"Wanna Pet Her?"

Ok, I have to post some funny things Dawson has said lately before I forget, and then I have a few other updates and pictures.
First of all, a couple weekends ago we went to my Mother-in-law, Shelley's, family reunion. Tyler's cousin has a little girl named Savannah who is five. I also have a sister named Savannah who is twelve. Anyway, Dawson had a great time playing with 5-year-old Savannah, and one morning during the reunion Dawson woke up and asked me "where is that tiny little Savannah?" I guess that's a good way to differentiate between the two Savannah's he knows!
Next, one of Tyler's cousin's got married recently, and while we were at her reception Shelley was holding another cousin's new baby girl. Dawson stood next to Shelly and just stroked the baby's hair and tummy. Then he turned to my sister-in-law, Alli and asked "Wanna pet her?" I just love the way he describes things!
My miss Addy is just getting too big! She turned ten months on the nineteenth! She is honestly one of the happiest babies I have ever met. She gives the biggest smile that scrunches up her whole face when anyone talks to her, and now that she is over her stranger danger faze, she will let anyone hold her.
If you want to see her super excited, just hang around when when Tyler gets home from work. As soon as she hears that door open she squeals with delight, starts saying "da da da" and books it for the kitchen. Then she kneels at Tyler's feet and holds her arms up to him.
Addy is also quite the talker already. I think that is because she is such a copy-cat. She is always mimicking people. She says "Dah (Daws), uh oh, bye bye, da da, ma ma, thank you, and lots of no no no's." And if Dawson cries she copies that too.
Here are a few pics of Addy girl.

Helping mom with the dishes

In other exciting news, Dawson got his first real bike with training wheels this week. He has been DYING to have one. Every time we go to Wal-Mart he just begs to go the bike section and ride some of the bikes that are his size.

So Tyler and I got him a piggy bank (well, it's really a football bank, but you get the idea) and told him if he did chores and was a good listener he could save up money and get a bike. Every time he put money in his bank he would say "And I am going to get a bike when my bank is FULL!!" He was stoked! When Tyler and I decided Dawson had been saving for long enough Tyler found a sweet deal on the bike Dawson had been wanting, a Cars one, and it had only ever been ridden like once. It looked brand new but Tyler negotiated and got it for half the price that it was at the store. When Tyler found it he immediately went to pick it up bc it was such a good deal. Dawson was in bed when Tyler left but Tyler and I were so excited for him to see it that we woke him up. That was one happy, excited little boy!!

Ok, so he doesn't look too excited here, but this is just the smile you get from him when the camera comes out.

Lastly I have a few Sunday-take-pictures-while-everyone-is-dressed-nice-and-looks-presentable photos. You will notice in these that the kids get progressively more antsy throughout, but we got a couple decent ones before they totally called it quits.

Getting bored. . . . . and they are done.

The Perfect Day, aaaand, Dawson Melts My Heart!

Yesterday was awesome! It was one of those days where it was reconfirmed to me that the simple moments in life combine to make perfect days. 
Yesterday morning after getting the kids and myself ready, I dropped them off with Tyler's mom (she is always so sweet to watch them for me) and went to SLC to meet Tyler for lunch. I have never done that before, and I loved it. He took me to this Deli called "The Grove" and we got a pulled pork sandwich. And HOLY HUGE! That Sandwich was bigger than a newborn baby! It was so so yummy though. Messy and hard to eat, but yummy! 
I went back to the office with Tyler and got to meet his co-workers and see where he makes the mula. It was so nice to just hang out just the two of us. We could talk without hearing "Mom, mom. . . .MOM!" in the background. We love our kiddos, but we love each other and being able to talk with each other too. Tyler's boss is way nice and even let Tyler have an extended lunch break since I was there. 
After that I went back and picked up the kids from Shelley's. Dawson didn't want to leave. He loves grandma's house, but I finally talked him into it. I decided that before we headed back to our place, we would stop at the Smith's near Shelley's house because they were having some good deals and I wanted to pick up a few things. That Smith's happens to be not far from Mine and Tyler's first apartment, so I stopped there on the way and showed Dawson where we used to live. He didn't really get that he had never lived there and said "And I loved living there too!" 
Then we were off again to Smith's. But before we got there I saw a park that I used to take walks by when I was pregnant with Dawson. I remembered how as I would walk by I would imagine taking my little boy there to play one day. As I drove closer to the park I almost didn't stop. I am a very planned person. It is really hard for me to be spontaneous and do something I hadn't already planned for. As I almost passed by I thought to myself "Well why in the world should we not go there?! I don't have anywhere to be, and Dawson and Addy would love it!" And so I just told my planned out, non-spontaneous self to go to that park, and I was so glad I did.
Dawson had a blast. I wanted to swing Addy in the baby swings, but they had been sitting in the sun too long and were super hot. So Addy just sat on my lap and cuddled and I loved it. Pretty soon a little girl about Dawson's age, her mom, grandma, baby sister and little dog showed up. Dawson loves making friends and he got right to business. "Do you want to go down the slide with me?" he asked her. She said yes and he excitedly turned to me and said "She wants to go down the slide with me!!!" Then he went over to the grandma who was sitting down with the baby and the dog. He just sat right up on that bench next to her and was asking her things like "Do dogs eat sand?" When she told him no, he said "Your dog was just eating sand." Ha ha, he was totally trying to correct her. Then he pointed to the baby she was holding and said "We have one of those babies! Her name is Addy Rose!" Oh Dawson, you melt my heart. I just love watching him interact with others. 
We played at the park for a long time and the it was time to go. As we drove away from the playground, Dawson said in the saddest voice ever "I am going to miss that little girl." I would be lying if I said that did not almost bring tears to my eyes. I am such a mom!
At Smith's Dawson got to sit in one of the carts that has a car in the front and he thought that was pretty awesome. He didn't want to leave when it was time to go because he was having too much fun. But alas, it was time to go home. On the twenty minute drive home, I listened to my little Addy babble adorably to herself, and thought of Dawson having so much fun, and thought about my lunch date with the hubby, I felt so content and happy. And that's when I decided it had been the perfect day. I love my life!

