A Very Merry Christmas!

Here is our Christmas card that we sent out this year. This year we get to have Christmas with my family which is always a huge treat for me as I don't get to see my sister and her family very often!! Yay for seeing your favorite people during the holidays! I hope that everyone has an amazing Christmas this year.

Anyone Selling An SUV??

Due to our little situation recently we are in need of a second vehicle. We are on the lookout for an SUV. We don't want to spend more than $7000 and we want it to be reliable, fairly new like 2002 or newer and have less than 100k miles. I have been looking on Craigslist and a few other sites and I know that it is a possibility but it would be nice to buy one from someone we know maybe help each other out a bit.

This is one that I found that I like... they are asking $5600 which is great, but it has a few more miles than we'd like. I think it's beautiful!! If someone you know is trying to sell an SUV please let me know we will probably need to purchase a vehicle in the next week.

Lost and Found

I took Dawson out of the bath got his diaper on him and set him down he ran off like usual. I was walking around the house and could not find him I was yelling his name and could not find him anywhere. I heard a giggle and saw a DVD come flying out the the entertainment center. This is what I found.

The CRAZIEST Thing Just Happened!

About an hour ago Chad and I were sleeping in our bed when we heard the biggest crashing sound I think I have ever heard in my life. Chad instantly ran outside to see what had happened (in his underwear) and found this. A white truck was quickly speeding away.
These are both our cars. Apparently the truck/SUV that hit the gray car pushed the front end down and forward enough to catch the back tires of the blue car and pop it right up on the hood. The blue car only has a few little scrapes on the bottom of the back bumper from when we drove it off. They gray car unfortunatly has lots of damage both in the front and back. It was a very interesting thing to find one of our cars on top of the other. As far as we know they have not found the other vehicle.

This Is What I Found

I went into Dawson's room to organize his toys etc. Coming from the front room I hear a giggle... Dawson and I were the only ones home so I was very curious to find out what was making him laugh. He had grabbed the basket that we put our WalMart bags in and keep under the sink and emptied it out. I had to just laugh because this is what I found. He was laughing at himself with the basket on his head!! Oh I love this boy so much!! He is such a stinkin' cutie!

It's Another BOY!!

Okay, so it is true that I was kind of hoping for a girl. The truth is that I am completely thrilled with another boy. I just need to know that eventually I will have a girl if not 2... it's just that fear that it may not happen for me. Especially because Chad's family is all boys and it seems that there are a very unusual amount of boys in his extended family as well. I LOVE MY BOY!!! I think I am a great mom to my boy! Growing up I always thought it would be neat to be a mother to all boys. Since then, I have become very close to my nieces and realized the amazing relationship that my mother, sister and I have. I would just be very sad to not have at least one girl. I guess I cannot get discouraged yet after all this is ONLY my second child right??! ANYWAY, Enough of that!

I am ecstatic that I am having a boy and he looked so cute in his little ultrasound I fell in LOVE! He was sucking on his tiny thumb right there in front of us. It was so obvious that he was a boy when she went over that area of his body... "I said it's a boy" before the technician could even say a word. She quickly confirmed with "yep it is very obvious isn't it!" Chad came to the realization that I do actually have a child inside me and I am not just using pregnancy as an excuse to gain a ton of weight! I think it was fun for him to see the baby kicking me in the ultrasound and make the connection that yes, I can feel those kicks and I am not lying to him as he cannot yet feel them.

So Handsome!

Just wanted to share a couple of recent photos... Dawson's hair is finally growing!!

BOY Or GIRL That Is The Question

Right now I am about 16 weeks (photo). On the nineteenth of this month we get to find out what we are having!! That is the most exciting part of being pregnant... I could pretty much do without the rest. Anyway, last time I really felt like I was having a boy the entire time up until we found out that we were having a boy. This time I have been feeling girl. I think it's silly when people say that they KNOW what they are having. I do not KNOW but I do feel like I am having a girl... or maybe I just want a girl so badly that I am tricking my mind into thinking that. I will totally be happy with either as there are definitely positives to both. Financially a boy might be a better situation and Dawson might love having a little brother... but I want a girl, I need a girl, I am surrounded by boys. Positive energy can't hurt right?? So here is the question for you... Do you think I will have a boy or a girl??

Happy Halloween!

