Swingin'

Dawson twisting on the swing.

Chance and Dawson swinging together. They really liked it when I did underdogs. Cute kids!

Brady at the Park

Such a beautiful smile!

Sitting up and smiling. (Thanks, Liberty, for sitting behind him in case he toppled over while I took the pictures.)

Brady and Wesley, both very strong boys sitting up on their own.

Two cuties playing on the blanket.

Sitting Pretty

Air Hockey

We visited Incredible Pizza today and Dawson had fun playing air hockey with Randy.

Dawson concentrating on hitting the puck.

Smiling and happy after scoring a point.

Brady the Amazing

I can't believe that Brady is almost 6 months old!!! He has had many milestones in the last month. Here are some of the amazing new things he is doing:

• He can sit up on his own for a good while before toppling. He is even able to correct himself when he starts to lean.
• He can stand for a short time when he's leaning or holding onto something.
• He is able to crawl a short distance. It isn't pretty, but he is able to move a few feet in order to reach something he wants.
• He can now bounce in his Johnny Jumper. He tries to "walk" when he's in it and also enjoys hopping up and down. It's so cute!

Shake Dance

Brady: By Dawson

Here are a few pictures that Dawson took of his baby brother:

Musical Instruments

Dawson and I made a few "homemade" musical instruments last week, which he really enjoyed playing with.

Strumming his shoebox guitar.

Showing me his rainstick, which turned out to be more of a maraca than a rainstick.

Pictures by Dawson

Dawson grabbed my camera the other day and went around the house taking various pictures. It's so funny to see the things he thought were picture-worthy.

The lights on one of Brady's toys.

A picture of Brady's new toy table.

His box of crayons.

The Popsicle sticks flag we made for President's Day.

His musical Valentine's card.

A picture of the Berenstain Bears movie he had been watching.

A tiny cup of water.

A close-up of Brady's Intellitainer.

A pair of sunglasses he got at a birthday party.

His chair.

The light in our dining room.

Me and Brady.

Spiderman bopper.

Happy in the High Chair

Our happy little baby smiling and having a good time in his high chair.

A big, bright, beautiful smile. Look at those 2 big front teeth!!

Smiling and reaching forward. Brady is now strong enough to sit up and prefers to sit straight up and play with the toys on his tray instead of lounging back in the high chair.

Dawson took this picture of Brady smiling at me as I played peek-a-boo with him.

Happy President's Day

Dawson and I made President's Day crafts today. We also read a book about past presidents, but he was way more excited about the crafts than the book. :-)

Holding out the flag we made out of Popsicle sticks.

Showing off his necklace (red, white, and blue stars with an Abraham Lincoln penny glued on the front) and flag.

Valentine's Cookies

Valentine's cookies that Dawson and I made. Happy Valentine's Day!!

Big Stick

Dawson very excited to have found such a long stick.

Splashing in a puddle with his big stick.

Getting ready to splash in the puddle. He ended up completely soaked - even his hair was somehow wet after stomping in the puddle.

Chalk Road

We went sidewalk chalk crazy the other day. I drew a great long road for Dawson to drive his vehicles on, as well as a house and many stores for him to visit alongside the road.

Driving his tricycle, which he is way too big for (his knees bump the handlebars) but still loves to play with.

Racing his Lightning McQueen bike down the road.

Taco Soup

Just wanted to share a great recipe for taco soup!! It's a very easy slow-cooker recipe and soooo yummy!

Ingredients:

• 1 pound ground beef, browned and drained
• 28 oz can crushed tomatoes
• 15 oz can corn, undrained
• 15 oz can black beans, undrained
• 15 oz can red kidney beans, undrained
• 1 envelope dry Hidden Valley Ranch Dressing mix
• 1 envelope taco seasoning
• toppings - chips, tortillas, shredded cheese, etc.

Combine all ingredients except toppings, mix and pour into slow cooker. Cook on low for 4 to 6 hours. Top with any toppings you desire. We recommend lots of crumbled chips!

Umbrella Fun

Dawson loves rainy days and as long as it's warm rain and there is no lightning, we go out and play in the rain. He has really been looking forward to a rainy day so he would have a chance to use his new Spiderman umbrella. He managed to stay dry under the umbrella for about 5 minutes, but after that had more fun carrying it alongside him and letting the rain drench him.

Carrying his umbrella and my umbrella as we await the rain storm.

Making a silly face as he shows off his umbrella.

Bungee Jumper

Dawson received this cool bungee jumper for his birthday. It's essentially a big bouncy foam pad that he stands on attached to an elastic band and handle that he holds onto with his hands. It really works too - with some assistance from me he's able to bounce really high. He can't do it very well on his own yet, as he doesn't really get the concept of pulling the band taunt as he jumps so there is a lot of slack. He had lots of fun trying it out the other day.

Poised to bounce.

I love this action shot with his wild and crazy face as he bounces.

Doing a pretty good job.

Fix-It Kids

Kaelin and Dawson hard at work at Dawson's tool bench, two cute little fix-it kids. In fact, if you ask Dawson what he wants to be when he grows up he says, "A fix-it guy."

Airport Park

We recently spent some time at one of our favorite parks - the airport park, so named by Dawson because it is near the Huntsville airport. We love the playground equipment at this park but don't go often because we have a park right in our neighborhood and because despite how awesome this park is, it seems there are rarely other kids there and Dawson prefers to play with other kids (not just boring ol' Mom). This trip to the park was great!! We met Angie and Kaelin there and also had fun playing with some new friends there.

Dawson sliding down the bumpy slide.

Sweet friends talking inside the little fort atop one of the slides.

Reaching from the ladder to the playground, his tongue sticking out in concentration. :-)

Playing with a stick - always great fun.

Fun on the swing.

Kaelin having a good time on the swing too.

Kaelin and Dawson on the see-saw.

Having fun being bounced really high by Braeden, a very nice "big kid" who was gracious enough to entertain the younger kids.

Dawson with a big smile, thoroughly enjoying the great big bounces from Braeden.

Silly Dawson, raising one arm up like he's riding a bull. LOL!!