On My Mind These Days

Ok, I have basically had two main things on my mind over the past couple weeks. Those two things are Dawson's asthma, and our house being for sale. 
Ok, Dawson. Asthma. Where do I begin? Asthma was never on my radar when I became a mom. Of all child illness, ones related to breathing problems have always been terrifying to me. So when I found out last Summer that Dawson had asthma, it was very scary. His case is actually not too bad. It's under control most of the time. Until he gets a cold. When that nose starts to run and I hear the first cough, I cringe! There is definitely medication for asthma, and I am so thankful for that, but the medications the doctor had him on always made me a little nervous. I know that those kinds of medications can cause loss of bone density and elevate the risk of heart attacks. Yeah, freaky. But I just decided that that was a risk we would have to take because I could't stand the thought of my sweet little boy not being able to breath.
Then this year when Tyler got his new job, we could no longer qualify for Dawson to be on Medicaid anymore. We also could not afford the insurance Tyler's job offered. It is so expensive!! Without either insurance or Medicaid, I knew we wouldn't be able to afford more medicine for Dawson unless he was very sick. We had some breathing medication left that can hold us over for a while, but that was a scary spot to be in! When all that happened, I delved into research on natural cures for asthma. I have found that among other things, vitamin D, fish oil, apples, and lots of fruits and vegetables can help keep it under control, so I have been making sure that he gets all of those things. And it did help. But like I said, when he gets any kind of congestion, that's when he really has problems. Last week I could tell he was starting to get sick, and I have had to use some of the medication we still have. That freaked me out though because I realized our supply was getting lower. I did even more research and found a natural medicine called Respitol. I read a million reviews and could't find a negative one, and everyone said how Respitol had been a miracle for them. I ordered some right away, and I am awaiting it's arrival. I am so hoping it will help Dawson. Let's keep our fingers crossed!
So yes, our house is now for sale, as of last week. We have loved this little town home, and our neighborhood, but we are outgrowing our house, and we have lots of possibilities before us with Tyler graduating soon. If he gets a good job somewhere else we need to be able to move, and it would be nice to move closer to his job he has now. We may even move to North Carolina if Tyler can find a good job there.
I knew putting the house up for sale would be a lot of work, but wow, it was a lot of work! I still am not done with my to-do list. I always prided myself in the fact that I thought I kept my house pretty clean, but when I started deep cleaning and organizing I realized I had a long way yo go! Even as I type, my mind is racing with things I need to clean! Aaaah! Ok with that being said I better go and get some things done before the kiddos wake up!

NC Trip and Other Updates

Before I start writing about our NC trip, I want to give an update about Tyler's job situation. He actually got a new job within his company that is far less stressful, and a better situation overall, so we are really happy about that! And the best part is that his boss let him have a week-and-half off work so he was able to go to NC with me!
Our NC trip was awesome!! I was so happy I got to go so I could see my best friend for eight years, Kathleen, get married. I was also so excited to see my family. 
Since plane tickets are ridiculously expensive right now we drove all the way to North Carolina! I had   a lot of people stare at me in disbelief when I told them this, but even though the drive was looooooong, it was so worth it! The kids actually did really well. Obviously they had their moments, but overall the drive was pretty good. Addy is at that stage where she likes to mimic all of the sounds Dawson makes. So at one point during our drive Dawson was pretty upset about something and screamed the word "no" a few times in a row. Next thing I know Addy is saying "no" three or four times in a row in the closest voice she could get to a scream. Oh it made me laugh!

Asleep in the car. So precious!

