It's gonna be a "farmer's tan" Summer...

I am LOVING this warm weather with my family, and let me tell you I have an OUTSIDE loving little boy. From the time that we wake up in the morning until the time that I sing to him at night Blaine wants nothing more from me than for me to take him outside. Blaine would prefer to be outside to eating, sleeping, watching tv, or playing with his numerous indoor toys...this works out well because I LOVE being outside too. I am learning to use his love of the outdoors as an advantage for me and get my workouts in and just include him in them...like taking him for a hike in the jogging stroller. Blaine is almost 15 months old and he already has his first (of many I am sure) farmers tan...I noticed this on the back of his neck the other night at bath time. Another love that Blaine has discovered is the love of the four wheeler or the "a-wa-wa" as he would call it. If he hears it crank up and he is in the house he falls to pieces...if he sees his daddy on it he runs after it and throws a fit...he LOVES the BIG four wheeler. We have one slight problem these days...our yard was just plowed up because we are doing some drainage work, putting in a fence, and getting ready to do some major landscaping so our yard is a mess...there are parts of the yard that he cannot walk in...and this makes being outside high maintenance. This is unfortunate because outside used to be the ONE place that we could go to get away from the "NOs".

In other news Blaine weighed 22 lbs at his last check up was 34 inches long so all looks normal...he is long and skinny as he has always been!! Blaine is talking so much these days and this is one of my favorite things about having an almost 16 month old!! He has learned to imitate some of his favorite shows, like on Little Einsteins they do the "pat pat pat pat" blast off....and he does that, he says "Daisy", he says "cup", "boo boo", he mimics us singing the 8 little monkeys song, he says "head" "eyes" "nose", and loves to sing the "head, shoulders, knees, and toes" song...he knows the different sounds that animals like cows, lion, dog, make...he really LOVES animals!!! I am so impressed and intrigued by what he understands everyday!! We are not potty training by any means but we did purchase a little potty for the bathroom. I plan on letting Blaine sit on it before he gets in the bath tub each night just to get used to it, and to get into a routine. He is already telling me that he has used the bathroom in his pants...(mainly #2 - which is probably TMI) and we have discussed "PP" in his diaper. He is far from ready, but we are beginning to lay the ground work for it. Jason and I have approached each change sleeping, weening from night time feedings, weening from the bottle, as a process and in all cases our approach has worked well...so we will take the same approach with this, I figure with another 6 months (at the most) of ground work we will reevaluate where we stand. I do think that it is important not to start too early, so we will be following his lead...

Where are you sunshine...

I just wanted to share some pictures from last weekend. I know that my posts are usually lengthy with words...but I'll make this one short. I am missing the sunshine this weekend...last weekend spoiled us with warm temperatures and sunshine...but they will be back next weekend. Last weekend we took our first trip(s) to the park on Saturday AND Sunday. Blaine had his first milkshake on Saturday and happy meal on Sunday. We had a BLAST swinging, sliding, and running...I LOVE Spring time...There are a few more pictures of Blaine doing his "cheesy" grin...

and his Easter duck that his grand-mama and granddaddy Dawes gave him...

I even have a little video of him playing with the duck. Blaine has become quite the talker...most of the time WE know what he is saying...although the average outsider wouldn't have a clue. Blaine also LOVES to climb. I walked in his nursery the other day while his was playing WAAAAAAAYYY too quietly and he was standing up in the recliner...Often we see him standing on top of Daisy to get in the chair or on the sofa...he is quite resourceful. In the video I was trying to catch him doing this...but of course he never did it while I was filming...but either way he is still really cute!!! : ) We took this right before bedtime and Blaine has just learned how to push the button on Donald Duck's foot to make him sing : ) .

Two in one week...WHOA!!

All of the Dawes' had a great weekend this weekend!!  Jason had class all week in Greenville so we were really lucky to have him at home this weekend, AND he will be home ALL week : ).  Friday evening we had dinner with Jason's parents and enjoyed some Wii fun and just hanging out!! Saturday was a BEAUTIFUL day and Jason and I were determined to get outside and enjoy some of it.  We bounced out of bed on Saturday and worked so well together to get the house cleaned, and I mean REALLY cleaned...all with Mr. Blaine following behind the two of us.  Afterward we went outside and play, play, played.  We walked all over the yard, played on the slide, visited Maverick, checked our trees, Blaine rode his little 4-wheeler, climbed the front steps (100 times) walked to grandmas, rode the 4-wheeler to the farm saw the ducks, and pigs, and geese...it was a grand day. 

