Easter

Easter is my favorite holiday to celebrate for so many reasons. It is the most meaningful time of the year to reflect on how much God loved us that he let his Son die on the cross for our sins. I have been a in season of thankfulness when I'm praying because this act of love changed the way we worship the Father and he showed us that he wants to have a relationship with us.

"But Christ being come a high priest of good things to come, by a greater and more perfect tabernacle, not made with hands, that is to say, not of this building; Neither by the blood of goats and calves, but by his own blood he entered in once into the holy place, having obtained eternal redemption for us" (Hebrews 9:11-12).

I never had a full understanding of the Tabernacle until I did the LIFE series at my church. I feel like Christians today take it for granted that we get to worship God however and whenever we want because it was not always like this. I read a great depiction of the Tabernacle and the significance of the veil and how Jesus changed the way for us.

 So the presence of God remained shielded from man behind a thick curtain during the history of Israel. However, Jesus’ sacrificial death on the cross changed that. When He died, the curtain in the Jerusalem temple was torn in half, from the top to the bottom. Only God could have carried out such an incredible feat because the veil was too high for human hands to have reached it, and too thick to have torn it. (The Jerusalem temple, a replica of the wilderness tabernacle, had a curtain that was about 60 feet in height, 30 feet in width and four inches thick.) Furthermore, it was torn from top down, meaning this act must have come from above.



As the veil was torn, the Holy of Holies was exposed. God’s presence was now accessible to all. Shocking as this may have been to the priests ministering in the temple that day, it is indeed good news to us as believers, because we know that Jesus’ death has atoned for our sins and made us right before God. The torn veil illustrated Jesus’ body broken for us, opening the way for us to come to God. As Jesus cried out “It is finished!” on the cross, He was indeed proclaiming that God’s redemptive plan was now complete. The age of animal offerings was over. The ultimate offering had been sacrificed.


We can now boldly enter into God’s presence, “the inner sanctuary behind the curtain, where Jesus, who went before us, has entered on our behalf.” (Hebrews 6:19-20)


“Therefore, brothers, since we have confidence to enter the Most Holy Place by the blood of Jesus, by a new and living way opened for us through the curtain, that is, his body …let us draw near to God with a sincere heart in full assurance of faith.” (Hebrews 10:19-22)


The Holy of Holies is a representation of heaven itself, God’s dwelling place, which we have access now through Christ. In Revelations, John’s vision of heaven — the New Jerusalem — also was a perfect square, just as the Holy of Holies was (Revelation 21:16).


“For Christ did not enter a man-made sanctuary that was only a copy of the true one; he entered heaven itself, now to appear for us in God’s presence. Nor did he enter heaven to offer himself again and again, the way the high priest enters the Most Holy Place every year with blood that is not his own. …But now he has appeared once for all at the end of the ages to do away with sin by the sacrifice of himself.” (Hebrews 9:24-26)

This is so powerful and I thank God everyday for sending his Son, Jesus, to live and die for me.

Here are some pictures of how we celebrated our risen Savior


We went to the Church of the Highlands Easter Service on Friday with the Scotts so I snapped a few pics before we left.

The Easter Bunny made a visit to our house!

Sawyer has a new nickname,"Bruiser". He is starting to walk and while this is an exciting time and a big milestone, it is also nerve racking! I came home from running errands to a crying baby who hit his eye on his play table. It was swollen so we tried to putting an ice pack on it but he cried worse then when he fell. The next morning he had a black eye, it was so sad! Just in time for Easter pictures!

On Easter, we went to the service at the Church I grew up attending followed by lunch and an Easter Egg Hunt at my parents house.

My Mom had such a festive tablescape.

Sawyer doing the "Frankenstien" walk!

Silly Taylor!

These kiddos had such a good time!

