I am due for a really long update on Sawyer. He is almost 17 months old now and time just keeps marching on. Sawyer really is looking more and more like Benjamin, its so adorable and a very deja vous experience. He is starting to say more words like "hi, bye, thank you, more, no, and night night". He calls his pacifier, which we are weaning him from, "ma". I'm not sure why, but it could be that he thinks of it as "mine". Sawyer is quite physical and is almost running, climbs about everything, and can feed himself pretty well with a fork or spoon. He does seem a little more daring than either of his brothers, so we might be in trouble!
He does some darn cute things that I don't want to forget. When he gets out of the bath he immediately shoots out the door and gets into Evan's bed all wet. At first it didn't seem so cute, but the fact that he does it every time now is a bit endearing. He also goes into Evan's room with me after their nap to wake him up. It is so sweet when he gives Evan a big hug. Sawyer also loves to go outside and will regularly get his shoes for me to put on. His favorite outdoor activities include going down slides and riding in wagons.
Okay, so I have to admit its not really my favorite holiday. The kids love it and it is fun for them, so I will try to enjoy. This was the first Halloween in our new neighborhood, so we weren't sure exactly how it would go. The houses are further apart, so we knew it might be a bit of a trek. The coolest thing about Halloween in our new neighborhood is that we all get together beforehand for a block party! The storm trooper, the tiger, and the lion all had a wonderful evening, and we met and made some new friends.
Well I'm a month late, but you know what they say......Benjamin had a great 6th birthday! He wanted a "bird" theme, which was not easy to do since there are no generic bird party supplies or obvious games. I think we did a pretty good job of coming up with the entertainment. The kids started off designing their own bird hats. A craft seems to be a good way to break the ice.
Next, they played the old fashioned game of musical chairs. Its pretty cool that such an old game, using so little modern technology, can still be perfectly fun. We then moved outside for a bird hunt. I bought about 6 fake birds and we made a list for them of the birds that they should find. The kids actually really enjoyed looking for the little birds in the trees and then checking them off on the list once they found them. Evan seemed to enjoy it just as much as anyone. The last game was the classic Pinata. Kids ALWAYS love this!
Benjamin had revealed to me that he doesn't really love cake of cupcakes, and stated that he would rather have cookies. After overcoming the shock from hearing this, I thought about a fun way to have cookies for his party. I remembered trying some ice cream sandwiches at the Austin City Limits Music festival that I thought were really cool. They listed several varieties of cookies that could be paired with flavors of ice cream. It was fun to mix and match your own, and I thought the kids would love it. Amma and Granmom teamed up as the servers for this awesome birthday treat! Benjamin loved his pairing of Snickerdoodles and Mint Chocolate Chip!
The birthday party was a success, and a milestone since it was the first birthday party at our new house. I was stressed about it, but the stress was not necessary. It usually is not! Benjamin had a fabulous time with his new Regents' classmates and a couple of old friends. He was exhausted at the end of the party, and had completely succumbed to his new friend Clara! Happy Birthday Benjamin!!
I've always had a hard time saying goodbye to something important in my life, and saying goodbye to our house on Sunflower Trail is no exception. So much took place here that shaped the foundations of our family. We moved to the Sunflower house when I was pregnant with Benjamin, after having bought it during the construction phase. It was literally like nesting, as we chose the very materials that would go inside. We established our married life in the Sunflower house and we brought three beautiful babies home to this house. You can't get much more meaningful than all of this. Benjamin was the only one of the boys who is old enough to be sad about saying goodbye. In fact, he was not yet happy about moving to the new house until a few days after we moved in. He explained that he would miss his first home, and all of the memories that he had made there. Although we don't have to technically say goodbye yet, we certainly have been sad saying good bye to calling Sunflower house our home.
I have not posted in a while due to a whirlwind of events in the Vaughn household. First and foremost, the move! Lance and I always talked about moving in the next few years because we knew our brood of three boys would outgrow a house of three bedrooms. We were sad about this because we do love our first family home and especially our place on the Sunset Valley greenbelt. We worked hard on beautifying and putting our personal stamp on the yard. But we knew it would soon be time to move on.
It all started when Lance suggested that we go looking at homes near Regents. It was like putting a match to dry Texas shrubs, because once you go looking.... We saw our house on the first tour with our neighbor-realtor Gregg. There were plenty of ooh's and ahh's, and I loved the yard most of all. THe problem was that we knew it was just too much out of our budget. We started looking at homes in a lower price range and had actually settled on one that we put a contract on. The plans to remodel this other home became to seem daunting and, at the same time, the price had dropped on our eventual new home. With my parents' encouragement we decided to back out of the other contract and immediately place a bid on our home. They wanted a quick close and we were in the house within two weeks!
To make things even crazier then putting a contract on and moving into a house in two weeks, we had out-of-town guests the following week. I will have to make a separate post to document my brother and sister-in-laws' visit. We also put our house on the market right before we moved out. We thought it would be an advantage to be out of the house for all of the people to come view it. The funny thing is that hardly any people have wanted to see it at all! Guess we would have been just fine living there while it was on the market. Not to be!
