24 Weeks

Here I am at 24 weeks! At my doctors appointment, the doctor was a woman this time and she said, "From here on out we fight for that baby no matter what." It was a reality check for J.D. and I. For the most part up until now, my thoughts have been 'I hope I can make it to where the baby at least has a chance to live...' or 'until I'm 24/25 weeks along, there's no reason to get excited because I know the baby can't survive yet.' It sounds kind of negative thinking, but I just wanted to protect myself after losing Andee.

Also, at this appointment his heart rate was 144bpm! Much faster than it has been in the past. He usually ranges between 131-139 bpm. He is definitely getting stronger, not by his heart only but his movements as well.

 

It's been quite a long pregnancy so far. I hope that the fall season helps the time pass, but then again I love fall so I don't want to rush through it. 

At this appointment we talked about the extra monitoring that will take place every week starting at 32 weeks; there will be 20 minutes of monitoring the baby, and then an ultrasound to check the fluid and baby as well. Starting my next appointment we will see the doctor every 2 weeks for regular appointments... I think that alone will help me realize how close we are getting to being able to see this little one. 

Dawson is always so good to make sure the baby and I are doing good. He loves to tickle the baby, and sing him songs. Every time Dawson is around close, the baby will start moving around a lot. I truly believe that he knows and remembers Dawson from the premortal existence, AND I KNOW he's excited to be with Dawson again. 

I am very conscious of the baby's movements. The doctor said, "Movement is key! If you question his movements, come in immediately even if it's 3 times a day." I loved hearing that, and it was something J.D. and I both needed to hear. We are excited to meet this little boy, but we are being super careful of everything that I do and eat.  I'm trying to watch my weight, but this little man seems to be doing what Dawson did to me... just making me gain even when I've been so conscious. 

His movements don't seem to be as active as Dawson and Andee's. I think it's because I'm aware of every little kick and nudge so early on. Maybe it will pick up the further I get along. Sometimes he has his days where he doesn't seem to stop, and then it's like he's worn out and doesn't move for longer than what he had been doing. One night it was ALL NIGHT long!! I didn't sleep a minute. Then during the day he was calm. I can usually push on him for a minute or 2 and he will give me a little movement back. Also, anytime I have a concern that I don't think I've felt him, I focus for 10 minutes and say a prayer. Within that 10 minutes I will feel him. I know Heavenly Father is blessing me with every kick I feel. I'm so grateful for every un-comfort I feel with his movements. 

1st Day of Preschool!

Dawson started preschool again this year. Hopefully we don't move again and he gets to finish out the year. His teacher is Mrs. Patterson here in Orem. 

When taking Dawson to school he asked, "Mom are you going to be sad while I'm gone to school?"

Me: "Yes, I will be sad, but I'm happy you are going. I don't know what I'm going to do while you're gone."

Dawson: "You can just pray for Andee's spirit and hang out with her while I'm gone. She will make you happy."

Me: "That's a good idea. But I will still miss you."

Dawson: "You and Andee's spirit can just watch a movie together or something."

Isn't he so handsome! 

After school Dawson said, "Mom I didn't miss you! We did so much stuff at school! I learned a letter with a triangle and a line through it, but I don't remember what it was called. We danced with bean bags. We made 'inoculars' (binoculars) so we can see birds. It was so much fun."

Soccer & A Cookie Treat

Dawson is finally old enough to start playing sports. To start us off.... soccer season! After his first practice Dawson said he wanted his team to be red. They don't get to choose, but guess what!? We were given red!

The uniforms are so big, but they look so cute on the boys. 

 The huddle was initiated by Dawson and still is every time we've had a game. Dawson herds up the boys and they chat. They only play 4 on 4 at this age with no goalie. It is soooo entertaining! These boys are so young they get so excited when they make a goal!

 Dawson coming around to stop the ball.

 Can you see him in the back with his arms raised? He's in the center of the pic and he'd just made his very first goal in his very first game! WHOOHOO!

After this game he called Megan, who is a major soccer player and fan, and said, "I scored a goal!" and "I'm better at soccer than you are." It was hilarious!

 Game 2- Dawson scored another goal! He is right behind the ball in this picture getting ready to kick it down the field.

 He is looking right at me and smiling!

We've come to find that Dawson is really good at getting the ball out of jams in between all the kids. He is a good defender! He loves soccer and loves his team. He's making lots of friends and so are J.D. and I. We are so proud of Dawson and how he is such a good sport. He takes care of everyone on his team.

