DG and Sawyer

I've been wanting to post this picture for a while but it's been too hard to do. Right after Sawyer was born my grandmother fell in her apartment. DG never truly recovered and when Sawyer was not quite 6 weeks old we realized that we needed to go visit her in the nursing unit. I coordinated with my brother and his family and we all went up to Oklahoma City to see her and to say hello and goodbye. That way she got to see both her great-grandchildren at the same time. She just adored Sawyer. I had hoped that she would get better and that we would get better pictures of her and Sawyer, but these were the only ones we have. We came home on Sunday and she died Wednesday evening. We miss her.

Baby Dedication

Dear Sawyer,

Today you are almost 16 weeks old and today at church we had your baby dedication. Today was special for me because this is one of those things I dreamed about doing before we had you. It was one of the first things I signed you up for after you were born.
So today we dressed you in a pretty blue outfit with smocking that Nana bought for you and carried you on stage in front of the whole church. We were introduced and you waved to the church. Then we promised to raise you in the church. We promised to teach you God's truth at home. We promised to do our part to lead you to Christ. And then Pastor Pete prayed for you - for your walk with God and your faith, for your safety and health, for your friendships and your future wife. And he prayed for wisdom for us as your parents. Then we went with Angel Royal, both sets of grandparents, Damitra Masi, Uncle Griffin and Maryam, Lyndsay, Alan, Jack & Luke Heartsill, Erik Walker and Kelli, Maria and Forrest, Wes, Christy, Ethan & Alyssa Plaisance back to pray for you some more. You had other friends who wanted to be there and couldn't. Sarah was in Cambodia on her mission trip. Alli and Cesar had to be out of town. Steph and Dave Cone were sick. Oscar and Nicole were running a half marathon.
Looking around that circle of people who loved you though was very special. Those are all people who will be there for you during your life to support you and help you grow in your walk with Christ. They'll be there with your daddy and me to give us support and wisdom in how to raise you to know and love God. I know that you will be blessed because God has given you a wonderful church family to grow up in. And that's why this day meant so much to me before you were ever born. Of all the hopes and dreams I've had for you, the only one that is truly important, that truly matters more than anything is that you grow into a man who loves God and follows Christ passionately.

Love,
Mommy and Daddy

Easter 2011

We celebrated Easter this year with service at our church and then lunch at home with my parents. Here we are for our first family Easter. More pictures are up on facebook. Here's the public link to the album.
http://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.10150160529860044.292892.662435043&l=e97dcdc8bc

Updated photos

Here's a sample of updated photos of Sawyer.


Here we are the day Sawyer finally got to come home from the hospital.
And his first week home he would occasionally hold on to his own pacifier. Unfortunately, this one interfered with his nursing. The one he has now doesn't have a handle so he can't hold on to it. We have to put it back in his mouth whenever he wants it.

Sawyer's second week home was a big Oklahoma State basketball game. Mike and Sawyer watched and as you can see Mike was all decked out. Sawyer had an OSU onsie to go with his OK state hat.

We had to come up with some creative solutions, especially early on when I couldn't carry anything because of the c-section. How should Mike carry the baby and the laundry basket? Easy...

Our sweet baby sleeping...

And Spring in Texas means you need pictures in the Blue Bonnets.

More pictures

February 25 - 3 days old

Welcome Little One

Sawyer Michael Cross was born Tuesday, Feb 22, 2011 at 7:39pm. He weighed 7 pounds 8 oz and was 20.25 inches long. Here are a few pictures. More to come later as well as more information about his birth and his heart condition.

Maternity Photos

My sweet friends volunteered to take some maternity photos of me in the beginning of Jan. They said they wanted to practice their photography skills. Obviously they don't need to practice anymore and should start charging! My friends did such a great job!!
We kept the photos a secret to surprise Mike with them for his birthday. I gave him several prints and frame that he could take to work. No surprise - he took the OSU one to work! Here's a couple. Follow the link below to see the album we posted on facebook.

Here's the link to more of the pictures that we posted to facebook.
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=267220&id=662435043&l=d7e70679b3