Dawson's Big Boy Room

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

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

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

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!

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

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

Hovander Park

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

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

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!

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.