Sawyer is 1

I have been way behind with updating the blog, but my baby boy just turned 1! I canNOT believe that an entire year has passed since this little guy came into our family.

Sawyer, you are absolutely the sweetest baby I know. You are our baby who changed the most from birth. You were born with dark hair that fell out a few months later and then grew back in way lighter (different from Hudson's hair that stayed dark and Finley's who's stayed dark and Walker's that was just light from the beginning). You look the most like Walker's baby pictures...actually you look just like Walker's baby pictures! You wear size 12-18 month clothes and size 4 diapers. You do not like having socks on your feet, and will pull with all your might until those things are off! You love your brothers and sister and you want to do everything that they do. You crawl all over the house and your newest feat is that you like to climb up all the steps (of course we only let you do this when we are going behind you). You have started walking behind Finley's little stroller and the little people bus that was your brother's. You absolutely will not walk with me holding your hands (I'm not sure why) but you'll just lift up your feet and wait for me to pick you up! You are sometimes sleeping through the night, and sometimes still waking up once. You are a cuddle bug! You will crawl into our laps and just sit with us (you do this more than the other babies, I believe). You really hardly ever cry...you've just started this thing where you fuss at meals (we're thinking that we aren't giving you what you want). You also will NOT stay seated in your high chair...you try to climb out at each meal...drives me a little crazy! You have the sweetest laugh and give some really big, sweet, open mouthed kisses. You are the sweetest addition to our family, and I can't even remember what it was like without you! You just go with the flow and so very happily! We love you up, Sawyer Ezekiel!

Sawyer at a few days old, November 2010.

Sawyer in October 2011.

I'll try to post some pictures of his birthday party and his stats after his 1 year well visit!

Easter

We had such a busy weekend over here! It started Friday night with a 7:15 p.m. t-ball game. Saturday morning, we got up and celebrated Easter with Tony's family at 11:00. The kids were asking from the moment they were up when we were having the egg hunt at Grandma and Grandpa's. They carry on this cool tradition Tony's Big D.O. and Mama Genie used to do where they hide eggs for each kid and they have numbers inside and then they get prizes that correspond to the numbers! So fun! I have no pictures of this, but I'm hoping Grandma does and I can get some from her! After the fun, we came home and napped and then off to the ball field again for a 4:00 t-ball game. Clay and Hope, and Aunt Bevo and Emma Julia came to this one and I was the dug-out Mom...so I spent the game in the dug-out getting the kids lined up for batting and helping them get ready to go back in the field. After the game, we played on the playground for a while and had sno-cones...that Ski Bob is a nice guy! After sno-cones there was dinner and then coloring eggs. We wanted to go to the early service at church, but we also knew that if we were going to the early service, it would mean we would need to be extra early to get everyone in, to their places and us to a seat on Easter Sunday. We woke up Sunday morning and I came down and made cinnamon rolls for breakfast, then we had the kids come down and they were so excited to see their baskets. We hadn't talked a lot about the Easter bunny...lots more about Jesus and how he died on the cross for us, so the night before when we sat out the baskets, there was not a lot of hoopla with it! After baskets and cinnamon rolls, we dressed and got in the car, later than I had wanted, but we had gotten lots ready Saturday night and we made it by 9:10 on Sunday! There were still lots of spaces in the parking lot! I told Tony we needed to high five over that...what an accomplishment! Church was great, and there were over 1000 people at the first service! What a cool thing to praise and worship our risen savior! Grandma took a few pictures of the crew on one of the sofas at church and then we rushed off to Commerce. My Daddy had left me instructions to start some things for lunch, so I immediately started those when we got there. Two minutes later, my parents got home from church. We had a nice lunch, then the kids took naps and after naps, we made rice krispie treats as well as bunny sugar cookies. We were waiting on Aunt Bevo for the egg hunt. As soon as she got there, Uncle Fred and Tony went outside to hide eggs. The kids had so much fun. (On a side note, and something that I want to remember is that my Mama had found random eggs that she had...totalling to like 11. She had them in a basket by the piano and Hudson found them, came out on the porch where we were sitting and announced to Grandmama that her eggs did not have any candy in them...he had shaken them all!...thus ensued a talk about why there was no candy...Walker suggested they might be "magic eggs" and as soon as those kids started napping, Grandmama went to work on figuring out what to fill those eggs with and decided she was not a very prepared Grandmama...we laughed and laughed about this one!)

After the egg hunt, we went to the field across the street to play some t-ball. Uncle Fred, Tony and Daddy let Walker learn to bat from the tee and Hudson got some practice in! (It paid off too...at his game Tuesday, he hit two balls down the third base line! Previously, they've all gone down the first base line or right to the pitcher!) Then, we rushed to take a bath, ate some dinner, threw everything in the car and came home, off to bed and then I had to work two more days at the beginning of this week because I switched some days around. Needless to say the Dudish house is T-I-R-E-D! But that good kinda tired where you were busy with fun stuff!