Also, this was the game that we were in charge of treats. The day before we'd made cookies just for the heck of it. Dawson helped with everything! AND he wanted to dye the cookies red.... they came out pink. I've never had dyed chocolate chip cookies, but they were delicious!  

Dawson helped mix the dough, roll them into little balls, take them off the pan and put them onto the cooling rack, and then stacked them into the tupperware! He was amazing! He helped so much I was actually able to clean the kitchen in between it all! 

The cookies were a huge success and the team loved the color!

Dawson is so good to help me with baking and cooking, especially with his own apron. 

You are so awesome Dawson!

Baby Brielle

J.D.'s brother and sister in law, Chet and Bobi Sue had their 3rd baby on July 29th! Brielle McCrae Stevens was 6 lbs 5 oz, and 18in. long. She is beautiful! We didn't get to see her until she was out of the hospital because she had a little hole in her lung. It was scary and we are so grateful she's okay.

As I've said before, Dawson loves babies. He couldn't get enough of Brielle and was so excited to hold her. i love all their faces in this pic. lol! Such cute kids!

Planes, Swimming,The Beach, and Disney Land

For months we've been planning a trip to Disney Land with our friends Doug and Megan. Dawson saved up all the money for his own ticket too! He saved every penny and dime until he had enough to get a ticket to go. That was the deal we made with him, he had to pay his way in. I'm not suprised he did it in 2 months either... lol!

Megan's family lives in California still, so we were graciously hooked up by being able to stay there. Also, Megan has a friend who was able to get us into Disney Land for really cheap. We owe our lives to them for making this dream come true for our little Dawson, so Thank you Thank you Doug and Megan. 

We got to California kind of late, but that didn't stop us from having a blast. Saturday we went to the movie Planes! Dawson LOVED it! I don't know who loved it more out of all of us..... it's a toss up.

Doug, Dawson, Me, and Megan flying away like Dusty the crop duster.

Megan's dad cooked for us 2 nights in a row! It was divine! We swam in the backyard which was so awesome! Dawson and J.D. couldn't get enough of this. It even had a diving board! 

 Dawson loving that his phone is waterproof so he can video under water.

 Here's Dawson swimming all by himself with no life jacket! Good job buddy!

 Peace is what J.D. was feeling.

Sunday we went to Huntington Beach! It was such a beautiful day to go to the beach. We even saw tons of dolphins swimming close to beach! It was unreal crazy cool!

Here's Dawson with his shades, J.D., Megan, and Doug. The water was pretty cold!

 Dawson had so much fun with Doug and Megan. Megan helped Dawson jump the waves!

 Can you tell how cold it was? Dawson was freezing, but it was so worth it to swim in the ocean.

 J.D. and Doug swam clear out and rode the waves as they came rolling in.

 Then they decided Dawson needed this thrill seeking ride as well!

 Dawson and his dad in the Pacific Ocean!

 Not only can you swim at the beach, but you can get as dirty as you want. Dawson wanted to be buried of course. He loved how cozy and warm it was.

 You can barely see it, but there is a dolphin right out there in the middle of the picture. My lens didn't get a good close up, but we know they were there.

 We had awesome snacks and they tasted so good with a little sand mixed in.

 Here's our awesome friends Doug and Megan about to get plowed by a wave that they had no idea was coming.

 Our little family in the ocean.

 Me and my handsome hunners

 I was a little nervous about waves hitting me too hard (I was being overly cautious), so I made some beds in the sand. Dawson loved it too! In the end, J.D. took my spot and couldn't stop commenting on how comfy it really was. We had lots of sunscreen, so no we didn't get burnt at all!!!

We ate at Jack in the box afterwards and poor J.D. had to drive home while we all slept, except Megan was a trooper and stayed awake to help keep J.D. awake.

Finally, DISNEY LAND! The most magical place on earth! It truly is!

We had the most perfect guides in Disney Land. Going with California residents who know the way around and an employee who can get you into all the rides without lines.... it couldn't have been more perfect. 

Here we are, J.D., Dawson, Me, and the baby in the womb. I am 20 weeks along here and we'd just found out it was a boy.

We arrived at the perfect time to see the morning welcoming show. Dawson was ecstatic! He even touched Donald Duck's tail!

MICKEY!

After seeing the morning show, Dawson didn't care much for the characters so we rode rides mainly. However, we did see this crazy mad hatter! Here's Dawson and the Mad Hatter. The first thing we got when we were at Disney Land was a hat from the Mad Hatter's store.... Dawson chose the wizard Mickey hat...which was even more perfect that night as you'll see below.

