BENNETT FAMILY BLOG

Grady's 1st Birthday Party

2011-04-25T13:55:00.001-07:00

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Grady's 10 Months!

2011-03-03T08:19:00.000-08:00

10 months already....really?! Grady grew up A LOT in his 9th month and is getting more of a personality every day. Let's start with his milestones: Grady can say "Daddy" and "Mama", he still always says "Yeah" and makes it sound like he actually knows what he's talking about because he'll say it after we ask him a question. He started pulling himself up to standing almost immediately after he started crawling and quickly after that he's able to walk along things (tables, couch, etc) while holding on. Grady also started waving and clapping. Now on to the personality: I think he's finally gotten tired of Dawson stealing his toys, now when this happens Grady will let out a loud yell/scream/grunt and hold on so tight to the toy but if Dawson still manages to get it away Grady will either throw his fists up in the air or pound them on his lap. It's hilarious! The best thing is that Grady is so happy all the time. He's full of smiles and is always jiber jabbering. He loves if anyone will play with him but is also just as happy by himself standing against Dawson's toybox and pulling out one toy at a time. My absolute favorite thing are Grady's hugs. He's been doing this for a while now and if you've ever gotten one from him you know what I mean. He wraps his arms all the way around your neck, presses his cheek tightly against yours and squeezes so tight. It's priceless.

Happy 10 months Grady cakes!

Happy Valentine's Day

2011-02-15T15:28:00.000-08:00

This year I got to spend Valentine's day with my 2 sweethearts. What could be better than two shirtless cuties? Dawson and I made lots of heart shaped sugar cookies that we delivered to the ones we love on Valentine's day.

For our Valentine's dinner, my 3rd sweetheart came home and I made heart shaped pizzas for all of us.

Dawson's Valentine's Day present.

Hope everyone got a little extra love for Valentine's Day!

Like Mother...Like Son

2011-02-03T14:27:00.000-08:00

I know that's not the way the saying traditionally goes, but both my boys have a physical trait just like me :)

Notice Grady's hair that sticks straight up...

So did mine when I was little!

(It's kinda hard to see, taking a picture of a picture, but we really do have the same hair style) Dawson and I have a matching birth mark!

Both on our left foot, 2nd toe, can you see it?

9 Months Old!

2011-01-26T15:48:00.000-08:00

Grady turned 9 months on the 24th. Hard to believe in just a few short months my sweet baby boy will be one! Right now Grady's favorite toy (besides anything of Dawson's) is this blow up toy from Uncle Shane & Auntie Lynn. He bats it around like crazy and thinks it's hilarious to look through it.

Oh, and did I mention Grady's crawling now? He started on January 3 which basically means I've barely sat down for the last 3 weeks. And yes, he quickly figured out how to climb stairs as well.

The greatest thing I have to say right now is we are a happy household!! Grady is finally sleeping...a lot! He's getting between 11-13 hours a night and taking two solid naps which means he's a happy baby, I'm a happy mama and in return that makes Dawson & Chad happier too.

Grady is also starting to be more accepting of solid foods, his favorites are carrots and bananas. We tried peas today and that didn't go so well...but really, who does like peas?

It's been so fun watching Grady's personality develop and grow every day. Him & Dawson are going to be the best of buds and they can not seem to get enough of each other. Now we just need to work on them not stealing each other's toys all day long!

Our Year 2010

2011-01-25T21:22:00.001-08:00

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Mama's Boys

2011-01-16T20:50:00.000-08:00

Not much to say...except I LOVE my boys!

Dawson & Mommy Day

2011-01-11T19:28:00.000-08:00

Dawson and I were in need of some time with just the 2 of us so Grandma watched Grady and we headed to Jungle Playland in Mt. Vernon.

Dawson took a ride in the Bat mobile.

Jumped around in the ball pit.

Going through the obstacle course.

Over the suspended bridge.

My FAVORITE thing about this place is the adults are allowed to get in there and play too. We had so much fun crawling thru and over and sliding for hours.

Playing the drums.

Went fast down the slides.

Now Dawson and I are going to be sure to have a "date" at least once a month because it was so special spending that time together!

Happy New Year!

2011-01-11T18:47:00.001-08:00

Chad and I rang in the New Year at Katie's new house. We enjoyed a night out together while Dawson and Grady stayed at Grandpa & Grandma Gartner's house.

Some of you may recognize this picture of Katie...we had to update the one taken almost 5 years ago.

Katie & Ruben supplied a champagne toast for everyone at midnight.

This was Katie telling everyone to be quiet before giving one of her infamous speeches.

S-P-O-I-L-E-D!!!

2011-01-11T18:33:00.000-08:00

And these pictures were taken before we celebrated Christmas with the Bennett's!

Christmas 2010

2011-01-10T20:19:00.001-08:00

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We had a WONDERFUL Christmas! I took way too many pictures to choose only a few for the blog so anyone who wants, and has the time...enjoy them all! :)

Let it Snow

2010-12-31T10:07:00.000-08:00

We had such a good morning. The boys and I slept in until 9:00 AND when we went to go get our milk and coffee we saw a beautiful blanket of snow on the ground and still more falling. We continued to watch it as we ate breakfast and then quickly put Grady down for a nap so Dawson and I could go play.

He started out by raking the snow. Made me think it will be nice when he's old enough to send outside to shovel the walkway and driveway.

Then we made snow angels.

Proof that I made one too :)

A little more playing before we headed in for Dawson to enjoy his first hot chocolate.

8 Months Old!

2010-12-29T15:16:00.000-08:00

Grady turned 8 months on Christmas Eve. I didn't think it was possible, but time is flying by even faster the second time around. First, here is Grady's 7 month picture, since I never had a chance to post it. Here he is at 8 months :)

(I just noticed that he actually looks older in the above picture) Grady is doing great! We seem to have gotten all of his allergies identified and I've continued to keep those out of my diet. There is hope that he will grow out of the potato allergy very soon and they expect him to grow out of the egg, dairy and nut allergies before too long which is wonderful. Although, I'll admit that I haven't minded this way of eating. Of course there are times that I have a craving for cheese, caramel or a Reeses but at least I'm still able to make a lot of yummy baked goods just using a little different ingredients than I used to. Grady's eczema is also staying under control. He looks so good! It's such a comforting feeling getting to see clear smooth baby skin when I change him rather than the itchy dry rashy skin my poor baby had to deal with for so long.

I'm not sure if this counts, but Grady's first official word is "Yeah". He says it all the time! It comes out more like "Yee-aH". If we say it right back to him it will go back and forth for awhile and it's adorable. Grady has 6 teeth and the 7th is in the process of breaking through. He still isn't actually crawling on all fours (which could slightly be my fault for discouraging it when he looked like he was going to start early) but he manages to get around wherever he wants to go. It's a combination of rolling, scooting backwards and the army crawl that he's mastered. Grady is getting quite a little personality too. By that I mean that he's got attitude. If he doesn't like what we're doing he'll do this loud grunt and bat at our hands. He's getting better with sleeping, we get 4-6 hour stretches now and we're going to work on him falling asleep on his own soon.

Decorating the Tree

2010-12-28T20:28:00.000-08:00

Dawson and Aiden got to help decorate Mooma & Poopa's (aka Chad's parents) Christmas tree this year. I'll admit, I decorated our tree while Dawson was gone so I could have it just the way I like it so I thought Beth was a little crazy when she asked for their help....but I was pleasantly surprised by how cute the tree turned out! They both took it very serious :) Putting on the beads and garland was...interesting.

Beth had a bunch of candy canes for the boys to put on the tree too. Dawson kept taking all of his and hanging them in the same spot over the side of the barrel.

I just now realized that I only took a picture of the "final product" with my phone and not the camera. Trust me, it turned out beautiful. Thanks Mooma & Poopa for starting a fun new tradition with the boys!!

It's Real!

2010-12-13T17:46:00.000-08:00

Yes, that's right. We got a real Christmas tree this year! Chad's been bugging me about my fake tree for years but it's so much easier. The lights are already put on perfectly and if you want an ornament in a certain place, you just bend a branch to make it work. But I caved in this year mainly because I want the boys to have memories of going out and choosing our very own tree to cut down and bring home. I was also really looking forward to that wonderful smell a live tree puts off...but for some reason our tree doesn't have that.

On our way to the tree farm I knew I wanted a "Charlie Brown-ish" tree. I love the way they look and I figured that the more I can see through the tree, the less bugs that can be hiding in there. This was the first tree I saw when we got out of the car, right up front. After about an hour of walking up and down aisles of trees we ended up back at our first choice.

When I asked Dawson to pick out a tree he wanted to bring home, this is what he chose. Now I wish I would have asked the people to mark it for us and we could have got it in a couple years!

