Sawyer's 2nd Surgery

We made it!!! Six weeks has flown by in the best way possible! Sawyer has already had her 2nd surgery on her right hand, had her arm in a cast for 6 weeks, and just had it taken off and let me just say, this experience was night and day from our last surgical experience.  Granted this time around, she's a "big" two year old, there was less bone sawing, no skin grafts needed, and only ONE hand in a cast---phew!  We are simply over the moon excited to have this behind us and eager to see how she takes to her new configuration.  She isn't slowed down by much, so I have no doubt that in good time she'll be using her little fingers just as we hoped! But let's start at the beginning and I'll tell you how it all went down.

Like last time, we drove down to Houston the day before and stayed in the same hotel right by the hospital.  We visited friends, had a nice dinner, and were all in bed by 8.  Surgery was scheduled for 7:30 the next morning with a 6am arrival time.  Things went so smoothly.  We checked in, completed registration and intake assessment, then in no time at all they were escorting us to pre-op where we met with each person who would be present during her surgery.  The anesthesiologist was wonderful, very personable, chatted with us about our last experience, had already read about how many IV attempts it took, and asked if she would benefit from being given Versed prior to them taking her away from us to decrease separation anxiety.  I'm all about making sure she's comfortable so we said absolutely, but just to confirm that it would help, they had a child life specialist come and assess Sawyer and do a "practice run" of them taking her away to play to see how she would do.  Long story short, she got Versed.  I wish I had taken a video because she was the goofiest, giggly girl after it and I can only imagine she was seeing rainbows and butterflies above our heads.

After that, the surgical room liaison came to introduce himself---his job is to go from OR to OR and check on the procedures then update the family in the waiting room.  Best surprise ever, it was Donald, who was our same liaison from last year!  It took us a minute to figure out how we knew him and when we made the connection, he said he had already recognized us and had walked through the waiting room and saw that we brought the grandparent team with us again.  It was very comforting to see a friendly and cheerful face and we were so glad he was there that day!

Then the man of the hour came by (surgeon), did a brief run through of what his plan was, complication risks, initialed her arm, high five and knucks with Sawyer then they took her away.  While I felt very comfortable with Sawyer in his care and his team, no matter how much you  mentally prepare, it's still so hard to watch them walk away with your baby and know what's in store for her. A few tears and lots of hugs and we went back to meet our parents in the waiting room.

They took her back at 7:30, general anesthesia started at 8 (YAY OR nurse for being a one stick wonder!), and we all went to the cafeteria to get some coffee and breakfast.  After discussions about chickens, goats, and This Is US, we headed back to the waiting room and Donald let us know that Dr N was almost finished!  He finished the last suture about 10:00, anesthesia stopped at 10:15, and they took us back to PACU at 10:30.  It's crazy, but the 3 hours flew by as opposed to our 7 hour wait last time!

In PACU, Sawyer still had her OPA device in her mouth and an oxygen mask on her face so she looked pitiful, but she wasn't whimpering or seeming like she was in pain.  Her surgeon met us in there and went over everything---went as well as we could hope for and he didn't have to use any of the worst case scenario options we discussed.  He was able to reconstruct the ligaments around the finger, rearrange some tissue to help close the cleft, and only had to shave a small piece of bone off the second metacarpal in order to straighten the second digit and align it.  In order to keep it straight,  he inserted two very long pins through the tip of the second digit, all the way through each of the little bones in her finger, through the metacarpal, and down to her wrist.  Long pins.  Not sure if he's necessarily a hugging doctor, but I gave him one anyways. :)

When Sawyer started to wake up, I held and she went right back to sleep.  Our PACU nurse was amazing and so nice to talk to.  He was great with Sawyer and with telling us what to expect.  Again, much better experience.  After she took some water and stayed awake a little longer, they discharged us and let us go!  We were out of there and back to the hotel by 12:30!  Rather than staying another night, we opted to go ahead and make the drive back home since she would likely sleep the whole day anyway and at least we'd get better sleep.

The next few days were a dream.  She took her pain medicine every 4-6 hours, slept through the night, ate and drank fine, and her usual cheerful self!  She occasionally asked for us to take the cast off, but she really liked her pretty cast covers, affectionately named her "little thumb" peeping through the cast, and took no time at all to adjusting to her club.

