Our Family Blog of Yorks and Dogs

California Trip: Part 3

2012-02-11T10:00:00.000-08:00

After we left my Grandmother's, we traveled up the coast. Tyler has always wanted to drive on the Pacific Coast Highway, so even though it was a longer drive, we thought it would be worth it. And boy was it! It was so incredibly beautiful! Here are some pictures of the drive.

We later drove down to that road as climbed on those rocks.

Breath taking!

Tyler and Sawyer are really small on the rocks above, but this is off the road from the earlier picture

After the trip up the coast, we stopped at the Monterey Bay Aquarium. I have been to Monterey before but never got to go to the Aquarium. We got there only one hour before it closed, so we did a speed site seeing, but it was really cool.

Blurry, but a huge octopus

Sea Turtle- love them!

The view from the back side of the Aquarium

We then stayed the night in Santa Cruz with Tyler's buddy Barnard over night. (He was there for work, so it was lucky for us that Tyler could visit him). The next day we headed up to San Francisco to see the Redwoods on the other side of the Golden Gate Bridge. We forgot the camera for the Redwoods (I know, right? Tyler didn't hear the end of it, I promise) but we did get one picture of the Golden Gate Bridge!

After the redwoods, we hit the road again for our trip home. We stopped in Reno for a all you can eat Lobster buffet at a casino and stayed the night. The next day we drove to Provo to eat at Nicoitalians Pizza (Tyler and I's favorite Pizza place from when we were dating) and then stayed in Alpine with my friend Jessie and her family. The last day we drove through Wyoming for the very last leg of our trip. Right when we crossed the Colorado/Wyoming border, Sawyer decided he wasn't feeling well and threw up all over himself. We pulled the car over, cleaned him up, and kept driving home. Right as we passed the Broncos stadium, Tebow threw the pass that was run all the way down field to win the game against the Steelers. This was the game the first game of the playoffs, so it was pretty exciting they had gotten that far. An hour and a half later, we were home. The kids jumped in the bath and had a great time being out of the car.

Aren't they so stinkin' cute!

We immediately got thrown back into our crazy life and schedule but really enjoyed the time we had to get "away from it all". Turns out the reason Sawyer was throwing up was because of all the congestion he had. He then passed that sickness off to Brooklyn and mommy. Brooklyn ended up getting her first cough and ear infection. Poor little girl.

Not our usual happy baby.

After driving over 3000 miles in one week and then getting sick when we got home we still had a great time and felt it was worth it! I wish we could go back like tomorrow, but I'm afraid it will probably be a few years. Next time maybe the kids will be big enough to go to Disneyland!

California Trip: Part 2

2012-02-11T08:52:00.000-08:00

After leaving Southern California, we traveled up the coast a little to visit my 92 year old grandmother. She lives in beautiful Grover Beach, CA. This beach allows you to drive onto it and camp or have bonfires or whatever. In fact, when we left the beach that night, I got our car stuck in the sand. It was hard to see because it was getting dark, and I am obviously inexperienced driving on sand, and sure enough I got us so stuck someone had to come rescue us. Oh well, lesson learned!

The kids and I on Grover Beach

Daddy and Sawyer playing in the water during sunset.

While we were visiting my Grandmother we went about an hour north of her house to see Hearst castle. On our drive up, we stopped in Cambria for lunch. It has a beautiful park right on the beach that we ate at.

Then we went and saw the elephant seals. It is impossible to describe how this looked, but there were hundreds of them spread out all over the beach. It was really cool to see.

We then went to Hearst castle. What a beautiful place! I wouldn't mind living there!

Major selling point- the enormous pool!

Oh, and an indoor pool also

That night we went to dinner with my Grandmother. At the restaurant they have servers stand on chairs with blindfolds on and poor water into a glass on someones head. It was funny to watch!

Here is my beautiful grandmother

Can you believe she is 92? I have great longevity in my family!

It was so great to see her. I wish we could have stayed longer!

California Trip: Part 1

2012-02-11T08:37:00.000-08:00

I have been dying to go to California for the past few years and finally had an opportunity to go, so we took it. I used to live in Southern California as a nanny and I miss it soooo much! My grandmother (my mother's mom) also lives there and I hadn't seen her in 6 or 7 years. She is 92 now and I really wanted to go see her. The trip was so much fun. Like any trip, we have a million pictures, so I will divide them over a few posts, but feel free to skip ahead to another post. This is mostly just for our families sake.

We left Colorado and drove straight to St. George, UT where my grandmother (on my dad's side) had recently moved to. It was really good to see her (even if she had only moved away a week before) and great to see her new place. The next day we hit the road bright and early and traveled to California and stayed with one of my friends Rachel (love her!). While we were in southern Cali, we took the opportunity to go to the San Diego Zoo.

Brooklyn all ready to go!

Checking out the elephants

The peacock was trying to find some lunch

Sawyer playing hid-n-seek with the tree

Sawyer was the pilot of the helicopter

We walked around the Zoo all day and Sawyer choose to walk the whole time. He didn't want to ride in the stroller. I was impressed that he could walk so much! Even Tyler and I were sick of walking. He really loved the animals and had a great time.

The next day we went to Coronado Island with my friend Rachel, her husband Brandon, and their two kids, Gid and Stella. This was the first our kids had ever been to the Ocean. They loved it!

Having fun with Daddy!

Soooo pretty!

Mmmm... sand tastes good!

I miss it already. California is so beautiful and was such a nice change from the cold Colorado weather. It was definitely strange seeing people walking around in shorts and tank tops in January.

Christmas 2011

2012-02-11T07:53:00.000-08:00

We had a lot of fun with Christmas this year! Sawyer was very excited about it and talked about Santa all the time. The cutest thing would happen when we drove around with Christmas music on. Sawyer kept shouting out "I want Jingle Bells", and when I would sing it for him, he would sing along. Seems like that was his favorite song this year. He got tons of presents and loved them all!

The presents Santa left him (before Sawyer saw them)

Santa even made a little choo-choo train out of candy for Sawyer. Trains are by far his favorite thing right now.

Brooklyn's presents from Santa

Our massive Christmas tree. It is hard to tell from the picture, but it was about 10 feet tall. Guess that's what happens when you leave it up to mom to pick the tree- she picks the biggest one!

Santa enjoyed his cookies and milk

Brooklyn bright and cheery as always on Christmas morning

Showing off his stocking

Checking out Sawyer's new wooden train set

Grandma York sent lanterns for all of us

Brooklyn got "Miss Rumphius" from Autie Mo

Opening presents from Auntie Shirley

Playing with her new sock monkey from Auntie Shirley

Sawyer got a book from Grandma York

Santa brought Daddy some glass bottles of coke. Sawyer wanted to try them out. (Sawyer even said "Coke!" not sure how he knows that word, musta been daddy who taught him)

We all had a wonderful time and are grateful for the chance we have to celebrate our Savior's birth. We missed all our family who is not close to us and hope everyone else had a very Merry Christmas also.

Happy Thanksgiving!

2011-11-26T14:30:00.001-08:00

As always, we had a big feast at my Grandmothers house here in Colorado Springs. This year was a little bitter sweet for us all in my family. My grandmother has lived here in Colorado Springs for as long as I can remember. She moved here a year before we did, 25 years ago. My grandpa passed away a few years ago, and my uncle, who lives with her has a lot of health problems. After going to St. George for our family reunion this year, she decided to move down there. We have more family down in that area and my uncle Mike does much better in the warmer weather. My grandma's house is a beautiful home that has SO many memories in it for all of her kids, grandkids, and great grandkids. This was our last hoorah at her home. I am so sad to see her go, but know that things change and life moves on. She is a great example to me and I will miss having her so close to us. I hope someday to be as amazing as she is. Go figure, I didn't take ANY pictures at Thanksgiving dinner. We had at least 50 people there again, which is always so fun. This year I couldn't be more grateful for my family. I have a HUGE, wonderful, loving family and feel so lucky. AND, I have two wonderful children and a loving husband that I couldn't be happier to get to spend eternity with. Boy am I lucky! So sorry for the lack of pictures in the post, but I am very grateful for the blessings in my life and no picture could ever show that anyway. Hope you all had a wonderful Thanksgiving as well!

The grandma in me...

2011-11-26T14:12:00.001-08:00

Since I started working the graveyard shift at work, my life has been pretty crazy! I am not loving it, but hey, it pays the bills, right? Work can get pretty slow in the middle of the night, so I decided I needed to find a new hobby. I went to the library, found a book, and taught myself how to crochet. Then, thanks to Pinterest (which I am officially obsessed with), I found some awesome patterns and discovered the Grandma inside of me. Here are my latest creations...

