It's Baby Jesus!

Just a few pictures from our visit with Lindsey and Lucas's night out as Baby Jesus for the church's nativity scene.

Love you all!

PS: We're watching the Today Show as we typically do. You know, you never know what slightly inappropriate thing Meredith is going to say these days:) and Bon Jovi started to perform. Lucas LOVES Bon Jovi.

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1st Food-Like Substances

So after the 4-month check-up we were told to go ahead and try a little rice cereal with Lucas. Apparently learning to eat is the 1st step in learning how to talk...who knew! Not even the doctor in the house realized it. We didn't catch it on camera but he is so opposed to food at this time that he seems to try and push the spoon away. Here are a few pictures and a video of Lucas trying out the rice cereal. Surprisingly, he's not the biggest fan yet!

2nd Try! from natalie sawyer on Vimeo.

4.5 Months

A lot has happened since my last post. Most recently Lucas had his 4 (really 4 1/2) month checkup. He is doing really well, and happily has made it back under the growth line for weight! GO LUCAS!!! He weighs 19 lbs 2 oz, is 26 inches long, and has a small head like his dad. And apparently like his cousins on the Anderson side. He's also hitting all the milestones according to Dr. Denen. And 1 more thing from the appointment - Lucas can start eating food-like substances, about 1 tbsp of rice cereal which hopefully we'll start this weekend:)

Lucas took his first plane ride all the way to West Texas, complete with a plane and terminal change in DFW. He was absolutely amazing! Honestly, not a sound on the way to Lubbock. The ride back from DFW to Dayton was good too until the last 20 minutes or so when the pressure really got to him. Crocodile tears and all it was the saddest part of the trip.

In West Texas Lucas spent time with his Mimi and Ganghi, Aunnie Re and Aunt Haley and met several new family members. Cousins Cecilie & Adrianne, and Uncles John and Jack. True to form, Lucas spit up on Cec every time she picked him up. It was awesome.

As soon as we got back from Texas, Grandma, Grandpa and Uncle Mark came to town. Lucas was still recovering from the trip but he seemed to really enjoy himself. It was Halloween Weekend! Lucas made an outstanding Baby Yoda, and trick-or-treated 3 houses in the neighborhood. No candy was gathered, but we all enjoyed the photo opps with the neighbors. Sunday we raked leaves. No pictures but I will say that the next house we find ourselves living in will be taken into consideration based on the number of trees in the yard.

In the last couple of days Lucas has really started playing a lot more. He's now reaching for things with success that are dangling over his head, he's squeaking and squealing a lot more, and he's spontaneously giggling which may be the funniest thing ever! You can tell when he's really starting to have fun when he holds his arms straight out from his sides and they start to shake a little bit.

In the next few months, Lucas will be meeting Lindsey and Sarah (from Iowa), and we just bought our tickets to Texas for Lucas's 1st Christmas. So exciting!

And now for the pictures...hopefully you didn't just skip to them, but if you did its okay:)

PS: If you want to print any of the pictures from the blog the best way to do it is out of my Picasa web account instead of straight from the blog. Let me know and I'll give you access to it.

Afternoon Playtime with Lucas

Lucas gets more and more entertaining everyday! And the best part is he seems to think his mommy is the funniest thing on earth (comments regarding the previous statement are unwanted. Thanks). What does Lucas's day look like these days you may be wondering? It goes something like this:

• Wake up. Eat. Smile at mommy & daddy while I hang out in the recliner until it's time for morning nap.
• Wake up. Sit in my Bumbo chair and watch 5 minutes of the Backyardigans - my favorite TV show because of all the colors and singing & dancing.
• I might stay up or I might not. Just depends but eventually I'll give mommy a break and take a 2-3 hour nap around 2.
• Wake up. Playtime again and sometimes a short nap before dinner.
• Wake up. Bathtime and soon off to bed - around 8 or 8:30 these days.

This is one more video had to be posted from his afternoon on playtime (now that I know what I'm doing). Lucas got very expressive during afternoon playtime after his nap and snack. Enjoy:)

Make a Smilebox slideshow

We've Got Video

It was brought to my attention that putting video taken with our video recorder onto the computer and onto the blog is a bit of a process... so here are some video shorts after bathtime tonight. He gets to talking but as soon as he sees the camera, the good shows over. But hopefully this will get a few smiles anyway!