Today we all got up and headed to Sunday school...afterward we went to my parent's house and visited with my parents and Al, Melissa, and Jackson.  We played a lot outside and my parent's house too and Jason and I even napped on the sofa while Mom played outside with Blaine and Mel and Jackson napped in the recliner.  It was truly a lazy Sunday.  Afterward we headed to the Winder's what was suppose to be a very casual supper (we were suppose to eat pizza - takeout).  Kim and I had discussed doing take out so that we could have plenty of time to visit with each other and not stress about cooking...of course she decided that lasagna sounded much better - and I have to admit it ROCKED!!  I took some pictures of Miss Anniston, and even managed to get one of she and Blaine although I don't think that they were both looking at the camera...It was such a lovely weekend, I'm so looking forward to many more warm ones...I am dying to get our yard straightened out!!!

Blaine is still battling a runny nose...no fever, no nothing BUT a runny nose...we assume that this is related to the 3 tooth that are up and coming - 2 of them has broken through but one on the top is still "on the way"...Blaine has started some really unpleasant habits that I thought I still had a little while before I would have to deal with them...stomping feet and hitting his hands on things when he doesn't get his way.  I am not really sure how to deal with this, but I am trying a few different strategies...we'll see how they go.  The last thing I want is "that child" that hits someone Else's child, or that acts like a complete brat for NO apparent reason.  I'll keep you posted on how things go...I'll even try to catch a video of one of his melt downs and I'll take discipline suggestions.  I really don't want to pop him (because I feel like this validates the hitting behavior) and I don't think that he understands time out yet....

I will not be that Mom, I will NOT be THAT mom...

I will NOT be that Mom that starts off taking tons of pictures of her child, being OCD about organizing them by week and month, and then fall off the face of the earth and NEVER take a camera with me anywhere ever again, and never update my blog telling the world about all of the wonderful things that my son is doing. WOWSA...that was the LONGEST run on sentence ever...but I do not write this blog to be grammatically correct, so please forgive my mistakes as I go. Either way, I randomly took some pictures of Blaine tonight because I realized that I had not taken any since the last snow which was a few weeks ago...I know, shame on me!! I guess once he started walking he seems to have slowed down with all of the other physical changes...and I have been running after him ever since...


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Blaine has had a bit of a runny nose since this weekend, and has learned a new "camera face". He as suddenly become TRULY aware of the camera's presence which I love and hate at the same time. I love that he as learned something...but I could do without the same face in every single picture that he knows is being taken...I think that HE thinks it's the cutest face EVER!!




However, in other news Blaine has THREE, yes THREE new teeth on the way...there is one new one on the bottom and two on the top that are really trying to make an appearance. You can see evidence of this in his pictures. It is amazing to me how LONG it seems to take his teeth to come in, but Dr. Brantley continues to assure me that this will all be for the best later...but it still makes me worry for now.

Recently Blaine went through a period of time that he was refusing to eat. It seemed as though he would eat breakfast fairly well...drink his milk pretty well...but he refused to eat lunch and dinner, almost AT ALL...
Well, it looks like we have finally gotten over that...the appetite is definitely back...with a vengeance!

The weekends have been pretty mundane as the weather has been rather yucky, but I have enjoyed spending some time at home with Jason and Blaine. I have had SOOOOO much graduate school work to do...the week before Spring Break is always a little difficult, but I always look forward to getting it over with because it's like getting over the hump of the semester. I only have a little more left, and I will be finished with school FOREVER!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I love being at peace with my place in life, it is the most amazing feeling that I have ever experienced!

One last thing that Blaine has discovered a love for is riding Miss Daisy...he loves to get on her back and bounce...as if she is going to go somewhere. In the past Jason as always forced her to "stay", however we have discovered that Blaine also likes to do this unsupervised and that Daisy doesn't understand to "stay" when she isn't being told to...so there have been some near accidents when she has gotten up with Blaine on her back. So we are working on that...oh and the face...again...