( I made another monster hat for my co-workers little boy- isn't he the cutest!)

I have never felt very crafty so I was a bit skeptical that I could learn. Knowing how amazing MY grandmother is I knew it had to be in me somewhere. At least it keeps me busy! :)

October snow!

2011-11-26T14:06:00.001-08:00

This year we had snow on October 7th. A LITTLE early if you ask me. Maybe that just means winter will get over sooner next year. Doubt it though! I think I need a trip to Hawaii!

Looks like someone else isn't happy about the snow!

Just kidding! She is ALWAYS happy! :)

Uh oh....

2011-11-26T14:01:00.001-08:00

Move over dad!

This girl knows who is in charge....

Halloween 2011

2011-11-26T13:48:00.001-08:00

For Halloween this year we took Sawyer to the Trunk-or-Treat at our church and then took him out for about two streets in our neighborhood. He had a great time. Although he didn't really understand why he was wearing a costume, he LOVED that people would give him candy. (I swear this kid takes after me, he is OBSESSED with candy.) He also LOVED helping me pass the candy out when the kids came to our door. We had a ton of kids again just like last year. I think last year we went through 11 bags of candy, so this year I was prepared. I think I got something like 3000 pieces, and we used it all! It was a lot of fun for all of us. We didn't get a lot of pictures, but at least here are our two cute kids in costume!

It is impossible to get two kids smiling in the same picture!

Some Videos

2011-10-09T07:42:00.000-07:00

Here are some recent videos of our cute kids.

Look who's 6 months old!

2011-10-07T18:06:00.000-07:00

I know, hard to believe right?! And to be quite honest, it is happening WAY too fast! This little girl is so much fun. She is THE HAPPIEST baby I have ever seen. She is always smiling, giggling, or just plain content and we love having her around. And she's such a beautiful girl too. ( I get it, I'm biased, but seriously, look at her sweet face!)

I missed her 6 month appointment because of my new overnight shift. I have to sleep sometimes! So Tyler was a good daddy and took her. Here are her latest stats:

Weight: 14.9 lbs- 44th percentile

Height: 26 inches- 77th percentile

Head Circumference: 17 inches- 82nd percentile

Looks like she has slowed down a little on the growing which is fine by me. I don't want her growing up so fast anyway!

She is gaining more and more personality all the time. She is grabbing for things, just started sitting up on her own, rolls over, and loves to play with toys. She is still a great sleeper and continues to sleep about 12 hours a night. It is amazing to have a baby that I can just put in her crib and she will go to sleep on her own. She has been waking up a little earlier lately because I think she is getting hungrier. She has been trying to get her bottom teeth in as well, which she hasn't enjoyed, but she doesn't fuss too much.

(She sleeps with this cute little giraffe every night. It winds up like a music box and plays music that she falls asleep to.)

Being six months old, she finally got to try solids for the first time. She did great with them and seems to like her rice cereal a lot!

I can't express how much we love this little girl. Happy 6 months Brooklyn!

Dad and Sawyer's hiking trip.

2011-10-07T16:15:00.000-07:00

Sawyer may only be knee high to a grass-hopper, but his walking stick is still too short.

Sawyer was very accommodating on our drive into the mountains. He agreed to ride on the trunk so that we could bring more gear.

Apparently the phrase "Say cheese," means something different to a two year old.

It's not like we don't already have enough animals...but, Sawyer was insistent that he needed a pet rock. Some families have an elephant in the front room, the York's have a ten-foot boulder!

Somebody's been looking at too many military recruitment posters.

I knew the hike was over when his knees gave out and he refused to move. Oh well, one man's "death march" is another man's leisurely stroll.

Alpine camping

2011-10-07T15:41:00.000-07:00

Sawyer does all his own stunts in front of a green screen.

A bit reminiscent of Central Park circa 1933.

No one believes me, but I am single-handedly making the barrel chest fashionable.

Rodin?...More like Retard.

A stream is incredibly exciting when you are two years old.

Jagger tests the water so we know if it's safe to drink.

A very tired Tyler, trying his best not to have a double chin.

I swear, sometimes the light strikes me a certain way and I look like and entirely different person.

Brooklyn's hat is actually a little tight on her. I wonder if she'll ever out-grow the "cone head" phase!

Tired...

2011-09-24T13:56:00.000-07:00

Yes, I am tired. But no, that is not what this post is about. I have recently found Sawyer falling asleep in the funniest places.

I guess it is true what they say. If you are tired enough, you can fall asleep anywhere! It is hard work being a 2 year old!

Zoo trip!

2011-09-24T13:51:00.000-07:00

We hadn't been to the zoo for awhile, and realized Brooklyn had never gone so we figured it was about time. Not to mention Sawyer LOVES animals and knows all their names and sounds now.

Like always we fed the giraffes.

(Don't judge my belly, I hadn't quite lost my pregnancy weight) :)

(Don't judge his belly either, he is still working on losing the pregnancy weight as well)

Look at these cuties!

We didn't take a whole ton of pictures, but we had a great time. It really does get more fun for Sawyer each time. This kid LOVES animals!

And of course, here is a video of us feeding the giraffes.

Time for an update

2011-09-24T13:45:00.000-07:00

Yes, I have been a slacker. For some reason I have not found the motivation to update the blog. Maybe it has something to do with lacking sleep, but here it goes.

To back up a little, our garden is still doing fabulously. We have consumed of its yummy goodness and continue to do so. The only thing we haven't tried yet is the corn. Thinking I will see if it is ready this weekend. We look forward to many more years of gardening and learned a LOT this year on how to do it better!

The end of July, Sawyer turned two! Yeah, I definitely should have posted this way back then, but I am a slacker, what can I say? Here are his two year old stats.

Height: 36 inches- 87th percentile

Weight: 31 lbs- 82nd percentile

Head Circumference: 18.5 in- 12th percentile

Still a big boy. Sawyer and I traveled to Utah for a Bugg family reunion. It was so good to see my family. And man are there a lot of us. Everyone at the place we stayed kept commenting on how they have never had one group rent out so many rooms. Aren't I lucky?

Here is a group picture of all of us who came, hard to believe there are many more!

Brooklyn got to go swimming for the first time and looked SOOO cute in her little swimsuit!

Sawyer loves his strawberries!

We drove back from Utah on Sawyer's birthday, so after 9 or so hours in the car, we didn't think a HUGE party would be too fun, so we just kept it simple. Tyler prepared the perfect two year olds meal: Pizza, Mac & Cheese, and cheetos. We invited our buddy Sean and his little boy Corbin over to celebrate with us.

Dinner!

Then we had cake!

In other news, Brooklyn turned 4 months old right around the same time Sawyer turned two. Here are her 4 month stats:

Weight: 13.4 lbs- 70th percentile

Height: 25.3 inches 96th percentile

Head Circumference:16 in- 62nd percentile

Our little girl is TALL! Big surprise I guess, I mean look at us, we are ALL tall!. She continues to be the little light in our lives. I have never seen a happier baby. She loves to giggle, smile, and talk to us.

Our garden

2011-07-26T14:27:00.000-07:00

Last year our garden failed terribly. We spent all sorts of money on dirt, Tyler built a new raised bed, and we couldn't even get weeds to grow! I wasn't sure I wanted to give it a try again this year, but last minute I went for it. And here is what happened....

3 weeks after planting

6 weeks after planting

Oh and did I mention we have 6 chickens?

We are enjoying being pseudo farmers this year. It is really quite rewarding to see things grow after planting them. It is still very much a learning experience, but we feel we are off to a good start!

4th of July

2011-07-26T14:13:00.000-07:00

This year for the 4th we went to an old fashioned celebration at Rock Ledge Ranch, next to the Garden of the Gods. They had civil war reenactments, citations of the Declaration of Independence, Kathie Lee Bates talk about her inspiration for "America the Beautiful", and homemade ice cream. Then we went to my sister Lori's house for a BBQ. Independence Day has always been my favorite. Reminds me how lucky we are to have the freedoms we have.

Sawyer found the cheese puffs

Daddy took a nap

Mmmm... good food with cousin Katie

God Bless America and Happy 4th of July to everyone!

Silly girl!

2011-07-26T13:39:00.000-07:00

Two of a kind

2011-07-26T13:36:00.000-07:00

Can you tell I love taking pictures of my cute kids? I love that they like each other so much!

Brooklyn's room

2011-07-26T13:23:00.000-07:00

A few people have asked me what I did for Brooklyn's nursery so for anyone who didn't see it yet, here it is!