Aunt Haley's Weekend Visit

Hi all! My sister Haley visited this past weekend and let me just say, Aunt Haley has the right moves to make Lucas the happiest baby on the block! We had a great time hanging out with her. However, it is next to impossible to behave with Aunt Haley in church. Lucas burped the loudest old man burp ever in the middle of the sermon, and I really thought we were going to have to step out to collect ourselves we got to giggling so bad:) Here are a few pictures from her visit. I'm hoping to get some video on the blog by the end of the week - but that will depend on Will.

Love you all!

A Few Stories from the Mouth of an 8-Year Old Boy

Way too tired last night to provide some great laughs from this weekend. Note to self - one must have tough skin when a tell-it-like-it-is little boy is around:-) PS Andrew...if I recall correctly when you were as little as Lucas, you weren't too far behind size-wise... LOVE YOU!

Andrew is starting Taekwondo and is very excited to become a little ninja. Will was relaying his life as a ninja when it suddenly occurred to Andrew that ninjas need to be super-stealthy and be able to sneak into windows. Alas! Lucas will not get to live the life of a ninja because he would get stuck trying to climb through said windows!

Lucas is pictured here sitting in Eden's Bumbo chair which is this great little chair that helps the little guys learn to sit up and get strong. We were trying it out to see if they're all that we've heard they are. Turns out to be true. When it was time for Lucas to get out I grabbed him at an angle and, well, those chubby little legs held on tight and up came Lucas AND the Bumbo. We all laughed:-) And Andrew quickly relayed to Uncle Will and Caleb that Lucas got stuck in the chair because of his big bottom.

It seems to me that Uncle Mark has had way too much of an influence over our sweet Andrew!

Playdates, Doctor Appointments, and Family Fun

So a lot has happened since the last update. It's turning out that Lucas could use a few baby boys to play with! For now all he has are girlfriends. But they are super-sweet girls! In this slide show you'll meet 5 year old Isabel, 8 week old Shea, and you guys met 2 year old Clara in the last entry:-)
We also had Lucas's 2-month checkup (at 11.5 weeks). He's doing well - definitely growing and getting stronger. Numbers - 16 lbs, 11 oz and 24.5 inches long. The doctor is happy with his progress. The only issue we're having is reflux which is pretty awful. And Lucas started his vaccinations. We're doing an alternative schedule - just slowing things down a bit. He got 1 shot (just a few crocodile tears) and 1 was a sugar-tasting drop which he didn't seem to mind at all.
And over Labor Day weekend Lucas met a whole bunch of family. Aunt Nancie flew over from Colorado Springs and stayed with us, and then Caleb, Rachel, Andrew, Hannah, and baby Eden came too. It was the first time for us to meet Eden. We had a great time - good food, lots of laugh as always, and many many pictures.
So what is Lucas doing these days? Sleeping through the night (Hallelujah!), wishing it could be bath time all the time, beginning to get control of his head, watching TV in the morning (yeah...I know. But its a good way for the mommy to get a shower in), and starting to really enjoy just hanging out with a toy or music mobile on his back or tummy.
So here are some new pictures...enjoy!

Lucas and Friends

These are a few pictures from Lucas's very 1st playdate with Brooke Horton.

Brooke is 2 weeks and 1 day older than Lucas. They had a great afternoon watching the ceiling fan spin in the Hortons' bedroom, and later they enjoyed naptime with mommy and daddy Horton.

Sounds like a great 1st playdate to me! (There was talk of hand-holding between these two, but it was captured on camera.)

And this last picture is a picture I took with my phone of Lucas in the arms of next door neighbor Clara - she will be 3 in November. It was mentioned that perhaps this is a photo-shopped picture. Lucas being a "Honey I Inflated the Baby" and Clara a "Honey I Shrunk the Neighbor" sort of thing...but it's not...

Bath Time!