We rode a train!

Here we are in the Dumbo Train! Dawson chose the Lion's cart to ride in!

Dawson was thankfully tall enough for every ride except Indiana Jones and the Matterhorn. Space Mountain and Splash Mountain were his favorite! Doug and J.D. in the back, and Dawson is with Megan in the front! Dawson said, "I was brave mom! I didn't scream." I couldn't go on the big fast rides because of the little one in the womb, which gave me time to find some shade. It wasn't very long to wait for them to get off the rides because they didn't have to wait in any lines since we had an employee getting us to the front of every line and had fast passes all day.

 

Here's mister Dawson with his wizard hat and Megan's Minnie ears. Also, notice his '1st time at Disney Land' pin?

Here is Splash Mountain! Can you tell Dawson's a little scared? He got SOAKED from head to toe! And he LOVED it! Since Dawson was so little and couldn't block the splash, Megan got pretty wet too! lol!

That night was the big show on the water.... Dawson's face explains it all, need I say more? We thought about sending Disney this picture.

By midnight.... Dawson was out! We couldn't get him to wake up for anything! So we got him a prize at the store outside the park. He loved it and plays every day with it. We also got him a book with the Disney characters, and I got a sweater jacket that I love and can't wait to wear it more when it's more chilly outside.

 

Again, Thank you so much to the Petersen's. Literally without them it wouldn't have been possible and near as much fun. We went on SOO many rides, and it was so relaxing to be able to stay at their home in Cali. Dawson is already saving up to go again in 4 more years when this baby can go and is tall enough to ride the big rides too. It was a magical weekend!

Really???

Sometimes I wonder where kids learn things and I have yet to gain an answer. With Dawson it amazes me how he is such a BOY! 

He will fart, laugh, give me mischievous eyes and say, "Can you smell it?"

He will burp loud and wait to see if I make him say "Excuse me" If I'm not around, he won't say it and just keep burping trying to get as many out as possible.

He wants to sleep in boxer briefs and a shirt 

He likes all the boy toys you could imagine and knows what is girl stuff...

He won't use my body wash because it has a flower on it which means it's not for boys

He likes to pee in the shower

AND now this....

Are you kidding me?

 

The story behind this.... well, we were all having dinner. Dawson finished before J.D. and I, so Dawson left the room. He came back, grabbed the jug very casually, and started drinking. J.D. and I sat there in SHOCK thinking, "what the heck?" We were so in shock, we just started laughing. Dawson then smiled and said, "What's so funny?" AND THEN... he took another swig!(that's when J.D. took a pic). We want proof to show Dawson one day.

Fishing

Living up here in Orem has been fun because we live so close to J.D.'s brother Chet and family. It just means for a lot of fun and good times. J.D. has been out fishing a couple of times this summer with Chet and they have caught some good fish.

This fish was HUGE!

It was 8 POUNDS! Thats more than Dawson or Andee weighed at birth!

On another fishing adventure, Dawson went too. Dawson loves his daddy because he does all the cool boy stuff like hunting,  fishing and camping. It gives me a break and lets Dawson have a break from me too. They have so much fun together and it's even more fun when you catch something like they do!

Dawson was so stinkin excited to catch this big ole' fish! Can you tell?

 

Way to go buddy! We're so proud of you!

Rodeo Time

We especially love the rodeo season and wish we could go to more every year. This year we only made it to the Spanish Fork Rodeo which turned out to be so much fun. It was a great rodeo! Dawson loves dressing up in all his cowboy gear and I especially love how handsome these 2 boys are. Dawson is like a little mini J.D. and we are so proud.

I finally spent more than 10 minutes on my hair which felt good to get done up for something since I've been dragging all summer. Don't mind the random hair going across my forhead...I promise that was unintentional and I didn't put it there. :-) We were in the shade and oh my how nice it felt! Dawson was totally spoiled with food and treats and pop.... I love his blue teeth!

 

We sat by my brother Choc and his gf Hailey. Choc had 2 extra tickets which meant we only needed 1 for Dawson. We ended up just going to the rodeo and literally as we were walking up to the booth to see if anyone had extra tickets, there was 1 lady who had 1 extra ticket. J.D. walked right up to her and asked if she had a ticket and she was so glad we were looking for only 1. It's usually harder to sell 1 instead of 2. We didn't sit where that ticket was, we just squished Dawson in and sat all together.