

1. Out of everything I have ever done in my life...Sadie takes the cake. Watching her grow is a wonderful privelige and one that I have enjoyed immensely. I am so thankful that she is healthy, happy and thriving and I thank God everyday for blessing me with this amazing person.