Happy Birthday to Finley...

Our sweet baby girl is 2! Her birthday was Thursday, March 10, 2011. Oh how we love this sweet girl. She has been saying happy new year all day as we would say happy birthday to her...it was too cute! She loved running through her birthday streamers today and sang along as we sang happy birthday tonight with our rice krispie treats. She has started kissing and hugging us when she thinks that she's in trouble or has done something wrong...it's hard not to be charmed by her...seriously! She LOVES to give hugs and kisses and gives them out freely all day! We had her birthday party last Saturday! I love birthday parties...especially having a theme and planning fun things around that theme. I could not think of one thing for this sweet girl that would be fun for her brother's too. The only thing she's really into right now is baby dolls and I did not think a baby doll party would be fun for the brothers. I waited too late to make an invitation, so I went on to evite to send one last minute and hoping for some kind of inspiration there. I found it! There was a "card" that had paint splattered on it, so I went with that! The party was so fun! I set up different "stations" in the garage...finger paint and a big roll of craft paper, watercolor paint and paper at a table, our easel with paper attached a poster paint and a table with coloring books and crayons. I had some face paint and I painted little things on their hands. I also had an activity that the boys found in their highlights magazine and have been asking me daily when we could do it. You sort froot loops by color and then crush them, then you layer them in baby food jars...it's like sand art but with froot loops. Tony was a champ and sorted most of our off brand froot loops so that each kid already had all the colors they needed to make the rainbow. If I was doing this with just my kids, I would have had them sort the froot loops themselves! The directions said to roll the loops with a rolling pin, but when the kids started doing it, one bag was dropped and I got the idea that they could crush them with their feet, so that's what they did and it ended up being more fun than the rolling pins! Miss Finley LOVED the painting! She stayed at the easel the entire time! Before the kids came out to paint, they had to put on their "smocks" (old t-shirts that we didn't mind getting messed up). The birthday cake was my favorite. It was a rainbow inside! Super easy...two cake mixes split into thirds and then colored with each color in the rainbow! This was also the first cake we ever got to use a cake regular Duncan Hines cake mix...I just had to search for one that didn't have milk in it! We even got to have our cake made with real eggs! Needless to say, this was the most cake ever eaten at a Dudish birthday party! It was super yummy! The knife and serving piece were gifts I received from my teacher friends after she was born. The serving piece is engraved with her name and her birthdate. They are to be used at each birthday to cut her cake...then when she gets married, they are to be used at her reception to cut her wedding cake...talk about sentimental! Tony said he couldn't dare think about that! Me either! I didn't use them at her first birthday because I cupcakes! But, I want to use those each year and save a picture from each birthday in the case in which they came!

The night before the party, I decided I needed to make Finley something to wear, so I started that little pillowcase dress she wore at about 11:00 p.m. She looked way too big with her hair in pigtails and I seriously cannot believe that my baby girl is already 2! Time seriously flies...super fast!

The party was super fun and our Uncle Justin took these pictures!

Happy birthday baby girl! We love you up!

Sawyer is 2 months and a few catch up pics

Sawyer was 2 months old on January 16. So, he will soon be 3 months already! His stats at his 2 month check up...he weighs 14 lbs 13 oz and is 24 1/4 inches long. He's in the 95th percentile for both his height and weight. At 2 months, Sawyer is sleeping well. At night, we feed him sometime between 7 and 8:30 and then we just wrap him up in his swaddle blanket, give him his paci, and lay him in his Moses basket while we put the other kids down for bed. Usually when we come back, he is sound asleep. So simple. There's no rocking, bouncing, patting...he just falls asleep. It makes me a little sad, since he's my last baby that he goes to sleep on his own. But, it is so helpful that our sweet baby puts himself to sleep. He wakes up generally between 1 and 2:30 a.m. to eat, then goes right back into his Moses basket to sleep. And then wakes up around 6:30 or seven to eat again. He eats every three hours during the day and takes naps between each feeding. He is smiling at us all and cooing like crazy and we are all so in love! We especially love when he talks to us and smiles our way! He hardly cries, seems to be super easy going and has got the chubbiest sweet cheeks! I know I could just eat him up! This is the January group picture...Sawyer at 2 months.

I am going to try a monthly picture of all four...idea from my friend from college, Heather. This one is actually okay! This is the November group picture when Sawyer was just a wee one! This is the December group picture...Sawyer at 1 month.

Snow...

