This week

    With Dawson turning one this week, we had a very busy week with all that his party and birthday involved.  Ashlyn did get to have play date at the park with her friend Caitlyn.  They always have such a nice time together. 

       I ran a 4 mile race on Saturday.  It was part of a winter race series.  I usually pick races in spring, summer, or fall when it's warm.  I was reminded why on Saturday.  It was so cold!  I think it's harder to run while that cold.  I still wanted to give it my best.  I have been training so hard and I was praying it would pay off.  The course was easy, but I was really struggling towards the end.  I wanted to take my age group and there was a girl literally right behind me that I knew was in my age group. I could hear her right there the whole race. I managed to stay in front of her the entire race and came in ahead of her.  It was an awesome feeling!  I came in 19th out of the women (out of 225 women) and I got first in my age group out of 34 women!!!  I wanted a little faster of a time, but I was very pleased with how I placed.  I am planning on doing two more races in this series if I don't chicken out because of the cold.  I am thinking I am going to do a 1/2 marathon this weekend.  It's in Colorado Springs and it's cheap for a 1/2.  Plus, what do I have better to do on Super Bowl Sunday morning?  I haven't run more than 6 miles at a time for a few weeks, but I have a really strong base so I think I will be fine.  I am just hoping the weather will be decent.  I can't imagine 13.1 miles while freezing.  I may wimp out and do the 5k instead.  I will be sure and update. 

The other day, Ashlyn decided to make a huge bed on the floor out of pillows and blankets.  The kids got out a bunch of books.  They entertained themselves for awhile just looking at the books.  It was too cute and I had to get the camera. 

Emerging readers



Playing at the park



Love the joy on her face

They have so much fun together.

Swinging

Ashlyn helped by pushing Caitlyn



First Year Birthday Bash

      Since Dawson's birthday was on Sunday, we got to have his birthday on his actual birth date.  I started planning his party months ago.  I knew that I wanted to go with a monkey theme since I always call him my little monkey.  I also wanted to use the same colors of his room which are green and brown.  I have learned in the past that our house is just too small to have large parties.  It works much better in the summer when we can spread out outside.  We decided to invite only family and close friends.  We had a very nice turnout and our house still seemed too small for all the guests.  We really need a bigger house! 

      I was so happy with the way everything turned out.  The food was great.  The decorations looked just like I had envisioned them.  My sister and Bri were such a big help!  I would not have pulled it off without their help!  The cupcakes tasted amazing and Dawson enjoyed his cake.  I know that Dawson will have no memory of his first birthday, but we all will remember the smile on his face.  He will also have pictures to look back at to see what a special day he had.  He is definitely a very loved little boy and blessed to have so many people that care for him.  Here are some pictures from the day:

Here are some of the decorations.  We made a banner that chronicled Dawson's first year of life with a picture of him at every month.  It was really neat to see him change over the year.  I just couldn't get a good picture of the entire thing because it was too long.

The cupcake and punch table.  Ashlyn let us use some of her monkeys. 



Bri did an amazing job on Dawson's birthday banner.  I thought the monkeys added a cute touch. 



There were a lot of monkeys. 

Here is more of his banner.

The cupcakes.  They turned out so cute!  Everyone loved them.  The cupcakes were chocolate banana chip with homemade chocolate frosting.  They were amazing!!!

Close-up

Here is the smash cake we made for Dawson.

Such a nice picture of Ashlyn.

Doing her silly monkey girl face

Dawson and his auntie.

The kids playing

Dawson and Mommy

I made him a "1" shirt to wear. 

Ella found a little monkey friend.  She was carrying him around all day.  It was precious. 

Opening presents. 

He got some great stuff.

Checking out his presents with his sister's help.

Dawson and Papa

So excited to try his cake.

He was hooked from the first bite.

Ashlyn had to make sure he was eating it okay.

He loved it!

Messy boy!

Family picture.

This is the damage he did.  We had to take the cake away because I was afraid he would get sick. 

The after picture.  Lol.

12 Months Old

The Dawson at one year old

Our little boy is growing up so fast!

       Dawson turned one this Sunday.  This year has flown by so incredibly quick.  I just can't wrap my brain around the fact that he is already one.  He has grown so much in one year.  It has been such an experience to see him change from a little newborn to a little toddler boy. 
      He continues to bring so much joy and happiness to our lives each day.  Although he has only been here a year, it feels like he has always been part of our family.  It's hard to remember what our life was like before him.  We all get a kick out of watching him try new things and do new things.  Ashlyn and Dawson continue to love each other more and more as brother and sister.  Watching them bond is such a neat experience.  I am so glad that they have each other to play with.
        Dawson now has 7 teeth.  He continues to eat like a champ.  He is such a good eater.  We are starting to find foods that he does seem to prefer.  He loves crackers and bananas.  He goes for apples. 
       Dawson loves to play with his toys.  He especially loves playing with Ella and Ashlyn.  One of his favorite toys is blocks.  He loves carrying them around, stacking them, passing them to me, etc.  He also loves to push around his cars.  He is truly all boy.  He also loves books.  He will often grab one from the book basket and sit down and look at the pictures.  I hope he's a reader like his sister and me are. 
         Dawson is an excellent walker and does not crawl at all anymore.  Walking is his thing.  He is talking some now too.  He says "mama", "that", "hi".  I am looking forward to him learning new words.  He loves to point, smile, and clap.  He's a very content baby.  He is still very much a mama's boy and is still the most happy in my arms.  I try to cherish all of these moments because I know all to well how fleeting they really are. 
     Dawson had his one year doctor's appointment on Monday.  As usual his doctor said he looked perfect.  Neither she nor I had any concerns.  He now weighs 20.5 pounds and is in the 15% for weight.  He is 29 inches and in the 25% for height.  He is still my little skinny guy.  Joey and I are still baffled as to why he is always low on the height scale.  He does not come from a family of short men at all.  I am suspecting he is going to shoot up like his sister. 
         As I always say, we are so blessed to have Dawson in our lives.  We couldn't ask for a better son.  He is so loving, sweet, and adorable.  We are so excited to watch him grow.  Love you Dawson James!!!