Baby Lucas and Annie Re

8 Weeks and 1 Day Old

So I know I'm a bit slow at getting pics up! Mimi & Ganghi had a picture fix from Retha's visit at the end of July, but for the rest of the family...we're sorry. I have several updates about Lucas. The first is the best - we are now worry free about his hips! The last ultrasound we had showed that they are developing normally, and the orthopedic doc was pleased at how much progression the films showed after 4 weeks. We'll go back at 6 months for an x-ray, but the doctor didn't expect any surprises. So no harness! This was an incredible answer to our prayers, and Will and I are relieved for our boy. Lucas is "a spitter." We've graduated from the projectile vomiting (thank goodness), but he still can spit up massive quantities of his meals. Unfortunately, this problem hasn't been getting any better, and Lucas has ended up with quite a bit of belly and throat pain from all the acid. We're treating that now, and since going to the doctor last week, Lucas is like a whole new baby. The colicky behaviors have significantly decreased, and he just seems to be happier and more content. Our ace in the hole when he can't be calmed however, is bath time...although that can be tricky. I'm pretty sure he threw his first temper tantrum last week when he was taken out of the bath a little sooner than he wanted to.

Lucas attended his first vacation bible school last week. I was helping out with some of the kids, and a great friend of ours hung out with Lucas for 5 nights. He did very well, saved his worst diapers for Beth, made some new friends, and became fascinated with this truck that makes the most obnoxious noise. Beth reported that it held his attention for 10 minutes at a time...clearly Lucas is absolutely brilliant!

And for the biggest news...Lucas weights 15 lbs 1 oz as of his appointment last Friday at about 7 1/2 weeks. He has graduated from newborn clothing, to some 3 month clothing, but really appears more comfortable in 6 month clothing as he is both long and big. And absolutely adorable. The 15 lb benchmark was a little sad for me though...he is now too big to sleep in the bassinet portion of the playpen in our room and so Lucas spent his 1st night in his crib yesterday. I'm sure this was harder on me than on him!

Obviously we're not getting any fast with posting pics of the growing boy. I do apologize...hopefully the next thing up will be a video that Auntie Re took when she was here. Otherwise it will probably be after Labor Day before I get more up. Lucas will be meeting his 3 Sawyer cousins - Andrew, Hannah, and Eden - as well as Caleb and Rachel that weekend! We're looking forward to that visit...although our house is going to feel incredibly small with 4 adults, 4 kids, and 2 dogs:-) TOTALLY WORTH IT!

Love you guys!

(And in unrelated Lucas news - my sweet pal Michelle had her new baby girl, Myah, Sunday morning! Michelle has tiny babies which is unfamiliar territory for many reading this right now. Myah weighed in at 6 lbs 3 ozs and was 19" long. Congrats and lots of love to Michelle, John, big bro Tristen, and sweet Myah!)

1 Month Old Already

I cannot believe my baby boy is already 1 month old. He has grown so much. By our bathroom scale estimates we think Lucas is just a little bit over 10 lbs. He definitely is not a starving baby - quite the opposite. He's all double chin and chubby cheeks and so cute. As you'll see in the pictures, he continues to refuse the paci so we just try and keep our hands as clean as possible. For now I've said 'goodbye' to soft lotiony hands.

We've had both sets of grandparents in. I was very thankful for the help with cooking and cleaning as I adjusted to being a new mom. And now with everyone gone I'm trying to figure out how to be a wife and a mommy all at the same time. I'm a fabulous multi-tasker but after a trip to the market this afternoon, I've got plenty of do-it-yourself meals on hand.

Here are some picks from the grandparents' visit. Love to you all!

Introducing Lucas Edward Sawyer!

Lucas Edward came on Monday, June 15th at 9:44 am. He was born at Southview Hospital in Dayton, OH and he came out kicking and screaming to two incredibly happy and proud parents. He wasn't as big as we thought he was going to be (based on the ultrasound a few weeks ago we were thinking 9+lbs), but he was still big at 8 lbs 8 oz and 20 1/4 inches. Right now he has blond hair with just a touch of red (he gets that from his Mamaw) and blue eyes. So far the eyes are still blue...should they change, I'm not sure how quickly that happens. I will say with absolute certainty, the boy is beautiful! Lucas is healthy, and content and always very sweet.

