Dear Sutton,

You are TWO! Its hard to look back and think that two years ago our lives existed without your little self.

Two has definitely been a turning point for you as far as your attitude, personality and will power go, some days I am certain you think you’re 15 already. As I sit here and write I can hardly keep my eyes open. You  woke up about an hour early today, you screamed up and down the aisles of Hy-Vee and Wal-Mart, we had to cancel lunch with grandma, then you screamed all the way home. Why? I am still not sure. Only then to battle me for two hours on taking a nap, a battle which I eventually lost, and proceed to challenge every.single.thing. I said all day. Thank goodness your daddy is home. And thank goodness for caffeine.

We see such a huge personality this past year, it has been amazing to see more of your little self come out each and every day. I think that I could write a novel if I tried to record all the funny, smart, surprising, ridiculous things that come out of your mouth each and every day. Your daddy and I laugh many times a day at the things you say, remember, and catch on to. We are amazed at your vocabulary and memory. You are able to put everything into the right context and it is amazing having such a lengthy conversation with a two year old. You LOVE to watch and read Dora and you have caught on to the Spanish language so quickly. You can count to eight in Spanish and use about ten Spanish words and phrases in every day conversation right now. The other morning I walked into your bedroom and you greeted me by saying, “Buenos Dias, mommy!.” Life with you is Never dull.

Some of your very favorite things to eat are broccoli (still), any vegetable, mac and cheese, chicken strips, black olives and oatmeal. You are off the charts for height and weight, the doctor is always surprised that you keep growing so fast. You are solid and strong, you are built tough and you don’t get hurt or cry easily. You love to read, you could sit and read books all day every day. You soak in every ounce of knowledge you can and you Never forget a thing. Mommy is learning to watch her tone of voice as well as what she says all.the.time. because you are constantly listening and watching how I interact with daddy and anyone else.

You are the little mom with all of your friends, you are bossy and outgoing. You are very particular about certain things and you like things done Your way. You are becoming quite the negotiator when it comes to getting what you want, and I will admit, sometimes I am not quite sure how to answer your challenges. You love your daddy and you have him wrapped around your little finger. He adores you and you two are the best play mates I have ever seen. The minute he walks in the door you want to rough house and run around, just what daddys are for. You are a mommas girl, though. You have always been my little side kick and you and I are the best of friends.

You love your Papa, Nana and Grandma. You and Nana have the best times playing and going all sorts of places together and she is your number one fan. You love to rough house with Papa and learn new things and explore with him. When Grandma is here you immediately bring out the books and you and her sit and read books for hours. You are a loved little girl by so many and you are so blessed.

As I think about your future, you becoming a big sister, being your parent and teaching you the right things, it can be so very overwhelming. Sometimes when I think about you and your relationship with Jesus, your future salvation, the thought of you going astray is almost too much for me to handle. But then I remember, Jesus loves you much more than I do and he can take much better care of you too. He has a plan for you and I am just here to guide you along the way, what a privilege it is to be your parent. I am so very excited to see what God has in store for your little life and big personality, the people you will touch, the people who will touch you, to see your walk with God. There is nothing in this world I could desire more than to see you keep learning to love Jesus like you already are, and never stop.

You little girl, have turned my world upside down in the most wonderful way. I was meant to be your mommy and you were meant to be mine. I am so thankful for your life and the joy you already bring. I pray we have so many more years with you to watch you grow. You are so loved.

Love,



Your momma

One amazing year with our Sutton

Wow, I really cant believe I am posting this, One.Year.Old. I cant get over it.

I know it is cliche to say, but man, a baby really changes your life! I feel like there is an endless list of situations, joys and struggles that no one ever told me about, that I could have never anticipated (and I am pretty good at anticipating things). Sutton is the absolute greatest joy we have ever known and again, cliche to say, but we can't even remember our lives without her.

