Random Rambles

A dear (and beautiful) friend checked in on me yesterday.  She had noticed my lack of blogging and wanted to make sure all was well in Phippsville.  Indeed, it is.  We’ve just been in a season of feeling like we were just keeping our heads above water with all we’ve had going on.  It’s been GOOD stuff, just lots of it!

Today’s blog is an attempt to catch you up on the past 6 weeks of our life…most likely in no particular order because oh, my brain….

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Sayble turned 7 months old and went in for her 6 month old check up. *ahem*  (Re-read the first paragraph…we’ve been a little busy).  She weighed in at 19 pounds and was 29 inches long!  She was terribly fussy yesterday – not usually her style – and lo and behold there was a sharp little nugget of a tooth pushing it’s way up!

Cute as a button...and bald as a cue ball!
Cute as a button…and bald as a cue ball!

She started eating baby food and LOVES it.  Kid is eating about 16 ounces a day and would eat more if I’d let her.  She’s still just as sweet and smiley and bald as ever.  It’s gonna grow.  Really it will.  Soon, sweetie…soon.

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We got new carpet! YAY!  That’s what happens when your adorable 6 month old starts the barrel-rolling/crawling phase and she’s wrapped around daddy’s finger and he thinks the old carpet that was here when we moved in needs to go.  Hey, whatever it takes!  😉 

It. Is. So. Soft.
It. Is. So. Soft.

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One of Wrex’s dreams came true and he got a pony…with a cart.  His name is Ernie and he’s about as wide as he is tall.  He’s 12 years old and is actually quite broke and talented.  The kids ADORE him and they can’t wait to ride him in a local parade.  Keep your eyes out for us!

Ernie and crew
Ernie and crew
Taking Wryder for a ride
Taking Wryder for a ride

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I had the honor of hosting a baby shower for one of the sweetest girls I know!  She is expecting a baby girl named Mesa Rae (isn’t that gorgeous?!) in January so we showered her with lots of love and gifts and (soup and cupcakes)!  It was a fun afternoon of celebrating mommy and baby to be.  There’s just something about a first-born girl…

Ali and Cliff
Ali and Cliff
Gifts!
Gifts!
The guest book
The guest book
Centerpieces
Centerpieces
Advice for momma
Advice for momma

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Sawyer has been DYING to have a Barbie Pop-Up Camper.  I mean, they are pretty cool.  I had the Barbie RV AND the Barbie Dream House when I was growing up so I get where she’s coming from.  😉

Wrex and I had pretty much finished her Christmas shopping and had gone back and forth on whether to take something we’d already gotten for her back to get this but that just didn’t set well with us.  She has a dollhouse that she plays with and we felt like the Pop-Up Camper would be similar and that she’d enjoy some of the other things we had already purchased a little better.

Pop-Up Camper was ALL we had heard about for quite a while and we just asked the Lord for wisdom on what to do.  She doesn’t have to have EVERYTHING she wants…this is the just the first thing she’s ever REALLY asked for by name.  People always ask her what she wants for Christmas or her birthday and she has no clue, so this was definitely different…we just didn’t know how to navigate it.  He answered.

She woke up last week and said she had an idea for us.  She wanted to know if she could cash in her piggy bank and then do chores to work and earn money to pay for the rest; we were definitely behind this plan!

The chore chart
The chore chart

Girl had $64 in her bank!  Thanks, sale barn buddies!  We created a chore chart and she’s been working outside and moving chickens and picking up trash and doing laundry and dishes to beat the band!  We saw it in Wal-Mart today and that added to the excitement.  I’m so proud of her for having a goal and working for it!  That will serve you well, sweet pea… 

Checkin' it out...
Checkin’ it out…

She did say she wasn’t going to buy it until AFTER Santa came because if he wanted to buy her one, she’d save her money for something else.  She’s a smart one, that one…

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Speaking of Santa, we went and saw him Monday evening in town.  He left a little to be desired in the santa looks department (no offense, sir!) and Sawyer was a little skeptical.  She told us afterwards, “He doesn’t talk like the santa we saw last year.  I’m pretty sure one of this is just some guy dressed up as santa…”  She’s a smart one, that one…

Skeptical about Santa
Skeptical about Santa
Ready to watch the parade
Ready to watch the parade
Sayble snuggling daddy
Sayble snuggling daddy
Shopping with Sayble.  I'm sure this is safe, don't worry...
Shopping with Sayble. I’m sure this is safe, don’t worry…

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We met up with the Phipps side of the family for Thanksgiving and the three youngest cousins got to meet each other for the first time!  These cuties were all born within about a month of each other.  We took somewhere between 50 and 100 pictures and I’m thinking this is one of the best ones we got!  Three babies plus a house full of people trying to get them all to smile equal chaos…

Saylor (8 months), Chase (7 months), Sayble (7 months)
Saylor (8 months), Chase (7 months), Sayble (7 months)

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Sawyer sold her first show heifer this past month with some help of daddy and her good friend John Tucker.  She got her check in the mail and opened her first checking/livestock account this past week.  My baby is growing up, it seems.

