This Week in Cuteness

I took a lot more pictures this week than I did last week. I wanted to get them on the blog before we leave on vacation and I have a ton of vacation pictures to put up. I wanted to make sure that I didn't forget to post them.

I also wanted to add that Dawson now officially has his first tooth!!! It is not all the way through, but you can definitely feel it and see it. I hope the worst of the teething pain is over. Poor little guy was pretty miserable.

Dawson's new favorite thing is to sit and play. He sits for at least 30 minutes unassisted without falling over. I can't believe how fast he is growing up.


He has such expressive faces.

Dawson playing with his best bud and cousin Ella

This is one of my new favorites. I just love his expression.

An attempt to get all three in a picture

I really like this one. Such beautiful children.

He has discovered his tongue and really likes showing it off.

Wonderful Student

Ashlyn continues to amaze me with her intelligence. We are still working on her workbooks every day. She always reminds me when it is time to do them. She is such an attentive and good student. I am so excited for her to start her new preschool in August. Here are some pictures I took this week while she was working. She told me I was bothering her while I was taking pictures, but I kept snapping away.

Hard at work gluing


She loves to glue.

Ashlyn is getting good at writing her name. This is what she wrote that day.

She was very proud of her work.

Slower Week

This past week was a little slower and more relaxed than the last few weeks. It was kind of nice to relax a bit and decompress. Even though it wasn't as busy, it still felt like we had a lot going on. Poor Ashlyn caught a very nasty stomach bug Wednesday night. We spent all day Thursday at home nursing her back to health. By Thursday night, she was feeling great and back to her normal self. It is never fun seeing your poor child that sick.

We all kind of went our separate ways over the weekend. Joey went up to the cabin for the weekend. On his way, he dropped Ashyln off at her Papa and Grandma's house. She was very excited to go. She kept telling me how much her horse Pistol needed her and missed her. She had a great time up there. They went to the rodeo and she was in one of her horse competitions yesterday. I just wish I would have been there to take some pictures. I stayed at home with Dawson. On Saturday, I did a 5k and took first place for my age group. I was very happy with how I did! All and all it was a nice weekend. I know that we were all pretty tired last night from the events of the weekend.

Dawson's tooth is definitely coming through more. I can feel a large bump when I feel his gums. I can't really see much because it is hard to push his tongue back to get a good look. Teething has not been fun. Ashlyn always teethed like a champ. I never even knew she was teething until after I saw the tooth. I don't think that Dawson will be the same way. He has been a lot more fussy the last few days. He also isn't eating or sleeping as well. I just really wish this tooth would finally poke through so I can get my happy, cheerful boy back.

On Sunday, we are leaving on vacation and I can't wait! We are going to California with my mom, sister, and niece. Joey has to stay at home and work. It will just be a girls trip except for Dawson. This will be Dawson's first time flying and I pray he does well. I'm not too concerned though because Ashlyn always did great on planes. I just feel like it has been forever since I have flown with a baby and I am a little out of practice. We are going to go to the beach and Disneyland. As you can imagine Ashlyn is very, very excited. I am so excited to take the kids to the beach. I am also excited to be there to see Ashlyn's reactions to everything. We looked online and she is tall enough to ride almost every ride there. She is pretty brave so we shall see what she ends up going on. I think it will be a great trip and just what we need before we start another school year. I am sure I will have lots and lots of pictures when we come back.

Since we didn't do a whole lot this week, I don't have many pictures. I did take some for the blog though.

Practicing his crawling
This is my new favorite picture. I love how he has has little tongue out. I think this picture captures his personality wonderfully.

I bought Ashlyn a pair of rain boots that she just loves. I think she would wear them all the time if I allowed her to. It rained the other night shortly before bed. Ashlyn insisted on putting on her rain boots and splashing in the puddles. She even made me put on my rain boots and splash in the puddles with her. I just wish we would have had bigger puddles.

She really gets into splashing around.

Pajamas and rain boots, what a nice look!