School was a wonderful distraction and her teachers were equally as great at keeping an eye on her and staying on top of pain.  And not to be boring, but that's it!  No tearful stories of sleepless nights and despair and a child in pain.  This girl ROCKED it and we are SO proud of her!

We went back to Houston around 4 weeks just for a quick checkup and he gave us the option to remove the pins in the office with nothing more than her tylenol + hydrocodone on board (no, thank you) or his preference, to remove them as an outpatient "surgical" procedure at TCH where they would do conscious sedation.  Since our last cast/pin removal was a little traumatic for us all and we've pretty much already met our out of pocket maximum for the year (yay?), we opted for the sedation!  Similar to our other mornings, had to be there bright and early for a 7:30 procedure time.  For a kid who wasn't allowed to eat or drink anything, she was a doll.  Played with toys all morning, smiled and waved to the doctors, went to the nurse without needing Versed, talked their ears off all the way to the OR, went to sleep easily, and done!  Rather than starting an IV, they just used the sleepy medicine in the gas to get her to sleep, then gave her intranasal fentanyl and a shot of Toradol. From start to finish, it all took about 45 minutes!

She was a little disoriented and fussy waking up, but once we were discharged we got in the car and she fell right to sleep.  After a long nap she woke up STARVING and ready to show off her hand.  The hand and 2nd digit were super swollen and he told us to give it a little while before starting some at home PT to get the finger moving.  At first, everything looked great and we were super excited.  But now five days post cast removal, I'd be lying if I didn't say we're a little disheartened and disappointed.  Her surgeon said he was able to straighten the finger and reconstruct the ligaments and by adjusting things that way, thought he didn't need to remove extra skin from the clefted area. But now that she's moving her hand and fingers more, her tendency to open her hand in the same "V" way is still there.  YES, she can move that digit to midline now which she wasn't able to before and open the webspace between the thumb and 2nd digit, but more often than not, she still uses her little cleft for things.

So. Where does this leave us?  I'm trying not to stress too much about it and restraining myself from e-mailing him right away with my concerns.  Nothing we need to do immediately.  We go back in four weeks for a follow up and so we've just decided to let it heal and see how things go.  Maybe as she starts to use her hand more and strengthen that finger, things will naturally adjust?  We'll see.  Hoping putting her through another surgery isn't necessary, but y'all this girl is TOUGH.  She continues to amaze us with her resilience and we are so proud of our sweet little warrior.  And for some perspective, here are some before pictures of where we started! I can't believe the difference these two surgeries have made!

As always, thank you for your continued prayers for our family.  We LOVE our Team and are so thankful for you and your support!  I'll keep you updated in the next few weeks on her follow up with the surgeon and we've also got our round of specialists to start seeing again.  Looking forward to meeting a NEW geneticist that basically wrote the book (a short book...an article, really) on FDH, NEW ophthalmologist, NEW Nephrologist, and our same orthopedic specialist for her feet. ;)

Two Year Update

Hello friends!

It's hard to believe but it has been 6 months since my last update!  In truth, that's a good thing, because life has been great for us lately.  Around this time last year, Ryan and I made the decision to buy a few lots right outside of the city and build our dream home.  We were looking for little more outdoor space (and maybe some extra closet space, too) and most importantly wanted the perfect home to raise Sawyer and that needed to be on a little less busy of a street.  After quickly selling our home in March, we moved to my family's lake house for 8 months while we worked closely with a good friend to build our new home and now we are in it!  Not only did we have some moving changes, but Sawyer also started a new school and we are IN LOVE with it!  But let's start with the best part, an update on our girl!

Sawyer is now TWO years old!!! This big personality comes in the petite little 19 pound body and we just love every ounce of her.  She runs, she jumps, she tumbles, she climbs, she's a busy body.  She loves to sing---'twinkle twinkle', 'itsy-bitsy spider', and 'if you're happy and you know it' are the current favorites, complete with hand motions.  Sawyer still adores being outside and now we have a nice big yard for her to play in with her dog, Nelly.  She loves stuffed animals of all sizes and insists on sleeping with at least 4 of them each night.  She is saying so much and my favorite phrase is "where are you?" with a head tilt and palms up gesture.  Her favorite tv show is Daniel Tiger and also has a new found love for Little Bear.

Food-wise, she will almost always eat yogurt and applesauce without fail. Everything else, it depends on the day.  One meal, she'll love chicken and mac n cheese and broccoli, then won't touch it the next day.  That's toddler-hood though right?