Father's Day #2

2011-07-26T13:18:00.000-07:00

Sawyer and Brooklyn gave Daddy a great father's day this year. After breakfast in bed....

the kids gave daddy his gifts...

A new t-shirt

And a book for Daddy to read to them!

What a mischievous boy!

2011-07-26T13:10:00.000-07:00

Sawyer is growing up and getting into ALL sorts of trouble.

What is that Sawyer? A black eye? Oh, nope... you found mommy's makeup!

(It's a little scary that he knows exactly how to put it on)

He is also becoming quite the independent kid. He pushed his highchair over to the fridge just to play with the magnets. Silly kid! And look at his fashion sense!

We love this kid, but he sure has kept us on our toes lately!

Brooklyn's 2 month stats

2011-06-07T12:35:00.000-07:00

It's hard for me to believe Brooklyn is already 2 months old! Time has gone by so fast! She is such a pleasant baby and always smiling. It is kinda sad for me that she isn't so little anymore but since she has already slept a few 12 hour stretches through the night, at least I can enjoy that part of it. Here are her current stats...

Height: 22.8 in- 91st percentile

Weight: 10.7 lbs- 80th percentile

Head Circumference: 15.2 in- 79th percentile

So... she's a growing girl! No surprise at all that she's tall. And while she has grown a lot it is crazy to think some babies are born as big as she is. Those poor women! Sawyer was 3 lbs heavier than she is at 2 months old so she's definitely still little. Here is a picture of her at two months...

Compared to her as a newborn

She is our little angel and we all love her so much! Happy 2 months old Brooklyn!

The two cutest kids ever!

2011-05-20T13:51:00.000-07:00

We sure love them!

Why I LOVE having a girl!

2011-05-20T13:46:00.000-07:00

(My friend Jessie sent me this cute little skirt. The tights have the little shoes imprinted on them and are attached to the skirt in one piece. So cute!)

Alright, so dressing up a little girl is SOOOO fun but the real reason I love her is because she is the cutest and sweetest thing ever! She is always smiling (see next post) and is such a content baby. She hardly fusses at all. She is just so fun to have around and yes, I like to dress her up too! :)

(Is it possible to become more baby hungry AFTER having a baby?)

Our little supermodel

2011-05-11T15:45:00.000-07:00

I really wanted to get professional pictures done of Brooklyn but couldn't find anyone until last minute. My good friend Amber recommended me to a friend of hers. (Amber's little girl Kirra was born only 3 days after Brooklyn- we were pregnant buddies). I was a little nervous because I wasn't sure how well she would sleep for the pictures, but she did awesome! Take a look....

So we are having a heck of a time trying to pick our favorites. Any input is welcome! And if you are interested in the photographer, you can click here to visit her Facebook page.

Brooklyn's Baby Blessing

2011-05-11T15:36:00.000-07:00

Brooklyn was blessed on May 1, 2011 by her father. We had many friends and family there to support us and it was a beautiful blessing. We are so grateful to be members of the church and to raise our Heavenly Father's children here on earth. Here is our beautiful little angel on her special day.

Grandma Bugg purchased this beautiful blessing dress for Brooklyn- she really looked like a little angel

And here is our happy family. We are so happy to be together!

Easter 2011

2011-05-11T13:51:00.002-07:00

The Easter bunny came for Sawyer

He loved his new truck!

And Daddy had a pretty little girl in a pretty little Easter dress :)

After church we went to Grandma Bugg's house. Dinner was fabulous and it was actually kind of nice to have less family there. We enjoyed some good food with Aunt Cindy and Uncle Tom who were in town. Then we all relaxed, watched some TV and played games. Another successful holiday!

Brooklyn's first bath

2011-05-11T13:50:00.000-07:00

ALL CLEAN! :)

At the hospital

2011-04-25T13:10:00.000-07:00

Okay- so I realize I only posted one picture of Brooklyn in the story of her birth and I know that pictures are really the best part about a blog- so here are some more from our time at the hospital and bringing her home!

First time seeing Mommy after the baby was born

Look at the beautiful view from my room!

Checking out his new little sister

She has big feet, and one curly pinky toe

Sawyer helping Daddy carry the baby

Loves his new little sister!

(this one we refer to as Big-Medium-Small)

Big kisses!

Brooklyn MacAulay York

2011-04-12T10:03:00.000-07:00

We are happy to announce the birth of our beautiful little girl: Brooklyn MacAulay York. She was born March 31st at 12:56 am weighing in at 6lbs, 6 oz and 20 in long. For those of you who haven't heard the crazy birth story.... here you go!

Wednesday the 30th I went to the doctor. The week before they had told me I was dilated to a 4. (just like with Sawyer). Since I had stayed that way with Sawyer for a week, I didn't worry but knew she probably wouldn't make it to her due date. At my appointment the doctor said I was still at a 4, but just getting back from his trip to Alaska to hunt wolves, I think he was anxious to deliver some babies! He said, "let's have this baby tonight" and told me he would strip my membranes to move things along a little. This is what happened with Sawyer also, and he was born that night, so I knew there was a good chance it could happen again. I felt some pains, cramping, and contractions throughout that day, but nothing regular. My awesome co-workers had planned a diaper shower for me that night at the start of my shift, so Tyler, Sawyer and I headed in to my work. We had the shower and then I stayed on for my shift. As the night went on, my contractions got much stronger and more painful, and somewhat regular, but not every 5 min. When I did the last x-ray of the night, the patient asked when I was due. I told her the 15th but that I thought I'd have the baby that night. Walking out the door, one of the doctors said to me, "Go home and have that baby". I told him I thought I might because my contractions hurt really bad at this point. After keeping track of the contractions on the drive home, I had REALLY strong ones about every 8 min. I got home, told Tyler I thought the baby was coming, but wasn't sure when to go to the hospital. He told me to call my doctor. The doctor said to wait until they were about 5 min apart. These contractions were so much stronger and painful than what I had experienced with Sawyer, but I listened to the doctor. I went and got in bed hoping they would either get regular or go away. They didn't really, but I kept feeling like I needed to go to the restroom. Every time I would stand up, I'd have a really strong contraction and then another and another. When I was laying down, they were more spread out. Eventually I thought to myself, "you know your body, you have been dilated to a 4 for a week, just go to the hospital, they won't send you home!" So I asked Tyler in tears if he would just take me. He said of course and started packing things up, feeding the dogs and the fish, taking his sweet time. As I sat on the couch with worse contractions each time, they were all the sudden coming about every 2 minutes. I told him we needed to hurry so he grabbed Sawyer and we headed on our way. Just walking to the car was excruciating and I told him to call my sister to meet us there. I didn't think we should go to her house and delay the trip an extra 20 min. By the time we were at the hospital I was screaming out in pain and thought my water had broke. I literally felt like I could have the baby in the car. Tyler grabbed me a wheelchair, yelled to the security guard to watch our truck because he locked Sawyer in it alone, and ran me upstairs to labor and delivery. The nurses came running and Tyler went back downstairs to give Sawyer to my sister. They rushed me into the room where they checked to see how far along I was. One nurse started to ask if I wanted an epidural when the other yelled out, "No, this baby is coming right now!" My doctor came running in and asked where my husband was. Tyler came in about a minute later and within minutes Brooklyn was born. We later looked at our phone records and noticed that the phone call Tyler had made to my sister was made at 12:48 am. Brooklyn was born at 12:56 am. That means in 8 minutes time, Tyler had gone downstairs, given Sawyer to my sister, strapped him into her car and ran back upstairs just in time to see her born. She was also born just short of two hours after I got off work- talk about quick!

I have to say doing it natural without any pain meds will not be my choice in the future if I have a say in it. My doctor made me feel a little better because he told me later that Brooklyn was born face up. For those of you who don't know, babies are supposed to come out face down. According to my doctor face up babies are much more painful and cause a lot of back labor. He told me I did an awesome job and that many times babies who are face up have to have a c-section because it's so hard for the mother to push them out. He also said that in my case it was probably good she was face up or she would have been born in the car. Thank goodness THAT didn't happen!

Despite the crazy way she entered this world, we love our little bundle of joy. She really is such a perfect little baby. She sleeps so well and never cries except when she first wakes up and wants to eat. She has only been getting up once a night, which I love! She's a tiny little peanut and so fun to have. Although Sawyer has had a million more tantrums than normal, he loves her and gives her hugs and kisses all day long. Tyler and I all the sudden feel like we have a real family, having two kids in the back seat of the car. We feel so blessed to have such a wonderful addition to our family!