We had his first doctor's appointment this past Monday (6/22) and everything looks great! His Mimi and Ganghi (my mom & dad) also came on Monday, and we're happy to have them here to get to know Lucas. Next week Lucas is having an ultrasound on his hips to check for hip dysplasia which is common in breech babies. Our pediatrician doesn't expect this to be an issue for Lucas, but it is routine to check it out around 3 - 4 weeks. Next week he's also meeting Grandma, Grandpa and Uncle Mark!

And here are the pictures all of you have been anxious to see! Love to all of you and thank you so much for your prayers and well wishes.

Sawyer Family Birth Plan

Some of you guys have asked me about this now that we're opting for a scheduled c-section delivery. Below is the birth plan Will and I have discussed with our doctor - who is fabulous by the way.

Birth Plan for the Sawyer Family

General Preferences:
1. I wish to have my husband, Dr. Will Sawyer, and my doula, Amy Chavez, present in the operating room.

Drugs & Anesthesia:
1. Please place the catheter after the spinal has been administered.
2. I request the administration of Dermamorph prior to the removal of the spinal.
3. Please do not administer any sedatives/anti-anxiety medications without the express permission of myself or my husband, Will.

Positioning:
1. I would prefer to have the arm without the IV be left free.

Birth
1. I would like to view the delivery of our son either by lowering the screen or positioning a mirror.
2. If my baby needs assistance in the delivery process, please use a vacuum versus forceps.
3. My husband, Will, would like to cut the cord within the sterile field. If possible, please allow the cord to stop pulsating before cutting.
4. Please allow me to hold the baby as soon as he is delivered before any bathing is started for skin-to-skin contact.
5. If the baby is moved to the nursery, my husband Will, should remain with the baby at all times and be present for any medical treatment and/or procedure, barring a medical emergency.
6. I wish to be reunited with the baby as soon as I am taken into recovery.

Newborn Care:
1. Please refrain from administering any eye medication for the baby until we are past the first few hours after birth.
2. We REFUSE the Hepatitis B vaccination at this time.
3. Please support my decision to breastfeed exclusively by not giving the baby supplements, including formula, glucose water, or plain water, without my consent, unless there is an urgent medical necessity.
4. Please do not give the baby a pacifier.
5. We would like the baby to room-in with us. Someone will be with me at all times to provide assistance. Please do not take our baby to the nursery without expressed permission.

5 Days and Counting...

Okay so it has been ages since my last post. We've been rather busy what with baby showers, other babies arriving, and just in general - life. Since the family came up in April we've had 3 more generous baby showers (the Church, my girls in Michigan, & the yogahOMe family) and the nursery is totally set-up and ready to go. We caved to temptation and ended up with a super comfortable rocker-recliner. I couldn't be more delighted with this purchase!

The dogs are experiencing a new reality too. A girlfriend gave me a baby noise CD to get them acclimated to baby sounds. It starts out really nice - sweet baby coos and laughs - until is climaxes in an all out temper tantrum rage. For the most part - they ignore it. The two of them are also spending more and more time outside. Zoe doesn't seem to mind so much as long as there is a patch of sun to lay in. Loki, however, believes it must be mealtime every time they get back in...this is highly annoying. For those of you who have seen her when she's getting fed - you understand what I mean.

And then getting to the real reason for the post...Baby Boy Sawyer is breech and has absolutely no desire to turn himself around and make a normal, typical entrance into the world (Will and I are not entirely surprised by this). So Monday morning, June 15th, we are having a c-section. Before finally agreeing to this, I put myself and the baby through the following (in no particular order):

1. Ice pack to his head while my hips were elevated over my head...apparently babies don't like they're heads to be cold and there is some belief that they will turn.
2. Chiropractic treatments.
3. Round ligament massage - and no this isn't a comforting relaxing massage...
4. Acupuncture - which I really thought was going to work. And if you are wondering, I did not have a body full of needles. I think the grand total was 9.
5. Walking, Walking Walking followed by a variation of child's pose.
6. Crawling on the floor for 15 minutes at a time - this was the dogs' favorite!
7. Inversions of any kind.
8. External Version - a medical procedure where the doctor and assistant literally try and force the baby to turn. It was at this point that I looked at Will and said, "Yeah, ok. Let's do the c-section." EV is NOT a fun thing to do.