And now, a little bit about her new school.  Last May after my 18 month post, I had multiple individuals contact me about The Rise School in just one week.  After reading about it online, Ryan and I decided to take a tour with Sawyer and immediately fell in love.  The Rise School is an inclusive preschool  that enrolls children ages 18 months-6 years of age and roughly 50% of the students are typically developing and 50% of the students have some sort of developmental delay/syndrome.  The teacher to student ratio is 3:1 and there is a speech therapist, occupational therapist, physical therapist, and music therapist on staff to evaluate and work with all children.  Every room in the school, including the classrooms, playgrounds, and library, is developmentally appropriate for the children, but the most AMAZING part of the school is the staff.  Each one of them is passionate about what they do and LOVE the kids.  I've been so impressed with how much she has learned just since starting in August and how much she enjoys going.  It's so cute to talk about all of her little friends and see their pictures each week.  Sawyer didn't necessarily have any delays requiring therapy, but what we liked about this school was their emphasis on inclusion and embracing differences.  Their motto is "where special kids shine."  Not only have we found a community where there are other families with children with differences, but other families who want and support their children being there.  It's a happy and safe place for us all.

This past week we went back down to Houston to visit with Sawyer's hand surgeon to discuss and schedule her next surgery.  First off, the appointment went SO well.  These appointments are always difficult because he only sees patients in his office starting around 4 after his surgeries, which usually means he doesn't walk through the door until closer to 5.  Commuting to downtown Houston isn't exactly fun during that time of day and waiting in a small waiting room for over an hour with a two year old isn't exactly fun either.  But once we got to see him, I couldn't believe how well Sawyer did. After her last surgery in July, Sawyer developed a fear of 1) elevators 2) doctor's offices 3) older men.  We've slowly but surely outgrown the elevators and office fear, but she still has some timidness with men.  Happy to say though that she smiled at him, let him touch her hands, let him take an x-ray, and even gave him a high-five at the end!  Definitely put my heart at ease.

Now for the details, we scheduled the surgery for January 25 and this will only be on her right hand this time.  Here's a picture of the x-ray of her right hand (yes, I was able to take a picture because he still prints out x-rays old school wise and puts them on a light board).

He will be closing the cleft and straightening the 2nd digit which basically involves reconstructing ligaments, slight reduction of 2nd metacarpal, and removal of extra skin where it's clefted.  Similar to last time, she will have a long metal pin placed through her 2nd digit for stabilization as everything heals during the casting process which will be a month.  Thankfully this time, she won't have to have any skin grafts taken from her groin area.  The surgeon did say that there is a possibility that he will have to take part of a ligament from her wrist to reconstruct the finger ligaments, but he won't know until he sees them.  Right now, her finger has been curved and stretched to the left side for so long, that the ligament that runs on the inner side of that finger, may have too much stretch to it and when he straightens it, still be too loose----that's where taking the ligament from her wrist will play in.  Hoping that's not the case though!

While we are not looking forward to another surgery and have once again grown to love and be accustomed to her hand being this way now, we know in the long run it's for the best.  At least this time it's not both arms and she's actually very good with using just her left hand.  She'll also have school which will be a great distraction for her and after her cast comes off, I'm so glad she'll have therapists who are able to work with her, if needed.

I'll stop back in after her surgery and keep you updated.  But in the meantime, we're just going to be soaking up all the holiday fun with our sweet and happy girl.  Thank you for being such an amazing Team and Merry Christmas!

love,
Team Sawyer

18 months old!

Sawyer is 18 months olds! Can you believe it?  THIS is by far my favorite age so far.  She is sassy in the best way possible, she is walking, practically running, saying over 20 words, and just growing up so much.

Her current favorite words are "uh-oh", "UP!" and "bite".  As soon as you walk in the kitchen and pull something out of the pantry or fridge, she comes at you with mouth open saying "bite. bite."  She has a tendency to purposefully throw things down then say "uh-oh"" and when she is in a hurry to get somewhere she comes to you and says "UP" then points in the direction she'd like you to go.

She loves brushing her teeth, but especially with my toothbrush. (Don't even know)  She loves climbing up the stairs, but would prefer a ride back down.  Still ADORES being outside and splashing in water.  And she LOVES her da-da! They have so much fun with each other these days! And Nelly...she's right up there with da-da. ;)

Now that she is becoming more assertive and going up to other kids, we have started getting questions---most often regarding her different eyes.  Kids are amazing in what they notice and innocently ask questions about.  So far, each child has been completely curious and not at all mean about anything.  A little boy at the play gym said "hey, why does she have one little eye and one big eye?"  And I just said that she was born with special eyes.  His response "Cool. I have two big eyes." And resumed playing.  Cool. 