ONE

Sawyer turned one on April 12 and we celebrated his big day with a Birthday Party at Spain Park the weekend before. This was my first time to plan a Birthday Party so all of the details were overwhemling at times and of course emotional because it seemed unreal that he was turning a year old. I tried to keep things simple with the theme just being cupcakes because he doesn't have any real interests yet. We had so much help from our families who prepared food, set up everything at the party, and watched Sawyer in the process. It turned out to be such a beautiful day and it was so great to have all of our family and close friends there to help us celebrate Sawyer's Birthday. Sawyer loved seeing everyone and of course he loved his smash cupcake.



We continued the week of celebrating with Sawyer's first trip to the zoo. Dede and Meme got him a Zoo membership for his birthday so now we can go anytime we want and enjoy the splash pad and playground this Summer. My mom is always taking my neice and nephew there so we are looking forward to going with them a lot this year too. We started the day off with a picnic lunch and then spent the afternoon walking around the exhibits and even riding the train. I hadn't been to the zoo since I was little and a lot of the areas were the same but they also had a new "Trails of Africa" Exhibit which was really neat. Thanks Dede and Meme for such a thoughtful gift!

Such a big boy feeding himself!

Best Friends!

He LOVED the train

They were so cute playing the bongos!

Sleeping Gorilla

Emme helped me push Sawyer around.

Sawyer had his one year well visit last week. He got a great report from Dr. Smith so we are so blessed that he is deveolping and growing so well.

Height: 32in

Weight: 24.5 lbs

Sawyer isn't taking to whole milk very well so he gave us some tips to try so hopefully he will soon.

"Shots, who said shots?"

Sadly, he had to get two shots and he got more upset then he ever had. It was pitiful because when I finally got him to stop crying he would then have a flashback and get upset again.

10 and 11 Months

Oops, a little behind! Maybe that's because my little big one is keeping me busy these days! He has definitely mastered crawling in the last two months and is getting closer and closer to walking. Here are some updates on Sawyer:

• He is eating fruits and vegetables (baby food still), yogurt, cheese, some chicken. I feel like we feed the same things to him over and over so I'm trying to come up with some healthy meals especially since he will be off the bottle soon.
• He drinks water from his sippy cup. I will give him juice if we go out but I'm going to try and stick with water and milk at home.
• He still takes 3 8oz. bottles a day.
• He is a great sleeper and I know we are very blessed. We luckily have never had too much of a struggle at night but sometimes naps are iffy. He sleeps 7-7 and takes a morning and afternoon nap that are 1.5-2 hrs. He had a spell of waking up at 5:30 bright eyed and bushy tailed so I'm so thankful that is over. Better then every 2 hours so I know I shouldn't complain!
• He weighs 24 lbs. The only reason I know this is because I took him to the doctor last week because he had a temp of 102. I just knew it was an ear infection but luckily it wasn't. It was a fever virus that went away a day later.
• He can say ma ma, da da, ah da, na na. I'm still working on waving bye-bye.
• He has learned to play "p pie" and he will bend down and hide or cover his head with his burp cloth.
• He still wears a size 4 diaper.
• Like I mentioned in an earlier post, when I go pick him up from the nursery at church he has been crying. I don't know if it is separation anxiety or if its because he doesn't know the workers.
• It makes me really sad that my baby doesn't like to be held anymore. :( He wants to be on the go non-stop and the only time I do get to is every now and then when he is going down. Most of the time he wants to get in his own comfy bed.
• He stands up in his bed and on his bumpers when I go get him in the morning. It's so funny seeing him do that. When you get near him, he will grab you to pick him up.
• His favorite things to play with are definitely books. I will literally read 5 books in a row to him and he will get upset when I put them away. He loves to turn the pages and the pop up ones are an added bonus!
• The child is ob.sessed with Mickey Mouse Clubhouse. He will scooting around in his car (walker) in the morning while I eat breakfast and as soon as he hears the theme song, he is on 2 wheels coming around the corner!!

He's such a sweetie and I love nothing more then when I look down and he has pulled up on my leg saying, "Ma ma".

He would jump through the T.V. if he could!! 

Swinging is also a favorite past time.

Mama and Me!!

