dear rawley,


the fact that you are now five is way beyond my comprehension.  it seems like it was both yesterday and ions ago that i remember your sweet brand new face with your long toes and feet curled up against my arm and your sweet nose nestled against my face as i smelled all your brandnewness.  you are now five.  you will start kindergarten in the fall and you will be spending more time away from me then you will be with me. 


ugh. 


can't grasp it yet.


watching you grow and see you at the little boy you are today has been nothing short of amazing to be a part of.  you challenge me in so many ways with your stubbornness and ornery antics, but i wouldn't give it up for the world.  you are now voicing your own opinions, wants and needs and it makes me laugh so hard at times because you are very adamant in your decisions.  for instance just the other night i told you that we were going to read two stories and then you were to fall asleep in your own bed.  you seriously told me no thank you, not now because you were still an eagle (meaning you are still in preschool) and that you weren't a rocket yet (meaning the mascot for when you're in kindergarten) and you will sleep there when you are a rocket.  i didn't want to argue because it was just so cute how grown up you sounded over something you want nothing a part of (SLEEPING IN YOUR OWN BED). 


you have such a sweet and sensitive soul and i love that about you, but there are days where you can antagonize the heck out of your brother or anyone else that you don't want to be bothered by.  it baffles me how hot and cold you can be, but those moments that you are so kind and caring over your brother melts my heart and makes me realize you really do love him and protect him if needed.


i know our relationship will always have our ups and downs and i know you will be a teenage boy who's mother totally embarrasses him and you won't want to be around me, but i really hope you will always be that sweet, protective and sensitive boy that i know you are. 


i love you my sweet boy.  happy fifth birthday!

love,
mom

halloween.

wowza, i'm now finally getting to posting our halloween pics.  geesh.  hopefully one of these days i will make more time to post what's going on around here.  lord knows i'm not even updating the boys' baby books...

halloween this year was SO much fun!  the boys were totally into what they wanted to be and was so excited to go trick-or-treating with their friends and cousins.  rawley chose to be jake from jake and the neverland pirates and of course dawson was batman because he's always batman.

dawson was so excited and having such a great time that he ended up peeing in his costume because he didn't want to take it off ;)  when asking him why he peed in his costume he said "but mom, i peed standing in the rocks".  ok....  so he went around the neighborhood like this

awesome, huh?! ;)

and our neighborhood was so stinkin' festive that one of our neighbors had a photobooth set up in their driveway.  we also had a bounce house at our little pocket park that had the cutest glowing pumpkin lanterns hanging from all the trees.  our hood did it up right this year :0)

hope everyone had a wonderful and safe halloween!

dawson | THREE

age:  3 years 

stats:  weight:  34.5 pounds {77th percentile} & height:  38.25 inches {71st percentile}

clothes:  he is wearing 3t shirts, 3t shorts/pants and wearing size 9 and sometimes size 10 shoes

favorite foods:   dawson is a hit or miss these days with food, but i assume it's because he is three.  some days he eats it all, most days he says he doesn't like the same thing he at a few days before.  i just feed him his meal or snack and if he doesn't like it then he can eat at the next meal.  ain't no one got time for picky eating ;0)

favorite words:  this kid talks up a storm!  some days i'm blown away by how much he talks and what comes out of his mouth.  he has such a crazy good vocabulary and everyday he makes me belly laugh.  his new favorite saying right now is "mom.  what is that smell?" all the damn time.  sometimes he will say it when it truly smells like something rancid {like in the airport and someone actually let out a good one} or just when we turn the car on.  not sure why this is his phrase, but we all get a good chuckle out of it from time to time.  and something  that melts me everyday, dawson will randomly bust out "mom.  i love you."  i love that :0)
 
favorite activities:  dawson LOVES batman.  like obsessed.  he really loves all the super heros right now {more specifically batman and spiderman}.  he received a batman mask and sword for his birthday and he has been wearing/carrying it since his party.  he sleeps with it, wears it in the car and i've even had to grocery shop with him wearing it.  he has a spiderman doll that he sleeps with every night and i always catch him playing somewhere with it or he'll bring it to the table with him to eat.  he is also loving Lego's at the moment.  we recently started buying the Lego Junior sets for him and he does really well putting the small Lego's together.  we went to Legoland over the summer and recently the Legoland Discover Center while in Kansas City and he can't get enough.  his favorite one's to put together are the Batman sets {obviously} and anything that has motorcycles or the little guys.  if you can find all three in one set, you've struck gold!  baseball is still his thing {he prefers to be catcher more than anything, but he calls it being the umpire}, but we have dabled into soccer this year and he's been having fun with that.  he's doing really well listening to his coach and playing when he's asked to play. :0)

least favorite activities:  putting anything away or cleaning up after himself.  i can't even count how many times i have to remind him to put his clothes away or pickup all his monster trucks or motorcycles that are scattered everywhere.  he'll often tell me "mom, you do it."  um, no sir i will not!