I cannot really say that there is a lot of REAL talking going on right now, but there is a whole lot of understanding going on. I can tell Blaine to do specific things and it is clear that he understands. I can tell him that we are going "bye-bye" and he goes to stand by the coat closet waiting for me to put his coat on. I can tell Blaine that it's time to take a nap and he will go and stand by the crib and and grin (he LOVES to sleep) : ) . I can tell him that it's time to go Night-Night and he goes to stand by the recliner in his room to read his night time book...he LOVES his snuggle book (and sleep)...I ask him is he is hungry, he stands by his high chair, we talk about bath time, - you guessed it he stands by the tub. Blaine LOVES to read...I tell him to get a book he gets a book and "backs the bus up" to someones lap. In fact - just a quick funny story Blaine - ALL day long grabs book and looks for laps to read them in...I had a girls mornings planned for myself and a couple of other girls here a few weeks ago and my friend Erin brought her young child that is sitting up - Hunter. Erin sat Hunter in the floor and Blaine decided to sit in Hunter's lap...and he did it more than once...it was funny...and embarrassing after he knocked little Hunter over. : ) He even tried to do it to cousin Jackson more recently...

First, Catch up!!

So I have been gone for waaaaaaay too long...and a lot has happened since I last posted. After Blaine's first Christmas (which I believe was my last post). The day after Christmas a I got a call to interview for a new job. I really didn't think it was going to go anywhere (even though I wanted it to), but I knew that I needed the interview experience so I went ahead and interviewed. Much to my surprise I ended up getting the counselor position at Edgecombe Early College and all that I can say is WOW, what a difference having a job that you love makes!! I really love getting up in the morning and going to work, and I have to say that I have not had this feeling in a long time. I love that Blaine gets his "best mom" every afternoon when I get off work, and that was the plan all along this journey!!

OK after the new job Blaine celebrated his first Birthday and it was a BLAST!! I think it was a tiring day, but a day that I will never forget. There were a lot of emotions stirred in me during this first birthday celebration, but more than anything I cannot believe where time went...

Make a Smilebox free photo slideshow

I have a slide show that I made for Blaine's birthday that I plan on posting I have just had difficulty getting it formatted correctly so that it'll post directly to the blog. The slide show was made of pictures from Blaine's first year of life : ) and I cried many times in the process of making it, but it was such a joy to to relive those moments. Blaine also got his first tooth right around that first birthday party and I have to admit we were quite relieved as we had been anticipating the arrival of this first tooth for a LONG time. Blaine got lots of fun toys and BOOKS, Blaine LOVES books!! He even got some outdoor toys that we can't WAIT to play with!!

Blaine also had a chance to experience his first "snow day". We took him out and honestly he really hated it. I think that part of him "hating it" was the fact that he woke up from his nap, we threw him in 10 layers and clothes, offered him no milk (b/c we were so excited) and took him outside. One fall down with hands in the snow and he was D O N E. I have a few pictures that we did manage to get of Blaine playing in the "sneet" - snow and sleet. We have learned that Blaine LOVES daddy's big 4-wheeler, every time Jason turns it on he is ready to ride and throws a fit if he doesn't get his way. : )

Blaine is starting to be much more vocal about the things that he likes and dislikes and is really giving us a hard time about eating. Anyone that knows Blaine knows that this is really unusual because he used to be such an awesome eater. He would eat 2 large jars of baby food, plus yogurt with juice and is suddenly refusing to eat some things. We put green beans in his mouth, he spits them out or literally takes them out with his hands. . . we just keep trying different foods, but this is tough!! Jason made him a stir fry with squash, zuchinni, turkey sausage, and bell pepper the other night though, and he at the mess out of it, it was unreal!! I think that he is realizing that he actually has an opinion about what he eats.

Blaine weighs around 20 lbs right now and is about 27-28 inches long, he is growing so much faster than I ever though he was. . . . someone has hit the fast forward button in my life, wish they would hit pause NOW!!

