Kirsten called this morning to invite us to go to "Pump it up" with her. This is a cool place, they have all these big blow up toys & slides & bounce houses, and because Sawyer is under 2 it was free for us. I'm going to have to bring Matt back there soon, because he would totally love it. It was really nice to have some time with Kirsten to myself. She had left Mason & Bennett with her mom because she needed to have some one on one time with Porter, but that actually made it easier for me to have some kinda one on one time with her & I LOVED it! Porter is turning into such a sweetie & it is cool to see how great of a mother Kirsten is as well. 
Then we went to Home Depot & got a bunch of plants & stuff, and then to the gym (I can finally do the "advanced" workout on the climbing wall without falling off, yeah for me!) and while Sawyer napped, I went outside and worked my butt off on the yard. I love doing that. I love working so hard on something so rewarding that time flies and you come back inside just bone-weary and stinky and a cold shower feels sooooo good. When Matt got home, we played in the backyard and it was so much fun to finally be outside having fun as a family. Apparently Sawyer worked up a thirst, because she started drinking out of Charlie's bowl after her bath. It was hard not to laugh and encourage her, cuz that is really gross, but I did get this funny picture.
Sunday was technically the second time that Sawyer went to nursery, but it was the first time that when I picked her up she had a little picture that she had colored, and it really freaked me out. In a good way. I just remember being a nursery leader, and writing each kids name on their picture after they had colored it, and I never imagined that one day I would be the one to whom the picture was handed. It was very surreal to me. Anyway, you can't really see her coloring job here, but trust me, it's very cute, and she is the best little color-er ever. She lays down on her tummy & props herself up on her elbows. She's a kid now, I guess, not a baby. weird
Can you tell me what movie that is from? Land Before Time. That's right, busting out the oldies. But I did find it, my evening gown, that is! I spontaneously picked my mom up today & told her she was coming with me to try on dresses. I have been obsessively looking on the internet at dresses, but I realized I wouldn't have any idea what I liked on myself until I actually tried some on in real life. But first went to see Matt & have lunch with him at his office, and as we were leaving we noticed this weird little building next to his office that said Prom & Pageant Gowns, so we went in against my very judgemental judgement of it's exterior looks. (kinda ghetto) What we found inside was actually a very, very cute little store with a myriad of lovely gowns! At first it looked like they were all poofy skirted promy types, but when I told the nice lady what I was doing & what I was looking for, she started pulling perfectly pageanty dresses out of the woodwork. It was love at first sight when I saw this one. The color looks amazing with my skin & hair color, and it seriously doesn't look cheesy with the added sleeveage/modestness. In the picture we've just kinda tucked the sleeves in kinda like they'll be, but it's going to look so much better when it's all done. Plus, it was so stinking cheap! I had kinda set a $400 budget for a gown, and this one is $250! What a blessing! I learned today how much Heavenly Father takes care of you when you decide to do what he has asked you to. Another nice thing about it is that my mom & I actually had a lot of fun. One good shopping experience together to balance out all of our past bad ones! I love her guts. Yeah!
Momma looks like a maniac, and Sawyer's hair is out of control (as always) but we sure love each other. I really hope that we can hold onto the feelings we have for each other right now. Actually I hope it grows deeper as Sawyer & I grow & learn. I've been thinking about how to teach Sawyer so many different things; how to eat healthfully, how to love to be active, how to be kind and share, how to be honest in all she does, how to know how much her Heavenly 
Father loves her, how to receive answers to prayers, etc. I think I've realized that all I can do is teach her and set a good example (very important), but I've got to be able to give up the control that is so easy to want to have over your kids. You can't force them to learn these things, they are going to make tons of mistakes, and will definataley have to learn things by screwing up and dealing with the consequences. That's true parental love, being able to have the self-control to put aside your desire to force them to do right, and only guide them. That's the example that God has set for us. Think about it, don't you imagine any parent would have pulled out of the deal as they saw their child suffering like Christ did for us? But he knew that it would be a disservice of the hugest porportions to force any of us to do anything. To take away our free agency would be counterproductive. As a parent, that is probably the hardest thing we'll ever have to do, to sit by and watch as our kids make poor choices, knowing that it will cause them pain. Looking back though, I know I would never have become the person I am (who I kinda like) if my parents hadn't allowed me to make a certain number of mistakes (whether they actually knew about them or not). Because they have set such fantastic examples I was able to figure things out with before I really screwed things up. I can already tell that it's gonna be hard though.