   
personality traits:   he's killing it with the facial expressions still and he'll be completely random with really funny sayings.  for instance, we are eating dinner and he puts some mashed sweet potatoes on his finger and says "look mom, a finger hat."  just random and serious and i can't help, but bust out laughing.  he is truly his dad's child and takes after his side of the family 100%.  in addition to all his silliness, he is also starting to whine and complain a lot more lately.  especially if it's something he doesn't want to do and when he doesn't want to do it he will always say "i'm not feeling good."  i'm sure it's just a tactic to get an extra snack or get out of doing things he doesn't want to do. 



other milestones and things i want to remember:  dawson has been potty trained for quite sometime now.  we are still working on night time, but i'm not expecting that to be mastered for a while.  he will wake up dry from a nap though so i call that progress!  speaking of naps, those are a thing of the past.  i believe we are now in the stage of life where we have kids that no long nap.  can you believe that tragedy?!

oh my dawsie doodle.  i love you so much!  you bring us so much happiness and laughter and i can't even imagine the days that you and your brother were not in our lives.  you are a strong-willed little one, but i know that will get you anywhere you want to go in life.  i love you more!

All photos taken by Adrienne Brown Photography

rawley | first day of preschool...again

today rawley started his first day of preschool for the last time {hopefully.  and more on that thought in a minute}.

he goes to school in the afternoon so all day he was totally pumped to see "my mrs.  shelly".  we've had a few play dates over the summer with his favorite teacher and her son so to finally be able to see them everyday was like christmas!  dawson was so sad to see rawley go to school without him, but he absolutely loves dropping him off and picking him up.  he uses it as an excuse to wear his very own backpack! ;)

rawley has come a LONG way from where he was at the beginning of last school year, but there is still this gut feeling inside that will not be ready for kindergarten next year and that we are looking at other issues.  his speech has dramatically changed for the better and so has his social skills, but there are still things that worry me about his development.  i can't quite place my finger on it, but i talked to his teacher about this and we might be moving up his IEP meeting so we can talk about new goals and get him ready to transition to kindergarten or maybe even holding him back another year.  we'll see, but i'm so happy for how far he has come and knowing how much he is loved and cared for at his school and by his amazing teacher.  i can't even begin to explain the love we all have for her.  it always brings tears to my eyes talking about it because she has been amazing with him.  i like to call her the rawley whisper. ;)

and just for kicks, lets compare the start of school last year and then this year.  my sweet handsome boys.  plus, they got a little sillier :)

mother's day.

mother's day was spent with my mamma, mother in law, aunt, husband, step daughter and two babies.  

we had an early brunch for my mom, and my mother in law and we were lucky to have my aunt in town from florida too!  we spent the day poolside, played baseball {the boys played baseball, actually} and rode bikes.

the day was perfect and simple.  just the way i like it!

dawson says.

dawson talks up a storm {has for a very long time now} and i really need to start writing down the funny things this guy says.  always making me laugh, this one.

me:  "dawson, when are you going to start going potty on the potty?"

dawson:  "no, i the baby!  i wear my diaper."

dawson:  "i like baseball."

me:  i know you do, bud"

dawson:  "not daddy, not mommy, not rauwee, only dawson.  only dawson like baseball"

i'll be adding to this frequently because it never ends with this guy ;0)

rawley and dawson's first soccer game

 rawley started soccer last season, but this season dawson was eligible to play too and they were on the same team together for the first time. also on their team?  cousin avery and their bff dominick :0)

 

they love playing together, but mostly they love just running around and having anything to do with soccer ;0)  they really want nothing to do with it and that's ok, but sometimes it gets a little frustrating when they want to hang out on the sidelines and not listen to the coach.  i feel bad.  thankfully he isn't the only one doing this, but i would really love them both to really love it if that makes sense.

the very first game though, dawson was all about it and rawley wanted nothing to do with it.  dawson was getting in the mix and kicking the ball around.  by the time the second game rolled around, rawley was all about it and dawson wanted nothing to do with it.  