Can you believe it!? In 5 days we will finally meet our baby boy that we've been waiting on for the last 9 months. And he will get a name at that time. For now, we're still keeping quiet.

Here are the newest pictures taken at 37 1/2 weeks of the baby. Getting to see the baby was the 1 benefit of the External Version. They think he's 8 lbs - which makes large babies officially a Sawyer gene trait. He also has hair:-) Here you'll see his sweet little baby foot and also his face - which I can only imagine is very very cute and not at all alien-like!

32 Weeks & Various Other Things

It's been a BIG couple of weeks around the Sawyer house!

The nursery has been repainted to be a bit more neutral - it's a little like the color of coffee-milk (many many thanks to Jen Holaday! Had she not done this task, Baby Boy was likely to have been stuck with very girly teal walls). AND the baby's furniture has come in and it's been assembled - it is beautiful. The only thing missing is something to rock him in, but now that the room is arranged we can figure that out too.

For your viewing pleasure:

Will took this year's huge exam, and is now busy doing research and preparing to be the Senior Resident next year. This is possibly his busiest time of year so we see each other at dinner and then he's upstairs working in the office. I, on the other hand, stay downstairs and watch way too much TV. In case you're wondering, things only get crazier for him right around the time Baby Boy is coming which is why we're expecting many many visitors throughout July and August:-)

I'm now going to the doctor every two weeks (it is a good thing I like Dr. Day - I see him more than my closest friends these days), and we've made some of our first big parenting decisions. And no - we still have no idea what this baby boy is going to be named. Even if we did, we wouldn't tell you:-)

We have hired a doula - Amy! If you're not sure what a doula is go to this site: http://www.dona.org/. Amy will be around to help make natural delivery a more likely option (I should be able to spend more time laboring at home vs. the hospital), and as a huge comfort to Will since he's going to be on-call, she is on-call for us beginning at 38-weeks and on. Apparently he had visions of being stuck in surgery and me being alone. I never had that particular nightmare, but now it's not a worry. We met with her last week, and for both of us, it was instant relief. Amy is very knowledgeable, came highly recommended, and we are lucky to have her! (For any of you out there thinking, 'Oh my! She's going to try and have this baby at her house!' FORGET ABOUT IT! We're definitely going to actually give birth at the hospital!!)

We've just about decided how to approach vaccinations. We are pro-vaccination, especially in our area with the high population of Amish families, there is at least 1 small outbreak of polio each summer in OH so the risk is way too high. Baby Boy will be getting all his shots (with the potential exclusion of 2 that we're on the fence about), but on a different schedule than the rapid fire process the CDC recommends. We are meeting with a pediatrician this week, and after that we'll know exactly what schedule we'll be using.

We also had our 1st baby shower! My lovely hostesses were Amber (Dayton - local) and Lindsey (Texas native). Mom and Nancie got to come too. It was a lot of fun. You can check out some pictures in the slide show.

Thanks for all your prayers and love!

27 Weeks & 4 Days

So we've officially entered the 3rd Trimester. It is hard to believe that June 21st is only 13 weeks away, but that is all we have left of this pregnancy journey! Will was able to go with me to the doctor's appointment today and hear the heart beat. His little heart is strong - 150 bpms.
We also talked a little bit about delivery (I know...I am a super-planner and like to think about my options!!!). I'm blessed to have Dr. Day as my ob. He is laid back, willing to answer any number of questions, and straight-forward. He is one of the few doctors in the area willing to perform the VBAC procedure (vaginal delivery after c-section). And Dr. Day is also open to considering working around Will's insane call schedule should everything look okay for an early delivery. It isn't something I'm set on, but getting an extra week with both Will and the babe is something we're considering.

The baby: he is becoming more and more active - especially early morning and right about the time I'd like to get some sleep. I suppose that's all part of the training for what's to come! He seems to exist only on the right side. Will got to feel him move for the 1st time a few weeks ago, and that was a great moment for us.