We are very settled in our new house considering the short time that we've been here. I feel God's work in this move, and know that He wants us to be happy here. Its hard to imagine how we ended up in this place without His hand. It seems rather improbable. This house sat vacant for some time, had renters for some time, and had several contracts fall through. Its not an ugly duckling by any means, so it leaves one wondering why...why was such a beautiful home missing a family for so long? I believe that it was waiting for us!
The day has finally come and Benjamin has started Kindergarten at Regents! We have talked about it for so long, the anticipation has been so drawn out, that it is great to finally be here to experience it. Poor Benjamin has had trouble sleeping in the past week because of the excitement. Hopefully he will feel more adjusted soon and will fall right asleep.
Lance and I were able to walk Benjamin to his classroom and be with him while he put his backpack in his cubby. It was so exciting to step on that campus with him for his first day as a student. This moment launches his education, but also launches our family's relationship with this great school; a relationship that should last about 18 more years! So far it has been great, as the other mothers are so sweet and the families who have been at Regents already are eager to help and support.
So it was sad when I picked up Benjamin from bright beginnings for the last time. I picked up his bag full the bedding that he has used for his naps since he was 15 months old! A new tradition of ironing white shirts and laying out navy shorts and a belt has begun. Gee, I wonder how many white shirts I will iron in the next 18 years!!!!
Evan recently learned a song at church and he has been singing it for us ever since. He sings, "God said to 'go, go, go!'; gotta tell a story to all the little boys and girls; gotta hear of a great big world, gotta hear of a great big love". He does sweet hand movements and hugs himself at the end when singing about a great big love. This is the first time he has really shared with us something that he has learned at church. I just wanted to capture this so we can remember it forever!
Sawyer is now walking full time. It is so adorable! He looks so proud of himself and sometimes shakes his arms up and down with joy. The older boys are still surprised sometimes and tell me how far they have seen him walk. I wonder how long it will be before he is off and running!
He has held back on the talking since focusing on the walking. However, he is starting back up again and has said several words in the past few days including up, yes, and closed. Sawyer also has 6 teeth now and has been fussy off and on for the past two months. Despite being so fussy, he manages to work in plenty of cute smiles and laughs. I love it when he cracks up, which often happens when the older boys try to entertain him. He is basically oozing cuteness that I wish I could bottle up.
Benjamin has been so loving toward me lately. It just makes my heart explode. Yesterday he said the sweetest thing and I just wanted to make sure to write it down so I could tell him about it when he is a teenager! This was after his nap when he sits on the bed with me to watch his nature programs. I was talking about being a stay-at-home mom and how it is the best job. This is what he said:
B: Wanna know what my best job is?
Me: What?
B: Loving my mommy!
We recently got back from a week in New Mexico visiting my parents. Amma and I flew out with the boys while Papa drove out with some essential supplies. Lance met us a few days later after he wrapped up his conference in Austin. I wasn't sure we would survive the air travel with the 3 kiddos but we are still here!
It was nice to get away from the heat and experience some dry, much cooler New Mexico mountain air. The views from their house are just amazing and so peaceful. Despite being sick for the first few days, I was determined to go running in their neighborhood every morning. Running at a higher altitude took a bit of adjusting to, as did the hills, most of which I had to walk up. There was one street in particular that had a very slow grade. It was a joy to run down but a struggle to come back up. Every morning I saw approximately two scrub jays, a jackrabbit, a cottontail, and several crows. However, one morning I was excited to see a coyote by the side of the road. It was so nice being out there in the quiet cool air. All I could hear was my breath and the occasional cawing of crows or yapping of coyotes.
The boys enjoyed the change of pace as well. They spent plenty of time running around the huge house, swimming in the hot tub, and going on nature walks with Amma. Benjamin was interested in learning about the different types of birds and other wildlife in New Mexico. We also enjoyed a trip to the aquarium and the zoo, both of which are missing in Austin (unless you count the very small zoo in Austin).
One of the highlights of the trip was that Sawyer started walking. He had just taken a step and a half in Austin going between me and Lance. At my parents' house he really started taking several steps at a time and took as many as twelve. It was fun for everyone to watch his excitement.
Another highlight was the short trip within a trip that Lance and I took to Santa Fe. We were blessed to have my parents watch the three boys overnight despite their both being somewhat ill from the cold that I gave them. It was a lovely hour drive from their house to Santa Fe, which included a stop for coffee in the hipster town of Madrid. Heck, it was just nice being in the car without a fussy baby for once ;) We spent the night at the Inn at Loretto and had a fabulous meal at their restaurant, Luminaria. It was over before it began but was truly a nice break.
The trip home was not a highlight but it was better than I anticipated. The two I-pads and one I-phone came in handy with the three boys. We did have some fussing and complaining but it was all quite manageable. When we got home I was surprised to find myself to happy to be here. Traveling is enjoyable but it sure is exhausting!