Baby Girl: In 3D

2011-02-21T13:01:00.000-08:00

Okay, sorry for the wait on the 3D Ultrasound. (I am not as technologically advanced as I had hoped.) Anyway, here is part of the ultrasound we had taken at 28 weeks. Enjoy!

18 Months!

2011-01-26T12:38:00.000-08:00

Sawyer is now the big 1-8 (in months). He is growing up SO fast! He is now in nursery at church and seems to like it. Who wouldn't? Playing with toys has got to be better than trying to sit still during our other meetings. Here are his 18 month stats:

Weight: 26. 5 Lbs- 60th percentile

Height: 34 in.- 91st percentile

Head circumference- 19 in- 64th percentile

So as you can see, he is still tall like always. It is so fun to watch him learn and grow. He learns new things everyday it seems. He is using more and more of a vocabulary but still refuses to say "Mom" or "Dad". (I have heard him say them before, but he is a silly kid and won't ever say them when I ask him to). That doesn't stop him from saying things like: please, more, doggie, bath, ball, book, shake, cheese, two, go, etc. We feel so blessed to have him in our lives. Look how cute he is in his suspenders and tie!

Happy 18 month birthday Sawyer!

A boy and his toys

2011-01-12T11:44:00.000-08:00

We didn't think Sawyer would care much about toys this year. We took him with us when we did a little shopping for Christmas and boy were we wrong! He kept pointing to everything on the shelves and saying "pease" in his cute little voice. (That is by far his favorite word- he knows if he uses it I usually will give him what he wants).

He love his new ball and throws it EVERYWHERE!

His other new favorite thing is his "Sleep sheep". He is so cute and hugs it and gives it kisses all the time.

We sure love this kid!

Thanks to Grandmas, Grandpas, Aunts, Uncles, Cousins, and anyone else who made his Christmas special.

A lil' comparison- or maybe a big one?

2011-01-11T10:10:00.000-08:00

I am now 26 weeks pregnant! Hard to believe. It has gone by so fast! I've always heard that you get a lot bigger with your second pregnancy and that boys are carried lower than girls. I thought I'd put those theories to the test and compare me at 26 weeks with Sawyer to me 26 weeks with this little girl.

26 weeks with Sawyer

26 weeks now

I think I am a little bigger this time. What do you think?

Christmas Time

2010-12-29T15:13:00.002-08:00

We hope all of our friends and family had a very Merry Christmas this year. We spent this Christmas at home and while we really missed our "Maine" family, we enjoyed starting our own traditions.

About a week before Christmas our church had a Christmas party. Of course Santa was there and Sawyer took a stab at sitting on the old man's lap. He wasn't quite as happy to do so as last year, but as soon as Santa gave him a candy cane, he warmed up to him. (For about 5 seconds longer)

This winter has been pretty sparce for us here in Colorado Springs as far as snow goes. The ski resorts have been hit hard, but here in town- nothing. We got some freezing fog the other day, so I guess I felt I needed to take a picture so it felt like winter.

Sawyer had a VERY exciting Christmas morning. We figured he would only be into playing with wrapping paper, but he actually really loved getting his toys. Maybe next year he will even anticipate it a little.

After opening presents, we had a delicious french toast breakfast

ate some cookies

and spent the day relaxing

Hope you all had a Merry Christmas!

Putting up the Christmas Tree

2010-12-29T15:13:00.001-08:00

Thanksgiving

2010-12-29T15:13:00.000-08:00

We had a wonderful Thanksgiving with my Grandma again this year and even got to see a lot of my cousins that I haven't seen in years. Of course, I forgot the camera, so I don't have any good pictures to show. We had over 50 people again like last year. I love having a big family! I am so grateful this year for many things but most of all for my beautiful little family. I am so lucky and blessed!

(If I'm able to find any pics that someone took that day- I'll post them later)

For now- here is something I am very grateful for:

And my wonderful husband.

Fox Run Park

2010-12-29T15:08:00.000-08:00

Three meals and a wedding

2010-12-29T15:07:00.000-08:00

The end of October, Tyler's cousin Chris got married. We were lucky enough to find a few good deals on tickets and make the trip out. It was quick, but we were glad we went. We left on a friday from Colorado Springs and went on to Denver, Chicago, Philadelphia, Princeton, and NYC all in one day! What better way to document the places you have been then with food?

Chicago Dog

Philadelphia Cheesesteak

And of course, New York Pizza (that was the grossest pizza I have ever had!)

We decided to take a quick trip to the city because I had never been, and we had family around that was more than happy to give Tyler and I some one on one time without Sawyer. We rode the train in from Princeton and stayed 'til 2 am. We found out we aren't as young as we used to be (especially after traveling to 6 cities in one day), but had a great time!

One of my favorite things was seeing the statue of liberty. It was hard to get a good shot, but here it is.

The city was beautiful, and I know we will definitely have to go back and spend more time when we get the chance. I'm glad I went even if it was just for a few hours.

The next day we went to the wedding. It was beautiful and great to see family.

Our cute little family all ready for the wedding

The wedding party

The happy couple with Nana

Tyler with his Nana

We danced (not sure if we ever have done this in public before)

Ate a DELICIOUS dinner

And when it was all over- they had to do their kissing cousins picture

We are so glad we got to go and see Tyler's family. We don't see them often enough. Congrats to Abby and Chris on their lives together! Another girl from Colorado Springs added to the family. She MUST be awesome!

We're having a baby...

2010-12-03T09:09:00.000-08:00

and....

We are very excited to be having a little girl! I am trying to wrap my mind around it because I am so used to thinking "boy". The baby is healthy and doing well. Her measurements are right on to my original due date of April 15, 2011. So I guess this makes me officially 21 weeks today. Time to go shopping! (and start thinking of girl names- any suggestions are welcome-we are stumped.)

We love her so much already!

I can't keep it in much longer.....

2010-11-10T14:26:00.000-08:00

(My belly, that is)

Baby York #2 is on it's way!

Happy Halloween!

2010-11-03T10:11:00.000-07:00

This year was by far a much better Halloween than last. No one was sick, I didn't have to work, and Sawyer had a blast participating in the various Halloween festivities in our neighborhood. (okay, mom and dad did too- but isn't that the fun of having kids? We get to re-live it all right?)

Saturday we spent carving pumpkins (as seen in the last post) and then went to our local neighborhood's recreation center where they were having a Halloween event for the kids. It was VERY crowded and they made you work for your candy. As you can see, Sawyer was not quite up to the level of talent needed for the games, but he made up his own.

Tyler was feeling somewhat claustrophobic so we took Sawyer out to play on the playground instead.

And, like always, our little skeleton tried to run. Anytime he sees an opening, he goes for it!

(See all the cars parked along the street? That was overflow from the parking lot. I have never seen so many kids!)

After many other families and kids followed our lead, the playground got crowded so we decided to head over to our ward's Trunk-or-Treat. For those of you not familiar with this tradition, the parents line their cars up at the church while the kids go from trunk to trunk getting candy. Sawyer didn't really seem to know what was going on, but we had a great time.

Just getting started

Sawyer sitting on our trunk

We decided not to take Sawyer trick-or-treating on Sunday night for various reasons, but we were kept very busy handing out candy. Sawyer tried to leave with everyone who came to the door so I guess next year we will for sure have to take him. After going through all the candy Sawyer had gotten the night before, 11 bages of Halloween candy, and 1 box of fruit snacks, we were officially depleted and turned the lights off. I had no idea we moved to a neighborhood with so many kids! I could hardly sit down before the doorbell rang again. Half the time their were lines of kids just waiting at the end of the driveway for the group before them to leave. Through all this craziness, Tyler and I really had a lot of fun seeing all the kids costumes and excitement. It reminded me of how Halloween used to be when I was little. One little girl walked away and very thrilled said, "Daddy, I got 2 suckers!" (2 whole suckers, can you believe it?) Aww... the little things in life. Hope you all had a Happy Halloween as well!

Carving Pumpkins

2010-11-01T11:33:00.000-07:00

The 1st victim

Sawyer is ready!

The first stab

Sawyer was a big helper

Not too sure what he thought about the goop

The finished product*

Awesome huh?*

Tyler's even better jack-o-latern- done free handed

Happy Halloween

Note*- This was my first attempt at what is called a 3 color pumpkin. I didn't have the proper tools but I think it turned out pretty well anyway. The lady I got the pattern from has an AMAZING website where she does all sorts of cool designs. (The one I did is maybe the easiest one she has.) Check out her website here to see all her cool pumpkins! Maybe next year I will try an even harder one!

