Happy Days...

The past few days have been wonderful around here. Sawyer is getting so big and is starting to "talk" a lot more these days.She had a "playdate" yesterday with her friend Lucy who is 2 months older than Saywer, here are some pictures of that:




Sawyer also had some bonding time with her Aunt Kathryn who lives in Dallas:





My dad's sister Toni came in town over the weekend and even though Sawyer was not on her best behavior, her great-aunt Toni still loved seeing her:



I am trying so hard to capture pictures of Sawyer smiling, but so far I haven't had much luck. Here are a few pictures of her just hanging around being in a good mood:





Today Sawyer is going Christmas shopping for the first time, I'll be sure to post pictures of that, hopefully she will be a good girl =D
This coming up weekend is Christmas at my grandmother's house, I am really looking forward to this sweet time with family, we will be leaving on Thursday and coming home on Saturday. I am a little nervous about Sawyer but I am going to try to relax and enjoy myself and hopefully she will do the same!!

pictures

Here are some pictures over the past couple of days:

She is making her daddy proud by cheering for the wildcats



Here is Sawyer and her cousin Ezekiel on their first Thanksgiving together


Sawyer is not the only one who likes her playmat




Hope everyone had a wonderful Thanksgiving, Clint and I have so many things to be thankful for.

"Rejoice always, pray without ceasing, give thanks in every circumstances, for this is the God's will for you in Christ Jesus." 1 Thessalonians 5: 16-18

Happy Thanksgiving!

We have had a wonderful Thanksgiving thus far, I will post pictures later. I made my first pie, it was a Cranberry Chess pie, pretty good. We've had a wonderful time with family, and everyone has loved Sawyer. She was AWESOME on Thanksgiving, such a good girl. But now that Thanksgiving is over it's time to get ready for Christmas. I LOVE using Shutterfly for gift ideas and for Christmas cards.

They have a promotion right now for bloggers, I will receive 50 free Christmas cards if I mention them on my blog. So if you are in need for some gift ideas I would recommend shutterfly.com. Speaking of Christmas cards, we will use some of the pictures that Lang took for our cards and gift ideas. Head over to his blog right now to check out some of the pictures... www.langthomasphotography.com

I'll post Thanksgiving pictures later!!!

Blessings, Alex

Beautiful Quote

“To the Christian it should be great joy, by means of the harvest, to receive an assurance of God's faithfulness. The Lord has promised that seed-time and harvest, summer and winter, shall never cease; and when you see the loaded wain carrying in the crop you may say to yourself, "God is true to his promise. Despite the dreary winter and the damp spring, autumn has come with its golden grain." Depend upon it, that as the Lord keeps this promise he will keep all the rest. All his promises are yea and amen in Christ Jesus: if he keeps his covenant to the earth, much more will he keep his covenant with his own people, whom he hath loved with an everlasting love. Go, Christian, to the mercy seat with the promise on your lip and plead it. Be assured it is not a dead letter. Let not unbelief cause you to stammer when you mention the promise before the throne, but say it boldly—"Fulfill this word unto thy servant on which thou hast caused me to hope." Shame upon us that we so little believe our God. The world is full of proofs of his goodness. Every rising sun, every falling shower, every revolving season certifies his faithfulness. Wherefore do we doubt him? If we never doubt him till we have cause for it we shall never know distrust again. Encouraged by the return of harvest, let us resolve in the strength of the Spirit of God that we will not waver, but will believe in the divine word and rejoice in it.” – Charles Spurgeon

Life as we know it...

is getting much easier!! We have had some great days but a few rough nights this week, we are counting our blessings. Last night Sawyer took a bottle from her great-grandmother for the first time. I got to go out with some college friends for dinner and stayed out for 2 hours, it was wonderful but I couldn't wait to get home to see my sweet girl. I also fixed dinner a few times this week which it felt so good to be back in the kitchen. Sawyer is starting to fall asleep on her own for naps and is doing pretty good with her eat/wake/sleep cycle...whooo! We also made it to church and community group this week and she did pretty good, hopefully we can make it to church again. It felt so good to be back into community.

I can not believe Thanksgiving is next week, I am really looking forward to seeing family and having them meet Sawyer, hopefully she will enjoy all of the festivities as much as me. Clint is starting to look for jobs in Philadelphia for the church plant we will be doing...if anyone has any contacts up there please let us know!!!

Now for some pictures:

Recent Pictures

Here are some recent pics of Sawyer. FYI she did awesome for her photoshoot with Lang, We were so proud of her and we can not wait to see the pictures, we'll make sure you all get the link to where the pictures are once they're up! Also, Sawyer did have a poopy, we had to use a suppository, it was an experience! Hope everyone is having a wonderful Sunday...

Update

Things are going really well in the Casabella household. Sawyer has been doing great these past couple of days. She is smiling all the time, it is so sweet. She is also starting to make cute little sounds like she is communicating with us. 2 nights ago she slept from 11:30-6:45am...that is the longest she has slept. Last night she went from 10:30-4:30 and then ate at 4:30 and went back to sleep until 8:15am, it was awesome! Even though these past couple of days have been great for Sawyer, she has not had a bowel movement since early Monday morning. I was giving her gas drops at every feeding and I think that has constipated her. We have talked with the doctors and they are not too concerned since she does not seem in too much pain. So let's pray for some poo poo!!

I am still working on her nap schedule during the day. She eats every 2- 2 1/2 hours so that is consistent; however, I am trying to get her to keep her awake for a little bit after she eats and then put her down for her nap awake and have her learn how to fall asleep on her own, right now she prefers to be rocked to sleep or held until she falls asleep...but we're working on it!

Tonight Clint is going to give Sawyer her first bottle. I am hoping it will go good and that she will still want to breastfeed but also be fine with taking a bottle. This Sunday we are going to try to go to church, I would like to leave her here with my parents and have Clint and I enjoy worshiping together without distractions, but it will be fine if she ends up coming with us. I have a lot of fun things planned the next few weekends. Tomorrow one of my sweet friends is having a baby shower and I am hoping to bring Sawyer to that. Then next weekend I am going to go out with some of my college girlfriends, hopefully Sawyer can stay home with her daddy and take a bottle! And this coming up week we are going to try to go back to our community group through out church...I miss those friendships so much and I am looking forward to being back in community.

Today, one of Clint's best friends is coming over to take some family pictures. I am so excited about this, but I am trying not to get my hopes up ... I am hoping Sawyer will enjoy this and be a happy girl and not fuss the whole time! We'll post some pictures once we get them and I am hoping to use one of the pictures for our Christmas card.

Well, hopefully that gives you some idea of what we have been up to and what we have to look forward to. I am loving being a mommy, it truly gets better everyday.

Blessings,

Alex =D

Take 2

We got some better pics of her 1 month shot, this time she was a little more content. I am going to try to take a picture of her in her green chair every month for the first year of her life.

1 month

Well our sweet little pumpkin turned one month on the 4th of November. She is getting so big to us! I have loved her first month despite all the difficulties a newborn brings; however, I am really looking forward to these next few months as she changes and grows everyday.

Here are her stats:
9 lbs 9 oz. - 50%
21 inches long - 25-50%

The doc said she is doing great and right on track. Here are some "highlights" from her first month:

-She has slept for 6 hours straight the past two nights
-She has started to smile and it is PRECIOUS
-She can follow objects with her eyes
-She is becoming more content when she is awake (as oppose to crying the whole time)
-She LOVES being in a baby carrier strapped to her momma

Here is one of our first family pictures, I love how she is screaming her lungs out =D


Here is her one month picture


Here is some pictures with her Daddy