A good friend painted the babies room this week, and we'll start building the furniture and arranging the nursery soon! Things are really starting to get busy as we get ready for the Dayton shower at the end of April, a Michigan shower in early May, Will's tests and trips and general craziness this Spring.

It seems some of you out there are somewhat outraged that you haven't seen a picture of the belly yet so this slide show's for all of you!

It Will Be A Boy!

Imagine it! A Sawyer is having a boy. I was actually surprised a little bit. While I hadn't had any premonitions, all but 2 people had predicted a baby girl so I had basically convinced myself it must be a girl. Thanks for playing along and special thanks goes to sister Retha who guessed we were having a Turkey Neck!

It's a ....!

We had the 20-week ultrasound today. The tech didn't see anything to be concerned about, but Will wants our radiologist friend Stephanie to check it out. Stephanie, and husband Michael, go to our church and are expecting their first baby 2-weeks before us. Based on measurements I'm right on track for June 21st (Still a Summer Baby).

Will and I also know the sex of the baby. But do you know? Check out the pics and see if you can figure it out. If you guess right, maybe you'll have some say in the name - but no promises!

We'll let everyone know Friday so if you can't figure it out you won't have to wait too long. We also have a slideshow of the other pictures taken today.



Love, Will and Nat

Half Way There!

This week marks the half way point - I'm at 20 weeks and finally really starting to look pregnant. I have bought the elastic band pants, to my dismay, and much to my surprise I actually LOVE them. So much better than the rubber band around the tight pants I was wearing before. And I always have the stretchy yoga pants to fall back on when I run out of the good stuff.

My appointment last week with Dr. Day went well. Will got to go and meet him too. We heard the baby's heart beat - it was in the 150s. And that was pretty much it. All the blood work is coming back normal, and there doesn't seem to be much to worry about, which is good, because I can find plenty to worry about on my own.

I'm teaching more yoga again! It has been fun to see the people at yogahOMe again. And really, just good to be back in the yoga room. As far as me doing yoga - it is starting to become an obstacle course of trial and error. The belly is in the way for somethings, fine for others. I usually don't know until I'm already in the pose. And I am still standing on my head and going upside down. It is a quick remedy for headaches and the SI joint pain I've developed over the last week.
I am officially addicted to the large 4-pack of chewy Sweet Tarts. But other than that, nothing weird like pickles with peanut butter. For the most part, I believe the baby is going to be vegetarian. This could be bad for Will since it would be 2-1 in favor of NO MEAT! The smell, look, taste of meat of any kind turns my stomach.

We also made of first trip to Babys 'R Us this week. Um - overwhelming. I'll be going back with a girlfriend soon to help wade through all the choices and start registering for things. Now that I'm feeling good, the fun part of being pregnant is starting!

It's a Girl! No, It's a Boy! Or...

As it turns out the quality of impatience seems to be an Anderson-family trait and couldn't seem to wait 5 more weeks for an accurate ultrasound when there are proven wive's tales out there that can predict the sex of our baby. So we tried the highly faulty Ring Test. Surprisingly enough (or maybe not), the test conducted by the one predicting a girl resulted in the circle, the test conducted by the one predicting a boy resulted in a line motion, and the test conducted by a so-called 'impartial' person resulted in a mixed bag!

Result #1 - The ring went in a circle so it must be a girl

Result #2 - The ring went back and forth so clearly its a boy

Result #3 - It went in circles and back and forth

(and yes - if you are wondering there are 9 people participating in this well-controlled experiment).

Ultimately we have no idea! We'll have to wait for February to find out what's really going to happen.

We're Still on for June 21st

Since the last post I've had two more doctor appointments. Everything seems to be going as planned with no real problems or concerns. As for any cravings - possibly tomatoes but otherwise nothing too interesting or strange. The due date is still officially June 21st according to Dr. Day! Which makes me incredibly happy to still have a summer baby on the way. The heart beat gets stronger and stronger, and it is always pretty cool to hear that little sound! My next appointment for 20-weeks is at the end of January. We'll get the results of the quad-screen test and we'll schedule the next ultrasound then. We are definitely going to find out what we're having. Will would be content to 'wait & see' but I'm much too much of a planner to not know.

Happy New Year!