 

 they really love running in the tunnel and have snacks though ;0)

dear rawley: today you turn FOUR

{written April 1, 2015}


dear sweet rawley,

i really can't believe you are FOUR years old already.  i'm not sure how that really happened in the blink of an eye. 

you have made such tremendous advances this year.  i am so proud of you and how well your speech has come along.  even in the last few months alone you have just bursted with new vocabulary, expressions and stringing some sentences along.  your interests remain in anything that involves music and dancing, singing and being on the move.  you love jamming out with the guitar and then  say "thanks folks!" when you are finished playing.  you love running around with your hands on your shoulders while pulling up the back of your shirt and pretend that you are monkey.  you will recite and "read" your Pete the Cat books and it's so wonderful to hear your sweet voice say ALL the words in those books.  you have made mom and dad so proud with all you have accomplished this year.  it blows me away with everything you are absorbing and doing now.  i honestly could listen to your sweet voice all day.

some days you have the kindest heart and make the sweetest gestures.  you are so good with your manners, always saying "please" and "thank you".  helping mom with brother while dad's away by helping putting both your plates in the sink, putting away clothes in your hamper and sometimes rescuing mamma and finding brother's "buhbee" for me when it's time for bed.  you've also recently started helping me bring the groceries in from the car and holding the door open for me.  such a sweet gentleman.  you can be so sweet and affectionate towards your brother and you get really worried when he's sad or hurt.  however, you guys can really get into it by fighting physically or over toys...a lot.  the times i catch you guys chasing each other around the house laughing uncontrollably, playing in your playroom together nicely or you reading stories to your brother make my heart melt.

it's been so fun with you these days because you're changing every second and becoming such a grown boy.  i love that you're my little buddy and times when we are together just the two of us show me how grown you really are now.  i know one day that will probably change and i'm sure it will be changed for the better, but now i'm soaking in this fun new dynamic we have and am so excited to see how much you grow into your own this upcoming year.

i love you so much my sweet boy.  happy birthday to my best big boy.  we love you so much forever and ever!

love,

your mamma



FOUR

weight:  32lbs {16th percentile}

height:  39.25 inches {27th percentile}

clothes:  3t shorts {still big on him, but dawson needs his 2t shorts}, 4t shirts, size 9 shoes

four seems strange to me.  we are still in little kid territory, but thinking ahead a year from now we will be gearing up for kindergarten and that is just crazy.  ok, enough of that...

rawley has made such huge strides over the course of the year.  he absolutely LOVES school and his teachers.  some days i think he would rather be at school than at home ;0)  this time last year he was maybe saying 1-2 word sentences if that and this year we are setting goals for five word sentences.  he is learning to make conversation with others now and has developed such a comfort zone in social settings.  it's amazing how comfortable he is now and it's just so wonderful to see.  we still have issues of randomly going up to kids in class and hitting or ruining what they were playing with, but we seem to think most of it stems from not expressing entirely what he wants/needs as he sees it.  progress and that is another goal set for the new year.  

he has become quite the "reader" now.  he will recite every single word from his Pete the Cat books or If You Give a Mouse a Cookie.  i could seriously listen to him talk all day.  he is so serious when he reads his stories and says it with such feeling.  it's so cute.  he really loves Thomas the Train now and will happily play by himself with all his train sets.  rawley is really into puzzles that are about 20-40 pieces and mamma loves to put them together with him.  maybe because it's the only activity that he will stay still for more than five minutes ;0)  rocket ships and robots also makes him happy and it's fun to sometimes find him in his room playing by himself or with his brother playing all of his toys or reading books.  last fall we signed him up for soccer for the first time.  he didn't really respond to well with it at first, but slowly started to show some interest towards the end of the season.  we are going to have him try again this spring and see how he does.  some days he likes playing sports, but some days he shows no interest so we'll see.  i don't want to force anything on him that he doesn't want to do, but i would like him to be a part of something that he loves and will keep him out of trouble as he gets older ;0)



 

rawley is finally potty trained with the exception of during the night.  he still wears pull ups at night, but we'll be working on that.  i haven't really made a point of trying for now, but it's time to get started on that.  we used to have such a struggle with him going on the potty, but one day i just decided to put him in underwear for good and it just clicked.  he has luckily only had two accidents since he's been in underwear full time.  he'll wake up with a wet pull up, but not sure if it's from when he first wakes up or from the night.  i'll have to keep my eye on it.

his relationship with dawson has grown so much over the year.  don't get me wrong he still fights so much with his brother but, he really has shown an interest in actually wanting to play with him.  they will chase each other all over the house and will ask dawson if he wants to play with him.  my mom heart loves that!  however, within minutes they will fight like crazy.  rawley is so sweet and caring with his brother if he's scared or sick and he is also like that with our friend vincent.  he's definitely a nurturer and i hope that trait stays with him.  it's very sweet.

we are so proud of all of rawley's accomplishments he has made over the last year.  happy birthday my sweet rawley!  mamma loves you forever and ever my sweet boy.