Even parents have been great when their kids ask questions and just respond about how we're all different.  That works for me, too.  Usually adults are more curious about her hands and ask what happened, especially when they notice the scars.  I know there will be times when I won't feel so positive about certain interactions, but these first ones have given me hope.

Last time we left off was with Sawyer's diagnosis.  Since then I have continued to read every last available piece of information regarding this syndrome.  While I still have quite a few questions, despite my deliberation with e-mailing geneticists, I'm afraid those questions may not have answers at this time and we'll just continue on with the "wait and see" approach.  We did visit with a new geneticist at TCH (unfortunately our first left the practice) and while he was very kind, he wasn't very familiar with Focal Dermal Hypoplasia (FDH) and was not able to give me any more information than I already knew from just reading the literature.  We will go back in a year for a follow up, but next time be meeting with a different geneticist, who has a special interest in FDH and even completed a research study about it.  (And yes, I already e-mailed him with questions.)

Next, we followed up with her hand surgeon.  We've lucked out with getting one of his first appointments of the afternoon the past few times, so rather than wait 2 1/2 hours, we only had to wait 45 minutes last time!  He was so pleased with how her little hands had healed and how she was using them.  Originally he discussed needing a second surgery for both of her hands, however, we both agreed that holding off on her left hand was the best course of action.  At this point she is still not fully bending her left two fingers at the middle knuckle joint (likely do to tendon insertion), but since she is still so small and not growing very quickly, he thought it best to wait until she was older (and bigger) before trying to work with the tiny nerves and tendons again.

Her right hand does need surgery though to close the cleft and bring the 2nd and 3rd digit closer together, as well as straighten the 2nd digit.  I went into the appointment prepared to argue my case for waiting until next year to do surgery (thinking we were going to be doing one on both of her hands), he heard my case, I heard his, and we negotiated and settled on having the surgery done in the Fall.  So thankful for such a brilliant doctor who will actually listen to my concerns and be willing to meet me halfway.  We haven't scheduled this surgery yet but plan to go back in July to put it in the books. 

Moving on.  We met with the pediatric orthopedic specialist here in Austin for her feet this week and despite Sawyer melting down and trembling with fear, he was able to see her walking and had nothing but good things to say.  Her feet are functioning just as he hoped and he did not recommend any special inserts at this point, especially since she mainly wears soft soled moccasins.  We will just follow up again in 6 months.  Surgery on her right foot is not completely off the table, but likely not until closer to age 4. 

Next, we finally picked a dentist for Sawyer.  We had gone back and forth about male vs female, age, location, experience, etc, for months now (yes, we considered all of these factors), and finally chose someone not terribly far from where we'll be living in the future, personal experience with a child with differences, and I felt like would be willing to do the research necessary to treat Sawyer.  The majority of kids with FDH have some sort of dental issues, most commonly enamel defects that can more easily lead to cavities.  Our new dentist said her teeth actually looked wonderful.  Some of them are smaller than average and mild enamel hypoplasia, but honestly, nothing that he was concerned about right now.  We'll go back in 3 months for a preventative fluoride treatment then just continue to follow up like normal, every 6 months.  He said he was going to do research on her particular diagnosis and I asked if he would like the printed copy of the gene review I had brought (I'm that mom.) and he said yes and was appreciative.  I think he only thought I was a little crazy....

Finally! We had Sawyer's 18 month check up.  Little miss is 16 lbs 11.8 oz.  She's smaller than we all hoped...I really thought we might be pushing 17.5 or maybe even 18lbs, but sure enough, we're still in the 16 range.  While our pediatrician admitted that it was against her nature not to worry about such little growth in the last 6 months, she knew it was just part of Sawyer's condition.  She's just Sawyer! And she marches to the beat of her own drum.  Otherwise, cognitively and developmentally, Sawyer is doing AMAZING!!  Verbally she's saying more than is expected and physically she's right on track.  Afterwards we went to PTerry's to get her a milkshake to celebrate our little rockstar (and try to fatten her up).