Wishing Star Farm: Pumpkin Patch

2010-10-26T09:13:00.000-07:00

Fall has definately been in the air and I was dying to get out and pick some pumpkins. We invited my brother and his two boys to come along and we all had a wonderful time! Definately something to make a tradition in the York house.

We fed the animals

Rode the "hay slide" (100 ft gorge slide)

Played in the corn

Climbed the big haystack

Marched with a cornstalk

Fell down while marching with the cornstalk

Posed for a family photo (Tyler's eyes were kinda closed, but it's still cute)

Looked for pumpkins

Tyler got his perfect pumpkin!

And Sawyer wanted to drive the tractor home

Helen Hunt Falls

2010-10-13T12:19:00.000-07:00

Tyler and I are really enjoying my new schedule! It is so fun to spend time together and such a nice break from the hectic life we have lived for the past two years. Last week we decided to go to nearby Helen Hunt Falls....

Waterfalls are my favorite! What a fun day!

We've got a climber on our hands!

2010-10-08T08:59:00.000-07:00

When I was two years old, I took a chair from my kitchen table, slid it over to the counter, climbed on top of the chair, then onto the counter, and on top of the fridge to get a cookie out of the cookie jar. Now this story is often told by my family to demonstrate my early desire to be independant as well as my LOVE of sweets as a child. It also shows I was NOT afraid to climb! Looks like Sawyer takes after his mommy....

He will climb on anything and everything he can! What a silly boy!

Last Family Camping Trip of the Year

2010-10-04T13:11:00.000-07:00

I was dying to get out of the house and do something since I had a WHOLE week off between finishing school and starting my new job. Then it occured to me that I didn't do anything fun this summer! I definately needed to get out and enjoy nature! Tyler and I both agreed it was time for a camping trip. The aspens were beautiful and it was a great way to get away from it all....

Hanging out in the tent

After the rain stopped, we bundled up

Yay! Sunshine!

Getting ready for some dinner

Sleeping in his very own sleeping bag! (What a lucky kid!)

He fell down a couple hundred times- walking down hills on uneven ground is not easy!

Our little outdoorsman

Playing in the dirt with mom

And... a cute video of Sawyer taunting the dog with a stick....

2010 State Fair

2010-10-01T10:35:00.000-07:00

It has become our tradition to go to the fair every year now. This year it was fun to watch Sawyer interact with the animals.

Daddy and Sawyer on the shuttle bus, excited to go to the fair!

This guy wrestled gators! So Cool! (I also lusted after his big muscles a little, which made Tyler jealous...)

Sawyer trying to pet a horse. They were hungry and I was scared to death they were gonna bite his hand off

Little man milking his first cow

Saying hi to the baby calf

Checking out another cow

First time in a petting zoo

He tried to pet EVERYTHING, but was a little cautious

AFV contender?

2010-09-29T09:21:00.000-07:00

Ok, so this video is one from a few months ago, but I find it halarious and HAD to share! At first it seems a little cruel, but it's just pretty funny. Enjoy!

I've got Letters!

2010-09-25T16:35:00.000-07:00

Drum roll please!.....

It's official! I am now....

CHERYL YORK RT(R)

Sunday I came home from Stake Conference and made my family a meal. I even made part of the meal for our monday night dinner. Then Sawyer and I spent the day together. Boy did that feel nice!

Two years ago I got accepted into a very competitive program for Radiology Tech school. I remember my excitement feeling so "lucky" to be 1 of 18 choosen from a group of over 100 applicants. Little did I know what I was getting myself into! Here I am now, finally finished! This has been one of the hardest things I've done in my life. It has taken me away from my family, friends, and any kind of normal life that I thought I might have once had. I look forward to what the future holds and am proud of myself for making it this far.

After all the lessons I learned from the millions of tests I've taken and crazy things I have seen at the hospital, the thing I have learned the most is to keep things priority in my life. I have to admit, I haven't always done great at this throughout school. I have been very fortunate to land my "dream job" right out of school. My new job allows me to be home during the day and with Sawyer. I can't tell you how excited I am to finally get to be a mom. I have been incredibly jealous of all you stay at home moms and the time you get to spend with your little ones.

I am so grateful for my wonderful, supportive husband who helped me get through these two crazy years. He has been incredibly neglected as well, and hopefully him and I can finally go on a date (without Sawyer even) and spend some quality time together. I know it always seems greener on the other side, and I'm sure my new schedule will have it's own challenges, but today is a good day.

Sawyer's 1st Birthday

2010-09-01T13:13:00.000-07:00

For Sawyer's Birthday we decided to invite all the local relatives over for a party. We ended up having around 20 people there! How lucky are we to have so many relatives close by to share our lives with?! Anyway, I kept putting off this post because there are a MILLION pictures, but I decided to just post some of our favorites. Enjoy!

Just woke up from his nap, wondering why all these people are here?

Yay! Grandpa came!

Playing with the big kids!

Our long table of family. Mmmmm, bring on the food!

Birthday Boy!

Look at the blanket Great Grandma made me!

Big Guy, Little Guy T-shirts from Nana!

Cool Thomas the Train Flashlight!

A fire truck!

Some fun books from Nana

His very own L.L. Bean Sleeping Bag from Grandma York. Lucky kid!

Tyler telling the story of the sweater that was knit for Sawyer

"It's my party- I can cry if I want to!"

Blowing out the candles

Here is his first bite into a cupcake

He got chocolate everywhere!

Yep! I'm the birthday boy!

We sure love our little man. What a fun year we have had learning all about him and welcoming him into our lives. We wouldn't trade it for the world! Happy Birthday Sawyer! We love you!

365 days with our lil' man

2010-08-03T14:40:00.000-07:00

Newborn

1 month

2 months

3 months

4 months

5 months

6 months

6.5 months

7.5 months

8.5 months

9.5 months

10 months

11 months

12 months old!

Happy 4th of July!

2010-07-06T12:11:00.000-07:00

We hope everyone had a wonderful 4th of July. It is one of my most favorite holidays. I am extremely patriotic so I can't help it. Tyler, Sawyer, and I went to my brothers girlfriends house to celebrate the 4th AND her birthday! I realize it might suck to have your birthday on a holiday, but I think it's pretty awesome that the whole country lights fireworks off to celebrate for her. :) I don't get fireworks on MY birthday!

So Happy birthday to America AND Sarah!

We had a great time at the party. Sawyer said hi to many...

Checking out grandpa

Sarah blowing out her candles

Aren't they super cute?

Here is a video of Sawyer playing with the card we got for Sarah. It was one with muscle guys that we could record birthday messages from. So funny!

This year because of the economy being the way it is, the city cancelled its firework show. There were TONS of fireworks going on around town though so we just watched out the windows and what not. We did go light off a few sparklers (which are also illegal in this city- lame, I know!) but I didn't get any pictures of that. However, mother nature decided to celebrate in her own twisted way with a insane hail storm.

Here is the hail next to the rocks. Yes, the hail is bigger!

Tyler decided to be brave. His hand over his head didn't help. He got hit with a piece and it left a huge welt on his wrist.

Now can you see how big it REALLY was?

The hail from the gutter was washed down the pipe and collected in a huge mound.

Brrrrrrrrr......

We did end up with some hail damage on our cars but oh well. What a fun celebration. I truly am grateful to live in this country. I feel blessed everyday that I am free. I can guarantee that many of us take it for granted. Thank you to all of you who serve our country to give me those freedoms. And thank you to my Savior who died so that I may be free from my sins! Happy Independance Day!

Some "First" Videos

2010-07-04T12:18:00.000-07:00

We have taken some fun videos of Sawyer lately. Up until now I have put off posting them because I don't know about you, but it takes my Blogger FOREVER to download videos. Half the time, they don't even end up working. Guess I need to find a better way of doing it. Anyway, I finally decided to break down and do it. So enjoy Sawyer's first time swinging, first word and his first steps

Catching up over the past two months.

2010-06-27T19:10:00.000-07:00

Home sweet home on the prairie of Colorado. Judging from the condition of the lawn it looks as though its taking part in a forest reclamation project! Sawyer's bedroom is top right, and my sister inlaw Carolyn is staying in the room next to him on the left.

Ahh, the beautiful backyard that is the canvas for my imagination. Notice the exceptional workmanship of the fence. The fence separates the capitalists dogs from the communist chickens. Top left-master bath. Top center- master bedroom. Top right- loft that overlooks living area. Bottom left- kitchen. Bottom center- dining room. Bottom right-living room with red couches and t.v.

