Zoo and Jeep Fun

This week was another busy one. In the summer time we just have so much more going on. I'm not complaining though, it sure makes up for all of the boredom we endure during the winter.

My sister and I decided to buy annual zoo memberships this year. We have already been twice and we are really enjoying it. Ashlyn just loves the zoo. It's a little bit of a drive, but so worth it. We pack picnic lunches and have found the perfect picnic spot. The best part of having a membership is that we don't have to stay very long to get our money's worth. We go first thing in the morning and leave before it gets too crowded or too hot.

On Friday night, Joey and Ashlyn went to a Rockies game with Joey's friend and his daughter. Joey said they all had a blast. He said Ashlyn's favorite part was the seventh inning stretch when they all got to sing "Take Me Out to the Ballgame". He said she was singing along too. He asked her what she wanted to eat, and her one request was a pretzel. Sounds like they had a great time.

Saturday we went to a wedding for a friend of Joey's. The wedding was in the mountains and it was just beautiful. It was right next to a river and we enjoyed all of the wonderful scenery. It made me very excited to get up to the family cabin in two weeks.

The other highlight of this weekend was Ashlyn getting her first Jeep Wrangler. My Mom and me went to a bunch of neighborhood garage sales this weekend and scored some killer deals. One of the things we found was a Power Wheels Jeep for a fraction of the price. On Sunday, we brought Ashlyn over to my parents to try it out. They have a very big driveway that is perfect for driving around. She fell in love instantly and we had to practically drag her away from it. I think we had just as much fun as she did watching her. I am imagining she will be getting lots of good use out of that toy.

We have another busy week with a very busy weekend ahead of us. Ashlyn's and Dawson's Uncle Adam and Aunt Jane are coming for a visit. Dawson is excited to meet them for the first time. I am running an a 5k this weekend. It is my first race since I had Dawson and I have been training very hard for it. I hope it goes well considering I took almost a year off from running. This week is also birthday week with my brother's, sister's, and grandma's birthdays all this week. Throw in Father's Day and a graduation party and we have got a lot going on. I am sure I will have lots of great pictures to post.

Ashlyn and Dawson cuddled in bed together.

Ashlyn and Auntie waiting to feed the giraffes. The giraffes at the zoo have gone "green". They are trying to have them eat healthier, so they only feed them lettuce in the morning. I don't think they like it nearly as well as the crackers.

All of the giraffes coming out.

Ashlyn holding out her lettuce waiting for a giraffe.

This giraffe headed right over to her.

Ashlyn posing for the camera.

Such a little model.

Trying to get a good look at the mountain lions.

Dawson and Mommy

My loves and me

Dawson showing off the shirt his Auntie got him

Auntie and the girls

Dawson and his Auntie

As I have mentioned before, the hippos are Ashlyn's favorite and they are the one animal she always wants to see. Every time we see them they are just sleeping in the sun. We were so excited to actually see them doing something else. We got to watch them eat, which I have to admit was quite disgusting to watch. They are very messy eaters!

Ashlyn in front of the river at the wedding

My sweet, sweet girl

Dawson got to ride in his stroller like a big boy for the first time. He loved it!

Ashlyn and Daddy

Dawson and Mommy

I think I must kiss him a hundred times a day.

Ashlyn with her friend Remy

Seriously, could he be any cuter???

Dawsona and his Daddy

Taking the Jeep for a ride

I love this one because it captures the joy she was experiencing.

Backing it up. She mastered that very quickly.

She had some very important calls to make.

She insisted on wearing Dad's hat just like he does.

Summer Time Finally!

It has been a very long, and cold spring, but I think summer has finally arrived in Colorado! Summer is our favorite time of year. Ashlyn just loves being outside and soaking up the sun. It is still very windy here, but we are trying to work around the wind. Yesterday, we went down to Ashlyn's friend Josh's house. Ashlyn played all day in the sprinklers and in the pool. It was such a wonderful summer day. We are so excited for a great summer full of fun outdoor adventures. We are really lookng forward to the cabin this year.

Ashlyn finished her last week of preschool last week at her old school. We kept telling her that it was her last week. I know she loved the school and had made good friends in the two years she was there. She wasn't too upset to go. I think it's because she doesn't quite understand the concept yet. She continues to say she is looking forward to her new school and making new friends. She starts her new school the first week of August. We are looking forward to two months of no school to get to and lots of summer time freedom before the hectic school year starts for both of us.

Dawson continues to become very mobile. When laying on the ground he is constantly flipping and moving. He can really get himself around. We are continuing to work on his sleeping. He has been sleeping in his crib every night this week. Some nights are a lot better than others. He never makes it the whole night, but he is averaging 6-7 hour stretches which I will gladly take at this point. Last night he slept from 7:45 to 2:00. When he wakes up, I usually take him to our room to sleep the rest of the night. I did the same thing with Ashlyn and her stretches of sleep eventually got longer and longer. I'm not getting stressed over it becaue I know he will eventually sleep and this is all part of the fun of having an infant.