{probably my most favorite picture i've ever taken of him.  his personality captured exactly}

dawson is TWO!!

age:  24 months 

stats:  weight:  29 pounds {75th percentile} & height:  35.25 inches {71st percentile}

clothes:  he is wearing 2t shirts, 2t shorts/pants and wearing size 8 in shoes


  
favorite foods:   he is not a picky eater, but is choosing not to eat much right now.  like his brother, he a snacker so once meal time approaches he really only wants a few bites and then he yells "all done mamma.  ALL DONE!"

favorite words:  this kid cracks me up in the talking department.  what isn't this kid saying right now?  he'll repeat anything you say, but he is also stringing along 3-4 word sentences pretty frequently.  blue is still his color of choice, but he is finally starting to throw in green although i think he solely says blue just to be a stinker.  he is counting 1-10 and he'll try to count to 20 with some missing numbers throughout.  saying the alphabet and identifying the core shapes are the regular around here.  dawson has been really interacting with his words these days by telling me what he's doing when i ask him or expressing his emotion to us and his brother.  when he doesn't like something, you will know.  the whole neighborhood will know. 
 
favorite activities:  he is really loving the trycicle right now.  both him and rawley fight for this thing and they will race each other out of the back door to get a chance to get on it first.  if rawley happens to beat him to it, dawson will cry the entire time until he gets a turn.  it's really almost worth buying another one, but i don't want them to think that is the normal way of life.  they really need to figure it out and realize taking turns and sharing is just the way it is.  he got a new scooter for his birthday and he's learning to ride that.  now that the weather is getting more nice it will be fun to have him ride bike or his scooter to the park.  dawson loves reading books and sometimes i will find him sitting in the play room reading and pointing out everything in a book he found.  i love it.  currently his favorite books are Where the Wild Things Are, Roadwork and No, David!.  he is in the stage now of wanting to do everything himself like buckling himself into his carseat or putting on his clothes.  he's a very independent one that dawson :)

least favorite activities:  brushing his teeth is still a major struggle like most things at the moment.
   

personality traits:   dawson is still absolutely hilarious.  his facial expressions kill me every time and he is just so animated. he is very ornery and likes to throw tantrums or stand there and look at the ground and "pretend" he can't hear me when i ask him to do something that he doesn't want to do.  i guess typical two year old behavior, but man!  it's daunting getting anything done with that attitude.  i'll admit that i can't help but laugh at times because his face looks hilarious when he does this.  he's so serious, but persistent.    
  

other milestones and things i want to remember:  the suck suck is still a major problem around here.  i don't see this thing leaving us for quite sometime.  once ryan is home for a week straight, i will probably take it away from him.  i don't want to listen to the tantrums by myself that will ensue.  right now he is obsessed with motorcycle's, his monster truck and baseballs and all three he will request to be in his bed with him to fall asleep.  i'm hoping because of that, taking away the suck suck might not be so terrible.  or, he will just have it until he's twenty...we'll see ;0)  also?  hand holding.  i LOVE that he wants to hold my hand all the time.  he will yell at me "hold hand, mamma".  all the time.  even when we are winding down at the end of the day and relaxing on the couch he will ask to hold my hand and even interlock his fingers with mine.  heart MELTS.





happy birthday my sweet boy!  you are TWO and i can't believe it.  you make me laugh every single day and i can't imagine life anymore without you in it.  you complete our family and are such a joy!  i love you forever and ever!

halloween: a robot and a football player

i decided to take the boys out last night to capture them in their halloween costumes since i know that i won't be as aware of it on halloween night.  besides, i wanted to make sure i got a few cute ones before they start running a muck in the streets and they would be too distracted to stop long enough for me to snap a shot.  

this year rawley is really into robots.  loves them.  although he can't yet tell us that he wants to be a robot, i found an adorable robot costume that should fit the bill for him.  once he saw it he was pretty stoked about it!

dawson is 200% into sports right now...ALL the sports.  we got these adorable jammies from our dear friends and since they are almost too small i thought using these for his costume this year would be perfect.  they are my favorite jammies and bummed they won't be used that much longer.

