...latest duck fun...

This is what Sawyer was up to last Wednesday after Daddy got home from Duck Hunting...
YES that is a dead duck and YES that is Sawyer holding it by the neck. When Brad left for work that day he had to take the duck with him. Sawyer was soooo mad that he took it she pitched a huge fit with tears and all!

(Sorry the quality is not to good)

Duck Hunting

As most of you know may Brad has recently become obsessed with duck hunting. Most days you can catch him practicing his duck call when I am trying to have a conversation with him. Or looking up duck hunting videos on You Tube. Naturally Sawyer has also become curious about this new area of Brad's life. Sawyer will sit on Brad's lap while he watches his duck hunting videos and say "Dada that ducky needs a band aid". Or they will practice their duck calls together. Sawyer has her own duck call that she can also practice with.

Brad was working over at the Gutierrez's preparing for the start of duck hunting season a couple weeks ago. He was working with decoys, which for the non-duck hunting folks are fake ducks. Sawyer was loving all the fake ducks and decided to start naming all the ducks. She would label them Dada duck, Mama duck, Lola duck and Mom duck. She even took one duck into the bathroom with her when she needed to use the potty. It was so cute!

Sawyer wiping the ducky! She is so thoughtful ; )

Brad swears that he is going to have her hunting in the duck blinds next year...he is duck dreaming!!

Halloween 2011

Sawyer was very excited for Halloween. No not for the candy, but because she was going to be a Lady Bug. We didn't actually explain what trick or treating was until Halloween morning. This is how the conversation went:

Mama: Sawyer tonight we are going to go trick or treating at Grandma's house. We are going to knock on people's front doors and they will give you candy when you say trick or treat. Then you say thank you. Let's practice. Knock, knock... then they open the door. You say...

Sawyer: tick or treat

Mama: Then they give you candy and you say...

Sawyer: Tank you!

Mama: Good job poopy!

Later that morning in the car I over heard this conversation Sawyer was having with herself...

Sawyer: You knock, knock. They open the door. Tick or treat. Candy. Tank you!

It was pretty funny to overhear her rehearsing how to trick or treat. I am constantly reminded how sweet little children are. Here are a couple photos from the night. Sorry for the poor quality of some.

Sawyer made treats for her friends at daycare (Mrs. Diana's house)

Leashed at the San Diego Zoo

This past weekend we visited the San Diego Zoo. Sawyer loves animals and has no fear regardless of which animal it is. No matter how big a dog is, she will kiss it right on the mouth and pat it's back. Aunt Lyssie has a snake named Pedro. I disdain snakes. Sawyer on the other hand likes them. The first time that she saw Pedro she motioned wanting to touch him. Every time that we visit Papa, Mimi and Lyssie, Sawyer asks Papa to take out Pedro so that she can hold him. So, natural while at the zoo Sawyer was excited to see the Burmese python that was 10ft long and eats children for dinner. The snake slithered its disgusting scales over towards the glass and stood just about as tall as Sawyer, who was pressing her forehead on the glass. With a crowd behind her Sawyer precedes to repeatedly kiss the glass where the snake's head is. You may be thinking, "Whose child is this?", well at least that is what I was thinking. Answer: Brad's child! Brad had snakes all growing up and has mentioned wanted to get one for Sawyer. I think he needs a reminder that she is only TWO.



Our trip to the zoo was fun and also exhausting...for me. The San Diego Zoo has numerous hills throughout it and Sawyer found it hilarious to run full spend down each hill. Luckily she did not duff it anywhere. Our day was wrapped up with Mimi purchasing a fake snake for Sawyer to tote around her neck and Grandma Coe buying her a monkey backpack which also doubles as a child leash. That's right a leash. I look down upon those parents that harness their children into a leash. I have always said I will NEVER do that. I stand by that statement. I felt helpless though as my mom and Malia were fastening Sawyer into her new Monkey backpack/ leash. They mentioned something along the lines of doing me a favor, but I was too appalled to listen (lol). Although the site of my crazy energetic precious child in a leash made me vomit in my mouth, it was pretty funny to watch because Sawyer thought it was a game to try and run away. Sawyer's mongey (monkey) is often worn around the house, but I detached any evidence of a leash. I would hate to be looked down upon for having a child leash... :)

I'm Two!!!

Two years old. Sawyer is two years old. Two years ago our lives changed dramatically. We went from a family of two to three.

Just in time for her second birthday Sawyer could respond to the question, "How old are you?". We decided to have a small celebration with a cupcake and the classic Happy Birthday tune. We finished the night by giving Sawyer a new trike. A couple weeks ago we were at Sport Chalet and Sawyer ran over to the bike section. She hopped onto this super cute retro trike and tried to ride around the store. Even now she can't really petal but rather scoots around on her trike with a huge smile.

Spokane

The Jenkins family made their annual summer vacation trip up to Spokane, WA to see the Dietzen family. We were so excited for this trip for many reasons. One, Sawyer and Mason (JD and Angela's 19 month old) are older now and we wanted to see how they interacted and played. Second, we haven't seen Baby Parker (Nick and Anna's 11 month old) since he was 3 months old. It is so fun to catch up and hang out.

Mason and Sawyer were like two peas in a pod. They followed each other around, got into trouble together and giggled a lot. They loved playing together! It was so refreshing to sit back and watch our little kiddos play together.

Every time Brad and I visit Spokane we daydream about moving up there. The air is fresher, the trees are greener and it's affordable! Maybe one day we will have the chance to live in a beautiful place like Spokane...