1 week old

6 months old

1 Year old!

Sutton, you are one strong willed little peanut. We see a lot of "typical" first child traits coming out of you recently loud and clear (emphasis on the loud part ;)). But we also see a lot of traits beginning to come out of you that are similar to your daddy who is laid back and loving, and a whole lot of your very own personality that you will continue to develop over time. We are in love with your personality, we say that daily. Although proving to be a challenge, we are so thankful that you are so full of life and attitude :)

Baby girl, you are Beautiful! I know every parent thinks their child is perfect, smart and beautiful, and every child IS. However, we think you are an exception. You have been so lovely since the day you were born and we find ourselves overwhelmed at how cute you are sometimes. And boy do you know it!

You are clever, Little Miss. You never need to be told or shown something more than once and you pick it up. You're aware of all of your surroundings All.The.Time. Nothing gets by you. Although this makes for very busy days for Mama since you insist on seeing, feeling, and tasting everything that comes across your path, we are SO overjoyed at how much you just love your life. You are not what we would call laid back, you are very on-the-go all the time, but you are also such a good baby and easy to keep happy as long as you are exploring.

You are built like a Kooiker. You look just like your mama Miss Sutton, however, you are built like your daddy we are starting to see. No surprise to us that you continue to stay in the 100th percentile for height and weight. You have big, strong, solid legs and everyone is amazed at how heavy you really are (this has allowed mama to cut out her arm workouts because you are plenty ;)). You are wearing 2T clothes already and you are just tall and solid. You have long legs just like your mama, no surprise there either.

You love to eat. You have always been a good eater, Sutton. You will try just about anything, and you will continue to eat just about everything. This week we discovered the only thing you really don't like so far is birthday cake, strange I know. You love veggies, you would prefer veggies over fruit any day (that's my girl). And you are also a big meat eater, you especially love beef (that's daddy's girl).

You are a mover. You started to walk pretty well about three weeks ago. Although you still revert to crawling sometimes, you are bound and determined to walk as much as you can, and you want to do it by.your.self. We are living a whole new life now that you are mobile, and learning to watch you very closely.

Right now your favorite foods are Mac-n-cheese, peas, hot dogs, and broccoli. You say "dadda" 90% of the time, the other 10% you say things like "mama" "nana" "moo" "oink oink" "woof" and a few other animal noises. When you taste something you really like you always smile and say "mmmm". You love to sit out on the front porch and "moo" back at the cows and watch the trucks on the yard. This whole harvest season business with all the busy trucks is fine by you. You love life and you will hang out with just about anyone, but when you need comfort, or someone to yell at, its your Mama you look for. I would definitely say your favorite pass times right now are swinging and going down to say hello to all the cows. 

Cute cute onesie!

We celebrated your first birthday on September 7 with all of our family from around the area. We had your party at Nana and Papa's house because you think that is the most awesome and fun place to be. We decided that since Trucks and Tractors or Farm Animal themes were a little too boy-ish for your party, we would stick to a color theme. We decided on a purple ombre theme because Mama thinks purple is your color :) We are so blessed to have so much family around here who love you oh so very much and wanted to come celebrate your life with us. Although the heat index was in the upper 90s we all sucked it up and had an outdoor party making lots of yummy food over the fire (we did not sit around the fire). You also got to smash your first piece of birthday cake but you were none too impressed with that whole tradition. You did, however, Love all of the homemade cards your cousins all made you, full of stickers and bright colors. You also got to play in the little pool in just your diaper and watch the kids all run through the sprinkler. It was a good day for you.

Sutton's purple ombre candy bar for all the kids

We loved this cake

Of course you needed a massive purple tutu 

Nothing could have topped off the night like swimming!

Sutton and Brayson

Sutton and her cousins

Such a fun night!

Special cupcakes that Nana made

So many nice toys

Sutton's cake to smash

Swing from Grandma Beth

She loved the homemade cards from the kids

She was not too impressed

Today, on your actual birthday, so far, we have eaten all four of your favorite foods. You devoured a huge cookie we got from the bakery with a cow on it, we have visited the cows twice and I am sure we will again, we played at the park, took a nap. Tonight you are going to ride in the big truck and haul silage again I imagine, and we will go our for ice cream and have a few more presents. I would say you are having a good day!