My Mom and dad brought over a gift for Blaine today - in the snow : ) A bird feeder!! They put it outside of his room so that he can see it out of his window, or the dining area window. I know that the birds really appreciated the bird seed, and Blaine peeks out regularly at it to see what is going on. While my parents were here my dad was throwing snow balls at the back storm door while Blaine was standing at the door. After they left he kept going back to see if someone was going to throw snow balls at him again. : ) We were able to get out in the snow a little later on today to walk over to Jason's Mom and Dads for some supper (black eyed peas, pork, green beans, and mashed sweet potatoes) NICE!! Blaine seemed to like the snow a little more (I suspect because it was a bit warmer today and there wasn't snow coming from the sky. He liked looking at his footprints in the snow, and the new big thing is going up and down the steps on the porch.

I am sure that this was all a little boring with the catch up, so I promise to try and be more captivating with my posts in weeks to come. . .

The first of many. . .

We began our Christmas celebrating with a visit from Jason's Uncle Lee. Lee lives in Florida and this was his first time officially meeting Blaine.






On Tuesday evening the 22nd we went to Jason's Grandma Dawes'. We had a really good timed catching up with Mrs. Dawes and Donald and exchanging a few gifts. Blaine did a great job considering that he had had only one early morning nap.

This is such a great picture of Jason's Mom with Blaine...



An attempt at a family photo...this is how it usually goes. Jason talking to someone else, Blaine being busy, and me trying to get the picture : )


On the 23rd Blaine and I followed our normal family tradition of visiting my Aunt Debra's. This is an opportunity for me to remember my cousin Brandon that was killed in a car accident May 23, 1997. This happens to be his birthday, and he would have been the big 3-0 this year!! It was nice to see my family and for Blaine to see some of my side of the family that he doesn't get to see too often.

On the 24th we usually try to get together and my Mom and Dad's but this year we began WAY sooner than we normally do, considering the two new babies that we added to our family since last Christmas...WOW what a difference a year makes, we do EVERYTHING a little earlier now! Blaine had a chance to play with grandma and grandpa Anderson and got LOT'S of gifts. My Mom and Dad bought Blaine AND Jackson Britax carseats for Christmas. Both of them needed new carseats and Melissa and I picked out the ones that we liked. Mom and Dad are very practical gift givers, so we asked for these for our boys!! : ) We chose the Britax Boulevard car seats

Blaine also got a really neat dry erase table and chairs from his grand-mama and granddaddy Anderson, as well as some blocks. I thought this might come in handy for when Al and Melissa come over to have dinner with Jackson...the boys will be able to sit at the "children's table" : )

Very short stay of the antlers on Blaine's head . . .



Loved this pic of Jackson opening his first present of the evening. . . he looks a bit mesmerized...




I don't know what Blaine's thing is about trying to poke Jackson in the eye....



Best buds in the making...


Jackson making a silly face!!



Blaine really liked taking the bows off of the packages!!


Blaine also got bunches of cool Leap Frog toys from Aunt Melissa, Uncle Al, and Jackson. I think his favorite was the guitar!!
Today was an awesome day . . . What joy I experienced today being with our families, and watching Blaine enjoy his first Christmas Day. This morning started off with my parent's and Jason's parent's coming over. . . . I put a breakfast casserole in the oven, and right at 7:00 am as expected Blaine woke up. I fed Blaine in his nursery, and then Jason (who had just gotten off of work) brought him out as I videoed:

Santa brought Blaine a thomas the train tent, a ride on dump truck, and electric 4-wheeler, coloring books, crayons, finger paint, play-doh, blocks, bubble bath, and lots of other little goodies. It was so much fun to see him overwhelmed with so many people here when he woke up and with all of the "stuff" in the living room. We had so much fun this morning watching Blaine, eating breakfast casserole and soaking in this almost one year old wonder!!






After Blaine had some time to play with his toys he went down for his morning nap. Once he got up we went to Jason's Mom and Dad's for Christmas there. It was so much fun!! We took ALL afternoon to open Blaine's gifts, and mine and Jason's. It was nice to do this at our leisure. We stopped several times for bathroom breaks, snack breaks, and Blaine took a nap break!! : ) We didn't rush...we enjoyed every moment of it!!