Happy Halloween!! This was Dawson's first Halloween and I must say it was a success. Last year my sister made the absolute cutest costume for her son Gavin. I decided that it would be cutest and really easy to just borrow her costume since she is a million times more creative than me not to mention it would be less stressful for me trying to find something. Anyway it turned out really great everyone LOVED his cute little dwarf costume! THANKS ALETHA you are the best and so talented... I think I will take this time to tell you that next year Dawson would like to be a... just kidding!

Fun With David and Molly

Tonight we invited David and Molly over to watch The Office which was one of the funniest episodes in a long time BTW. Afterward we carved our pumpkins. I was sad that we had to put Dawson to bed before the pumpkins. I think he would have really liked them. We had so much fun and I think they turned out pretty well! I didn't post a picture of me because I looked like a total scrub tonight and I am really starting to feel fat with this pregnancy...

YUCK I am starting to remember what it is like, I am glad I forgot long enough to want another one so soon. Some women say that they love being pregnant... I AM NOT ONE OF THOSE WOMEN. I love to find out what I am having and to feel the baby kick but that is the extent of my enjoyment.

WHERE DID THIS COME FROM??!

Dawson has recently started smiling back at people with this ridiculously cheesy smile. It is somewhat embarrassing when he looks at someone behind us in the line at Wal Mart and flashes this face.

He has the cutest "REAL"smile and I wish he would have never learned this face... I mean, seriously where did this come from?? I have a feeling this little phase will last a while since every time he does it people laugh.

Great Birthday & THE BEST GIFT EVER...

The party was great!!! Almost all of my favorite people were there!! We went to Time Out Pizza which is always fun, there are a bunch of arcade games so it was very simple to get a ton of quarters and entertain the kids. The pizza and cake were great and the company was even better! There were so many people there that LOVE Dawson... it was a little hard to get around to everyone so I am really hoping everyone there had fun!

Happy Birthday My Sweet Baby Boy I cannot believe you are already one! I am SAD but love every single precious moment I have with you.

AND YES... I am sure you have been thinking it for a while now. I AM PREGNANT! I show so early that it has been very hard to hide but we really wanted to tell everyone together at Dawson's party. We are very excited and a little nervous to have two. I am about 3 months pregnant and I am due on April 23rd.

We told everyone tonight at the party by having Dawson open up a present that had a t-shirt inside that read "I am 1 year old today! For my first birthday my mommy and daddy are making me a big brother". Chad Grandma Audrey read the shirt out loud since she was the closest. At first everyone was a little confused so I had to clarify by saying "I AM ABOUT 3 MONTHS PREGNANT"... It was pretty fun and I think we got it on tape!! So fun!!

Another fun things about all of this is that my sister is due just about the same time!! We might just have twinners!

ONE ALREADY?!!

So it was raining today so I just took a few pictures and will need to do more later since I couldn't really catch his attention I decided I will never try to take another picture where he can see the swings . Tonight we are having Dawson's birthday party I think it will be great I will need to share how everything went but until then... HAPPY BIRTHDAY DAWSON!!! You are my GREATEST happiness! Love you! SMOOCH!!

Workin' & Walkin'

So I am a working gal now this has been my second week working as a substitute EA and my first week as a substitute secretary for the Othello School District. I am really trying to keep my working to only 3 days a week so that I can still feel like I am raising my own child. Dawson has been staying here at out house with a babysitter which is so great. He really seems to enjoy the girl that I have watching him and it's so nice that he can nap in his own bed and play with all of his own toys. I do believe that we will have him going to the Children's Garden Daycare after he turns one at least some days as they have an awesome drop in policy.

Chad totally chewed me out the other day for not posting actual video of Dawson walking since he's been walking for about a month now... so I decided I'd try to do that today just to get him off my back. It is pretty cute too! you may want to turn down your speakers. Enjoy!

Fair & Rodeo

Chad and I decided to take Dawson to his first fair and rodeo last week. We had lots of fun, ate some good food and Dawson especially enjoyed the rodeo with all the music, animals, people and movement. I even dressed him for the event.

11 Months Already?!

NO WAY! My baby is already 11 months. In one way this is a very sad moment for me... he is almost 1 year old! In another way he is in a very cute stage he drives me CRAZY at times with getting into everything, but he is so stinking cute... I LOVE his expressions! I love his laugh, I love the way he pats my back when I hold him, I love his curiosity, I love the way he looks at me, I love the way he cuddles up when he is super tired (since that rarely happens), I love the way he eats always pushing the remaining hanging food into his mouth, I love the cute little way that he walks he kind of reminds me of Frankenstein...