March

I LOVE the month of March for many reasons. It is the beginning of Spring and beautiful weather and it's my Birthday on the 23rd!

A few weeks ago we helped Norah celebrate her first Birthday. She had a Owl themed Birthday and everything turned out so cute! She is such a big girl already and is walking and waving bye bye. She has such a fun personality so we always look forward to seeing her when they are in town. We also loved the bunny ears party favors!

Even though Sawyer is not walking yet I still thought it would be a good idea to get him fitted for shoes so he could get used to them. We met my Mom and the cousins at the mall to go to Stride Rite to have his foot measured. At no surprise to me, his foot is huge!! He is a 6 wide!! They didn't even have the beginners walking soft sole shoe in that size because that is what most 18 mo-2 yr olds wear!! We tried on a differnt pair and they just didn't work out. I couldn't get over that they were $45! I know he needs good shoes but I bet he would only wear them for a few months. I went to another store, Monkey Toes, by our house to see if they had anything. We ran into the same problem there and the salesman told us to come back when he is walking because it is best for them to learn to walk on their bare feet. I'm sure we will be back soon because he is getting so close!



What is this lady doing to me??

"Let me take a picture Mama!"

Look at that sweet baby!

I'm so handsome!

Almost got it on...

Yea, this isn't going to work on Bigfoot!

Two weekends ago we had some friends over who have a little boy Carter who turned one on St. Patrick's Day. He is the cutest little boy with red hair and curls in the back! I was blown away with all the things he can do! Sadly, Sawyer was not so happy when Carter was wanting to play with him. He would start crying and cling on to me whenever Carter would come near him. I had never seen him act like this and to be honest, it was quite embarrassing. He is in this new phase because the last two times that I have picked him up from the nursery at Church he has been upset. It breaks my heart when he does it but I know nothing is wrong. We are going to Carter's Birthday Party this weekend so hopefully Sawyer won't cry again! He's a sensitive fella and I have nooo idea where he get that from. ;)

Last Thursday we went to the lake for a long weekend. We were so thrilled that the water was high enough to take the boat out! Saying that Sawyer loved the boat is an understatement! He loved watching the motor "make bubbles" and he was Papa D's first mate! He looked like a little duck in his bright yellow life jacket. It was the cutest thing ever.

"Look at my Elmo car!"

Sawyer's first fishing experience didn't go off without a hitch. The fish Papa D caught finned him on his leg. Poor guy!

"Why did that slimy, smelly thing do that to me?"

I turned 28 on the 23rd of March. I really had been so distracted with Sawyer's Birthday Party that I didn't have time to even think about my Birthday. Well, thanks to my sweet Hubby and in-laws who made it such a special day, 2 days really. It all started Tuesday when Keith and I bought a new (used) car for me. It was long overdue. The ole' Honda had run its course and was just not feasible for all of our baby gear and the 80 lb lab who takes trips with us. I found a 2008 Hyundai Veracruz at at dealership online. After I test drove it I knew I wanted to buy it. We played the whole "used car buying game" and a few hours later it was ours! I am so in love with it. It has optional 3rd row seating which makes for a huge back area when the seats are folded down. That night we had dinner at the Scott's and they gave me a cute top and bracelet. Kenzie gave me a floral top that will be great for summer. I am so blessed to have great In-laws! On my actual Birthday Keith and I celebrated at my favorite restaurant, 26. It was delicious as always and we had the best waiter who recommended a great red wine which complimented the sushi and fish well. Dinner was followed by a special dessert which was a chocolate chip cookie sandwich with a pink candle for my Birthday wish. Keith got me a "Mommy's Day Out" Spa Package at Santa Fe Day Spa which includes a massage and a mani-pedi. What a great year it's been!

Keith and I stopped by the Scott's on the way to Dinner to see Little Man. He was so cute in his PJs and I even got to put him to bed before we left. They were gracious enough to let him spend the night since we were going to be out late. Who knew that people go to dinner at 7:30!!