View from front entryway. Stairs on right that go up to loft and three bedrooms. Fireplace separates front room from living room. Doorway in center leads to downstairs bathroom and walk-in closet with "secret door" to crawl space.

Living Room

Sawyer getting ready to pull all his toys out.

Sawyer's first camping trip to the Rocky Mountains.

What a cute little guy. Evidently Beaver Creek has some excellent trout fishing. We however came up empty. Now that I'm 28, my hands aren't quite as fast as they used to be.

Jagger, keeping an eye out for any bears that might decide to wander into our campsite.

The simple pleasures of doing absolutely nothing outdoors, aside from working on your sun burn.

We decided to go for a walk as a family to see what we could see.

Ah memories, he was just learning how to pull himself up on things back then.

I thought that I would take a quick snapshot of this homeless camp we came across down by the river.

This was an unauthorized photo of Tyler Buckley York's wife.

The big ol' Papa Bear and his cub.

I know that Sawyer is my son, because we both have the same great sense of style. Even when we are in the middle of the forest where we won't run into a single soul, we still want to look good. So be it, we're high maintinance.

No one, I mean no one, plays a dog dish with a plastic spoon like my son.

Upon returning home, Sawyer decided to tell me "thankyou" for the camping trip by immediately pooping all over my arm. Cheryl was insistant on getting a picture of this episode, so I waited patiently covered in fecal matter as she ransacked the house in search of the camera.

Cheryl returning the favor and getting a picture of me as I slept.

I don't look like I'm happy to have been woken up.

Its probably because Tom Jacobson and I have just returned home from a three day back country hiking trip. Easily oneof the most physically challenging undertakings of my life. That is the last time I look at google earth and say, "Hey that looks like it would be a nice place to go hiking."

Sawyer is a really well behaved child. When he isn't busy making a mess and destroying personal property, he eats people's shoes.

What kid doesn't like Kix?

Cheryl left the dining room for a minute while Sawyer was eating in his high chair, only to return and find that Houdini Jr. had riggled his way out, and was quite well pleased with himself.

Our niece Marge (left) and her friend holding our ducklings the day after we got them.

Our chickens were pretty darn ugly for awhile. We'll just call it their akward phase.

Sawyer is about as much help in the garden as the ducks, but that will change in a few years.

Sawyer and I learning that carrot seeds are quite small. Its more like planting grains of sand.

Maybe the cucumbers never grew because I let Sawyer plant them.

I have to hand it to him, he was a good little helper.

Who knows? Maybe one day he'll get paid to put on the Red Sox uniform. Until then, Auntie will just have to keep him outfitted as he grows!

And Sawyer can't understand why our ducks always run when he comes near.

A Mother's Day picture.

At the Denver zoo for my birthday. I'm attempting to feed a parrot, but evidently I wasn't the first person to feed him today. He didn't want any part of my cup of nectar.

I'm so tired of feeling like I have to teach people how to act in public. Let me go on record as saying, "It is not ok to pee on the elephants when you go to the zoo." I know, it was a dumb joke.

Cheryl and I have found that if we allow Sawyer to forage and supplement his daily food intake it really helps out with the monthly food bill.

Our little man has four upper teeth that have come down at the same time. Is it wrong that I think it looks a little disgusting? I could never do what Cheryl does for work. She recently had to do x rays on a guy that severed his entire leg during a skydiving accident.

The excitement of chasing squirrels.

You tell me, was he pumped to be at a Red Sox game on my birthday or what!

If babies grew as fast as ducks, I would miss Sawyer's first steps, his first day of kindergarten, and high school graduation, if I went out of town for a week.

Here comes trouble!

9 Month stats

2010-06-03T16:16:00.001-07:00

Sawyer is 11 months old now but I just quickly wanted to put his stats up from his 9 month check-up. Mostly just for something for us to look back on. He is growing up so fast, it's so hard to believe. Here they are...

Height: 28.5 inches

Weight: 19 lbs 11 oz

Head:45.5 cm

(I don't remember the percentile but they were all right around the 50th.)

Can't wait to see how much he has grown here in a month when he turns one! Where has the time gone?

He's a thief!

2010-05-05T19:18:00.001-07:00

Sawyer totally cracks me up sometimes. Here is just one of the reasons why....

Easter

2010-05-05T18:59:00.000-07:00

What's that you say? Easter was like a month ago? I know... I know. So here it goes. I am ALWAYS behind on blogging. Guess we all should just get used to it now. No more apoligies. :)

We did have a wonderful Easter though. Tyler's pal Tom came down from Boulder since his wife was out of town. While the boys were at the Priesthood session saturday night, I went to my sister's house and had some fun decorating eggs!

After Sawyer had his breakfast....

Sawyer and Daddy checked out their Easter basket FULL of candy!

And dinner at Grandma's house was as delicious as ever. It is so nice to have so much family close by!

Spring Break 2010

2010-03-26T17:54:00.001-07:00

Since Tyler and I both are in school this year, we had Spring Break at the same time. I was eager to get out of town and forget about my schooling for a little while. Tyler on the other hand, was fine with staying home and relaxing. He did just go on vacation to Maine, so his adventurous spirit was not begging him to leave like mine was. We went back and forth about whether we'd go anywhere or not for quite some time. Evenutally he told me to just decide. I went and took a shower (where I do my greatest thinking) and came to the conclusion that we should go. We both had a bad feeling about going seeing as our truck doesn't climb hills too well. The two major passes through the Rockies lie at 10,662 and 11,990 feet. I ignored the feeling though and told Tyler we should just go. So, that we did. As we were driving along, we had gotten past the higher of the two passes when Tyler and I started planning a great way to suprise my sister and brother-in-law who were already at our destination but didn't know we were coming. We came down around a hill when all the sudden the power to the truck completely died. We pulled over to the side of the road, and called for roadside assistance. I was happy that we were only a mile away from vail so the tow was covered by our insurance. The bad thing was... we were in Vail, during spring break. Now, for those of you not from Colorado, or unfamiliar with Vail, it is not cheap. People fly in from all around the world to ski there. We had our dogs with us also so we had to find a hotel that would take us and our dogs. The holiday inn was glad to take our reservation for a great discount of $200 a night. We found out our alternator had gone out so we had to get that replace for $460. So far, our trip was costing us WAY more than we had expected. After realizing our mistake in avoiding the promptings, we decided to say a prayer and ask that the rest of our trip go smoothly and for us to be better at listening from then on. We drove on to Fruita and had a great time with my sister and her family.

Sawyer crawling around at our stranded hotel in Vail

First time swimming! (He preferred the hot tub, the pool was WAY too cold!)

Look at his bum! :)

Cousins!

Then we drove to Moab the next day and hiked to delicate arch. As you can see in the picture, this was NOT as easy hike. It was so fun for me to be out and enjoying nature. It reminded me how much I love the outdoors and got me excited for this summer. Hopefully I can get out more and enjoy it this summer. I think there is something about enjoying God's creations that fulfills a need we can't fulfill any other way. It reminds us of his power and his love. We had a great time and are happy to be back home safe and sound.

Daddy and Sawyer ready to start hiking

Off we go! (Notice the bottle in the back? We are always prepared!)

Walking with Kevin and Katie

Steep climb ahead!

Beautiful delicate arch

Uncle Tyler and the kids!

While we were away...

2010-03-26T17:42:00.001-07:00

So, we have had some major computer problems in the York house over the past few weeks. Good news is, the computer is back up and running. Actually, we just ended up getting a new computer! Trying to get it up and running was not so easy, but we are happy with the end result!

Here is what happened while we were computer deprived:

Sawyer got his first two teeth. The first one came in on Valentines Day and the second about two weeks later.

If you look closely, you can see his two teeth

Sawyer and Daddy took a trip alone without Mommy to go and see Nana in Maine for her 80th birthday. It was tough for Mommy to be without her little baby and husband, but they had a great time! Daddy realized how unhappy he would be as a single parent. (I have to admit that most Dad's wouldn't even think of taking their 7 month old on a trip across country alone. Tyler is pretty brave, and did a great job! He's a great dad.)

While Daddy and Sawyer were away, Cheryl had a girl's night with her sisters. We went shopping, got pedicures, and ate at Musashi's!

Sawyer has learned to crawl! He is getting better and better at it everyday and is getting into everything!

We got a new computer thanks to our generous tax return this year

And last but not least.... Cheryl hit the "100 days left" mark of school on St. Patrick's Day. She is ecstatic and cannot wait for it to be done and over with!

Hopefully the blog won't get too far behind again now that we are about to move. Wish us luck with finding a new home! We are excited!