Right now I want to focus on his cute little expressions... above you will notice, first of all that he thoroughly enjoys chicken. Secondly he was outside playing in the plants in front of our house and heard a dog (first picture) the dog then came around the corner and he saw the dog (second picture) soooo... cute! I love this boy!

Fantasy Draft Frenzy

As most of you know my husband Chad is the biggest sports freak I have ever met or even heard of! Every year he does fantasy football and this year was no exception. In fact he is in 3 different fantasy leagues one for family one for friends and one for Parker's friends. On Sunday they had their live draft online Chad and his family have been looking forward to this moment since last season and if you think that this would be a fun thing to do... it's not! This is serious business in this family. So when Chad got on the phone with his brother Parker prior to the draft I was laughing so hard at the serious nature of their conversation... some of the things that Chad was saying were just PURE RIDICULOUSNESS. So being the loving wife that I am I decided to document this conversation at least on Chad's end to prove to him how silly this really gets from and outside perspective. Now I must warn... Chad is so into this fantasy stuff he tends to bring out a few fake swear words... I must reiterate that this transcript is word for word exactly how it was said. I am not exaggerating at all... keep in mind this is serious business even though it will be a little hard to believe. So here is how it all went:

"I cannot believe it is finally here!"
"When the time for action has come, the time for preparation has
passed."
"I want to be talking to you for at least the next three minutes so that we
can make some last minute analyses."
"Oh my gosh!! Less than 2 minutes less AHHHH!" (screaming like a
girl)
"This is where it all matters"
"Down to 15 seconds Snickahs" (one of Parker's many nicknames)
"10...9...8...7...6...5...4...3...2...1 AHHHH!!!" (screaming like a
girl)
"Come on stupid YAHOO!!"
"Screw you Park!"
"SHUT UP, SHUT UP, SHUT UP don't tell me! I don't want to know until I can
see it for myself!!!"
"OH MY GOSH!! OH MY GOSH!! OH MY GOSH!! I GOT THE FIRST PICK... OH MY
GOSH!!!"
"Oooh and Jim got second pick again."
"How embarrassing for you!"
"I cannot believe that I am number
one! SHOCKING! HOHOHO!"

So... Yeah I know it's hard to believe but true... this is what I live with. Needless to say I cannot wait for the Superbowl as that is my celebration of the end of football season. Side note: Chad asked me who I thought he should pick first... like I would have any suggestion... but I quickly said Tom Brady as I pretty much have a huge crush on him I think you can probably understand why... He said he went with "A.P", whoever that is... I am sure he is not as CUTE as TOM so it's probably not the best choice he's ever made!

Our Cute Little Monster

"HECTIC" is the word that describes my life best at the moment. Every time I sit down after putting Dawson down for a nap I take a deep breath and think to myself "Can he get any more crazy than he is right now?". Once he is down you would think I should probably take a little rest for myself... but it is time to start cleaning up after the many messes that Dawson has made only after that point I can begin the daily upkeep stuff that is expected of a stay at home mother (laundry, dishes etc.) if there is any time remaining after that point I make myself just sit and watch some mindless TV and maybe eat something. It is funny because when he is crawling around knocking things over, pulling things out of cupboards, pulling down DVDs, eating something that he clearly shouldn't be eating off of the floor and many more destructive things I am wishing it was time for a nap. It never fails... before he wakes up I miss him, and sometimes I'll even open his door and turn the music up high to get him to wake up. Another thing that drives me crazy but that is so stinking cute and that I never want to forget is when you start walking towards him (especially when he is doing something wrong) he gets the BIGGEST and CUTEST smile you have ever seen and just takes off crawling faster than I have ever seen anyone crawl I genuinely have a hard time catching up to him. Also he will be walking any day the other day he took ten steps... oh he's growing up so fast. Being a mother is the most amazing thing in the world... very challenging at times but absolutely the most rewarding job I have ever had! I LOVE YOU my sweet little DESTRUCTIVE monster and I always will no matter how CRAZY you are!

Events This Past Week

Chad just informed me that it has been a while since my last blog... the truth is not much has been happening. My sister came up from Utah for my grandma's funeral and brought two of her kids Gavin and Kambria (Brynlee & Brian we missed you!). They just left today and I am so sad! I spent the week in Ephrata with her and other her family members in and out the entire week. I was able to spend time with some cousins that I have not seen in quite some time. That part was great despite the fact that I was missing my little hubby! He worked all week (and was very successful in getting some good accounts all week - Good job babe!) while I played with my family.

