Sawyer Christopher Nielsen

It's hard to believe it's been 3 whole years since our little Sawyer joined our family. It was such a crazy time in our lives. We had just moved back into our little condo and I literally went into labor the first night we slept here (so nothing was unpacked but our beds). Maddie had just started Kindergarten a few days before and Chris was starting a new position at Odwalla working in San Fernando (50 miles from our home, 2 hours in traffic). Our lives were so crazy and to top it all off our little Sawyer came 3 weeks early. He was born at 7:29 pm and seemed healthy. In the morning he was whisked away to the NICU because his color was a dusky blue. They ran every test they could and we waited several days to find out what was wrong. My whole world was shaken and all I could do was cry. I just wanted a healthy baby and was so jealous of the other moms in the hospital when I'd hear their babies cry at night and mine was clear across the hospital. The hardest part was being dismissed without him, I felt empty and alone inside. I would drive to the hospital every day. Luckily we recieved good news after a few days when all the tests came back normal. He was on oxygen and couldn't survive without it but the doctors assured us he would be fine and just needed to be slowly weaned off of it. Each morning when I'd wake up I'd call and find out if they'd lowered the level they were giving him and slowly he got better. After 11 days he was breathing normally and his oxygen levels were great. They finally let me bring my baby home. It was one of the happiest days of my life.

Its hard to believe that little baby was Sawyer. He is such a strong little boy and makes it known. He has grown up so much and is such an important part of our family. He is Maddie's little brother that she loves to take care of, he is Carters favorite buddy, he is Mama's boy to the core, and he is definitely Daddy's little althlete. He brings so much happiness to our home. He tries so hard to keep up with his big brother and sister and be one of the big kids. He makes it very clear that he loves to stay home with Mommy while they are at school. One of the highlights of the day is to walk up to the bus stop to meet Carter and he beams with delight as he greets Carter and tells him about his day. I can't wait to see how Sawyer is with our little baby girl. Of all the kids I would say he is the most excited about the baby. He talks to my tummy and whenever he sees a baby on TV or in a picture he always points it out. He is so excited that he will be bigger than the baby and be a BIG brother.

I love my Sawyer, he will always be my baby boy. I love that.

Happy 3rd Birthday Sawyer!

We have a little tradition this year in our family of going to Disneyland on our birthdays and converting the "Free" ticket you get on your b-day to an annual pass (saves a lot of money!). Since both the older kids were are school and we didn't want to take them out Chris decided he would take Sawyer to Disneyland all by himself. It worked out great because I was really sick and needed to rest all day. Chris was so adorable and just the cutest dad ever. He woke up early, got the kids off to school then took Sawyer to breakfast at Coco's (his favorite) and got him Mickey Mouse pancakes. Then he took him to Disneyland.

Now if you know my husband, you know he is no Disney buff but as our kids have gotten older he has really started enjoying Disneyland. (He didn't really have a choice being married to me, since I am a huge fan of Disneyland). I thought it was so cute that he really wanted to go and take Sawyer and was actually excited about it! He totally spoiled him the whole day and sent me pictures all throughout the day so I could enjoy it with them, so sweet! Here are the pictures he took with his phone.

Here is Sawyer waiting in line to get his special Birthday ticket.


On his favorite ride, Autopia. He didn't have to share the steering wheel with Carter!


My kids love the teacups and know that they can only go on them with Daddy since I have issues with spinning!


No visit to Disneyland is complete without a ride on the Carousel.

I think this picture of him at the exit is so adorable. I wonder what he's thinking...


Cutie! Not sure why they chose the letter 'O' but it looks cute!


They had to go on Chris' favorite ride "Toy story's Midway Mania"



Chris even won Sawyer an Alligator by shooting a basket!


No visit to Disneyland would be complete without a corn dog, they're the best!




At the end of the day Sawyer was so pooped he fell asleep while still in the parking lot on the way home.

Don't I have the cutest husband? I just love what an adorable father he is to our children. Sawyer had a wonderful special day with Daddy and has talked about it all day today.

Sawyer's Birthday Party

On Saturday we had a "Mickey Mouse" themed party for Sawyer. He was so excited to have his Mickey party that he's been talking about for ages now. He wore his Mickey ears and we listened to Mickey music and ate a cake with Mickey characters on top. We only invited family and had 21 people there! It is so great to have so much family living so close. We had Grandma Faye, Kelli, David, Halli, Hannah, Jake, Grandpa Ed, Tanya, Grandma Debbie, Grampy, Amanda, Chris, Wes, Kristy, Brady and Coleman. What a crowd! It was hot and our A/C was not really keeping the house cool, but we still had a great time and enjoyed each others company. Sawyer was so adorable opening all of his gifts. He was such a ham and reacted to every gift he opened. What a fun day!

Disneyland with Aunt Amanda

Last week I had a mystery shop at Disneyland and we brought Aunt Amanda along with us! It was probably the hottest day of the year. 105 degrees at Disneyland! We did our best to try to keep cool and go on a lot of indoor rides. The best part of the shop was that we got to go to my favorite restaurant, Blue Bayou. We had a great time and I couldn't have done it without Amanda's help!