This girl is absolutely amazing and I feel so lucky to be her mom.  Every day is a new adventure with her and I'm loving seeing this little girl become her own big personality.  Thank you for checking in!

love,
Team Sawyer

So we have a diagnosis.

Just wanted to stop by for a quick update regarding recent developments with Sawyer's genetic results.  But first, she is doing SO well.  We are in a walk, fall, crawl phase where she still finds crawling to be way more fast and efficient, but does her fair share of walking.  She is crazy and gets into everything.  Her new favorite word is "No" with a head shake and likes to give high fives and kisses and help unload the dishwasher.  And now for our results. :)

You may remember that back in September, Sawyer, Ryan, and I went to Texas Children's to have our blood drawn for a very thorough (and very costly) genetic test called the Whole Exome Sequencing Test.  This was basically the big daddy of all genetic tests and essentially the end all for roads we could take with testing.  They said to anticipate it taking up to 6 months to get the results, but less than 4 months later, they called with ours.

On Thursday, January 7, a genetic counselor called to let us know that Sawyer did in fact have a mutation on a particular gene which has been linked to a syndrome that would explain Sawyer's differences.  Sawyer has a mutation on the PORCN gene.  The mutation was random and not inherited from me or Ryan.  They think this gene is responsible for the release of particular proteins that signal development during the early embryonic stage.  We're talking 4-5 weeks gestation.  Because of this mutation, the signals for proper development are disrupted causing certain things to develop incompletely.  In Sawyer's case, her hands and feet, her right eye, her right kidney, her nails, and even her size.  The syndrome that encompasses all of these differences is called Focal Dermal Hypoplasia (FDH) or also referred to as Goltz Syndrome.  From one source, "Focal dermal hypoplasia (FDH) is an uncommon genetic disorder characterized by distinctive skin abnormalities and a wide variety of defects that affect the eyes; teeth; and skeletal, urinary, gastrointestinal, cardiovascular, and central nervous systems."  FDH was first named in 1962 by Dr Goltz but that actual gene link was not made until 2007.  A quick google search will lead to you to the basics of the syndrome, some of the things which Sawyer portrays and others she does not.  For the most basic review of the syndrome, read here.  Want to go a little more in depth?  Read here.

How are we feeling?  That's a good question.  My initial reaction after getting off the phone with the counselor was tears.  But I couldn't tell you if they were happy tears, sad tears, tears of relief...I'm not even sure.  I am relieved that we have an answer.  Confused and nervous because this syndrome includes things that Sawyer doesn't have or has yet to show.  Bewildered that there are less than 300 cases reported.  Worldwide.  Ever.  It's so uncommon and rare that there's not even a statistic for prevalence.  We fondly referred to Sawyer as "one in a million" since we didn't have a clear diagnosis for so long, but one in 25 million---is this a joke?

But let me tell you just how AMAZING my husband is.  Before I even set down the phone after saying goodbye to the counselor and he could see the sob forming in my chest, he grabbed my hand and said "This doesn't change anything.  She's still Sawyer."  Seriously, amazing.  Definitely a keeper.  God gave me a good one.

Now that I've had some time to process (and research), we're both at peace with it.  Sawyer is so special and while we've joined another club that we never imagined would be in our cards, I feel like we'll be part of a unique and supportive community.  I found a group on Facebook for those affected or for parents, relatives, and friends of those affected with FDH and they have already been a tremendous resource.  I have found that some of their stories mirror ours and their comments echo my thoughts the past 14 months.

Does this change anything?  Not really.  As so many say, she is not defined by a diagnosis.  She is still our feisty, vivacious, toothy grinned girl whom we love and adore.  This just makes us more aware of things we need to watch out for, such as heat intolerance, skin sensitivities and differences, early onset childhood osteoporosis, stunted growth, and teeth abnormalities.  We now know that enamel defects are common in teeth, so being proactive and finding a dentist early on is wise, but we've pretty much already lined up our other specialists to address each of her issues.  Also sounds like all of these kids remain below the third percentile in growth and I found one research study trying to link the gene to having effects on the pituitary gland which in turn causes poor growth.

February is a big month for us.  We had the most appreciated and most needed reprieve from specialists from the end of October until now.  Not that we don't love every specialist on our team, but we got to enjoy the holidays and not be concerned with appointments and tests, etc.  The holidays were wonderful and I'm so thankful for that break.   Now we're back to it.  We'll meet with another geneticist to discuss Sawyer's results and so that he can make referrals for us, as well as meet with her hand surgeon and discuss when to schedule her next round of surgeries.  Then back to our orthopedic specialist here in town and the ophthalmologist.  We're not very excited.