Catching Up

      For the first time in a very long time, I didn't get around to blogging last week.  There has just been way too much going on.  The biggest being that Joey and I took an anniversary trip to Las Vegas.  I can't believe it's been 5 years since we said "I do".  Since it is our 5 year anniversary, we decided to go back to where our marriage started in Las Vegas.  My family is the best and my mom watched Ashyln and my sister watched Dawson.  Joey and I missed the kids like crazy, but an adult weekend getaway was just what we needed!  Our friends Bri and Brad where out there too and we had a great time with them.  We had so much fun and our only complaints where that it went by too fast and Vegas is a very expensive place!!!  We ate some amazing food and just had a phenomenal time.  We couldn't have asked for a better trip!!! Here are a few pictures from the trip.  We didn't want to haul around our big camera, so these were taken with a phone and aren't the best quality.

Joey and I at the Cosmopolitan hotel. This was my first time going there and it is the prettiest hotel I have ever seen in Vegas.  Wow!!!

Our first night there at this wonderful Irish restaurant.  We had some of the best fish n' chips ever!



We ate at this place called Hash Hash a Go Go.  They have HUGE portions there.  The show "Man Versus Food" taped an episode there. They have a challenge on the menu of what the host ate for that episode.  Joey, of course had to order it.  He failed miserably at the challenge, but said the food was wonderful.



I had never been to Freemont Street and I wanted to see the light show.  We ventured out there one night.  I can't say I would ever go back.  While it is cheaper than the strip, its a pricey cab ride out there and we saw some very interesting people there.

Here is me at Hash Hash a Go Go with chicken and waffles.  It was amazing!

  Besides our Vegas trip, it seems like we have had a lot of other things going on as well. I feel like while I blog each week, I really don't go into much detail as to what is happening with Joey and I.  I thought I would just do a quick update on all of us. 

Joey~ I had mentioned in a previous post that there would be big changes this year for us.  After working for T Rowe Price for almost 4 years, Joey decided to take another job.  While he loved T Rowe Price over the years, it just did not offer enough advancement opportunities and a competitive salary.  He got a job at Janus in Denver.  He went to the interview at Janus and figured it would be a long shot at him getting it.  Well, sure enough they loved him and offered him the position.  It was a difficult decision for him to make.  He had been at T Rowe Price for so long, but Janus just has a lot more to offer him at this point.  There are a lot more opportunities for him to advance, he gets to start out managing, and the money is much, much better.  He pretty much had to take it.   He started last week and has loved it so far.  The only problem is the job is in Denver and we are not.  He will be commuting for the time being, but it is a very long commute since Janus is located in central Denver. A move is probably in our future.  We are thinking Castle Rock might be the town for us.  It's hard to say for sure what the future holds, but I am optimistic and excited about Joey's new journey. 

Brianna~ I am loving my job share so much!  I honestly can say this job share has worked out even better than I imagined.  I feel like I have the perfect amount of work time and mom time each week.  I have the best class I have ever had.  I thought after four years of teaching some pretty horrible classes that "good" classes were an urban legend.  I was wrong.  Since I am only there part time, I truly cherish each moment with my sweet class.  Also, our numbers are really low this year, so we only have 20 kids in our class!!!  This is bliss and also an urban legend to any teacher.  My first year, I had 28 4th graders, so a class this size has been a delight! Our state tests our coming up in the next few months which I despise for so many reasons, so the tough teaching will be coming up.  I can't wait for them to be over with in March!

I'm continuing to run a lot.  I have a bunch of races coming up in the next month.  This Saturday I am running a 4 mile race and the following week I am doing a half marathon on Super Bowl Sunday.  I continue to fall in love more and more with running.  I can't stress enough what it has done for me.  I am also trying to eat healthier. I have done pretty good at it. My new project is finding healthier dinners to make every night.  I enjoy trying new stuff and I want my family to have the best nutrition possible.

Ashlyn~ Ashlyn continues to love school.  She is making some really good friends there as well.  We have been going to a lot of birthday parties.  I am enrolling her in soccer next month for this Spring.  She is really excited to try it.  I am also trying to see when I can get a dance class squeezed in.  She loves to dance.  She continues to entertain us daily with her stories. 

Dawson~ We are getting ready for his big first birthday this weekend.  I have literally been planning it for months.  There won't be a ton of people there, but it will definitely be very, very special for our little man.  I can't wait.  Dawson continues to grow and explore and do new things each day.

Here are some pictures from the week:

I think it is funny how innate some things are.  We have lots of boy toys as well as girl toys.  Dawson is always drawn the boy toys.  He loves pushing around trucks.  It's his favorite thing. 

He is just too darn cute when he does this.

Look at him go!

Super boy!

His other current favorite toy is this toy phone.  He is always pretending to call someone. 

Dialing

Here is a picture of Ashlyn amidst the sea of toys! Between two kids, we are literally drowning in toys!!!

He adores playing and I love watching what he does.