Guess Who's 1?!

This Guy!!

 

 

Last year Gary was gone for my birthday....AND his birthday!

This year he was gone for Dawson's FIRST birthday!

SAD!!

So, while I know these photos are a bit excessive, I didn't want Gary to feel like he missed out on anything!

Oh, and did I mention that he will also be gone for Graysen's birthday next month? Yeah, he's on a roll!

 

 

We WILL be celebrating with gifts, cake, ice cream, and all on Sunday, when Gary's home, but for his actual birthday I made these cupcakes. Since Gary is gone the frosting did not get piped on, so it doesn't look pretty, but you better believe it tastes AMAZING!! I think this frosting should go on....well....everything!

 

 

Ready for a cupcake!

And this is how it's done

Want some?

That's a happy, "yummy!" face

Cute cousin Victoria

Tanzi and Gray think the frosting is yum!

Cupcake? Gone!

Alyssa eating her cupcake oh so meticulously

Mmmmmmm

Grampy approved

Yes, they were that good!

Going....

......going......

....gone!

And, yes, it does require a gallon of milk to go along (or at least a sippy)

Opening a present siblings and cousins took a lot of time to make and fight over

Who knew a foam paper would be such a fabulous gift?

This was by far his favorite, though!

He spent a lot of time pulling off those foam sticker dots!

Still pulling

Recruiting help from Tanzi and Victoria

Present from Grammy and Grampy

But the dots took too long...and he's kind of done!

OK, really done!

I'm not sure how she managed it, but somehow my mom dropped her phone RIGHT on top of the cupcakes.

It was quite impressive!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY!!

 

 

 

Dawson has brought SO much joy into our lives!!

He is obsessed with doors. He loves to open (if they're not closed tight) and close them. He loves peeking around the door and being surprised by someone or something on the other side of the door.

Dawson doesn't say any words, but he likes to communicate by saying, "uh" We often have conversations with him using his own lingo.

He is attached to his blankets. Not just one, but several. But they are all the same material. It's actually quite nice to have several on hand and not ever be looking for just one specific blanket.

When he is tired, or really even when he's not, as soon as Dawson gets his blanket he immediately starts sucking his two fingers. But if he's tired and doesn't have his blanket he usually will not suck his fingers....he will just cry until he gets his blanky.

Dawson is such a HAPPY baby!!

I suppose he's making up for the first 3 months of his life when he never slept and he cried non-stop and insisted on being held and still cried!

But, now, he really is such an EASY, happy baby!

Dawson laughs and he is easily entertained, which makes it fun for us! We LOVE making him laugh! And when I say "we" that includes the kiddos! In fact, they can always seem to get him to laugh hard! Even if it's because they are laying on him, squishing him, dragging him across the floor, throwing things at him, or some other thing that seems dangerous for such a little guy.

If someone is lying on the floor Dawson cannot resist giving them kisses....lots and lots of kisses!!

And he will usually give kisses to the kids if we ask him to, but he doesn't like to give Gary or me kisses nearly as often!

Everyday I count this little guy as a true blessing in my life! He makes me want to be a better mother. He makes me want to try harder to be the best I can. I can not seem to get enough of him!

Thank you for loving me, baby boy!

Happy 1st Birthday! 

Recent Randomness

Well, Gary's on another trip. That means time to update the blog! I have been SO bad about this lately! And when I say lately I mean the last year (+) But I figured now would be a good time to add a few posts. We have been pretty good about taking pictures (on occasion), just not posting them. And while I wish that I could post random pics over the last long time I am opting to stick with the recent happenings.

 

 

Digging for gold

 

Gotta get the goob!

Hmmm....I wonder where she learns to stick things in her nose....

No words are needed....are they?

Graysen had a recent field trip to Kent's grocery store. The kids LOVED going into the back and, of course, getting goodies in their bag.

And, as a mother, it melts my heart to see Graysen and Tanzi holding hands.

LOVE!

 

We went to the park one day when the sun was shining. It wasn't warm, but it certainly WAS sunny! I put Dawson in the stroller and went back into the house to grab a couple things. Tanzi had the option to ride her bike or walk....she came up with her own option...and this is what I found when I came back out.

 

Kyri and Gray chose to ride bikes. They are both very good...without training wheels!! I see a lot of walks/bike rides on the path in our future!

 

Over the weekend we went to Grammy and Grampy's. It REALLY helps the time go faster when Gary is gone! Plus, it was Dawson's birthday (another post on that to come) so we needed someone to celebrate it with us! And Tawn and her girls went, too, so we really did have a GRAND time!! We went to the pet store while we were in Pocatello and Tanzi was SO excited to go! She couldn't stop talking about it! Yet, she was TERRIFIED of every single animal! HA! And Alyssa nearly stole a girl's coat. It was on the floor behind Alyssa and Grampy asked if it was hers. She said yes and put it on. A few minutes later some guy came up and asked if it was our coat. Tawn, at almost that exact moment, was wondering where Alysa got her coat because they didn't bring them. Needless to say, it was NOT Alyssa's coat, but it DID look just like it!! :)

 

Tanzi giving Grampy snuggles while he's on the computer.

I love this picture because it reminds me of me.  I don't know if he remembers or not, but I used to do things like this to my daddy ALL the time when I was younger.

 

The time change is. killing. us.

For the last little bit (and by this I mean since the LAST time change), the kids have been waking up around 5:00 or 5:30am!! WHAT?! Well, since the time change the kids have been going to bed SO late! I was hoping it would mean they would sleep at least until 6:00. I mean, is that really too much to ask? Really?! On Tuesday Tanzi was still up at 5:30!! I worked out and then took a shower and got ready for the day (my normal routine). When I came back downstairs around 7:00 this is what I found. But before she found her comfy spot on the stairs she raided the pantry and ate some oatmeal....dry....oh, and she drank Dawson's milk! Haha!! She slept here until about 7:45. Crazy girl!!

 

A glimpse into a typical day in the Allen home.

Wait.

I take that back.

Usually Graysen is joining in! It's a modern day miracle that he's not at this particular moment.