6 Months

This week Dawson turned 6 months old. I can't believe he has been in our lives for half a year! Time is just flying by! Dawson continues to be such an amazing and wonderful addition to our family. He is just such a great little boy. His smile is so contagious and melts my heart every time. Ashlyn continues to be a great big sister. She loves playing with Dawson and making him smile and laugh. She continues to be Dawson's favorite person. His whole face lights up every time he sees her. She is a great helper and like to keep an eye on Dawson while I'm cooking.

Dawson is definitely on the go! He is already crawling!!! He gets up on all fours and crawls around. He has been doing this for about 2 weeks now. I can't believe he is crawling this soon. He also loves to stand. The other day I was holding him up to stand. I kept trying to sit him back down on the floor and he was straightening his legs so he could keep standing. I'm predicting he will be pulling himself up to stand very soon. Luckily our house is already pretty much baby proofed from Ashlyn, but we do need to put gates back up and move a couple things to higher ground.

Dawson loves to play with toys. His favorite toy is my keys. Any time I have them out he wants them. They are a nice tool when we are out and about because they can always hold his attention. Ashlyn was crazy about phones and remotes, but Dawson isn't very interested yet in them. We recently got out Ashlyn's favorite toy, a sound stage thing and he really likes that too.

We are still working on sleeping through the night. He still gets up for one feeding a night. I have gotten so used to it, but it would still be wonderful to get a full nights sleep without interruption! I am concerned about getting decent sleep when I go back to work in a week. The pediatrician gave me some suggestions to help him not need that middle of the night feeding anymore. I really hope they work. The pediatrician said that a lot of breastfed babies continue to wake in the night and it is mainly for comfort.

Dawson is still in 3-6 month clothing and I think he will be for a while longer. He does have some room to grow in them. He is also still wearing a size 2 diaper. I think he has been in a size 2 for 3 months now.

Today we went to Dawson's six month checkup. He now weighs 16 lbs 1 ounce. He only gained about a pound in the last two months. He is now in the 25th percentile for weight which is where Ashlyn has always been. I'm thinking he's going to be on the thinner side like his sister. He is now 25 1/2 inches tall. The doctor said he looks great once again. She was very impressed with the way he could sit up. She said he had some amazing gross motor skills. She said he is the kind of kid that will be walking at ten months. I know he will be too. He's a mover and a shaker just like his sister was. Plus, I think he wants to be able to follow her around. I asked her what color his eyes will most likely be. Ashlyn has brown eyes and they were brown by this age. Dawson's are sort of a blueish/gray color. Joey and I are really hoping for blue eyes since both of our mother have blue eyes. We will see.

I can't wait to see what the next six months have in store for my little man. I am sure God has great plans for my sweet little boy. As usual I took a bunch of pictures of Dawson the day he turned six months old. Here are some of my favorites.

Mr. Man crawling


Love this face

Look at the boy go!

This is his serious face.

Dawson and his big sister

I had to take some diaper pictures because he is too darn cute!

Love them both so much!

This is the sound stage toy that Ashlyn loved so much. Here is Dawson standing with it.

More crawling practice

Rodeo Time

This weekend we headed up to the cabin for another great weekend of lots of rest and relaxation. On Saturday night, Joey took Ashlyn and Dawson to his Dad's house and they went to the local rodeo. Joey really likes the rodeo and Ashlyn always has a great time there. She really likes seeing all of the animals. Joey said Dawson really liked the animals and had a great time at his first rodeo. Joey said it was a great night. I think Ashlyn enjoyed getting to spend time with her Papa the most.

Ashlyn petting a pig.
Dawson, Ashlyn, and Papa looking at animals

Papa and Dawson

Dawson already loves his Papa so much

My handsome little man

Such a serious look

Papa and his grandkids. I don't know why Dawson wasn't smiling.

What a proud Grandpa

They love their Papa so much!

Getting Crafty

Ashlyn's new obsession is doing crafts. She has a great time creating different projects. She is an artistic little girl. She's been asking me to do crafts every day. Last week, we went to the dollar store and bought tons of craft materials. We got glitter, pom poms, jewels, pipe cleaners, etc. I have found some great websites with great crafts for her age. I'm really enjoying the time I get to spend with her while we are working on a craft. I am also really enjoying watching her create projects. I decided to take pictures of her work and I will post them from time to time.

The butterfly wings are Ashlyn's hand that I traced.

The flower petals are Ashlyn's thumbprint. Ashlyn made another just like this to give to her Gram.


The lion's body is Ashlyn's handprint.

Horse Time

Last Sunday, Ashlyn had her last horse competition for the season. As you can see in the pictures, what a difference a year makes! Last year, Ashlyn's Papa would walk right next to the horse and hold onto her. This year, Ashlyn is now big enough to ride all by herself. She also got a pink riding helmet to protect her head. She looks like a real professional on the horse now. Her love of horses continues to grow and she has so much fun at her competitions.

Her helmet is cute

Here she is entering the ring

I love this picture. She is a real natural on the horse.

She just loves riding horses.

I like this one because you can see her hair flying in the wind.

California Trip- Day 4

We wanted to make the most out of our last day. We decided to head over to Magic Kingdom first since it opened two hours before California Adventure. We got in the park before it was too busy and lines were long. We headed straight for the Haunted Mansion.

Dawson and I in the Haunted Mansion

Katy and Ella in the Haunted Mansion

Ashlyn doing her silly face in front of the Haunted Mansion

Ashlyn wanted to ride Splash Mountain again. The park was not busy yet, and we got to ride two times in a row! Ashlyn was so happy! After some rides, we headed over to California Adventure. We had breakfast reservations for the princess breakfast.

Dawson and Mommy waiting for breakfast.

They take a big group picture with Ariel before you are seated.

This was the same princess breakfast Ashlyn went to in February. It is such a fun experience. The food is really, really good too. This was a welcome treat, because all the food we had while in Disney was mediocre. This food was fantastic. Ashlyn was so excited to see all the princesses and had a great time talking with each one.

Belle gave her a big hug

Ashlyn and Belle

A big hug from Snow White

Cinderella was Ella's favorite since they have similar names

Ashlyn doing a little twirl with Aurora

They are all so nice!

After breakfast, we rode a few rides. We decided to take a break again at a shaded table so the babies could get out and stretch a bit.

Ella wearing Dawson's hat

Dawson and Mommy

He was giving me kisses

I had to return the favor and give him a kiss

My stylish little boy

Auntie and Ashlyn

After our rest, it was hot and Ashlyn wanted to check out the splash park. She was a little apprehensive at first.

She soon jumped in and had a great time.

She was soaking wet by the time she was done. She dried off very quickly.

We rode some more rides and ate dinner. It was then time to head back to hotel. We were all very sad to leave Disneyland. We had a wonderful time despite the crowds and heat. I think the babies even had a great time. I will never forget this trip and the smiles and laughter I got to enjoy with my kids. It was truly wonderful!

The next day we woke up and packed up. We grabbed breakfast on the way to the airport. The flight home went pretty well. Dawson decided not to sleep this time. He just played on my lap the entire time. He was very good. He fell asleep right before we landed. We all slept very good that night after such a fun filled and exciting trip! We can't wait to go back and are already planning our next trip.