Shane, Lynn, Aiden & Owen with their Christmas tree.

Aiden & Dawson helped Chad carry our tree.

Dawson thinking he was totally helping by carrying the very tip of the tree.

Too short to put the star on this year.

I LOVE our REAL tree!!

Lately....

2010-11-17T19:13:00.000-08:00

Lately I have been getting NO sleep thanks to Grady, we're talking 4-6 hours a night which is not near enough for me. Not really sure whats going on, he just wakes up and refuses to go back to sleep. So I don't have the energy to write anything but thought I would share some pictures of what we've been up to lately.

Riley & Dawson at playgroup

Grady getting ready to eat his rice cereal, which by the way he hates now!

Typical cuddle time: Dawson being crazy while Grady pulls my hair.

My 2 precious boys that give me so much love!

Dawson mesmerized by the caramel apple Grandma & Grandpa Gartner gave him for Halloween.

They also put Play-doh in his Halloween bucket.

Dawson was supposed to be napping. When he "woke" up I saw that he had taken everything out of his dresser. When he saw me grab the camera he went over there and posed all on his own.

Grady in the driver's seat - watch out1

Uncle Ryan!

This is how we roll in our house.

Gotta love the beautiful blue eyes, huge puffy cheeks and little bitty chin!

Grady Update

2010-11-05T18:26:00.001-07:00

Grady had his 6 month check up with the doctor today. To fill you in, Grady had another appointment with the allergist earlier in the week. After originally discovering his egg, dairy and nut allergies in combination with his medications he looked great...for about a week. Then it slowly started to come back starting with redness around his eyes and mouth and then eventually broke out over his whole body.

The allergist did another test determined that their must be something else making his skin break out this badly again. To sum it up, Grady's basically more allergic to dairy products than originally thought. He showed a milk allergy at the first appointment but only slightly, so I was told to "limit" dairy but didn't need to completely eliminate it from my diet. This test showed otherwise. So the outcome is that I have to absolutely stay away from anything and everything dairy. I was surprised to find how much I ate that had trace amounts of dairy in it, from my bread to my "non-dairy" coffee creamer. Luckily after a trip to Trader Joe's I was able to find some breads and snacks I can actually eat. Just in the last few days I can already see a big improvement in his skin. Oh, and he's allergic to potatoes too, just in time for Thanksgiving-and no french fries either! Trying to look at the postive side of all this...I've passed my Grady pre-pregnancy weight and I'm only 3 pounds away from the weight I was before I got pregnant with Dawson :)

Back to the important stuff...Grady got the okay to try more solid foods but because of his allergies there is only a few hypo-allergenic foods their letting him start with: appesauce, sweet potatoes and plums/prunes. The only concern now is making sure his weight stays up with my drastic diet changes and him being limited on the solid foods he can have at this point. He's still obviously a big boy but he did drop quite a bit on the percentile chart since his 4 month appt. His stats are:

Weight: 19 lbs 2.5 oz (75%)

Height: 28" (92%)

Grady also just cut his 3rd tooth (all on the bottom) and he's starting to babble a lot. There have been a lot of "da da's" coming out of his mouth, another one of my boys that spends all day every day with me and doesn't say "mama" first :(. Grady has mastered rolling over. He just rolls and rolls to get to where he wants to go, it's pretty funny to watch him go. He is also sitting up on his own...but he still topples over a lot so either I stay close by or I surround him with pillows. I guess that's it for now!

Fellow Bloggers

2010-11-05T18:14:00.000-07:00

Does anyone know if there is a way to copy blogs to cd? I was just realizing I have been way better at writing about the boys and marking their milestones on this blog rather than their baby books. Oooh, or it would be really cool to get the blog made into a book. Hmmm...I may be on to something :)

Happy Halloween

2010-11-04T15:44:00.000-07:00

We had a lot of fun this Halloween! It started out the day before, we met up with Kate, Riley & Beckett and went trick-or-treating in downtown Bellingham (if you can believe it I forgot my camera, so no pictures!). Afterwards we went to Jeff & Andrea's church for "trunk-or-treating". It was great! If you haven't heard of that before, it's where a bunch of cars get together in a parking lot and decorate their trunks and hand out candy from there. It was perfect for Dawson since he just had to walk from car to car in a small parking lot rather than around neighborhoods up and down driveways and stairs.

When we got to the church there was games and music and then they let down this net full of balloons. This was Dawson's face when he saw all those balloons float to the ground. It was called "Monster Mash", once the balloons hit the ground all the kids had to stomp on them and pop every single balloon. Let's just say it got a little crazy and very loud in there but Dawson had a blast!

On Halloween night Lynn and Shane invited the gang over for dinner, treats and trick-or-treating. Here's a group shot of some of the kids that were there, from L to R: Riley, Dawson, Aiden, Owen, Luke, Mariah & Tyler.

Once we set out to trick-or-treat Grady, the dalmation decided he wasn't having it in the stroller and decided to keep me warm instead.

Lynn, Shane & Aiden were all pirates - they looked great!!

Tara, Jim & Tyler, the Harley Davidson biker dude.

Kate & Nate

Luke (the lion) & Beckett (the football) missed all the fun this year :)

The first thing I think when I look at this picture, besides how cute they look, is that they both have binkies in their mouths-lucky mama's!

Does it get any more adorable? Cousins Dawson & Aiden holding hands trick-or-treating.

This was Dawson's "thing" of the evening, when I wanted to take a picture of him and daddy, Chad crouched down to Dawson's level. So Dawson crouched down too, from then on he constantly crouched when he was ready to get his picture taken.

The Bennett gang!

My precious fireman

Note to self: Don't let Dawson choose costumes that require hats-he'll refuse to wear them.

Dawson laughing it up with Mooma & Poopa.

Leave it to Dawson, when we got back to Lynn & Shane's Dawson quickly discovered the cat door.

Dawson's 3rd Halloween was a blast!

Look at all that candy....mom & dad might have to help him out a little.

When Dawson saw Grady in this outfit he goes right up and touches the pumpkin and say's "pumpkin bum bum"

Pumpkin Carving Party

2010-10-24T16:35:00.000-07:00

We had our 5th annual pumpkin carving party last night and it was a huge success....except for the rain! I've come to the conclusion that I just have bad luck with weather and from now on I should just plan for rain no matter what month we're in. Anyways, we had a great group of people over and had a fun time visiting, eating and carving pumpkins!

We had the kiddos dress up to show off their costumes.

Dawson makes a very cute fireman!

Grady didn't stink at all in his skunk costume :)

On Halloween Grady will be a dalmation to go with Dawson's costume.

Cash wanted to play ball with the skunk.

There's always plenty of kisses from Dawson.

Ryan, mom and Grady (the skunk got a little warm).

A happy little pirate with his mom and Owen.

Dawson reached right in to pull out the guts but instantly after feeling it on his hands he said "Daddy do it".

Luckily we had a canopy to carve under to stay dry!

Dawson and Aiden intently watched Shane carve his pumpkin.

Working on my masterpiece...with a spider on my head.

It cracks me up every year when Dan pulls out the rubber gloves.

That's cute lil' Iris in the dragon costume.

Pumpkins!

My finished product.

6 Months Old!

2010-10-24T16:01:00.000-07:00

It is so hard for me to believe that Grady turns 6 months old today! Where did the time go? I guess it flies by when your having fun...or maybe when your super busy. As much as I try to cherish these "baby" stages though I do look forward to Grady getting a little older so him and Dawson can play together. I can't even begin to imagine how much fun they are going to have in the years ahead.

Grady is definitely still a mama's boy! It makes me feel good to know he loves me so much and just wants to be around me all the time :). He's (usually) always full of smiles and loves to watch his big brother do anything. We love our Grady cakes and are excited to continue watching him grow...

1 Month

2 Months

3 Months

4 Months

5 Months

6 Months

A Lazy Day in the life of Dawson & Grady...

2010-10-18T19:55:00.000-07:00

After another night of little sleep because of our sweet Grady boy I decided not to make any plans and enjoy a lazy day with my boys. When I went to get Dawson out of his room, I peeked out the slider and this is what I saw: BEAUTIFUL! This is what I came back to in the bedroom. So sweet but can you tell he's still very tired?

One of my absolute most favorite things is when me and my boys snuggle and play in bed together in the mornings.

Dawson always has to put on my chapstick.

Once we decided to drag ourselves out of bed we layed around in the living room for a while...

Dawson watched some cartoons...

I swaddled Grady for a nap and Dawson wanted to be swaddled too...

while Grady napped Dawson and I made some pancakes... Grady's awake!

Dawson used the potty (he does it multiple times during the day now!)