I'll keep you all updated as we find out more information.  I'd be lying if I didn't say I wasn't slightly disappointed that we will not be getting a syndrome named after us...I mean, how cute and non-invasive does "Sawyer Syndrome" sound?  In all seriousness though, if you take away anything from this post, I think the very most important thing I hope you remember is...she's still Sawyer. And that's all that matters.

Happy Birthday, Sawyer.

Dear Sawyer,

Happy Birthday my sweet, sweet girl!!  I can't believe it has already been a year since you were born.  They say time flies and I feel like we just blinked and a year went by.  Let me start by saying, you are my favorite.  You are my favorite reason to wake up every morning.  You are my favorite to snuggle with.  You are my favorite to share food with.  You are my favorite to laugh with.  You are my favorite reason to never give up.  You are my favorite.  Your daddy and I love you more and more every single day, more than we could have imagined was possible.

On the day you were born, you were surrounded by people who loved you and cared about you.  Your doctors, nurses, family and friends wore little badges that said "Team Sawyer."  We could not wait to meet you and while I would have given anything to spend every last second with you, things don't always go as planned.  For the first 51 days of your sweet life, you spent them in the Neonatal ICU, growing and learning how to eat, but you had some pretty amazing people helping to take care of you.  The night we brought you home will forever be one of my favorite memories.  We sat in front of the Christmas tree and looked at the lights, we walked around your room, we snuggled for hours.

In your first year, your precious little body has endured more than most and I am constantly in awe of your strength and resilience.  What would break others, only makes you stronger.  You wake up each morning and take what life has given you and embrace it with pure joy.  I see the determination in your eyes and how you take any challenge head on that we set before you.  You continue to teach us new things every day.

A few things we've learned about you this year:  You have a gentle little soul, but you also have a fierce and determined spirit.  You are feisty and sassy.  You are shy at first and take your time to warm up to new people, but once you do, you have the best time with them.  You are very observant.  You are definitely a mama's girl (makes me really happy) and generally prefer to be held by me if I'm in the room, but that's okay.  You love to crawl all over dada or wake him up in the mornings. Your laugh is infectious.

At one year, you are eating everything in sight.  Now you would prefer whole foods to your bottles and want to feed yourself whenever possible.  We introduced you to queso and tortillas and girl, there's no going back.  Some of your other favorite foods are sweet potatoes (in any form), cheese, spaghetti, and applesauce.  Right now, you're taking about two bottles a day still of formula just for extra calories but otherwise, we've made the switch to just milk and water and whole food.

You are a seriously fast crawler but can also stand up and cruise along anything and love to push your walkers and chairs around...I have no doubt you'll be walking soon.  You were officially discharged from occupational therapy right at 11 months and have made leaps and bounds this first year and we are SO proud of you.

I started taking you to a little play gym and you love to chase the other kids around and climb over everything.  Being outside is still your favorite.  You squeal and kick your legs if I mention going outside or as soon as I open a door, you crawl full speed towards it, laughing the whole way. You LOVE your doggies---Bailey lets you pull up on her and kisses your face and you like to chase her tail.  You like to throw Nelly food off your tray.

You can say mama, dada, bay-ee (Bailey), neh-neh (Nelly), GranMary, yay (with clapping) and baaaa for a sheep. You are very vocal and when something doesn't go quite as well as you had hoped...let's just say it's not hard to figure out what you do and do not like. :)  You are still not a fan of elevators or doctors/offices, but we're working on that.

You LOVE to play patty cake and sing songs, especially the itsy bitsy spider.  You still chew on everything and now have four six teeth to help you along.  Diaper changes are a wrestling match and are usually quite an endeavor to undertake....add putting on clothes to that list, too.  You are happiest right after a bath, crawling around like a wild woman without any clothes.

Sawyer, you not only light up our lives, but everyone around you.  You are the star of your own show. We celebrate each of your victories and rejoice with each little milestone.  They say it takes a village to raise a child and Sawyer, your village is amazing.  You have friends and family from all over praying for you and thinking about you each day.  We love you so much, Sawyer.  You are perfect in every way and I am so thankful that God gave me you.  Happy Birthday, Sawyerbelle.

love,

Mom

Here's a special Video of Sawyer's first year :)