4th of July and Other Updates

We had another wonderful 4th of July. I just love the 4th of July because it is the quintessential summer holiday. It is just so nice to sit outside and enjoy summer while celebrating America. We had our annual party as we do every year. This year we decided to keep it a little smaller and low key than in years past. I preferred it because I felt it was a little less chaotic and busy. There were lots of kids there for Ashlyn to play with and she just had a blast with them. We got Ashlyn a bounce house again and they kids just bounced and bounced. Ashlyn was very sad to see it go. Dawson enjoyed his first 4th of July. He enjoyed interacting and smiling at all of the party guests. The fireworks were just amazing this year. The showed seemed to be much longer than normal. They went off very late this year, so the great show made up for that. I am a bit sad now because it feels like once the 4th is over, the rest of summer just flies by and before I know it's back to school time. I'm trying to enjoy the freedom as much as possible.

Ashlyn went to the dentist last week. She really enjoys going to the dentist and we have been making sure she goes twice a year. I really want her to get in good dental habits early on. I just love her dentist office and they do such a good job of catering to kids. The dentist said she has been brushing well and she has no cavities. Ashlyn was very proud of herself. Her dentist office is now on Facebook and they take a picture of you if you have no cavities and post it on Facebook. Her picture is on the front of the album for the month of July and she looks so cute and proud. We made an appointment to go back in six months and Dawson will actually being go with then for his first dentist appointment. I am interested to see how that will go for an 11 month old.

Ashlyn will be starting her new school in less than one month! I can't believe it's coming that quick. She remains excited. She can now read two books very well and we are going to be adding new ones. Most nights she is very excited to read and it very good at it. Some nights she is not as enthusiastic. She has also deicded to be an aspring singer/songwriter. Tonight Joey asked her to sing him a song. She told him she had to write one first. She grabbed a pad of paper and jotted down some scribbles. She then came back and sang a song she madeup to him. It was too cute! She just loves to sing and I wonder if singing is oneday in her future.

Dawson continues to do great at sitting on his own. I can't believe he can sit that well unassisted for only just turning 5 months. I am so proud of him. I have finally got him on a good sleep schedule. He has become such a good baby that literally the only time he cries is when he is tired or hungry. If he ate recently, I know he needs to lay down for a nap. If he slept recently, I know it's time to eat. He now takes a nap aboout an hour or two after waking up. He will take a two hour nap in the midday, and then he takes a litle 45 minute nap around 4:30. He now goes to bed around 7:45 or 8:00. He goes down like a dream. I put him in his crib, he squirms around for a few seconds then is usually out. I don't remember Ashlyn ever going to sleep that easily. His night wakings are still here and there. One night he will sleep until 4:45 a.m. and the next only until 1:30 a.m. I still can't find any rhyme or reason to it all. However, I am pleased with only one waking a night. I am finally starting to feel a little bit more rested.

Naked babies!!!
The bounce house just coming to life

Almost there

Ta da!!! This year Joey decided to go with a pirate bounce house.

Brother and sister

Daddy and Dawson on his first 4th of July

Dawson's shirt says "Happy Fourth of July"

Ashlyn in her special 4h outfit

Look at those pretty teeth

Patriotic toes I painted for Ashlyn. She loved them!

Ella looked very patriotic as well

Ashlyn was very excited because BOTH of her Papas were at the party. She was so happy.

Papa holding the babies

Ashlyn with Tyler and Remy in the bounce house

What Ashlyn did most of the day

Cooling Off

It has been hot here the last few weeks. We are loving the warm weather, but it often leaves us trying to find ways to cool off. This spring we planned ahead and bought Ashlyn a pool and Dawson a pool. We have just been waiting for the perfect days to fill them up. Last week provided us with several days that were great for swimming. Ashlyn loved her pool and had a blast in it. Dawson and Ella also liked splashing around in there little pool. Their pool is small enough that we can fill it up with warm water from the bathroom so the temperature is perfect for them. Everyone had a great time getting wet and splashing around. It was great preparation for the beach which we will be going to in just two short weeks! We can't wait!

Joey had the idea to put the pool at the end of Ashlyn's playground slide which Ashlyn just loved.

Splashing around

How cute do they look in their bathing suits???

Dawson's hair was doing something really funny

Relaxing in the water. He just loves water.