Grady played with some toys...

We read books before Dawson took his nap...

I tried to nap with Grady but that only lasted 30 minutes so then Grady played in his new jumperoo...

Dawson took a 2 1/2 hour nap, when he woke up we colored then made rice krispy treats...

(his face looks kinda funny in this picture-he was in the middle of saying "cheese")

Daddy's home from work-Yay!

Grady's bath time then Dawson showers with Daddy.

After getting all clean it was time for dinner. Then Grady got to have his first rice cereal (see the next post). Bed time! Lazy, lazy day that nothing got accomplished but I think those are necessary every now and then.

Grady's First Rice Cereal

2010-10-18T19:37:00.001-07:00

We've been waiting to give Grady his first taste of rice cereal until we pin pointed some of his allergies. We found that babies are rarely allergic to rice so we got the "go ahead" to give it a try. The only reason we've been so anxious to try this is we're hoping that it will make him more accepting of the bottle if he's doing something besides strictly breastfeeding. And this will make it easier for babysitters to feed him until he takes the bottle.

He made a little funny face on the first bite...

...then he was grabbing for the spoon and bowl anxious for more!

A success - YUM!!

Stoney Ridge 2010

2010-10-17T12:10:00.001-07:00

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Finally, an answer!

2010-10-15T20:05:00.000-07:00

As some of you know, we have been dealing with trying to figure out what is making Grady's skin so horrible for the last couple months. It's such a sad and helpless feeling to see his skin break out in red rashes and not know what is causing it or how to make him better. It was obvious that it was making him miserably uncomfortable. Our doctor first referred us to a dermatologist that diagnosed him with severe eczema. That helped a little but didn't give us any answers on how to make him better. Our next step was seeing an allergist. Originally our referral appointment was over a month away until I decided to call Dr. Elkayam (who is ranked in the top 10 allergists in the country!) last Friday just to see if there was any possiblity of getting in with him. That was our lucky day! The receptionist had just gotten off the phone with a cancellation and if we could get there in 45 minutes the appointment was ours. It broke my heart when I stripped Grady down and even the doctor was surprised by how horrible he looked :(. Long story short, after a 3 hour appointment we discovered that Grady is severely allergic to eggs and slightly allergic to milk and nuts. Initially I felt even worse that he had been constantly getting all of those things through my breast milk and it was because of me that he was in so much discomfort. I just had to remind myself that I had no way of knowing...until now. In this last week Grady has been on an oral medication as well as a few prescription ointments to try to get his skin under control. Obviously I have had to drastically change my diet as well. I never realized how many things had egg in it until now that I have to read the labels on everything! It is amazing how much of a difference there was in just the first couple days. His skin looks perfect, like a little 5 1/2 month baby's should and he has been SO much happier. I am going to do the absolute best I can to cut those foods out of my diet but the doctor highly recommends switching Grady over to formula so my accidental slip ups won't effect him. So, our next step is to try to get Grady to start taking bottles :). In the meantime I welcome any tips, advice and recipes for egg & dairy free foods (especially desserts!).

This was a picture of Grady a few days before his appointment :( And this is a picture of him a few days ago, a happy healthy sweet baby boy!

A Day in Federal Way

2010-09-29T13:12:00.000-07:00

We went to a World Sand Sculpting Competition over the weekend. I had heard about it on the news and thought it might be kind of fun. It wasn't exactly what I was expecting...mainly because it was just in a big empty parking lot, but it was amazing to see what people were able to create from a pile of sand.

The is the only one we saw in progress, the rest had already been completed in the week.

There were a lot of them but here are a few of our favorites: Look at the detail in the Indian's face - amazing!

This sweet face melts my heart!

Afterwards we had no idea what else there was to do in Federal Way but luckily someone pointed us to a beach. We walked out on the pier and watched people fish.

Of course Dawson couldn't just "look" at the water, he had to test it out. Notice in the following pictures the outfit change. To no surprise Dawson ended up soaked head to toe.

There was a playground right up the street that we stopped at to play before packing back into the car.

In this picture Dawson is telling me to turn the camera "off". Do you think he's finally sick of all my constant picture taking? :)

We took Kate's recommendation on the way home and stopped for dinner at the Rainforest Cafe. I haven't been to one in years and forgot how fun of a restaurant it is! Dawson was a little hesitant at first, it could have been the chomping alligator out front or the snake hissing above him but he did LOVE the huge fish tank.

We got seated at a great table right next to this water feature - a great distraction for Dawson and Grady.Every so often the restaurant has a "storm" and the lights flicker and apes near our table danced...Dawson was so quick to grab onto Daddy!

Daddy & Grady monkeying around.

Mmmm...the food was delicious.

Despite it being way past bedtime, Dawson was so good and our day in Federal Way was a huge success!

"Firemen up high"

2010-09-17T12:49:00.000-07:00

That is what Dawson has been saying all week. Last weekend there was a firefighter competition at the Ferndale Haggens and we thought Dawson might enjoy it. We geared him up in his firetruck shirt and fireman boots and off we went. Dawson was mesmerized watching the fireman in full gear climb up "high" on the ladders.

Dawson's other current obsession is motorcycles. He got a huge smile when this guy asked if Dawson wanted to hop on his. Although he wasn't too sure when the guy started it up, it was loud!

Checking out the firetrucks and gear.

I'm thinking someone might end up being a fireman for Halloween this year :)

Dawson got a free bike helmet while we were there too.

Dawson even got to help Daddy put out a fire!

Growing, Growing, Growing!

2010-09-07T12:09:00.001-07:00

Dawson & Grady both had their check ups with the doctor last week.

They are healthy growing boys!

Here is Dawson checking out the fish tank before his appointment. Notice he had to bring his drill :)

Dawson's 2 year stats:

Weight: 29 lbs 12 oz (65%)

Height: 35 3/4" (80%)

Poor Dawson had no idea what was coming...he had to get a shot, but the tears immediately stopped when the nurse gave him cookies.Grady is doing great, except for some skin sensitivity. We were unable to pin point exactly what is irritating him but after a few days now of "special cream" his skin is nearly flawless. Grady's 4 month stats:

Weight: 18 lbs 5.5 oz (95%)

Height: 26 3/4" (95%)

Here is Grady's 4 Month (8/24/10) picture that I forgot to post earlier:

Home Depot Kids Workshop

2010-09-07T10:06:00.001-07:00

Chad and Dawson went to Home Depot's September kids workshop and this time made a football stand. I can't get enough of Dawson in that little apron using his hammer and screw driver!

(Braxton was there too! See him behind Dawson? No, not the big black thing bending over, the cute kid to the left) Working hard!

All done!

Family Day at Stanley Park

2010-09-07T09:41:00.000-07:00

We spent a family day up at Stanley Park over Labor Day weekend and had so much fun! I only wish we would have done this earlier in the summer so we had a chance to go back while the weather was still nice. Our first stop was the family farm and petting area. Dawson was surprised when we walked through the gate and there was a big goat laying on the ground right in front of him.This was pretty cool. There must have been over a dozen goats walking all around for us to go up and pet. Dawson was trying o figure out what was on this guy's head.

Next up was a "choo choo" train ride through the forest. Dawson was so excited getting on and having his own seat. Both him and Grady were all smiles the whole ride.

Then we went up to Prospect Point to enjoy the beautiful views...and some ice cream :)

Time to go swimming!

I was impressed with this pool! It's huge and it gradually gets deeper so there's lots of shallow area to play, there are a few slides, it's right on the beach AND it's heated so the water was 80 degrees!

Dawson about to go down the seal slide.

After swimming we had a picnic dinner then played on the beach before heading home.

Chad's the Lucky Winner!

2010-08-31T19:19:00.000-07:00

At Chad's work they do a quarterly drawing for it's employees (over 300) with a few prizes ranging from tools to t.v.'s and there is always one jackpot. Chad was the lucky winner of the jackpot this time and is now the proud owner of a boat!! It's a 12' 2010 Livingston with a trailer and Suzuki 9.9 four stroke outboard. He also got a GPS, life vests, rod & reel, net, tackle box, oars and a crab pot - all a $5800 value! Needless to say he was very excited when he came home from work! We can't wait for the boys to get a little older so they can go out fishing with daddy. Check it out:

Can't get enough...

2010-08-26T14:38:00.001-07:00

...of my adorable boys! Here are some pictures to marvel in their cuteness

Bring on the Heat

2010-08-26T14:22:00.000-07:00

We've been trying to stay cool on these HOT summer days by playing in the water as much as possible. Which included some trips over to Mooma & Poopa's (Chad's parents) to play in the "big water". Grady didn't enjoy it near as much as Dawson. One little dip of the toes and it was all screams.