Of course the cow cookie was for Sutton

I had to stop her half way through because she was inhaling it

September 2013

We love you Miss Sutton Button! More than words can express. We cannot wait for the years to come and hope the you will grow up to be a woman of God and love the Lord! 

Love, your Mama

A not so fun week

Well, this past week has been less than thrilling for our family. Not only was this week my first official week of my new work schedule, which is a hard adjustment the way it is, but Sutton ended up getting a double ear infection on Monday and had a temp of 103 for 3 days, along with a supposed 6 teeth that are on their way. Fun stuff, I know. Everything always seems to happen at the same time for some reason, God doesn't give us more than we can handle right? :) She is still far from back to normal.

We started giving her an antibiotic Monday and turns out she is allergic to it. As the days passed we began to notice red spots forming all over her body and by Friday, which was the last day of her meds, she was fully broken out in a rash from the medicine. SO we were told to give her Benedryl to help relieve the reaction, and turns out, she is allergic to that TOO. So she has been having a lot of stomach issues on top of a worsening itchy rash.

Poor little peanut, she is handling it all so well. I know that if I were going through what she is I would not be near as composed as she has been. Now that we figured out she can't have Benedryl and got some cortizone cream for her itching I am hoping she will feel better by tomorrow.
We are so thankful that this whole week Grandma Beth and Nana came every afternoon for the few hours mommy had to work and gave her lots and lots of snuggles and comfort. Being able to stay home and in her jammies all day has definitely helped her get better. I am trying to be thankful and see the positive in the fact that she has been fever free for a couple days, so that means we are on the up side right??

What I continue to try to remember is that although this has been a rough week at Sutton's expense, it reminds me that I am SO blessed to have such a happy, easy going, healthy little girl, and this is the first time in months that we have had any stress related to her.

On another note, she is going to be a Year Old in just over a week! How on earth is that possible already? How was it a year ago right now that I was anticipating my upcoming delivery which resulted in an emergency C-section, leading to three tough months of being first time parents, to now, having a little almost toddler who is "toddling" all over the place and calling for dad and Nana all.day.long.? But, I will save my gushing on how I cant believe how fast time is going for another post :)

For now, I am going to try to be thankful for the endless number of positives in my life, rather than stress about the tough week were having.

Dad's Day

On this Father's Day I have so much to celebrate.

This is the first time Braden and I as a couple, now as a family, celebrate father's day. It is overwhelmingly joyful to think that we will celebrate fathers day in a new way from now on.

On this day in June Sutton and I celebrate Braden. My love, my life, my best friend. Her daddy, her playmate, and her protector. Boy does she love that man, and so do I. I could not get to sleep last night thinking about what this day really meant, how do I begin to thank Braden for all he has done in one day, where do I start? I can't. I know that he understands with the few words I put together how much I love him, I don't need to list the endless things he does and how much he means, he knows. 

So here's to you, babe, on this day we celebrate you for the loving husband and friend you are to me. For the daddy you are to Sutton. She said her FIRST word TODAY for the first time and you guessed it,  "dadda" (melt my heart). God gives us some special little surprises doesn't he? We love you, we could never be whole without you in our life. We celebrate you and all your hard work every day even though I often forget to tell you. Your kind heart, giving spirit, silent strength, intelligence and faith are only a few of your best traits.Your love for your girls overwhelms me. I love our little family of three and I love how you lead us.

On this day I also celebrate someone special to Sutton, Braden and I. My dad. 