Valentines Day

2010-03-26T11:47:00.000-07:00

This year was officially the best Valentines Day of my whole life! No joke! In the past, I was right there with many others feeling like it never turned out to be much other than a disappointment. This year, that all changed. Tyler went above and beyond to make me feel special and loved, and I appreciate it SOOO much!

Everything started with a suprise bouquent of flowers that thursday while I was at school. I am the kind of girl who loves flowers, but loves them more when I don't get them often. It is more special that way. I was VERY suprised. When the flower delivery guy walked in the door, we were taking a test. I looked up, and straight back down thinking there was no way they were for me. When he called out my name, the thought crossed my mind "Who are THESE from?!" Boy was I beaming when I read the note he had attached to them. It made me SOOO happy. I even got a 100% on my test!

Saturday came along and I had to work in the morning. As soon as I got home he told me to go get ready. I followed his direction and we left shortly therafter. He drove towards the mountains and the whole time I really didn't know where we were going. Then he pulled into the valet parking at the Broadmoor. For anyone not familiar with this hotel, it is a 5 star hotel nestled right in the foothills of Pikes Peak. Last year they held the Senior Open at it's golf course. Anyway, while we waited in line, Tyler seemed to be getting nervous. He hesitantly said," I'm sorry, but you have to get out." I was like... um... okay? He then said, "Just go to the spa and tell them you have an appointment." The spa?! I was SOOO excited. You see, all week Tyler had made it known he had planned something for me. Little did he know that as I contemplated what he could have planned, I kept thinking to myself, "I could really use a massage with all the stress from school, work, etc. I've had lately." Big points for him!

After my luxurious stay at the spa (which not only included a 70 min hot stone massage but also full use of their sauna, steam room, aroma therapy room, and other relaxing amenities) I went out to find Tyler. He then drove me to a different hotel in town where we had a delicious dinner and watched a compilation of songs from Broadway musicals about falling in love. One major note here! This dinner and show had daycare provided. You have to understand that Tyler and I have not been out alone since Sawyer was born. We go out quite often to dinner and what not, but Sawyer comes right along with us. I had always been nervous for this moment. I get this guilty feeling about making someone else watch Sawyer when I could be. Of course, Tyler worked this out perfectly as well. The daycare provided was just down the hall which made it much easier. I knew if I needed to, I could go check on him whenever I wanted to. I never did, but it made our first date without him much less worrisome.

Needless to say, Tyler did a great job with Valentines Day. Being the poor students we are this was quite the splurge for us, but I justified it by the fact we haven't bought each other anything for the past Christmas, anniversary, or birthdays. I don't by any means expect it to always be this great, but it is definately one I will always remember. I love my husand, not just because of the nice things he did for me, but for who he is and for ALL he does for me. I'm one lucky girl!

"I'm in love, I'm in love, and I don't care who knows it!"

2010-03-03T09:19:00.001-08:00

I used to think I could only fall for the tall, dark, and handsome type.....

Who knew the newest love of my life would be short, bald, and chubby?

And boy am I lucky to have both!

I sure love these boys!

Superbowl 2010

2010-03-03T09:19:00.000-08:00

Tyler and I decided to have a superbowl party this year. We only had a few friends and family members over, but we had some GREAT food and a GREAT time! I made a spinach and artichoke dip for the first time ever and it tasted delicious! Before the game began I took this cute video of Sawyer. Looks like Daddy will have a buddy to watch the games with.

6 months old!

2010-02-11T19:42:00.000-08:00

Sawyer is now 6 months old. Hard to believe, really. We sure love this little guy. Here are his latest stats:

Height: 27.3 inches- 77th percentile
Weight: 17 lbs 11 oz- 52nd percentile
Head:43.5 cm- 41st percentile

He continues to make us smile. He giggles all the time and is trying hard to learn to crawl. Lately he starts rocking back and forth when he hears music- it's so dang cute. We love having him in our little family.

Rice Cereal

2010-01-25T20:35:00.001-08:00

While we were in Maine, Sawyer grew leaps and bounds. He had learned to roll over a few weeks before we got there but rolled from his tummy to his back for the first time at Nana's house. I wasn't even there to witness it. He also started grabbing at EVERYTHING and putting it in his mouth! He drooled like crazy (as you can see in many previously posted pictures) and learned how to sit up on his own also. He is such a good baby and seems to be a happy little kid. One other thing we noticed when we were there is that I was having a hard time keeping up with his feeding schedule. He was eating like crazy! So, we waited til we got home to start him on rice cereal and here is the result...

A few of my favorite things (from Christmas)

2010-01-25T19:47:00.000-08:00

There are WAY too many pictures from Christmas to choose from so I decided to put some of my favorites here.

Waking up Christmas morning

Tyler's brother and sister

The first time Sawyer sat up by himself!

Such a happy boy!

So sleepy

4 generations

He loves his new toy!

Nana rocked in this rocker when she was a baby! It's 80 years old!

We hope you all had a very Merry Christmas as well. We feel so blessed this year to have such wonderful family and friends.

Christmas in Maine!

2010-01-25T18:30:00.000-08:00

Tyler and I got to go to Maine this Christmas to see his family. It was Sawyers first time meeting the York side of the family so everyone was very happy to see us. Not only was it his first time meeting Tyler's side of the family, Sawyer had a lot of other first as well. The first one being his first plane ride!

He was such a champ and hardly fussed at all. We were nervous about being the people with the annoying screaming baby and I am sure anyone sitting near us was as well. In the end he did great though and ended up flirting with the ladies around us instead. I am sure the other passengers were relieved.

Being at Nana's house was so relaxing for us all. I was really nervous about Sawyer's sleep schedule being ruined. He has been sleeping through the nights for months now. So many friends of mine tell me horror stories about how their baby did too until ____ (you can fill in the blank). So, I was scared my nights of peaceful sleep were going to be over. Luckily, he did great at that too! The first two nights he woke up some, but then got used to the new place and didn't have a problem at all the rest of the time we were there. We met a lot of family and had a lot of fun eating Italians (sandwichs, not people) and lobster. We were very lucky to not have problems traveling as well. The two big storms out east hit the weekend we got there and the weekend we left, but we just barely missed them both.

Tyler and I decorated the Christmas tree

And Sawyer had the honor of putting the angel on the top

Looking at the pretty Christmas tree

That night we had Jesus' birthday cake. It was Sawyer's 5 month birthday too!

Christmas pictures

2010-01-24T18:55:00.000-08:00

For Christmas we got some pictures of Sawyer done to give as gifts. Although I didn't LOVE the customer service experience, we got a few cute ones that we liked. After we were done, we saw Santa in the mall and couldn't resist letting Sawyer sit on his lap for the first time. We didn't get him to smile, but he was a LOT happier doing that then trying to get him to take pictures in the studio.

A quick update...

2010-01-24T18:18:00.000-08:00

Okay, so here goes nothing. It has been 2 months since I've blogged anything! I am a little behind. So I will try my best to catch you all up on the happenings in the York house.

About a week after Sawyer turned 4 months old he rolled over for the first time! It was very exciting. If you read my post at 4 months, I was worried he may never roll over at all. I guess I figured since he didn't like tummy time it would never happen. Funny thing is, the first time he rolled over he rolled from his back to front and still primarily does. He knows how to do it both ways but has rolling to his tummy down quite well. In fact, that is the first thing he does when I put him to bed. Yes, I know babies are supposed to sleep on their backs, but hey, he sleeps all night long on his tummy so I'm not gonna fight him!

Here are just a few fun pictures of him from a few months ago:

Drowning in a sleeping bag

All bundled up for the cold weather

Handsome as can be!

4 months!

2009-11-29T21:13:00.000-08:00

Sawyer is 4 months old now! Time really is flying by. It is so fun to watch him do new things and learn more and more every day. He is sleeping through the night now, 10-12 hours each night. We feel lucky to have such a good sleeper. He also LOVES to play with his hands and has started playing with his feet. Sucking his thumb and chewing his fingers are his favorite things to do lately. He is giggling a lot and has the cutest little laugh. He is gaining more and more personality all the time. He even puckers out his bottom lip when he gets scared, and then lets out a loud cry. It is sad, but so funny all at the same time. He likes to play with his toys now, but still drops them quite often. It is so fun to learn more about him everyday. Just tonight I learned that bouncing him up and down when he is really tired seems to calm him down and help him sleep. He has always fought sleep, but I seem to be learning his needs more and more each day. We love him so much and are so lucky to have him in our lives. He went in for his four month check-up and got more shots- Pretty much the same story as last time. He even fell asleep right before just like last time too! Another new thing he has been doing is pulling his legs up and rolling somewhat to the side. He was doing it a lot at the doctors. I was so worried he was going to roll right off the table! Rolling like this has been very encouraging to Tyler and I because he HATES tummy time and we are always wondering how he will learn to roll over without it. (We still make him do it, we just try not to torture him too much!) Along with all these developments, he is growing bigger and bigger each day. We definately have a big boy on our hands. Here are his latest stats:

Length: 25.5 inches- 72nd percentile

Weight: 15 lbs 7 oz- 63rd percentile

Tasty hands!