As long as Dawson's getting wet, he's having a blast.

Grady was much happier in the comfort of his dry and warm bouncy chair under the umbrella watching the rest of us get wet. This was our "boat".

Back at home, Dawson took charge and filled up his own pool.

Testing the water temperature....brrr!

Fun at the Fair

2010-08-26T13:57:00.000-07:00

We took Dawson and Grady to the Lynden Fair last Friday. First stop was the petting area. We saw baby calves, brand new piglets and got to pet rabbits and a donkey. See the goat behind Grady? :)

It's unfortunate that when you go see the animals you have to look at their backside!

Next it was on to the rides. After waiting in a long line, we found out that Dawson was too short. He was sad and kept pointing at it saying "plane - go". This picture is of him having to watch cousin Aiden on the ride without him.Luckily we found a couple that Dawson could ride on. Chad and I tagged along with him and Aiden on the spinning dinosaurs.The only other one he was tall enough for was the merry go round, which he loved!

Grady and I watching from the side lines.

Dawson's 2nd Birthday Party

2010-08-08T14:59:00.001-07:00

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Look Who's 3 Month's Old!

2010-07-29T15:49:00.001-07:00

How has 3 months gone by already?! Grady is getting so big so fast! His huge smiles and belly laughs brighten every day. He loves to watch Dawson do anything and Dawson has started saying "love you brother". Grady's turned into a talker too, he's constantly babbling and squealing. He's starting to grab onto anything you put in front of him and he even rolled over for the first time a couple days ago.

Daddy & Dawson Day

2010-07-29T15:03:00.000-07:00

Home Depot has a Kid's Club they put on the first Saturday of every month for kids to build things. There was an extra race car one last Saturday that Chad and Dawson went to. So glad Chad took pictures so I could see Dawson in his little worker's apron with the hammer! They got to race the cars they made. Dawson wanted nothing to do with "Homer"!

The finished product.

Chad's really excited to have a Daddy and Dawson day and go every month. Let him know if any of you other dads want to join them!

Playing at the Park

2010-07-29T14:29:00.000-07:00

Last Tuesday we switched things up a bit. Instead of my mom watching Dawson for the day I had her take Grady so I could have a Dawson and Mommy day like old times. I took him to Cornwall Park to play in the sprinklers, he had such a blast running and jumping through the water! Then I took Dawson and Grady on a walk to Zuanich Park.

I couldn't resist taking a picture of Grady next to a Grady-White :)

My two precious boys!

What do you think?

2010-07-13T20:23:00.000-07:00

I've taken a few pictures of Grady recently and right after I snap it I get "de-ja-vu" and remember taking a similar picture of Dawson around the same age. Here are a couple of them for you to decide if my two boys look alike or different...

So, what do you think?

Life is a Bowl full of Cherries

2010-07-13T20:21:00.001-07:00

We got these cherries from our tree in the backyard!

Hmmm??

2010-07-13T20:16:00.000-07:00

In Tara's words: Monkey see, Monkey do :)

Model Baby

2010-07-06T12:07:00.000-07:00

I forgot to post some pictures that we had taken when Grady was 4 weeks old. The same photographer that took my maternity pictures came to my parents house (their backdrops seemed better :) ) to get some family pictures. Here are some of my favorites:

Dawson was being very goofy and camera shy that day so we only got a few pictures with him in them.

2 Months Old!

2010-07-02T19:11:00.000-07:00

Grady is 2 months old! I'll admit, he's a little bit of a fussy buns but we adore our love bug!!

Grady had his check up with the doctor today. Besides a little dry skin and cradle cap, he's doing great. We all know that he's a big boy...but his stats are:

Height: 24 3/4" - 95%

Weight: 15 lbs 15 oz - off the charts! :)

All smiles waiting for the doctor.

Dawson's 1st Birthday Cupcake

2010-06-17T12:41:00.000-07:00

I just saw this video that Lynn recorded at Dawson's 1st birthday party. It's hard to believe how little and adorable and sweet he was...I mean still is :)

So Many Pictures, So Little Time

2010-06-15T13:08:00.000-07:00

My camera just told me it was out of memory and I realized it's once again been awhile since I posted anything and shared some pictures of my precious boys. So I'll try to quickly catch everyone up on what we've been up to.

First of all, my baby turned one month on the 24th! (I realize he's almost 2 months now but like I said, I haven't had much free time) Here is the traditional 1 Month photo to see him grow.

Look at that sweet face! I could smooch him all day! Grady is such a love bug. He wants to be held and cuddled all day. He's always full of smiles and coo's. Most important, I think he loves his big brother almost as much as Dawson loves him. Moving on, Chad has been so anxious to use his new bike trailer that when the weather was finally decent, him and Dawson went for a ride. On Memorial Day we visited the Kneeland family to meet their new addition, Luke. What an adorable baby boy! Love all the dark hair just like Dawson had when he was born.While Tara, Lynn and I stayed inside with the babies, the Dad's fed the big boys cupcakes and let them play out their sugar high.

Mmmmm

Nothing going on here, just a cute picture :)

Dawson has moved on from only giving Grady kisses, now he wants to hold his hand too.

I am proud to say that Dawson is now in a big boy twin bed! I didn't think he (or I) was quite ready for this step yet but he proved me wrong when he started climbing out of his crib in seconds. Luckily my parents had bought him a twin bed for Christmas that we had just waiting for the right time. This picture was of his first night when just the mattress was in the middle of his room. He did cry and get up for a little while at first but we thought it was so cute when we peeked in on him that he was able to partially cover himself up with his blanket.

We've moved his bed to the corner, added the box spring and taken out the crib. Overall he is doing great and loves his big boy bed. Surprisingly he is always happy to go in and read books with mom or dad before "night night".

On a side note, it is amazing how much Dawson is talking now. He uses so many words and tries to copy the things that we say. It brings a smile to my face every time we read a book and he'll point out and say what things are or tell me the animals and then the sounds they make. My first baby is really growing up.

We took Dawson and Grady to the Farmer's Day parade in Lynden. Dawson had fun watching all the trucks, tractors and little cheerleaders :)

Grady slept the whole time. Shane, Lynn, Aiden, Owen, Jim, Tara, Tyler & Luke all came too.

After the parade they had little train rides for the kids. Dawson was a little unsure about it so I hopped in too. I didn't feel too silly since there was another mom in front of us, and that's Aiden riding behind us.

Just another cute picture of Grady getting ready to go out with Mom.

I think this is one of the first pictures I have of Grady and cousin Owen together.

The sad part is that in this picture Grady is 7 weeks and Owen is 5 1/2 months and there is not much difference in their size. My baby is huge, but that means he's healthy right? :)

And another cute picture of my favorite open mouth smile.

I hope the sunshine comes back soon. Dawson had a blast in the sprinkler last weekend and I loved watching that cute shirtless boy repeatedly get stunned by how cold the water was.

Grady watched from the comfort of his bouncy chair in the shade.

After that Dawson helped Daddy wash my car......and Grady watched.

So hopefully that catches everyone up a bit. I definitely have my hands full with these two boys but am loving (almost) every minute of it!

Dad's Bday BBQ

2010-05-31T11:16:00.001-07:00

We celebrated Dad's Birthday and Grandpa & Grandma's Anniversary with a BBQ last weekend. Great spending time with family and delicious food. Enjoy the pictures!

Click here to view these pictures larger

He Smiles :)

2010-05-31T10:05:00.000-07:00

Grady has started smiling all the time! It's so adorable, especially the huge open mouth smiles. He's full of "coo's" lately too. His new thing the past couple days is to blow spit bubbles. He's getting big so fast. I took him to the doctor last week to check on his baby acne :( and he already weighs 12 lbs 8 oz!!

This is one of his first smiles, it's a little one but I love that he's smiling at me!

Grady's First Bath

2010-05-31T09:55:00.000-07:00

We were anxious to give Grady his first bath after his umblical cord fell off and his circumcision healed....he wasn't so anxious! We were able to get a few pictures before he started having a fit, this boy does not like to be naked.

Grady gets kisses from his big brother everywhere!

Mmm...S'mores!

2010-05-31T09:34:00.000-07:00

We brought out the fire pit on one of our sunny evenings to introduce Dawson to s'mores. I had a couple mini heart attacks when he got too close to the fire, but he had a blast chasing the smoke and yelling "hot!" Grady took part in the fun also, he's zipped up in my jacket sleeping :) Mmmmm!!!!