To you dad, your compassion for those who are often forgotten exceeds my understanding. You are a role model beyond role models and someone I aspire to be like. You have done so much in your life and you only continue to do more. Your constant creativity and curiosity astounds me. You think outside of the box in everything that you do. You stand as a leader in the community, our family and the church. You speak with wisdom that has come from many years of experiences with God. On this day, you celebrate your first fathers day as a grandpa. Although skeptical at first of the thought of being old enough to be a grandpa, you have embraced it. You are a wonderful Papa to Sutton and I can't wait to see her grow and get to know you more, to see what you will teach her that we can't. Thank you for all the years you raised me, though it was often a challenge. 

On this day we also celebrate a life that was lived. My father-in-law, Sutton's grandpa who she will never know, and Braden's dad and hero, Grandpa Dan. Grandpa Dan, on this day we celebrate you, though we were a little bit sad when we woke up. We knew we had one less house to go to, one less card to give, and one less hug to receive. We know you are with Jesus but we sometimes wish you were here. Grandma Beth misses you so much and so do we. We know that you would have loved Sutton and we would have loved to see her being held in your big strong arms. Sutton would probably go on rides with you in the feed truck and go exploring with you around the farm. Although we know that there is season for everything under heaven and that it was your time to be with Jesus, we miss you. Happy Fathers Day to Grandpa Dan, for us who never met you, we wish we had, we know you were a great man. And Grandpa Dan, Sutton and I thank you for raising a husband and a daddy like Braden whom we love so much. 

We think of you every day

9 months with our little peanut

Oh sweet girl, how are we three months away from your first birthday? When did you become a little lady who all of a sudden has her own big personality?

It is such a joy to watch you grow. Your daddy and I's greatest joy, actually. We love you so very much, we love to see what you will do and the new things you will learn every single day. This is becoming such a fun stage of life. You are constantly aware of all of your surroundings and you take everything in and study everything, you can see your little brain constantly on the move. You always want to do and know what is next. What toy can you grab next, how fast can you take another bite of food, how many times can you go back and forth from mom to dad in a minute. You are a smarty pants, we see that already. Although everyone says this about their child, you really do catch on so quickly. You dance now where there is music, you wave if you feel like it, you clap when you think you did something awesome, you know what daddy means, you know to look straight to the nearest window when I say "big truck". You are loving table food, you would live on that solely if you could, you need to try every single food and drink we have.  You have also mastered drinking through a straw.

You love muffins

Mommas favorite time of the day with you is breakfast time, after you wake up and we get dressed and make our beds and tame that crazy hair of yours, then we sit together in the kitchen for a while and just relax and share breakfast, and of course watch the trucks out the window. You are completely obsessed with being outside, after a while in the morning you will literally whimper and cry to go outside. You love, love farm equipment and especially when your great uncles drive by in the noisy feed trucks, that is your absolute favorite thing to watch.

Seriously, how fun is it to have a girl? Matching toe nail polish!

You are getting so close to crawling, you have the idea you just cant coordinate your arms and legs at the same time yet. If you really need to get somewhere you will scoot yourself forward but a lot of the time you end up going backwards. You are getting pretty good and standing next to things also You love to take all of your toys out of your basket one at a time. You study each one, then set it down in a pile, you love to do this over, and over, and over. You are a bit clingy to me right now. You began a phase of thinking that if your momma is within sight and not holding you, that is a problem. I always thought it was cute and flattering when other kids were clingy to their parents but now that I am the parent I realize it gets tiring fast. When you sleep and when you sit, you like to cross your little feet, its so cute. You still fight taking naps quite often, you don't want to miss a single thing and if you think you're going to you wont sleep.

Watching trucks

So cute

Seriously, how cute are these little toes

I love how much you love life, sweet girl. I love to see a mix of Braden and I's personalities and looks in you, and a whole lot of personality of your very own. I love how much you love your momma and daddy. You are such a sweet girl, and our pride and joy. I have no idea how we filled all the time in our life before we had you. We love you baby girl.

Love,

Your momma

On a completely different note, if anyone out there loves Starbucks or any coffee shop like I do, you Need to try these Salted Carmel Cake Pops from Starbucks. I literally get one every time I am within distance of one now, SO so good.