Stopping to stretch, chugging his favorite drink, Root Beer

We drove for twenty-four hours straight except for stopping to get gas and letting the kids stretch. We finally stopped in Louisville, Kentucky for a night, at a hotel called The Galt House. It had a four star rating and I found a really good deal for it on priceline, but I probably wouldn't stay there again. It was pretty old (Abraham Lincoln stayed there once) and basically kinda creepy. I must admit I was freaked out it might be haunted or something!  Dawson loved it though. We were on the 22nd floor and had a great view of the Ohio river and down town Louisville. They also had some pretty cool fireworks that we were able to watch from our window. It really was a neat setting, but I was too exhausted to take pictures. I am kicking myself for that now. 
We finally arrived in my hometown, Hampstead, at about eight on the twenty-first. Everyone was so happy to see us, and Dawson was so excited! I thought he might be kind of shy at first, but he just made buddies with everyone and got busy playing. My parent's have a huge yard and Dawson is in Heaven there.
We had an awesome week. Dawson was outside first thing every morning when he woke up, and stayed out there until bedtime. And let me say one thing, HOLY HUMIDITY! I forgot what that was like. I was so happy that my siblings loved hanging out outside with Dawson so I didn't have to be out in that sticky weather too much. 
I really enjoyed spending time with my family while I was there. We swam in the lake a lot, and the boys enjoyed a bike jump into the lake that my brother, Andrew made. Tyler took a pretty good spill off the bike, but he survived!

It's hard to get this kid to smile for a picture!

Dawson loved throwing rocks in the lake.

We went to the beach while we were there which was way fun! I miss the beach so much. At first Dawson was afraid of the water, but pretty soon he was loving it. He would run out in the water, but when the waves came crashing in, he'd run for the shore as fast as his legs could carry him. Addy quite enjoyed our beach trip too. She sat in the shallow water and splashed away. I should have taken more pictures of the kids at the beach, but I just hate taking my camera out at the beach because I am so worried it's going to get sandy and ruined. I did snap a few quick shots though.

Hangin' out with Uncle Adam and Aunt Savannah.

Poor kid, his little but crack always hangs out in these shorts.

Dawson got to ride on Papa's tractor while we were there. My dad let him steer all by himself!

Dawson loved him some Aunt Savannah

Dawson just loves my other siblings too! He was always hanging out with Lucas and Zayah, and he thinks Adam and Andrew are so cool. Andrew was always giving him little treats and toys. On our drive back to Utah Dawson kept saying things like "when I am bidder(bigger) like Andrew . . ."

We got some pictures of the whole family while we were all together, and some cute ones of the kids also.

Ok, I seriously LOVE them!!

Trying to give Addy kisses.

Sista's!

I was really happy to see Kathleen and her family while I was in NC. They were like my second family during my teens and I realized when I saw them again how much I had missed them. We had some fun times together during my visit, including a girls night, long visits, and of course ice cream! I can't go to the McLeod's house and not have ice cream!!

On Friday the twenty-seventh, we packed up our car and hit the road again. It was a sad, sad day. Dawson kept saying. "You go back to Harrisville and I'll stay in North Carolina with Mimi and Papa." He was adamant that he was not going back with us. It just about broke my heart seeing him so sad to leave, because for one thing I was sad to leave too, and I just hated taking him away from a place he loved so much.

There was one good thing about us leaving that day though. On our way to Utah we stopped at the Raleigh temple and I was able to be there for Kathleen's wedding. She looked absolutely gorgeous and so happy. I remember her being able to come to my wedding in Utah, so I was so happy I could be in NC for hers. She is such a good person and friend and I just love her!

We made it home safe and sound. Our car was a champ and we had no problems with it for the whole trip. We are missing NC. Dawson was pretty bored and cranky our first day back because he felt cooped up, but we are adjusting to life back in Utah. And as a mom I have to say it's always nice to be in your own environment, and on your own schedule. We miss you NC! We'll be back soon!

Now for some Addy and Dawson updates.

Addy is 9 1/2 months now, and just had her 9 month well-child today. She is a tall girl! She is 29 inches and in the 96th percentile for her height. She weighs nineteen lbs, putting her in the 46th percentile for weight. She has thrush right now which is no fun, but the doctor gave us a prescription for her so hopefully that will start to help her. 

Addy is now crawling and pulling up and climbing up to everything! She loves to sing "yi-yi-yo" when she hears the "Old Macdonald" song, and she can say "ma ma, da da, and no" now. She absolutely adores Dawson and squeals with delight when she sees him. She loves to eat big people food and if she sees that you have an otter pop or a sucker, look out! She will be on that like white on rice. She is so adorable and happy and we just love having her in our family.

Dawson is getting "bidder" as he always tells me, and he is a talker. He loves to pretend Addy is his "baby dod(dog)" and sit her on his lap. 

If I tell Dawson he can't do something he looks at me and says "But mom, I am bidder now!" He is a very excited about his birthday in October and has requested a Cars cake. He  always tells people he is three. He keeps me on my toes and laughing every day!