This morning at breakfast I asked Sage to smile for me and this is the face I got. After I took the picture she signed "more, meaning she wanted me to take another and another. How could I resist this cute face? I happily obliged. To be honest, this cute face has been a little stinker the past several weeks. Maybe it's just because I am pregnant and my patience is thin, but she throws tantrum after tantrum all.day.long. If she doesn't get what she wants and when she wants it, or if she has to do something she doesn't want to do, there is screaming, hitting and her latest trick is to bang her head onto the floor or wall or even against us. She has been driving me a little crazy. I know part of it is that she is probably so sick of sitting at home with me and wants to go outside, but it is so hot and I just haven't felt like it. Some days I make myself and she loves it. Yesterday, I took her to the aquarium and she was so excited to see the fish, mesmerized watching the river otters hunt for fish and when I pointed out the alligators she made the association to the 5 Little Monkeys Teasing Mr. Alligator song and did a cute little "snap" clapping her hands together. She was thrilled. So, although she makes me want to pull my hair out  some times a lot lately, she is still my little buddy and I still just adore her. She is such a sweet girl and will always be our little bug. 

Peanut Butter lover

We have another peanut butter lover in our house. 

Random Update from phone pictures

top to bottom, left to right: 1-3. Love watching Sage sleep. 4. free slurpees at 7-11 for July 11th 5. Kaylee and Sage picking out all the marshmallows from Lucky Charms, 6. Watching the rain, 7. Such a silly girl, 8. loves tortellini and ravioli, 9. at the Splash Pad with cousins (Lacie), 10. wearing her necklaces, 11. bath time with new bubble bath that is supposed to be tear free (it wasn't), 12. just because I love this face

Fenton Gathering in Paradise

This past weekend we had a fun Fenton gathering up in Paradise at Taylor's parents home. Taylor's Aunt Mary and her family as well as his Uncle Joe's family all got together for a day of lots of eating and lots of fun. There were about 60 of us in total. Everyone met up there for breakfast and stayed the day until after dinner.  Tony and Jeanne had arranged with one of their neighbors to have us all go over and ride their horses. The kids also really enjoyed the zip line and rope swing. We spent the day visiting, riding the 4 wheelers, bikes and scooters, going on wagon rides, playing basketball, jumping on the trampoline, throwing water balloons and watching the kids adore the doll house that Tony and Jeanne have worked so hard on. They had carpet put inside and painted it. It is every little girls dream and apparently every little boys dream too, because the boys were loving it just as much! At the end of the day that little house was turned into a candy shop. It was full of candy wrappers and secret stashes of candy hidden in the little kitchen. After barbecuing for dinner we sang and had cake & ice-cream for Tony's birthday which was a few days later (yesterday). It was a full day of fun and making memories. We had a few minutes of rain here and there, but it never lasted long and made for a cooler day which was just what we needed running around outside. A lot of work went into preparing for the day and I think we would all agree that it was worth it and that it was a gathering to remember!

 

Fenton Party of Four

We are excited to announce that a new little one will be joining our family in Feb 2013. We had our first doctors appointment this morning and got to see the little bug moving around and see its little heart beating strong. We could not be happier! We keep telling Sage she is going to be a big sister. Of course she does not quite understand. Every time we tell her there is a baby in my tummy she goes and gets her baby doll and tries to put it up my shirt! We let our families know on the fourth of July by giving them a box of Sparklers that told them we had an explosive secret and that a new "little sparkler" will join our family. We are glad the secret is out and are excited for the changes to come to our little family of three, soon to be four!

She keeps us on our toes!

I stopped doing "monthly" posts after Sage's first year... I figured they had to stop sometime, but I have tried to keep a record of her growing personality and interests. She is 16 months now and still steals the show in our home. She has us wrapped around her little fingers. She is always busy and keeps us on our toes. 

Sage:

• talks in 2 volumes- loud and louder
• runs almost every where she goes
• signs- hot, cold, help, stinky, more, all done, hurt, hat, swimming, eat, drink, bath, elephant, duck, fish, dog, cat, bird, frog, milk, thank you, brush teeth
• says- mama, dada, wow, woah and a whole lot of gibberish 
• is really good at: shaking her head no and yes and pointing
• still loves books. She has sat and listened to the same book 6+ times in a row. Her favorites are The Nose Book, Kiss Kiss, I'll Love You Forever.
• loves Lucky Charms. Who do you think introduced her to those? Of course dad! That's why dads are the best! Today she pointed in the pantry for them and signed eat. I gave her a handful in a bowl to eat dry. She dumped them out on the coffee table and picked out all the marshmallows and then brought the empty bowl to me and asked for more. 
• favorite foods (besides Lucky Charms!): goldfish, graham crackers, beans and cheese, black beans, peas, peaches, toast with grandmas strawberry jam
• loves to be sung to. favorite songs: 5 Little Ducks (she likes to make the mama duck sound), 5 Little Monkeys Teasing Mr. Alligator (she likes to clap her hands and make the alligator's snap), and loves to make animal sounds, Head Shoulders Knees and Toes
• loves to swim
• likes to get a spoon and pretend feed her baby dolls

Heaven

Taylor woke up early and went golfing this morning. He was gone before Sage and I realized the sun had even come up. Sage is transitioning to one nap. She could probably still take a morning nap but it's not worth the battle. We had a relaxing morning lounging around and then went to the farm to check out the animals. Sage loves her farm book and a favorite game in our home is the animal sound game. You should hear her impression of a cow. She enjoyed running around except when we encountered the animals. I guess 100 honking geese that are bigger than her would be a little intimidating. She was also timid of the cows and horses. She ran over to me with huge eyes and reached her arms up. Afterwards we came home and had lunch. 11 o'clock lunch. By 11:30 she was begging me for milk and a nap. She threw herself on the ground and danced around like a little worm when she signed for milk and I told her just a minute. As soon as I heated her bottle she was in her room with her arms reaching up to her crib. She napped for 3 hours. Taylor had a good day/week at work and came home early. We went to the pool together. After dinner Sage went to bed. We watched a program on 20/20 tonight about Heaven. Barbara Walters interviewed several religions about their beliefs. I'm grateful for my belief and for a husband who believes the same. I love this life and sometimes feel a little piece of heaven here but am grateful to know that there is more than this life and that I can have my family for eternity. I sure do love them and sure do feel blessed.

looking back

What a difference a year makes...

4th of July

We enjoyed the 4th of July. Unfortunately we did not take any pictures to document the day except for the one of our girl from my phone, but if there were pictures you would see:

• a yummy breakfast of eggs, bacon, sausage, fruit, muffins, and hash browns with all the cousins and Grandma & Grandpa
• balloon creations. McKay and his girls are training for the circus. Not really, but they are really good at making balloon dogs, flowers, swords and hats. 
• water balloons, trampoline jumping and toy jeep riding
• afternoon naps
• A perfect afternoon spent at Seven Peaks Water Park with the Cheziks and Selphs. We were all exhausted. 

Our Fourth did not  include any fireworks, but it was full of fun spent together with family. It was perfect.