 

{p.s.  dawson hates to get his picture taken these days.  he won't look at me or ever make eye contact with me.  stinker.}

one of these years i will be able to get these two together in a photo, but for now i'll take these adorable pics. :)  happy halloween!!

letters to dawson: you are TWO!

dear baby boy,

today you are TWO years old!  

most days i look at you and actually think you are older than you actually are.  you have gained so much knowledge and personality in the short twenty four months since you have completed our family.  

you are all boy and it cracks me up everyday.  you love playing and watching all the sports, motorcycles, cars, planes and monster trucks.  every night you make me laugh by you demanding that you sleep with your baseball, motorcycle and monster truck.  you can't sleep without it and once i give it to you, you giggle while i put you to sleep.  even though you are all boy with your boy things, you are the absolute sweetest little baby out there!  i love when you sit on the couch with me and yell at me to hold your hand or you sit there with your hand on my lap.  you love to cuddle me and give me kisses with your cute kissy lips.  i will never forget how sweet and loving you are right now in this moment and i really hope you will always stay this way with me ;0)

you are a very persistent and stubborn little boy {just like the rest of your family} and know exactly what you want at all times.  i hope that trait stays with you forever!  i love being your mamma and the joy you bring me is indescribable.  we love you so SO much and i'm so excited to see how much you grow in the next year!  happy birthday my sweet baby man!  you are always mamma's baby :)

love,

your mamma

dawson is 23 months.

oh, my dawson!  i'm writing this post for the second time since the interwebs decided to delete everything i have previously written...that already took me a week to write! ;0)

this little man a month shy of his second birthday and it's making this mamma all kinds of sad.  he's "mamma's baby" and i would like for it to stay that way. 

age:  23 months 

stats:  n/a

clothes:  he is wearing 2t shirts, 18-24 month shorts/pants along with some 2t's and he is wearing both size 7 and 8 in shoes depending on the brand.
  
favorite foods:   he still LOVES yogurt and generally anything else i throw at him.  however, his eating has really slowed down this month. 

favorite words:  he is saying the entire alphabet {although a few letters are missed or hard to understand}.  he can also identify a small handful of letters since we've been working hard with big brother on them.  blue is still the only color he says and thinks everything is blue.  his new thing these days is running up to me with something saying "look, mamma"! or if he is doing something and wants me to see he'll say "watch this"!  love it!  it's been so easy to communicate with dawson these days.  even if i don't understand what he is saying and i keep trying to say what i think he's saying, he'll repeat it until i guess right and then will nod his head in agreement.  :0)  it's been fun to witness rawley and dawson communicate with each other.  sometimes, it's still hard to understand what rawley says, but dawson completely understands everything he is saying and asking.  i love when they talk and giggle together!
 

favorite activities:  picking mamma flowers is still number one on his list, but when he's not doing that he is loving riding bikes, plasma cars and scooters outside.  when i say ride scooters i mean walk alongside the scooter while yelling "mamma, i do it"! 





 

least favorite activities:  getting his diaper changed still, but recently he has been scared to fall off his changing table {although he never has fallen off} so i'm not sure how this fear started.  i feel bad.   

personality traits:   what personality does this kid not have?!  he is seriously ALL personality and is jut funny.  he'll randomly make funny faces or be wearing something that's completely off the wall, but he loves it.  he has such a big personality and you definitely notice it when he is around.  he lately has become quite the bossy boy too.  for instance, when my aunt was in town {hi, aunt karen!} he would well at her to sit down and ride the plasma car with him.  he would yell "ride now!  SIT"!  i mean, really?!  i don't know where he gets the bossiness from, but whatever. 

 

other milestones and things i want to remember:  no matter how crazy he is, he still loves to snuggle and being "cozy" is his favorite way to wind down at any point in the day.  sometimes he will crawl into rawley's bed and have me read him stories while yelling "mamma, cozy" at me.  which usually means i need to put one of their blankies over me while i read to him.  stacking a huge tower of duplos while running around with it like a sword makes him super proud.  he has become more attached to his "buh-bee" along with his "guck guck".  i told myself that by now i would have him weaned off of that damn suck suck, but he has become more attached to it now than ever for some reason.  he asks for it all day long and i won't give it to him unless he's sleeping yet he whines for it ALL DAY.  part of me just wants to let him keep it until he weans himself off, but not sure what is a good idea.  i'm sure since he is my baby man i'll let him keep it until he's 20!

my baby man!  i can't believe you are almost two.  regardless of how big you get, you are always my baby.  you make me laugh every. single. day and you complete this family perfectly.  we love you so much my little sunshine!