Here are some pictures from this week. I know my post title has to do with sumer, and I just realized I don't have a single picture that reflects summer from last week. I will make sure to take some this week.

Ashlyn did something she has never done before: she fell asleep at the dinner table! Joey and I just had to take a picture since she has never done this. She must have played hard this day.

Working on his tummy time


Such a handsome little boy

He is liking his tummy a lot more these days.

My two loves

They are too sweet together

Sticking out his tongue for the picture.

I bought Ashlyn these blocks for her first birthday, and they are still one of her favorite things to play with. I love that she is so good at using her imagination.

Joey bought Ashlyn her first toolkit. She just loves helping Joey in the garage. He decided that their first project should be a bird house. Here she is hammering away.

She is concentraing so hard.

Having a great time helping Daddy.

Just recently Dawson and Ella have really started noticing one another and interacting more with each other. Yesterday when I was babysitting, they had a great time together. I got a great shot of the two of them looking at each other. They are going to be best buds!

Ella holding Dawson's hand. She does this a lot. Too sweet!

4 Months

On Sunday, Dawson officially turned 4 months old. The picture above totally summarizes Dawson: happy! I have waited to blog until we went for his 4 month check-up so I could put in his stats. I can't believe he has only been a part of our family for 4 months. He is such an amazing addition that I feel like he has always been here. There is not a single day that goes by that I don't thank God for blessing me with such wonderful and amazing children.

I think from 4 months to 6 months are my favorite ages for babies. They are just so happy at this age and their personalities just emerge more and more each day. Dawson continues to be such a laid back baby. He is always just along for the ride. He is still such a Mommy's boy and loves to be in my arms. He has turned into such a good baby. It is so hard for me to believe that he once was such an unhappy baby that cried all the time. I'm still not eating any dairy and I think I will continue to do so until he is 6 months. That is when they are supposed to totally out grown any intolerance's. I am literally counting down the days until I can enjoy some cheese and ice cream again! Now the the only times he cries are when he is tired or hungry. He is just like his mommy! He doesn't cry at all unless he is one of those two things. He is just so content.

At 4 months Dawson is rolling over like crazy from his back to his belly. He moves himself a lot. I will put him in his crib one way and be amazed to look back in there and see him laying in a totally different spot. Dawson his enjoying toys more and more. He can now hold them and pick up toys. His favorite activity his still his activity mat. He is so happy just laying under there and playing with his toys. He is also a huge smiler and laugher. He loves to be tickled and loves it when you kiss his feet. He loves playing with Ashlyn too.

Dawson's sleeping habits have become a little better. Since Sunday night, we have been working on transitioning him to his crib. The first night was hard and he wasn't too happy to be in there, but he did sleep in there a bit. The next night, I put him down for bed at 6:45 and he fell to sleep right away. I kept thinking he was going to wake up, but he didn't until 1:00 a.m. I would still love for him to go longer, but that is huge progress for Dawson! All day today he has been napping in his crib in his room and doing wonderful. We are going to continue working on it and I will update next week with how it is going. It only took Ashlyn about a week before she was doing an amazing job sleeping through the night. I am really hoping it is just as easy with Dawson.

Dawson has begun to drool and chew on his hand a lot. I looked in his mouth the other day and sure enough I saw a tiny white bump. I showed his pediatrician today and she said it is definitely a tooth, but she doesn't know if it will take one week or two months to pop up. I'm hoping it's a quick process and he isn't too miserable.

As I mentioned above, I took Dawson in for his 4 month check-up this afternoon. The funniest thing happened while we were in the waiting room. When we named Dawson, we liked it because it is not a weird or unusual sounding name, yet it isn't popular and those are the kinds of names I tend to gravitate towards. I think Dawson was like 287th on the list of most popular names for boys last year. So, it's not very common. I have never met a Dawson before. While we are sitting there waiting to check-in, they call Dawson's name. I go to stand up and so does another man. He said, "Oh I thought you were calling for us. Our son's name is Dawson". They had a little newborn boy whose name was also Dawson. I got such a kick out of it because I never run into any other Dawson's and he was there at the exact same time!

Anyway, his appointment went very well. He now weighs 14 lbs 14 ounces. He has gained almost three pounds in two months. He is now 24 3/5 inches tall. He grew two inches. He is still in the 50th percentile for everything, so I tell myself that means he is growing exactly perfect. He is wearing 3-6 month clothes and is in a size 2 diaper. The pediatrician said he looked perfect. I told her he was rolling over from his back to his belly and she said good for him because that is the harder way for babies to roll. She said most roll from belly to back first. The doctor was very impressed with Dawson's disposition and said he is just a genuinely nice baby. We ended the appointment with shots, which are never fun, but very important. We go back in two months. Here are some pictures of Dawson at 4 months old.

Such an adorable little face.


Brother and sister

Sissy giving tickling Dawson. As you can see, he loves it.

This is his serious face.

This was Dawson on the day he turned 4 months.

Excuse the spit-up on his shirt. He managed to keep it dry all day, until literally 5 seconds before I decided to take pictures.

Playing in his Exersaucer