My Cute Little Sleeping Bums

2010-05-27T20:55:00.000-07:00

Happy Mother's Day

2010-05-18T10:58:00.000-07:00

So it's a little late but we had a great day! I spent the morning playing with my two boys and once Chad woke up (he's still on night shifts) we took a picnic to Fairhaven Park. We lucked out, it was a beautiful day and the park was practically empty. We sat on the grass and had a yummy lunch then spent the rest of the afternoon playing and walking around. I'm so lucky to have my two beautiful healthy boys and a wonderful husband to celebrate Mother's Day with!

Dawson really tried to climb this little rock wall on his own but couldn't quite do it.

He'd stand up at the bottom of the slide so he could jump off.

How cute are they?

Oh, and my Mother's Day present...a gift certificate for 3 massages!! Exactly what I need after being pregnant with the big boy Grady! When we finally got home that evening both boys passed out together on the couch.

Precious!

A Little Update

2010-05-10T13:46:00.000-07:00

Life as a family of four is going great! Very, very busy but that is to be expected. Dawson is still loving his baby brother and to this point has been behaving well besides a few meltdowns. Right now Chad, Dawson and Grady are all napping so I'm either going to join them or attempt to tackle the mountain of laundry that has accumulated in a few short days. Here are some pictures of what we have been up to...

So sweet and cuddly when they sleep!

The first outing with both boys-my mom and I went to Costco.

Daddy & Dawson sporting their new aprons from Debbie to cook Mom and baby dinner.

Dawson's not sure what to think of Chad working night shifts during this turnaround. He knows he's behind the closed door but that he's not allowed in. This is what I saw when I looked down the hall a couple days ago, I think Dawson wanted to read books with his daddy.

Grady's napping spot: a blanket on the kitchen table with his boppy. I can't leave him anywhere alone that is within Dawson's reach.

This picture really reminds me of Dawson! I'll have to dig up the almost identical one with Dawson in this same hat.

Grandma gave Grady his first bottle while we were out celebrating Great Grandma Hope's birthday.

Dawson feels like such a "big boy" to me now that Grady is here. It's made me realize that my other baby is getting all grown up. We went to Fairhaven the other day to enjoy the sun and instead of riding in the stroller Dawson wanted to walk with Daddy.

The Toy Garden in Fairhaven, Chad loves the idea of him & Dawson learning to play the guitar together someday.

Love this!! Dawson has discovered pockets recently and is always walking around with one hand or both tucked in.

It's a BOY!!

2010-05-03T16:14:00.000-07:00

We are proud to introduce our new baby boy, Grady Michael Bennett. Grady was born by c-section on April 24 at 2:37pm.

He weighed 9 lbs 6 oz and was 20 3/4" long.

For those who haven't heard the story...I had a doctor appt on the 23rd and my doctor said that I had grown a very big baby and it was still very high up and was not showing any signs of wanting to come out on it's own. Since I was already a week overdue and baby was only going to keep growing the doctor gave me the decision to wait it out (max another week to see what baby would do), get induced (because my body was not favorable he did let me know that I had a 50-70% chance of it ending in an emergency c-section) or just choose to do the c-section. I had a lot of concerns about getting a c-section, mainly on how it would effect my ability to lift and play with Dawson once we were back home, but I didn't like my odds with the other choices.

When we got home from the doctor appt we were able to pack our hospital bags and make arrangements for Dawson without the crazy rush we had expected. Of course I hardly slept at all knowing that the following day we were going to have a new baby in our life. We had to call at 6am to make sure there was a room and nurse available at the hospitals childbirth center...there was not. So we were told to call back at 8:30...just to find out again that they were very busy and still had no room. At this point we were already at my parents dropping Dawson off and to have to sit and wait not knowing if we were going to get to go in or not was so difficult, Chad was pacing back and forth. Finally at about 12 we got a call from my doctor telling us to head in.

The best word I can think of while I was getting prepped for the c-section is "terrifying". It was really difficult to willingly walk into a small, sterile, scary room knowing what was about to happen to me. The only thing that got me through was knowing I was minutes away from meeting the baby I had been growing for the last 41 weeks. Chad sat by my side until the doctor held baby up over the sheet and said "Look what it is!" A gorgeous baby boy. It felt right. Dawson was going to have a little brother that one day I hope he will be best friends with.

My parents brought Dawson to the hospital and he got to come in on his own first to meet his little brother. When he walked in he pointed at Grady, smiled and instantly wanted Chad to lift him up to give Grady a kiss.

A happy mama with her two boys!

That's all I have time for now. I'll try to post soon to update how life is going as a family of four. The next post below has all our pictures from the hospital and our first couple days at home.

Grady Michael

2010-05-03T16:13:00.001-07:00

Click here to view these pictures larger

The BIG Day

2010-04-23T21:52:00.000-07:00

Tomorrow is the big day! I had an appointment with my doctor today and we have decided to schedule something for tomorrow. The reason I say "something" is because I have tonight to decide wether I want to be induced or get a c-section. The baby is a week late and I am still showing absolutely no progress. On top of that the doctor is estimating a very big baby (9+ pounds!!) and is worried about it getting too much bigger if we continue to wait. If I choose to get induced he would have to take a more aggressive approach since my body is not favorable but there is a 50-70% chance it would end in a c-section, and that is why I also have the decision to just get a c-section. Chances are I won't get much sleep tonight with this big decision but we are so excited (and nervous) to finally meet our baby boy or girl tomorrow and become a family of 4.

Here is our last picture as a family of 3.

We'll be sure to keep everyone updated on how things go and we'll post pictures to show off our newest addition as soon as possible.

April 21st

2010-04-21T10:31:00.001-07:00

I'm still pregnant. Enough said.

Today is April 17th...

2010-04-17T21:53:00.001-07:00

...my due date. Unfortunately there is no sign of this baby coming today. Call it wishful thinking, but I truely thought this baby was going to make it's arrival a little early. But here I am, 10:00pm on the day I've been looking forward to for so long now without even the tiniest bit of contractions. In the first half of this pregnancy I would usually forget I was even pregnant since I was so busy with Dawson. The second half was a little harder as I got more and more tired, my patience got less and less and I got bigger and bigger. Now that I am HUGE it's hard to think about making it one more day. But of course I know it's bound to happen soon and then I'll quickly forget how tired and uncomfortable I am. So for now, be amazed at the size of the belly you are about to see below. Is it obvious that my smile is forced at this point? :)

Come on baby! Please get this show on the road so we can all find out if you are a little boy or girl in there, we're anxious to meet you!!

Tulip Town

2010-04-17T21:27:00.000-07:00

We spent yesterday's beautiful sunny day in Mount Vernon visiting Tulip Town and the Tulip Festival Street Fair. The street fair was great! Tons of vendors with fun goodies, huge yummy waffle cones and lots of music and entertainment to keep Dawson's attention. The tulips, one of my favorite flowers, were beautiful of course. Such a boy. All Dawson wanted to do was grab the tulip and pull the flower right off the stem. Love this picture of Daddy & Dawson among the bright yellow tulips!

Dawson's favorite part seemed to be walking up and down on the humps that seperated the tulip lines.

Black pants in the dirt was probably not the best idea!

Loved these orange & red tulips.

One of the few pictures (in a long time) of just Chad and I.

The last picture on the way out. You can tell by the expression-Dawson was done.

Hard Workin' Boys

2010-04-12T21:28:00.001-07:00

As a lot of you know, we got our three huge poplar trees on the edge of our property cut down a few months ago. This weekend we finally got around to renting a wood splitter to get it all cut up. Luckily Chad's friends Colby and Bob helped out so it got done in a day. So...does anyone need some wood? We've got a huge pile that we're anxious to get out of the yard.

I should say that it was even luckier that Chad had two strong friends helping.

I couldn't resist laughing as I watched Bob and Colby lift these huge rounds while Chad stood there and pulled the lever on the splitter :).

Dawson decided to take the day off from being "Daddy's helper" and instead observed while eating his grapes.

When that got boring, he moved on to playing in the dirt and mowing the lawn.

We've Got It!!!

2010-04-08T15:01:00.001-07:00

That's right, we finally came up with a boy name! We didn't have to find it in a book or anything, we kind of made it up ourselves. Now we're just debating on if we're going to tell anyone or wait since baby should be here soon (hopefully!). I kept thinking that baby was just waiting until I felt comfortable going to the hospital with a boy and girl name that I loved and now that I have them...come on baby-let's get this show on the road!!

Happy Easter!

2010-04-05T20:43:00.001-07:00

We had a fantastic Easter weekend! On Saturday we took Dawson to a couple Easter egg hunts around town. We were unsure how he would do or if he would understand but once Chad showed him to put the first egg in his basket he was on the hunt.

Walking proudly with his basket full of eggs.