You can't tell but he likes to clinch his fists and put his arms straight out- I think he is showing me how big his muscles are!

Our little thumb sucker

Watching daddy intently while he was talking to his Nana

Thanksgiving

2009-11-29T19:16:00.000-08:00

We had Thanksgiving at my Grandmothers house again this year. Like always there were some 30-40 people there and a LOT of good food. My Grandma has been taking care of my uncle lately so we did our best to try to take some of the load off by helping her out as much as possible. (She is so used to doing EVERYTHING that we could hardly get her to sit down.) We all had fun making pies ahead of time, and for many of us, cooking things we had never cooked before. Tyler even carved the turkey!

What a sexy apron! :)

I am thankful for many things this year including a wonderful, helpful husband who supports me in the things I do. I never would make it through my schooling without his help. He is my best friend and I am so lucky to have him. I am also grateful to have Sawyer in our lives and for the wonderful baby he is. He has been sleeping 10-12 hours a night lately and that is definately something to be grateful for! We love him so much.

His cute Thanksgiving sweater

What a handsome boy!

I am also thankful to live in this free country and for the men and women who fight hard every day to defend that freedom. Most of all I am thankful for my faith and for the Savior. Without Him I would have nothing. I am truly blessed.

The big boy bathtub!

2009-11-29T10:12:00.000-08:00

Until recently, Tyler and I have always given Sawyer baths in the kitchen sink on his infant bath sling. Sawyer has been growing leaps and bounds and so I figured it was time to try out the real tub. Sawyer was definately a little un-easy about the feel of the whole thing. When I first tried to put him in, he looked at me with fear and then screamed! I quickley pulled him up, gave him a hug, and told him it was okay. Then I slowly lowered him down into the water again. He was so cute because he would start to move, feel the water come up around him, and suddenly freeze! I got a video of the whole thing...

And here is the happy guy after his bath

All clean!

A baby's best friend

2009-11-24T21:45:00.000-08:00

It's about time! Just like this blog, our dogs have taken a back seat to the baby. If you haven't noticed, our title says "family blog of yorks AND DOGS". Poor Jagger and Bailey haven't had any attention at all on here yet. But looks like things are beginning to change! Bailey and Sawyer have definately been hitting it off lately. Look at these two...

Bailey still wants ALL the attention

Best friends

Awww....

I think they are becoming fast friends. Now we just have to warm Jagger up to him a little more.

The eagle has landed!

2009-11-24T21:11:00.000-08:00

I just have to say... my little brother is a stud! A few weeks ago we did his eagle project and it turned out great! We painted the four squares and a map of the United States on the blacktop at our elementry school. It turned out really cool! All seven of us kids went to this elementry school so I thought it was neat that he was able to do his project there. My dad was sick and my mom had worked the night before so Scott did a LOT on his own. (I guess that is the point of an eagle project.) My parents were both here and there to help, but I was very impressed with Scott and the way he handled all the problems that came up. I have to admit that I didn't know if he would get it done in time, but he made it. Here are the end results...

We might all have back problems now :)

Working hard

Painting away...

A bit of a closer look

The finished project

How fun!

The kids discovering their suprise

I am so proud of my lil' brother. Him and I have been best buds since he was a little baby and it is so fun to watch him grow up. I can't believe he just turned 18! Great job on your project Scott! Your big sister loves you!

"Trick or Treat" was "Sick or Stink"

2009-11-14T14:09:00.000-08:00

Halloween at the York house this year was not all fun and games. I was scheduled to work that night which meant no fun for me. Being at an Urgent Care on Halloween = no fun at all. On top of that, Tyler came down with the flu and was running a fever of 102-103 all weekend! And to make matters just a little worse, Sawyer was having a TERRIBLE weekend and had really bad gas. So, to keep Sawyer from getting sick, Tyler didn't touch him or go near him at all. Sawyer was totally uncomfortable and really fussy so it was probably the worst time to not have any help from Tyler. I guess the best part of all of this is I realized how lucky I am to have such a helpful husband. He really does so much to help out with Sawyer and I came to appreciate him so much more when he couldn't help me at all. Thankfully my parents were able to watch Sawyer on Halloween night while Tyler rested and I worked. Although Halloween wasn't all that fun, I couldn't resist atleast dressing Sawyer up in his costume. We didn't really have big plans to take him out or anything so it's not like we had to cancel anything, there was just WAY too much stress going on. Let's hope next year is better! I did make some pumpkin seeds though which were amazing! Can't wait 'til next year even if it's just for the seeds!

We are Blessed!

2009-11-05T19:56:00.000-08:00

On the 25th of October we were able to have Sawyer's baby blessing. It was the most beautiful baby blessing I have ever heard! I am biased of course... but I was not the only one to feel that way. :) We feel so blessed to be members of the church and to be able to raise our Heavenly Father's children. The blessings of the gospel are tremendous and bring joy to our lives every day. I am soooo grateful to have such a wonderful husband who holds the priesthood who can be my companion and an example to his little boy. We were lucky to have family there to make the day extra special. Tyler's mom even flew out from Maine! Here are some pictures of our handsome little guy on his special day.

After church we all went to my Grandmother's house for dinner with the family. My Grandmother is an amazing woman and has always been an example to me. She just had her 80th birthday, so we had a belated celebration the night of Sawyer's blessing.

I love my family so much and am so grateful to be a member of the church! We have a very special little baby boy in our lives and couldn't be more excited to be his parents!

Camping... it'll help you get your zzzz's

2009-10-31T16:07:00.001-07:00

I know what you are thinking...."HUH? not from my experience!" right? Well... a few weeks back we had a pretty serious freezing rain storm. (There was even a 60 car pile-up on the freeway by our house) Tyler knew the storm was coming, so he prepared by getting firewood and all the necessary snacks. He wasn't worried about getting stuck inside, just wanted to do some indoor camping! So we pulled the mattress off the bed, started a fire, watched movies, roasted marshmellows and had smores. Last year we went camping in Novemeber (which I don't plan to do again) and Tyler was definately missing camping out. It'll be a few months 'til Sawyer is old enough to go along. Anyway the important part of this story was the awesome results of our campout. Sawyer had been sleeping for 3 or 4 hours at a time, sometimes even 5. Well, we figure he must LOVE camping because he slept for 10 hours the first night we camped in our living room. He, of course, was still in his crib, but he had never slept that long ever! It worried me at first, but then the next day he did the same thing. Since then he sleeps every night for atleast 6 hours if not longer. I am loving the extra sleep!

Here is Sawyer, taking a nap on our mattress in the living room. He LOVES sleeping in mommy and daddy's bed!

And a little video showing how happy our little guy is after his nap

Looks like Tyler will have a buddy to go with him on all his wild adventures!

2 month stats...

2009-10-14T09:46:00.000-07:00

So, like I mentioned before, I was a slacker mom and forgot to make Sawyer's appointment for his 2 month checkup on time. Turns out his appointment was only a week or so after he turned two months, so I'm not such a slacker after all. Anyway, our little boy is growing, growing, growing! Here are his latest stats:

Height: 24 inches- 75th percentile

Weight: 13 lbs 7 oz- 75th percentile

After the Pediatrician checked him out, she left and told me the nurse would be in shortly to give him his shots. As we waited for the nurse, he fell asleep. Of course right after he did the nurse came back in. I laid him on the table and as he woke up, he looked up at the nurse with a big grin. Right then she stabbed the needles into his legs. He screamed out almost as if he was asking "why did you do that, I was so happy!" It was very sad, but my tough little boy was fine. I picked him up, and it only took about a minute and he was telling me in his coos that he was ok. A few minutes later, he fell back asleep and slept well. That night he did have a rough time because I think his legs were sore, but it didn't last long. He did so well! Since I work in the hospital now, I see a lot of things I didn't before. I think it's made me a little hardened to people and their pain. I didn't cry when he got his shots, but it did pull at my heart strings more than I ever thought it would. It is hard to hear your baby scream out in pain. I was so happy that it only lasted a minute. I've got a tough little boy on my hands. :)