My grandma's funeral was very nice. My cousin Wendy called me the day before and asked me to sing with her for the service since we both grew up with a great interest in music and singing. We practiced and things were sounding pretty good even while singing through a nasty cold... I was feeling pretty confident. We got up for our special musical number "I Know That My Redeemer Lives" and I couldn't even get through my first verse (SORRY WENDY) My voice immediately began to quiver and I'd let out a sob even stopping completely at times. The runny nose that comes with a nasty cold didn't help my situation any either. Ugh... Sorry grandma, I thought I could get through it for you. Anyway we snapped a few photos after the service at the little dinner that we had out at my uncle Glenn's home and at the graveside.

All in all it was a pretty decent week just not a whole lot to blog about.

PS. Dawson has been taking a few steps at a time for the past couple weeks but today he took six steps while trying to grab a snack from his Grandpa Dan... Dan and I were the only witnesses since then he has been taking a few steps here and there but so far six is the record.

A Farewell Letter...

Yesterday you fell and broke your hip... this was only the latest incident of many in the past few years. You were taken to the hospital and the WONDERFUL Dr. Dan Canfield operated on you with the knowledge that there were many risks with your heart and kidneys but taking the risk anyway knowing that there was really no other option. You made it through the surgery just fine and woke up this morning just as feisty as ever. The hospital staff took some vitals and did some testing and found that your heart and kidneys were only getting worse and that your body was slowly shutting itself down. The doctors informed us that at most you had 2-3 days.

I was fortunate to have been able to spend some time with you yesterday. As Dawson and I sat there next to your bed before surgery you kept saying how "beautiful his big brown eyes" were and "where had his hair gone?..." and you played some patty cake with him... he brightened up your not so happy day and I believe that he enjoyed it just as much as you did.

Today was a different story altogether. I woke up to a story that things had gone well and that you were back to your ornery self and that you had even recognized my dad when he first walked into the room stating that he was your youngest son to the nurse. Which was a good thing since your mind has been unclear for some time now. I later received a phone call from my mother to inform me that doctors were giving you at most a few more days. I decided that I would drop Dawson off at Lisa's house (THANKS LISA BTW!) and head over thinking that this may be my last chance to see you. It was a good thing I did... I met you at the hospital at 4pm sat there and cried for a bit watching you struggle to breathe. The nurse came in and checked your vitals they couldn't even find a blood pressure and your 2-3 days instantly turned into hours. At that moment I couldn't help but get up and walk over to grab your hand I couldn't convince myself to get up even for a little snack. As much as Aletha wanted to be there she couldn't so I brought a letter from her to read to you... you wouldn't wake up so I decided to read it to you anyway but couldn't get through it so my dad took it and slowly through broken words started and finished what I could not. I held your hand until the end (8:15pm) and even longer still... it was so difficult to let it go. I ran my fingers through your hair and gave you a kiss on the forehead. You were no longer there, the color of your skin told me that. I said I loved you and slowly left the room thinking that you must be having a wonderful reunion with your husband that you lost so long ago. I know you are happy now and you will always be remembered as a wonderful grandmother. I LOVE YOU GRANDMA!!

I LOVE To Blow In His Face...

...and this is why... Each time I blow in Dawson's face I get the cutest toothy smile with tightly closed eyes. I learned at a family reunion a few years ago that if you blow into a baby's face it makes them take in a deep breath so that you can dunk them into the water. So when I started trying that with Dawson I got the cutest reaction... I know it may sound a little mean but we do this all of the time just because it's so dang cute!

We Have A Little Dancer

Dawson has loved music from the very beginning and it seems like he started dancing really early I cannot remember exactly when but he has had a little evolution of dance styles... this one is the latest! When he sees the camera he gets a bit shy. You should see him go crazy. I often turn on music for him and just let him go for it so that I can get a few things done around the house but really it's just so cute that I really don't get anything done because I am so distracted by his cute little moves. The other day he was holding on to the entertainment center and started shaking his head back and forth with so much force that it literally knocked him over on the floor and he bonked his head pretty good and fussed for just a second and got back up and started dancing again... this kid has a passion for dancing!

Matt & Hanna's Wedding

Cool street sign Dawson Street but quite possibly the funniest part of this picture is Dawson's face and the fact that he's pointing at the camera like a stud you'll have to blow it up to see the detail HAHA I laughed so hard when I first saw that and still laugh every time I think about it!