So, do you think it's weird if I think that all this snow was just for me? I have been so sad leaving my newest little guy, and really just long to be with him. I've only left him twice (the two days I worked last week). I was dreading this week because I was going to be away from him for three days, and what do you know...all this snow! We're snowed in and school has been cancelled all three of those days! God gave us rest in the form of snow. Today as Hudson, Walker and I built a snowman, I was thinking about how much I truly love snow. They had run to the kitchen to get the snowman accessories, the kids who had been sledding down the hill by our house had all gone home, and it was just me, sitting in the middle of the snow. It was silent. There is a peaceful silence about the snow that really speaks to my soul! It's simply beautiful! I really do love the snow! I love the silence of watching falling snow, I love how snow covers everything in a blanket of white. I love how snow is a reminder that God has covered my sins...that they are as white as snow(Isaiah 18)! And I love this verse I found in Job today..."He directs the snow to fall on the earth and tells the rain to pour down. Then everyone stops working so they can watch his power....The clouds churn about at His direction. They do whatever He commands throughout the earth. He makes these things happen either to punish people or to show his unfailing love." Job 37:6-13 The snow is for me...to remind me of God's unfailing love! What does the snow make you think about?Finley wanted NOTHING to do with the snow Monday. I had her loaded down with clothes and I think she didn't like that she couldn't really move because of all the layers. Before we went out, she fell in the den and poor thing couldn't get up. She looked like she was doing the downward dog yoga move trying to get up. She wouldn't let us put her down in the snow...so I have no good picture of her in the snow. Today, however, after we built our snowman, she marched right out. (Of course, she was only dressed in her jammies, rain boots, coat and hat...since we were just going out to take pictures with our snowman). Hudson has loved the snow the most...he wants to keep playing and playing and playing. Tony and I both got to go out with him and spend a little extra time with our oldest. Walker said his favorite thing about playing in the snow was putting the mouth and buttons on our snowman. We had the idea to use skittles, but man alive, those things wouldn't stay on that icy snow. So, being the quick thinker that I am(ha) we decided to "dye" the snow using the skittles. So, we just rubbed those little candies where we wanted a mouth and buttons. I have to say, it was one of my favorite things too. Let me add for the sake of this being like my scrapbook for our family that Hudson absolutely LOVED getting the ice off the top of the snow and throwing it down the hill. It would shatter on the other ice and roll down the hill. We did this for quite a while both Monday and Tuesday! I tried over and over to slide down the hill with NO luck. I'm sure it was quite funny to watch though. Oh, I forgot that I put Hudson in this big bucket that we have and slid him around on the road. He didn't think it was so much fun. So, I got in...bottom first...feet hanging out...can you picture it? It was just the boy and me outside, so I told him to push me...nothing happened. Next, I decided he could probably use the handles to spin me, so that's what he did. I started chanting the old merry-go-round chant...faster faster need another master as my sweet guy ran around spinning me! Loved it...then it was time to get out. I was stuck! How was I getting out of this thing? I had Hudson push while I tried to sort of rock forward. It worked and I kinda rolled myself out. I LOVE the snow! (I kept the baby inside the whole time...we had his snow picture on his first Christmas!)

And if our God is with us, then what can stand against...

Back at the end of the summer, I took Hudson to have blood drawn to check his allergies. There is something called a RAST test. They take blood and then test the blood against the allergens. Hudson and I have had quite a few bad experiences with having blood drawn, so needless to say, I was dreading this test! Thankfully, my mama came with me, so I had some moral support. I didn't tell Hudson exactly what was going to happen, because I didn't want to scare him. We walked into LabCorp and they took us right back to a room. I was glad my mama was with me, because he needed to sit in someone's lap to have his blood drawn, and my midsection has been bulging a bit lately and a bit unavailable. As the lady left the room to go get something, I realized the song that was playing is that great Chris Tomlin song that has the lines...and if our God if for us, then what could ever stop us and if our God is with us, then what can stand against. I pointed it out to Hudson and we sang along for a few minutes. The lady came back in to draw the blood and explained everything she was doing. I had made Hudson drink tons and tons of water that day because I wanted to make sure they could find a good vein. Hudson watched everything she did and as the song played that our God is for us, I watched my boy sit like a champ in his grandmama's lap and have his blood drawn like it was no big deal. There wasn't even any crying, well except for me! I was so proud of that boy! Tony and I have been praying for him to outgrow these food allergies, grandparents have been praying for him to outgrow them, and we just knew he had. A few weeks later, we got the results in the mail. It didn't look so good. All of his numbers had gone up since his last RAST test, some more than others. The allergist suggested that we could try a wheat challenge where you go to the allergists office and they give the child the food that they have previously been allergic to...in small doses...building up to a bigger dose and they watch for any allergic reactions. It takes about 2 hours and it was quite boring. Hudson and I didn't know what to expect, so it seemed like we were there forever! They begin by doing a skin test. Then, he got to eat the tiniest piece of a Wheat Thin I have ever seen! Every 10 minutes, they came back, checked him and gave him a little more cracker. These pictures are of the skin test and then his first time trying the Wheat Thin.