We went to the next Easter egg hunt because they had the Easter Bunny there-but Dawson was scared of him. He clenched on to me so tight that I had to sit in on the picture with him. Of course, right when we walked away all he did was point and say "go" because he wanted to go back to the bunny. We stayed for the hunt (despite a little rain) and Dawson was the proud owner of another Easter basket full of goodies.

Then Saturday night Dawson went to Grandma Gartner's to dye Easter eggs. Sorry, no pics but he did a great job!

Easter morning we had Dawson look around the house to find his basket. He found it very quickly considering I put it at his favorite spot in the house-under his tool bench.

Look at that snarl as he piles M&Ms in his mouth.

At least he's holding his new electric toothbrush.

Later that afternoon we went to Mooma & Poopa's (Chad's parents) to celebrate and do Dawson's 3rd Easter egg hunt.

By this time he was a pro. The only problem...after discovering that these eggs he's picking up have candy inside them all he wants to do is open and eat rather than continue hunting.

Chad had to stand close by with the basket open to ensure he wouldn't sit there and eat all his goodies at once.

Happy Easter!

Names, Names, Names

2010-04-03T14:29:00.000-07:00

Word of warning: reading 4 baby name books in a row will make you fuzzy in the head...and no, I still have not found our perfect boy name. My doctor actually laughed at me at my appointment yesterday because he couldn't believe 2 weeks before the due date we didn't have names chosen. It's out there somewhere and I'm hoping we'll find it before this baby makes it's debut. Then who knows if this stressing over a boy name will have been for nothing. Kai is now out. Grady and Grayson are still the top choices. We've went back and forth with the name Cooper. We both like it but worry that it may get too common soon. Chad heard another one that he likes-Lincoln, but I don't think it's working for me.

Daddy and Dawson reading a baby name book.

It would be great if the names Dawson pointed at were good ones and he could help choose but so far I swear every one he's pointed to is the most hideous on the page! :)

A Name is Forever

2010-03-31T15:17:00.001-07:00

Thought of another boy name we like the other day...Kai. What do you think? This whole boy name thing is stressing me out. Maybe since we have and love our girl name it's a sign that this is a girl in my tummy. But if my prediction of a boy is right we don't have much time to think of a name that we love. Dawson and I went to the library today and brought home four baby name books, I guess I have a busy night of reading ahead...

GB Design

2010-03-22T16:59:00.001-07:00

I finally had some time to update our GB Design blog. We've been mainly doing redesign's but just had a couple staging jobs. If you want to check it out follow the link to the right under "My Favorite Blogs". Stay tuned...we're still planning on having a "Ladies Night Open House" where we will sell a lot of our accessories and small furniture!

Maternity Pictures

2010-03-19T14:44:00.001-07:00

I wanted to capture my pregnant belly at it's fullest to have the memories since this is "most likely" our last baby. I found a photographer, Sara Tolsma, that was great...and reasonable. She took a lot of pictures and we're going to meet up again after baby comes so we can get some newborn pictures with Dawson. Here are my favorites:

Dawson's Big Boy Room

2010-03-19T13:30:00.000-07:00

Dawson has moved into his "big boy room!" We decided that we would keep the nursery for the baby since it's unisex with the yellow & green and it's the closest to our room. Dawson has actually been in his new room for a while now (but I'm just getting around to posting pictures) and he adjusted without any problems. I thought I wanted to do blue walls and then I found a twin bedspread I loved so I pulled the colors from that. Dawson does have a twin bed that he got for Christmas from Grandpa & Grandma Gartner, but we've decided to hold off on transitioning to that until he's a little older (I don't want to get woken up constantly when he can get out of bed on his own!) so for now he's still in a crib.

Before

(Sort of, this was after we moved out the desk and exercise equipment)

Dawson was gone the day we painted. I don't think he noticed the new color on the walls but of course he instantly went to climb on the ladder.

After

He even vacuums his new room!

My Baby Shower

2010-03-18T14:02:00.000-07:00

Megan threw me a baby shower over the weekend and it was wonderful! It was full of family, friends, good food, games and lots of presents! :)

Megan knows that I love to play games so she had 3 great ones ready for the shower. The first was a quiz on how well you know Mom & Dad (aka: Chad & I), guess how many diapers are in the container and guess the amount of string it will take to fit around my belly.

On to presents. Baby and I got very spoiled. We received tons of wonderful gifts including essentials, carriers, bouncy chair, diaper bag, bath goodies, adorable baby boy & girl clothes :) and more!

Oh, and yes that's a bottle of champagne from Nate & Kate for us to celebrate with after baby comes-what a great idea!

Kate (prego due beginning of August), Tara (prego due end of May), Lynn & Owen

Grandma Hope & Aunt Debbie

Cassie with her daughter Iris (the cutest sweetest little girl ever) and Tina

The amazing host-Megan

Cute onesie decoration that Megan did. I also have to point out that she had M&M's made that had a picture of Chad and I on them and fun sayings like "Boy or Girl?," "We can't wait," and "CWB + CMB"-such a cute keepsake.

Ryan even got this cute piggy bank for baby with a note that said:

Little One- God blessed us with compounding interest, may you use it to the best of your ability!! -Uncle Ryan

After Chad and I got home and went through the gifts again we put them all in baby's crib so Dawson wouldn't attack them, thought it made for a cute picture.

Thanks again to everyone who came to the shower to celebrate our soon to be new addition and for all the great gifts. It was so nice to spend a day in good company and it was all so appreciated. Hopefully sooner rather than later we'll find out what is growing in this belly of mine.

The Name Debate

2010-03-02T10:11:00.001-08:00

Okay, so I know that ultimately the name we choose for our baby is Chad and my decision...but I thought it would be fun to get some opinions. I read in a book the other day that family and friends opinions do really matter, you are who we'll be around and who is going to be calling the baby by the name we choose. We have been able to narrow it down to 2 names if it's a girl and 2 names if it's a boy.

For a girl: Avery or Kennedy, the middle name will be Hope.

For a boy: Grady or Grayson, the middle name will be Michael.

What do you think?

Leave a comment at the bottom of this post, you can even keep it anonymous.

Grandpa & Grandma Bennett's

2010-03-02T09:49:00.000-08:00

Dawson's been spending a lot of time over at his Grandpa & Grandma Bennett's house, even a couple overnights. Last Friday Beth & Johnny took both Aiden & Dawson overnight and it went great. The four of them had such a good time, Grandma even got to cuddle all night with two of her grandsons - lucky lady! :) I borrowed Beth's camera to upload some of her pictures on the digital frame we got them for Christmas and couldn't resist posting some on the blog. Here are some pictures of the fun stuff Dawson does hanging out with Grandpa & Grandma:

They have 2 cars for the boys to drive around in.

I love this picture! Maybe I'm just jealous because I can't remember the last time Dawson fell asleep and took a nap on me. How does Grandma do it? Grandpa & Grandma's house comes complete with a TON of indoor and outdoor toys.

Getting some exercise? I think he learned this at Grandma Gartner's.

I think he's happily just discovered Grandpa's phone in this picture.

Dawson even gets to take rides on the 4-wheelers!

Dawson & Aiden-such cute cousins.

Helping Grandpa stack wood.

Dawson's so lucky to have Grandparents that love him so much and enjoy every minute they get to spend with him. Thanks Johnny & Beth!

Cornwall Park...finally!

2010-02-24T14:24:00.000-08:00

Is it too much to ask to have a picnic on a beautiful sunny day? I think so. Let me tell you why: Sunday was sunny and warm (kinda) so we thought a picnic would be a great idea. I made us sandwiches and packed up a bunch of snacks and off we went headed to Larrabee Park with shovels and buckets for Dawson to play in the sand. I can't complain about the gorgeous drive but when we got there the tide was all the way up so there was no beach to play at. We decided to get back in the car and head to Zuanich Park to play and have our picnic. If you haven't been there lately, let me warn you-the grass is COVERED with goose poop. So much that there was no way I was even going to lay down a blanket. We ended up finding an empty park bench where I started unpacking our lunch just as Chad came over to show me that Dawson had stepped in a huge pile of dog poo and it had covered his whole shoe and got on his & Chad's pants. So....once again we packed up (after we got Dawson's clothes & shoes changed) and headed to Cornwall Park. Third time's a charm! I got to lay down our blanket on a nice patch of clean grass and we had a wonderful picnic!

Dawson had a lot of places to run around and explore.

The playground is huge and a lot of fun.

But of course, Dad's rides are the best!When we got home Dawson got to experience his first Oreo.

I think he liked it!

32 Weeks

2010-02-24T14:22:00.000-08:00

Yes, it's true. I really am that BIG and still have 8 more weeks to go!

Hovander Park

2010-02-17T21:08:00.000-08:00

Chad had Monday off so after spending a lazy morning at home we went to Hovander Park to enjoy the rest of the sunshine and let Dawson burn off his energy.

