G

A great man met his Savior tonight. Our family weeps because we miss him, but celebrates in knowing he is at peace. Knox Williams, "G", was the ultimate grandpa. He was incredibly lovable. You know the saying, "he has a twinkle in his eye"? I never really believed that saying until I met G. He had a zest for life and an authentic, deep, rich love for his family that gave him that twinkle in his eye. He lit up every time we got to see him. Literally, it felt like he dropped everything the moment we stepped into the room, and all his attention was on us. It felt so good, so reassuring, so comforting. We will miss that terribly. I will miss his trademark, infectious laugh. I will miss his gentle calm. I will miss his happy-go-lucky personality. I will miss him telling Sienna, "you are such a cutie".

My first memory of G was actually before I even met Scott. I went to the same church as G when I was a teenager, and our church put on a Christmas pageant every year. For many years, G played one of the three wise men. Each wise man had an entourage of 'extras'. My first year in the pageant, I was assigned to Knox Williams' entourage. I was very excited because everyone said he was the best, and nicest, wise man. I remember being in awe of G during the pageant performances and thinking what a cool guy he was. Little did I know that I would get to know the tender, soft heart of this man later on in my life. What a blessing.

Scott has many, many other fond memories of G.... to try and count them would be impossible. They were best buds -- raising a dog, two snakes, and a duck together. Fixing (and tinkering with) things in the garage together. Playing Nintendo in the basement together. Eating Granny's fried chicken and brownies together. Making fun of Dave/Dad together. Talking about how much they love Sienna and love one another. I thank God for giving my husband G as a role model... a strong, yet quiet and gentle leader, with a tender and humongous heart.

2005

In the hospital the night Sienna was born

Thanksgiving 2010

So cute!

Just an update through pictures of our cutie. (And happy birthday, Karla!)

One night, Sienna would not go to bed until Lexie sat in her rocking chair with her. What a nut!

Look at that face! So. stinkin'. cute.

She loves her Minnie pj's from Gramma!

Pretty girl

Happy St. Pat's! She wore that head band with pom-poms nearly all day! (Sienna loves playing in our shower...)

She loves wearing mommy's necklaces... so appropriate on St. Pat's.

Unwinding with a good book after a fun-filled St. Patty's!

More Sienna Nicknames

One of the most popular pages of our blog is the posting of Sienna's nicknames. Since that post is over a year-old, I thought I'd post an update. I wanted Sienna to have several nicknames, and she sure does. Only a couple are derived from her name, which I love because I think her full name is beautiful!

Bee. (Still used, but not as often.)
Buglet.
SiSi. (I came around to this one after my sister started calling Sienna this.)
Punkin'.
Sweetie.
Si-Bee. (Maybe my fav!)
Rascal.
Paci-lover.
Angel.

18 months

Sienna is a year and a half! Some of our favorite Sienna-isms at this age...

• She has become so snuggly! Most mornings, she wakes up and spends some time cuddling in bed with Scott and I before we start the day. She also likes to give us big bear hugs, especially if we've been away from each other for the day.
• She is obsessed with the word 'broke'. This started when she threw her crayons on the floor, and they broke. Now, it's her favorite word for everything that has a part missing, is torn, or just appears like trash. She likes to tear things and make them 'broke' on purpose, too.
• Since she started putting two words together, she has started to express her emotions. She has started telling us what she wants from us - "Mommy, dontairs (downstairs)" - and how she feels "la lou (love you), Daddy", "Daddy home".
• Her love of singing continues. Her newest thing is to sing Ring Around the Rosy to herself, while spinning in a circle. She has just learned how to 'fall down' --- who knew you had to learn how to purposely fall down?!
• Her vocab grows every day. Her pronunciation is pretty good, but she does say some funny things -- here are some of our favs.

birdy: boo-dee

goldfish: golnish

swing: sing; sing-a

smoothie: snootie

grapes: gapes

cracker: cracky

Pops: pop-ths (the 'ths' is generally said with a lot of tongue & spit... hee, hee.)

ribbit: libbit (pronounced LEE-bit)

help: hulp

doggie: goggie

elephant: elelant

ring around the rosy: wing-a-poc-a-woah-see

• She is trying desperately to jump! She likes for us to sing Hop Like a Bunny, and she tries to hop. Her hopping mostly consists of scissor kicks and raising up on her toes in an attempt to get off the ground.

Sienna had her 18 month check-up Friday. She got three shots and won't need another shot until she goes to Kindergarten... that seems so far away! Here are her stats:

Height: 33.5" (90th percentile)

Weight: 26 lbs. 11 oz. (80th percentile)

Speech development: 2 years old