Chad's friend's from high school (above L to R: Zach, Vicky, Tanner, Dawson, Chad, me, Holly) BTW we just found out that Holly is getting married in January AHH!!! So Exciting!! Congrats Hollah! The newly married Matt & Hanna Coffman (below)

Matt Coffman is a long time bestie of Chad's and he married the most perfect girl for him in the entire world this last weekend. Matt played college football and Hanna played college basketball both at CWU which is where they met. They are both super athletic and both have an amazing sense of humor. Anyway so Matt asked Chad to be in his wedding which Chad was happy and honored to do. So we made the 2.5 hour trip to Pateros last Friday morning and decided that we really love Pateros even though neither of us had really heard of it before. It is so beautiful! Hanna's family lives right on the river which is where they had the wedding. It was a very fun wedding they even had the DJ announce the wedding party like an announcer would a game... and the guys all did a little "chest bump" or "special handshake" with the groom it was so neat. Everything was so perfect besides the 107 degree heat. Anyway we really enjoyed our time there and we are very excited for the new married couple. Congrats M&H!

Standing Already?!

Can this be true?! I feel like I just had this cute little kid! He is on the verge of walking and he actually took a step or two last night before falling on his face but he is still pretty unsure of this new upright position and balance thing. This is the first picture that captured this new milestone... I feel like he's progressing so quickly at this point, it seems that he has a new trick daily. Exciting and kinda sad.

New Family Photos

My friend Sabrina is so amazing at so many things she even likes to do photos now and then (mainly of her 2 beautiful girls) so I asked her if she might be interested in taking a few much needed photos of our family. Here are just a few... Thank you, thank you, Sabrina! You are the best!

9 Month Appointment & More

Yesterday was Dawson's 9 month appointment at CBHA. Turns out he is 19.9 pounds, 28.5 inches tall and doing very well physically and right on target mentally. All of this we pretty much knew but it is always reassuring to hear a professional tell you that things are well with your child.

On another note... we are happily poor right now due to me living the dream of being a stay at home mommy, so... my mom gave me a much needed FREE hair cut a couple of weeks ago. She always cut my hair growing up because I had a hard time trusting anyone else (the one time that I had someone else cut my hair, I hated it). Since then I have had some really really great people cut/color my hair and have just loved it but due to hard economical times my amazing, very talented mom was the natural choice. I love it, thanks mom! So this morning I decided that I needed to do something about my 8 month old roots... I decided to change things up quite a bit... so as you can see in the photo above... my hair is brown, I decided I love that too! Not only that but Chad says I am smokin' HOTT, so that is also a perk.

Lastly, Chad is begging me to let him share a little something so without further ado this is from Chad:

I read this on a banana laffy taffy yesterday and it wasn't half bad:

Q:Why do Melons always have big weddings? A:Because they Cantaloupe.

Our Little Trailer Walker

We have ourselves a little "trailer walker" I guess I am not quite sure of what to call this new milestone. Dawson's new favorite thing is to walk around the living room behind his little toy walker. It is the cutest thing and he just always looks up at me with a huge smile like he is just so happy with himself and his accomplishment. He takes such large steps like he is walking through tall grass it is so cute! I never want to forget these cute little moments. Every little thing this kid does melts my heart. Love him, love him! He will have his 9 month appointment this month and I cannot wait to see how much he's actually changed I swear I look at him and think to myself that he's grown another inch overnight... he's just getting so tall. He's not my little baby anymore he's a kid!

Life Goes On & On

Shawna and Mari have been coming over during the day quite a bit to visit Dawson... Shawna was a friend of Chad's growing up and we have since become great friends. She and her sister have grown very attached to Dawson. They love visiting and I love the company and break from entertaining Dawson alone as well. Anyway, we took these pictures: Playing the piano is one of Dawson's favorite activities and he just began to stick out his tongue I think it is so cute!

Yep, he loves that piano! Thanks Grandma and Grandpa Chamberlain!

8 Months & More...

Dawson was 8 months old on the 17th. He began to crawl that day as well. I cannot believe the progress that he's made in just a short amount of time. He is getting around the house so quickly now and pulling himself up on everything. Yesterday I set him down on the living room floor and walked into the kitchen to get a bottle of water and walked right back into the living room. He was climbing up our entertainment center... It really scared me to think that could have fallen on top of him. Anyway, I guess I will no longer be leaving him alone even for just a few seconds.Cute little 8 month photos...

I feel like I need to get more creative with my pictures of him... it just seems like such a hassle when I am trying to get him to smile while holding my camera. Maybe I can get Chad to help me one of these days. I have so many ideas.