Dawson barely noticed these turkeys until they made some noise, then he couldn't take his eyes off of them.

Dawson wanted a turn walking the dogs :)

We played at the playground on the slide and swings. I guess Chad decided I didn't need to be in this picture.

This old tractor was very interesting to Dawson...

...especially all the pine cones that were stuck in every opening.

One of my favorite things right now, when Dawson holds my hand while we're walking.

Tools

2010-02-17T21:02:00.001-08:00

What 18 month old doesn't need a workshop for all of their tools? :) There's the favorite screwdriver. I asked him where his tongue was and a stream of drool came with it.

Jump Zone Fun

2010-02-17T20:51:00.000-08:00

Dawson got to experience Jump Zone for the first time last week. For those who don't know, it's basically a big building filled with inflatable bounce houses. Dawson had such a blast running around watching all the other kids. He wasn't too comfortable being inside the bounce houses at first but he quickly warmed up. This is when he wasn't so sure of the whole thing. He loved this one! No closed off "cage" to be in, just a fun slide. There he goes! Cousin Aiden had to show Dawson up by going down the BIG slide.

18 Months!

2010-02-08T20:01:00.000-08:00

My baby turned 18 months yesterday! How has a year and a half went by already? Dawson has grown and changed so much since his first birthday it's amazing. We've reached the point that he understands so much of what we're saying and he'll respond the right way. He is saying a ton of words and it's so fun to hear the new ones that come out almost every day. He loves to copy anything we do, especially when Daddy's using his tools as you've seen in the past blogs. I love my sweet boy so much and can't wait to see what happens over the next 6 months!

Here is Dawson's 18 Month picture (it was a little tricky to get him to sit still):

Here's a reminder of his 12 month picture: How it all started, his 1 month picture:

Crazy how his hair went from so dark brown it was practically black, then blonde and now brown with blonde hilites. And it's so straight, we all thought he would get Chad's curly locks.

Dawson had his 18 month check up today and once again he's doing wonderful. Developmentally he's doing great and physically he's went through a growth spurt (at his 12 month appt he was only in the 25th-weight and 50th-height & head percentiles). His "stats" are:

Weight: 26 lbs. 6 oz. (55%)

Height: 33 1/2" (80%)

Head: 48.5" (70%)

In the past I've tried to get pictures of Dawson in the exam room sitting in his diaper to chart his growth but since I knew that would be impossible today since I had to go to the appt solo, I settled for a picture of him standing in the waiting room.

A Day at the Park

2010-01-29T21:02:00.000-08:00

Is it really January? We've been enjoying this great Winter weather we've been having by playing in the yard and going on walks. We still have to bundle up but at least it's not raining and dreary out. Today we picked up Aiden so Lynn and baby Owen could have some relaxing time and went to the park.

Check out our new stroller. It worked great for the two boys today. The thing I love most is all the different seating postitions, they can face eachother, both forward or both backward and our car seat will attach to either seat when the baby comes.

Anytime Dawson has the freedom to run he's happy. Aiden saying "CHEESE"

Down the slide with Daddy

Ready, Set, "GO"!

Hard at Work

2010-01-29T20:55:00.001-08:00

Dawson is obsessed with his tools! The huge smile he gets on his face when I pull out his screwdriver is priceless. He runs around the house looking for things he can "fix". A couple nights ago Chad was installing a few cabinet door locks so Dawson had to go find his drill to help.

"Hi Cousin Owen"

2010-01-26T13:19:00.001-08:00

Dawson is very interested in his new cousin Owen. He always wants to be right there checking him out. I think this is really going to help Dawson understand more of what's happening when we bring his little brother or sister home in about 12 weeks! Everyone gets a kiss!

Kisses for Baby

2010-01-19T21:43:00.001-08:00

Chad and I have been trying to find ways to make Dawson understand that there is a baby in Mommy's tummy, but haven't had much luck. He's only gotten to the point that when he sees other small children when we're out he'll point and say "baby". One time I asked Dawson if he wanted to give the baby a kiss, so now any time that we do talk about the baby he comes over, pulls up my shirt and gives my belly a kiss. :)

Look at How They've Grown!

2010-01-19T21:13:00.000-08:00

On Saturday we had another reunion with our childbirth class. All of us mom's get together for a play group every Thursday with the kids so we get to visit a lot but it's nice to get the husbands together at the reunions. It's so fun to compare these pictures from our previous reunions!

From L to R: Jack, Andrew, Maxwell, Mason, Riley, Alena & Dawson From L to R: Riley, Alena (not very happy) & Dawson Same order at the 6 Month Reunion

Close up of Riley, Alena & Dawson. Look at all those chubby cheeks!

Same order at our first reunion. Can't hardly remember when they all just laid there so still!

Close up of Riley, Alena & Dawson

Big Shoes to Fill

2010-01-15T15:14:00.001-08:00

Happy Birthday Grandpa!

2010-01-03T15:47:00.001-08:00

Yesterday we celebrated my Grandpa's birthday, he turned 80 on New Year's Eve. It was a pizza and beer party complete with a champagne toast.

Dawson got to try on Grandpa's new hat. What to buy Grandpa?...a bottle of scotch seemed to be a good choice.

Mmm pizza, and there was even more in the kitchen. Party hats for our toast.

Happy 80th Grandpa!

We had a lot of fun celebrating with you!

Introducing...

2010-01-03T15:35:00.001-08:00

Owen Robert Bennett

Christmas Day 7:08pm

7 lbs. 13 oz. 20"

With proud Daddy and big brother Aiden.

He's here! Owen came 2 days early as a Christmas present to us all. He is sweet, healthy and looks just like Aiden did as a new baby.

Merry Christmas

2010-01-03T15:12:00.000-08:00

Christmas Day we celebrated at my parents. Another great day spent with family and good food!

My adorable boy with his new Christmas shirt.

Mother & Son

(aka: Dad & Grandma Gartner) Dawson hanging out with Grandma.

We always do a gift exchange at Christmas. It's not white elephant gifts but Aunt Lilly got a kick out of hers.

Mom's was wrapped 3 or 4 times, ended up being an Olive Garden gift card-Yum.

Dawson decorated ornaments for a gift to his Grandparents.

Merry Christmas.

Thank you to all our family for everything, especially the great memories!

Christmas Morning

2010-01-03T14:58:00.000-08:00

Christmas morning was wonderful. Dawson woke up to find that Santa had left him a blow up car full of balls and a stocking filled with more goodies.

Dawson also got an animal puzzle that makes sounds when you put them back in the right place, a wagon full of blocks and lots of other fun stuff.

More climbing, dancing and jumping off the big boxes.

Love this picture. Dawson got a power drill that came with goggles. :)

Prego Sister in Law's

2010-01-03T14:55:00.000-08:00

So glad we got a picture of both of us with our pregnant bellies before Owen decided to make an early arrival!

Christmas Eve

2010-01-03T14:36:00.001-08:00

We celebrated Christmas Eve at Lynn & Shane's house. One of the best things about the holidays is all the delicious food. We had such a good dinner with turkey, ham, potatoes, casseroles and then tons of the yummiest desserts!

This is their Christmas tree. I love it! It's like a huge Charlie Brown tree. This has finally convinced me to go up in the woods (with a permit of course) and cut down a "real" tree next year.

The best we could do trying to get a posed picture of the Bennett cousins. All they wanted to do was jump off the box they were supposed to be sitting on...big surprise. Grams & Gramps Bennett got Dawson a car. It's fun to see him with the same toys I remember having as a kid.

Finally interested in unwrapping a present.

Johnny & Beth couldn't take their eyes off the digital frame we all got them preloaded with pictures of their adorable grandsons.

What 2 year old doesn't need a Spiderman punching bag?

We also got Aiden a bean bag chair that luckily arrived on Christmas Eve, gotta love ordering online.

Matching jammies for Aiden and the new baby...

...which leads me to the most exciting part of the whole evening, Lynn's water broke while we were over there!! More to come on the arrival of sweet baby Owen.

Christmas...a little early.

2010-01-03T13:43:00.000-08:00

We celebrated Christmas with my parents, Grandma and Ryan & Megan on December 20th because unfortunately Ryan was going to be working on the boat over Christmas day. It was such a perfect day. We tried to create a Christmas morning and had everyone came over early (well, 10:00) and had a delicious breakfast together with hot chocolate and mimosas. We listened to Christmas music (and had the football game on in the background) while we opened presents and then we played a few games.

Dawson's favorite part was his stocking. Surprisingly, he wasn't that interested in unwrapping presents so he loved just being able to pull fun things out of his stocking.