Baby Parker is so sweet. He has beautiful big blue eyes and is always smiling.

Sawyer the Fish

Sawyer loves loves loves the water. The first time that she went into a pool was when she was 8 weeks old. A couple weeks ago we went down to San Diego to celebrate Grandma Ruth's 86th birthday. Sawyer was fearless when it came to jumping into the pool and swimming. She has this nifty floaty that allows her to swim. I feel like the phrase..." They didn't have things like this when I was a kid", fits in here. Anyhow, Sawyer and aunt Lyssie had a blast in the pool.






We are so thankful to have family that adores Sawyer and that we are able to spend quality time with them often.

Break Dance with Aunt Susie

A couple weeks ago we went over to the Walton's for dinner. Sawyer loves loves loves uncle Jared and aunt Susie! Jared taught Sawyer the sign for Jesus and every time she sees him, she has him read her favorite book, "Most of All Jesus Loves You". It is so cute.

The Learning Tower

The Learning Tower is a product that I have had my eye on the last couple of months. Since Sawyer is much more curious to what is going on above her height, I thought that The Learning Tower would be the perfect fix. Here is the actually product.

I love this little tower. It allows for a child to safely participate at their parents level. The child is able to climb in and out of the tower and it comes with attachments. The tower can turn into an easel for drawing or a playhouse for a puppet show.

This past weekend as a family we headed down to San Diego to celebrate our little Sister Alyssa'a 11th birthday. One of Brad's favorite things to do with his dad besides spear fishing is building things. Brad and his dad dedicated a couple hours this last weekend to building Sawyer a learning tower. It was much much cheaper to build one on our own then to purchase one. Besides the savings, Brad was able to spend valuable time with his dad. Here are some pictures of the process and of Sawyer using her new favorite toy.

Sawyer making orange juice with Daddy

Valentine's Day

Last year Sawyer had a wonderful lady make her a super adorable valentines day outfit. This is what she wore this year....

Sawyer at 7 months old

Valentines 2011

I love seeing the size difference of the two outfits. Reminds me how fast the time goes.

Brad and I are not Valentines people. We decided to be creative and make chocolate covered strawberries this year. We ate dinner with the Guiterrez's then made these beautiful creations.....

Sawyer once again weaseled her way up to the counter and we found her enjoying the white chocolate herself. Of course she had already taken a bath!

--Little Miss--

I guess that I'm in the habit of only blogging every few months. That is a habit I need to break! Life just speeds on by and Sawyer keeps me quite busy. She is determined to mimic whatever we are doing. She pulls her little chair into the kitchen to join me at the sink washing dishes, but not before she removes the kitchen rug so that when she drags her chair, she has nothing in her way. I was making a cake for our small group bible study the other day and I caught Sawyer with her hand in the cookie jar, or cake batter actually.Yet it is so hard to punish her when she tilts her head and gives me a " aren't I so clever mama?" smile.

Sawyer at Trader Joe's helping "Da-ma" short for dada and mama

Recently Sawyer has decided she wants to climb everything. Whether that's the office desk or the kitchen counter, she is determined. We are awaiting the day that she duffs it from such a high height. We will see where here determination lays then. She is a bit of a daredevil I must say, which is highly encouraged by her thrill seeking dad...not her mom. This attitude may make may trips to the E.R a reality in our household.

I love to see Sawyer's personality bloom. She seems to be all girl with her pink cowboy boots and pink tutu but also rough and tough like a boy. I think its fair to say we have a tomboy on our hands. She LOVES animals. Her best friend Addy, whom is a black lab, endures Sawyers endless hugs and kisses when she is at Lisa's house. Addy has a reputation for sometimes being a little smelly, but Sawyer doesn't seem to care, she loves on her anyways.

Poopy in her new tutu

Sawyer and her BFF Addy

Among all the good fun Sawyer does seem to be showing signs of the dreaded TERRIBLE TWOS! She has forgotten what the word no means and is persistent to accomplish her goal. Those situations usually end with a little tushy spanking and some tears. I cry every time I spank her. Just kidding!

I think she gets frustrated most time because she can only communicate so much. We need to work on learning more signs so we can hopefully avoid future melt downs. All and all we are loving our little rebel and look forward to the couple months when she turns two.

Jenkins Update

Well we have been busy! I just finished a class at APU which will allow me to get my Single Subject Credential and hopefully widen my job search. That same week Brad started his pursuit for a Master's degree in Theology and Biblical Studies at BIOLA. It looks like Sawyer has a divided household! She is outfitted with APU gear but I'm not sure I can bring myself to adorn her with BIOLA gear. I'll pray about it ; ). Sawyer and I now miss daddy on Thursday night when he is in class, but we are happy he is back in school which has been a desire.

Sawyer made her first trip to Knott's Berry Farm the first week in January. We went on a couple rides which she loved and one that she did not. She walked the entire time we were at the park! She loves being outside, running and interacting with nature. In fact I caught her hugging a tree the other day, which was not my leading. We went to Knott's with Grandpa Coe and his wife, then fiancee Nana Carolyn. Sawyer loves spending time with them both.

Mama's little tree hugger

Sawyer and Grandpa on the Merry-Go-Round

Nana, Grandpa and Sawyer panning for gold

We have started potty training. This is a very slow process for us. Sawyer shows signs of understanding what it means to use the potty, then 5 minutes later pee in her diaper. We will see....