Blaine got so many different things...books, baby Einstein videos, a cool toy that has a "ride" that responds and makes things happen on the TV - can't remember the exact name of it, a "big boy chair with his name on it from Pottery Barn Kids, lot's of cute clothes, a "farm house", and the list goes on and on and on. . . here are a FEW pictures from the visit. . .



Jason and I also got SO MUCH STUFF from Santa *wink* *wink* : ) I got some Danskos that I have wanted for a LONG time!! I also got a Pandora bracelet and a few beads for it!! Jason got a new deer decoy (for shooting with his bow), a range finder, and a new pair of binoculars... just to name a few things!! This Christmas was obviously not about us, but Santa made sure that we weren't forgotten!!


I tried to post more pics, but I guess I ran out of room . . . .we had such an awesome Christmas and it was simply amazing how much MORE fun it was having Blaine. A baby changes EVERYTHING!! Now off to planning Blaine's first Birthday!! : )

Good, not perfect, but really good...

Blaine is changing faster than the speed of light!! I cannot get over how much he comprehends, even more than he can tell me right now. With the addition of the Christmas tree you can imagine that things got interesting...well really they didn't. From the very beginning Blaine really didn't bother the tree so much. I'm not sure if it's because he had already has his little tree for sometime (and it has COLORED LIGHTS...) OR if he really just wasn't that impressed with the tree, either way he hasn't made a huge fuss about our tree in the living room. We really watched him carefully in the very beginning and really made a big deal out of telling him "NO" about the touching the tree. We said you can look at the tree but no touching...we would say "NO NO, OHHHH NO" about touching the tree while making the gesture with our hand no no...now he looks at ANYTHING that we have ever told him no about and he makes the no no gesture. : ) It's amazing how quickly they learn isn't it???

Blaine is such a good baby...he is so pleasant and fun loving...he laughs and smiles constantly and is always thinking and MOVING!!! I am learning so much as a Mom. So much about picking my battles, and making sure that I pick the important ones, and go with the flow (so not my personality believe it or not). I have learned a lot from Jason about being a good parent, so much about letting some things go and focusing on what is important 10 min. from now. I am so lucky to have a husband that is invested in our family, even though he isn't here every afternoon or night (which I hate). I have to admit, I get frustrated some times when I'm here and it's only me..I occasionally resent the fact that he has someone (me) to make major decisions and worry about the logistics of life...but I also realize when he comes home and takes over, how lucky I am to have a husband that is capable and willing to let me have a few minutes to myself to have a bath, or a phone conversation, a lot of women don't have that.

ANYWAY... we had a great week and weekend...my Mom's family gathered here on Saturday. All of my Mom's siblings showed up, and even a few of us cousins to chat and catch up on what's going on with all of us in the last ummm...10 years : ) I LOVED it...I loved the chance to see everyone, talk to them, and reminisce about our parents/grandparents. We got to see Cailynn, Blaine's cousin, and Blaine had a BLAST with her. It was the first time that he had had the opportunity to be around another child so close to his own age, and it was FUN to watch. I cannot believe that I didn't get a picture, but I was really busy keeping up with Blaine...you have to have your eyes on him ALL the time...Jason and I took turns and I was busy catching my breath when I wasn't directly involved in what was going on. In fact the ONLY picture that I captured of the evening was this one...

I love my family, and i am so thankful that I was able to spend time with them. I want Blaine to know that Christmas is about getting together with family, playing with cousins, and celebrating Jesus' life. These are the important things in life...

Jason, along with our friend Jim helped to make reindeer food for the get together....I HAD to get a picture of this!!!




This is one of Blaine's favorite places to go in our house...the laundry room...Daisy's bowl is in the laundry room...he loves to sneak a splash in the bowl...




We bought storm doors right after we moved into the new house, but JUST had them installed, and Blaine LOVES them!!! I took a picture of the






Here are a couple of videos of Blaine learning to sit and "rock rock" in his rocking chair that my co-worker Robert gave him before he was even born...






Life is so good right now...not perfect (we all have our daily trials), but so good. I love my family