We were all spoiled yet again this year!

Among all of our wonderful gifts my parents got Chad and I one of those 3" mattress toppers from Costco and new bedding. We just switched to a King size bed and my pregnant body is loving all the room and now it is so comfy! Chad got some new shoes.

Dawson got a tool set that he LOVES! Some of the things even light up and make noise. Now any time he sees Daddy fixing something he'll run to get a tool so he can go help. It's probably one of the cutest things ever! :)

Chad, Dawson and I got Ryan a pear tree because he was so impressed by the one in our yard. Had to wrap a pear since I can't pick up the tree until February.

Instead of unwrapping the presents, Dawson just wanted to climb on top of them and dance.

Dawson and Grandpa

Can't forget about Ryan & Megan's dog, Cash.

Mr. Fix It

2009-12-13T10:03:00.000-08:00

Dawson loves to help Chad with anything that has to do with tools. He always wants to follow Chad out to the garage and then gets all excited when he sees a stack of screwdrivers. The other night Chad was putting on seat cushions that my Grandma recovered and Dawson couldn't wait to get in there!

Enjoying the Season

2009-12-10T14:21:00.000-08:00

I love this time of year!! I couldn't wait until after Thanksgiving to start playing Christmas music. No surprise to a lot of you...our tree went up the weekend after Thanksgiving. We didn't know how Dawson would do with a tree in his play room (aka: our living room) so we decided to be safe rather than sorry. We actually put the tree up on a table, thank goodness we have vaulted ceilings. It felt a little funny at first but I'm sure it's saving me plenty of "no no's". It's the perfect height for Dawson, he'll walk under it with his arms up and it's just barely out of his reach. Here it is: Last weekend Chad and I took Dawson to a Holiday Festival at the Ferry Terminal. Santa Claus and Mrs. Claus were there and they have a gingerbread house contest that is amazing.

We took Dawson to the festival last year too...look how sweet and little he was!Of course Dawson had the most fun playing peek-a-boo with a wall structure.

Here is our gingerbread house. Tina was so sweet to give them to all the kids to decorate. Dawson was really into it at first but lost interest after I wouldn't let him touch too much since it all went into his mouth, maybe next year.

Unfortunately since we don't have a mantle to decorate by the fireplace I had to improvise and hang our stockings from the hutch. I'm sure Santa will still be able to find them! :)

2009-12-06T19:34:00.001-08:00

Send your own ElfYourself eCards

Baby #2

2009-12-05T20:14:00.000-08:00

We had our 20 week ultrasound on Friday and it was amazing! Baby was cooperating and moving all around for us to see. I've been able to feel baby move since my 17th week (I didn't feel Dawson until I was 22 weeks) so it was so incredible to feel it move and then see those movements on screen. We chose not to find out the sex of the baby at the appointment. We did have the ultrasound tech write it down and put a picture of the "proof" in an envelope so if we decide to find out before the due date we can open it at a special time with just Chad and I. We are both so on the fence. At one point, we think it would be such a wonderful feeling filled with so much anticipation and excitement if we waited to find out until delivery. But of course the planner in me, and Chad being not the most patient :) just wants to know so we can be ready. Honestly, we'd be okay with either sex, especially obviously as long as the baby is healthy. I'll admit, deep down I would love to have a little girl but I now know how much fun a baby boy is and can only imagine the fun (& trouble) Dawson would have with a brother. My intuition is definitely feeling boy, in part because of my two pregnancies being so similar and it may also have a little to do with the "Bennett boy curse". We'll have to wait and see what happens. Do you think Chad and I are going to be able to make it the whole way without finding out? :)

Here are some pictures of our beautiful baby.

Big Yawn. Baby was waving to us!

Baby has all ten fingers and ten toes.

The ultrasound tech even did a couple 3-D pictures for us. Technology is amazing!

I love this profile picture with baby's arm curled up and then the other one poking out on the side of it's face.

So what do you think, boy or girl?!

Stoneyridge Farm

2009-11-09T14:06:00.000-08:00

We took Dawson to Stoneyridge farm. He loved running around getting totally dirty and playing with all of the pumpkins. To see all of the pictures we took go to: http://share.shutterfly.com/action/welcome?sid=0AaNnDFo1ctmLjI&emid=sharshar&linkid=link5&cid=EMsharshar. Here is a sneak peak at a couple of my favorites and some of the "comparisons" from last year:

4 Months & Growing!

2009-11-09T13:30:00.000-08:00

Trick or Treat

2009-11-09T13:12:00.000-08:00

I'm a little late with the post...but Dawson's first Halloween was a lot of fun!! In the afternoon we went to Fairhaven for their big trick or treating event. We let Dawson run around and check out all the kids (and adults) in their costumes.

His rooster costume was a huge hit!

His first piece of Halloween candy-a Tootsie Roll (no, I didn't let him eat it).

In the evening we went to Lynn and Shane's new house to take Dawson and Aiden around the neighborhood.

Each time someone would open the front door Dawson tried to run in their house. I guess he is a little young to get the whole "take the candy and leave" concept.

Aiden was pushing Dawson around in the red wagon.

Hope everyone had a fun & safe Halloween!

Mardi Gras?!

2009-11-04T20:31:00.000-08:00

Dawson got into the Halloween tote and this is how the rest of the night looked... I think this picture should win Dawson an award for "The Best Kisser Ever!"

4th Annual Pumpkin Party

2009-10-25T17:20:00.000-07:00

We had a great time again this year with family and friends visiting, eating & carving pumpkins! This has been a really fun tradition that we want to keep up so Dawson can look forward to it every year as he gets older.

The Dinosaur & The Rooster

(Aiden & Dawson)

Cutest rooster I've ever seen!

Nate & Riley enjoying some chili...and ice.

Dad broke out the power tools to carve his pumpkin.

Pumpkins

Some of the carver's checking out their masterpieces. Tyler & Aiden wrestling.

Dad's and their boys.Happy Halloween!

Guess What....

2009-10-17T19:37:00.001-07:00

WE'RE PREGNANT!!Surprise! Or at least it was for us. Chad and I had talked about trying to get pregnant with baby #2 once Dawson turned a year old so our kids would be close in age. When that time quickly came we (I) was starting to rethink the timing wondering if it was too soon. Little did I know I was already pregnant as we were celebrating his birthday. We found out when I was about 8 weeks. Yes, I took 3 tests because I just didn't believe it happened without even trying. I was in a bit of shock at first but now am totally thrilled and can't wait for Dawson to be a big brother. I'm 14 weeks and the baby is due on April 17. Oh, and for those of you thinking that it might be twins this time...we've already had our first ultrasound and there is only one in there (thank goodness!). Yesterday at our doctor appointment we got to hear the baby's heart beat for the first time. So exciting!

California

2009-10-12T18:35:00.000-07:00

We went to California for a week and had such a good time. Dawson's first vacation was a huge success. It was the perfect combination of relaxing and entertainment. My mom, Grandma, Dawson and I flew down together, then Chad met us a couple days later. Dawson did unbelievably good on the flight there. He started out with a little nap and than was so content sitting on the tray table playing with toys, laughing and people watching. Unfortunately the flight home was a different story-a complete meltdown (that left me in tears also) and a poopy diaper have made us decide that we will be driving the next time.

Dawson looking out the window with Nana before take off.

Everything was so funny!

The first couple days were the most relaxing. We went to Redondo Beach one day and had lunch on the peir, went on a walk around Shari's neighborhood to see all of the cute houses and just hung out. Once Chad got there things got busier. The first night we went back to Redondo Beach to see an old car show and then have dinner at Ruby's Diner.

Dawson loved this car at the diner and had a fit when we had to get seated at our table. The next day we went to Hermosa Beach to play.

Dawson liked playing right where the water came up on the beach. He wasn't so sure when Daddy took him out into the big waves, he was holding on really tight.

Oh, and since I've been so bad about blogging (our computer was broken for awhile so I have an excuse)...Dawson is walking now. He really started on September 20 when some of his friends were over. They were all walking around and Dawson just got up and started. He did better and better but still crawled too. Right when we got to California he started walking around constantly and now is a pro.

Universal Studios

2009-10-12T18:25:00.000-07:00

Chad and I left Dawson with Grandma, Nana & Shari for a day and went to Universal Studios. It was really nice to have a "date day" and spend time with just the two of us. Although, the whole time we talked about how much Dawson would have loved to see certain things there. First up was the Hollywood Studio Tour. We saw Jaws :)

and we went down the real set of Wisteria Lane from Desperate Housewives.

This is Carlos & Gabbi's house.

There was a new Simpsons ride that was really fun.

Jurassic Park was one of our favorites.

Chad had to pose with the van from Scooby Doo.