She picked out checks with horses on them and is so generous, she wanted Wryder’s name on them, too.

Signing her paperwork with our sweet friend, Katie
Signing her paperwork with our sweet friend, Katie
Sawyer and Corn Cob
Sawyer and Corn Cob

Even cooler than the checking account, she tithed off of her income to a ministry our church runs and supports called CARE Uganda. I helped host a fundraiser for them this fall and she’s as bought in as the rest of our family is.  So proud of my girl…

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In the midst of all of the busyness, we have had so much to be thankful for.  We have entered this Christmas season at a slower pace and a purposeful turning of our hearts towards Jesus.  We’ve spent our mornings with our hearts and noses in our advent readings and have worshiped through song before bed every night.  He is so worthy of it, friends…

Random Rambles

So, last Friday, I wrote this lovely post about how excited I was about the weekend.  Wrex and I were scheduled to go on a weekend babymoon and the kids were going to stay with some good friends of ours in Denver.  We were all OVER THE MOON excited!  Just as I hit post, my good friend from Denver called and one of her kiddos had gotten quite sick at school that day.  I felt so bad for them and didn’t want her to feel bad about not being able to keep the kids that I deleted my post.

After a lot of discussion and prayer, we decided that based upon our schedule the next 6 weeks and just the need for some items from the big city, that we’d turn it into a family-moon instead!

We ate well, swam at the hotel, shopped til I almost dropped and just had a fun time together.  It wasn’t quite the weekend I originally had in mind, but it was a good one regardless.  We were just blessed that we were able to go…

Swim time!
Swim time!
These kids are fish!
These kids are fish!
Eating lunch with Uncle Warner
Eating lunch with Uncle Warner
He gave Sawyer a dollar and she was fired up!!
He gave Sawyer a dollar and she was fired up!!
Wryder's side of the table at BWWs.  That boy is HANDSY!
Wryder’s side of the table at BWWs. That boy is HANDSY!
A portion of Wrexy's paycheck sitting in the mudroom...
A portion of Wrexy’s paycheck sitting in the mudroom…

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Before we left, Sawyer had a bit of a cough and wasn’t 100% but she didn’t have fever and still had her spunk.  She seemed a little off on Sunday but we thought she might just be exhausted from all of the festivities like the rest of us.

Yesterday, she told me her mouth (throat) hurt.  She woke up crying in the night and my incredibly awesome hubby left me in bed and went to check on her.  Her throat was hurting pretty bad and she was a miserable mess.

He gave her some Tylenol and got her some juice and ate popsicles with her at 10:30 last night.  Honestly, you guys, he’s the dad we all wished we had.

She woke up this morning in BAD shape.  I had a baby checkup so I took her in with me; poor girl has a nasty case of strep.  We picked up some antibiotics, a lot of different fluids and “How to Train Your Dragon” on DVD.  Here’s to hoping she’s 100% soon…and that it steers clear of the rest of us!

Sweet girl still insisted on a green mustache and bows in her hair before we left.

Love her
Love her

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Yesterday, we talked about St. Patrick and the REAL meaning/reason behind St. Patrick’s day.  I was telling the kids that he was a christian missionary in Ireland and I asked Sawyer if she knew what “christian” meant.  She said a christian was someone who had Jesus in their heart and she told me that she and I and daddy had Jesus in our hearts.

Little brother piped up saying, “Jesus me heart!  Jesus me heart!”  Mine about melted…

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Speaking of Wryder, he has been absolutely ravenous lately!  The boy ate all weekend until I didn’t think he could stomach another bite.  Yesterday at supper, he ate half of a ribeye, a cup of applesauce, corn on the cob, sweet potato fries, two pickles and then BEGGED for a piece of cake!  The funny part?  There was no cake anywhere around…apparently he just had a craving?!

Today, he charmed his way around the doctor’s office and hospital and scored a fruit by the foot and two suckers.  Yes, that was while he was with daddy while mom was with Sawyer.  *ahem*

He got a mustache like sister!
He got a mustache like sister!
How could you NOT shower him with goodies?!
How could you NOT shower him with goodies?!

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Tonight, we’re planning on taking it easy and doing a little rearranging in the baby room while the kids watch their movie.  All of that stuff in the mudroom photo above needs to fit in the nursery or nursery closet…wish us luck!  😉

Time for Your Check-Up

****If you sang the title of this post as you would the check-up song on Doc McStuffins, one thousand points to you!****

This handsome man had his one year check up yesterday…

He's a good lookin' rascal!
He’s a good lookin’ rascal!

He weighed in at 27 pounds and measured 32″ long.  He’s in the 97th percentile for height and 95th percentile for weight.

He's so much fun!
He’s so much fun!

He brings us so much joy and did his part to show off and flirt with all the ladies at the clinic.  He didn’t really appreciate his shots but he got a green sucker afterwards and that totally made it better!

What a smile!
What a smile!

He will smile on command (see above) and you will bow over in a fit of giggles…or at least I do.

We are so thankful that we live in a country in which we have access to sound medical care and are extremely thankful for our big, healthy boy!