Our 2 hours were well spent, b/c my boy had no reaction and he can now eat wheat! Praise our Lord! I really can't say how life changing this has been for our family! We have had sandwiches as a family meal...BIG deal for us! Hudson got to eat his first hamburger in a BUN! This boy is a hamburger fanatic, but has always just eaten the meat, with no bread, and he got to have a bun! I discovered that Oreos don't have milk, and that was one of the first wheat things we all ate together. They(all the kiddies) LOVED them! A month later, we tried an egg challenge and he was pretty allergic to the raw egg on the skin test, but he had no reaction to it baked in the muffins we took. So, my boy can now eat wheat and eggs cooked in things. Wheat has to be the biggest deal because it is in EVERYTHING! My next big prayer is that he will outgrow the milk allergy...that's in a lot of things too! However, we have had a serious life change over here at the Dudish house! We are thrilled beyond words and thankful to our God for allowing our boy to eat wheat! (The night after the test, when we were having macaroni, I think, Hudson came in the kitchen and very seriously said to me..."Mommy, are you sure Finley and Walker can eat the wheat?" and I said of course they can, why..."Because, Mommy, they didn't go to the doctor and have the wheat challenge!" Such a sweet boy, thinking about his brother and sister, and I love that they all just think they have the same allergies!)

Hudson's FIVE!!!

I can't believe I've waited this long to post this about Hudson's birthday party! I put some of these pictures in a post at least a month ago, and I am just now getting back to it! This was one of the most fun birthday party's we have had. Parties are always fun when you use a little creativity and things you already have! There are lots and lots of pictures, so I am going to tell about the party up here and then you can scroll down and see all the fun! The boys usually come up with a birthday theme quite a while before their birthday, and Hudson wanted to have a super hero party. Originally, he just wanted boys and their daddy's, but I convinced him that there needed to be girl superheroes there too! We decided to have it at Grayson Park, where you can reserve a pavillion for free! I made the superhero capes out of an old sheet, ribbon I already had, scrap material and sticky felt I bought. I made their letters out of the die cut machine at school and traced them on the felt. The wrist bands were a last minute entry and I just cut them out of felt that I had on hand and used velcro I already had for the closures. The masks and crowns were made from a pack of foam I bought at the dollar store!

To start the party, I sat all the kids down at one of the picnic tables and asked them if they were ready for some super hero training in order to become super heroes. Their eyes lit up and they were ready to go. My sweet Tony had agreed to be our "super villain" for the day, and he ran up and said he was going to try to ruin the birthday fun. He dropped some balloons that I told the kids were bombs and they needed to diffuse by jumping on them and popping them! After they completed this task, they received their wrist bands. Next, I told them we needed to do some training like super heroes and climb the rock wall at the park...like Spiderman, and then go across the bridge and fly down the slides...like Superman. When they completed this task, they were rewarded with their very own cape. Next, the supervillain was back with what he thought would zap all of their superpowers...kryptonite (rocks I had spray painted green). But, we were ready! The kids had to use kitchen tongs to pick up the kryptonite and put it in our hazardous waste container. I told them if they touched it with their hands, they would lose their superpowers, and they needed those to help stop the super villain. After the kryptonite was disposed of, they were rewarded with their best defense against the super villain, their masks or crowns. I told them that this hides their identity. Finally, the super villain came back one more time and said he knew how to take all of the birthday fun...he was going to destroy the CAKE. I quickly gave them each a water gun and they took off running after the super villain. they caught him by surrounding him and squirting him with their water guns. Then, the police (my brother dressed in some police gear from my friend Christa) came and took the super villain to jail. The super heroes had won! They were all so excited! We put the water guns away and played on the playground for a while before the cake. After the cake, we had our homemade pinata to break. I didn't do favor bags, we just made bags for them to put their treats from the pinata in, and of course, they got to keep all of their super hero gear! Most importantly, my boy enjoyed his 5th birthday party, and hopefully it will be one he will remember for many years to come! I have to say a special thanks to two of my girls in my youth small group from church...Kelci and Brittany. They spent the night with me the night before and helped me finish last minute preps for the party. Kelci made all the masks and crowns and Brit made all the treat bags! They also were great sounding boards for how to get that cake looking pretty cool!