Over the river and through the woods to grandmother's house we go...

We were getting Dawson a snack and Todd said "Hon, get the camera!" He was sitting like this at the table.

Yes, Dawson often ruins family pictures by placing his ever delicious thumb in his mouth.

Getting ready to go to Christmas Eve service, again! Christmas Eve smooch, Ella thinks it's entertaining to make us pose so she can take our picture.Yes our family hunts, yes we think it's cool, and yes, my Mom decorates the buffalo for the holidays. There, now all our family secrets are out. My sister said she bought these napkins with me in mind, whatever does she mean?The stockings were hung by the chimney - wait a minute, by the picture of a tree with care....

Steph, Adam, Dave, Bethanne and Rachel on Christmas morning.

Ninny and Beeps.

Apparently Santa endorses the Broncos.

Dawson in Christmas Day time-out. Todd says he looks like me in this picture...This Christmas was all about making some new memories, not a lot of our traditions stayed intact (and for the record, I'm a sucker for tradition). First off, we didn't do our annual Christmas tree hunt, next because we didn't have a Christmas Eve celebration with Todd's side of the family and lastly because we weren't even home for Christmas! I LOVE being in my cozy little house at Christmas time, but my parents haven't had us "home" for Christmas since we got married, so after 15 years it was time. They have always made the trek here from Colorado, but now that they're only 3 hours away it was our turn. We braved the weather and drove (along with my sister, Todd's brother, and their kids) over to my parent's to stay for the holidays. We had a great time, lots of relaxing, lots of eating (we actually had a whole area devoted to baked goods called the snack rack). We all brought our stockings and hung them up at Mom's, we had our traditional Christmas breakfast, and then my Dad knocked himself out on the smoker by making a turkey, a ham and a prime rib. Mom did an awesome job feeding all 11 of us while we were there. We went to Christmas Eve service and got to visit with old high school friends, Todd's Aunt and Uncle and 2 sets of cousins who all go to the Calvary there. There was also a lot of X-Boxing going on - I bought Todd a 360 and Mom bought one for Dad, so slaughtering each other on Halo was a wholesome way to wrap us Christmas break. Ella literally thought every present she opened was AMAZING, and Dawson, in true form, methodically unwrapped each little gift and said "cool" after each. It was by far the best Christmas in regards to the kids, they totally got it this year and that made it really fun. Hope your family had a great one too!

That's my story and I'm stickin' to it

I went into labor early on Christmas morning. I actually hadn't even gone to bed yet when things got rolling. We always celebrate Christmas Eve at Todd's parents' house and spend the night pigging out, playing games and opening gifts. I woke up Christmas Eve and told Todd I felt a little weird, but couldn't put my finger on it. I stayed busy for the first part of the day making appetizers (home made buffalo wings are always on the menu for Aaron and Todd) and chasing Ella. By the time we got to my in-laws, I mentioned to my sis and Mom that I was feeling funny. But it was 20 days before my due date and of course I had no idea what to expect anyway since this was my first pregnancy. We decided to head home around 11 pm, Aaron and Ella were in tow. It started snowing on our way home, big, beautiful flakes. By the time we got the car unloaded, presents semi put away, and dishes done, it was well past midnight. So we washed up and headed to bed. I decided I better go potty one last time and when I got up, water started trickling down my leg, it was 1:20 am. I told Todd I thought my water had broke. I actually tried to go back to sleep but my adrenaline was pumping and I couldn't relax. About 5 minutes later I had my first real contraction, then another one 5 minutes after that... I decided to take a warm shower to see if these were real contractions, and sure enough, they kept on coming every 5 minutes. I went downstairs to have something to eat in case I was in for the night of my life. I had peanut butter toast, a banana, and a glass of milk. I decided to call our doula and the hospital at about 5:30 am to see what they thought, and after that called my Mom (who was staying along with my Dad at my sister's house for Christmas break) to come over so she could crash here with Ella and Aaron while they slept. I will never forget.... my Mom on our bed watching me go through contractions on the rocking chair looking more in pain than I was, watching her change our sheets and clean up our now wet carpet, Todd loading up the car and remebering to turn on the seat warmer, trying to wake Aaron up twice to tell him the news with no luck. So we were on our way! It was so exciting, but at this point I had already spent about 5 hours contracting every 5 minutes, so I was in serious mode already. That's one thing I didn't expect - (beside him showing up that far ahead of schedule) a lot of labors start out with contractions every 20 or 30 minutes so I was unpleasantly surprised:-) The day was long although I honestly had no concept of time, it was kind of bizarre. At 12:41 am on December 26th, our baby boy made his debut. Time stood still and the exhaustion I felt melted away along with my heart. Todd was so wonderful to me during my labor, and our doula was a great support. We had the greatest nurse and my OB was on call which had put me at ease all day. I'd wanted to try for a natural birth, I honestly didn't know if I'd ever be pregnant again and I wanted to experience it all - the good, the bad, the ugly. It was the most amazing day of my life. They let me spend over an hour with Dawson before they ever measured him or cleaned him up. All you mommies know how magical those moments are. They finally got to his bath around 3:30 am and I went to sleep about 5 am. The next day I was just dying to get home to Ella. We had missed Christmas with her and our family and I couldn't wait to get home. So we finally named our little guy (we were undecided until the last minute) and left the hospital about 14 hours after he was born. After a stop at Babies R Us for nursing supplies we headed home and my parents and sister made us an awesome meal, and then we opened presents one day late!

2 months

3 months

4 months

5 months

7 months (can't find a belly shot for 6 months...)

8 months

9 days before Dawson arrived!

Happy Birthday TWO You!

One day old!18 months

My Sweet Boy,
There is no one quite like you Dawson, such a conundrum, such a contradiction. You are high-maintenance and needy, yet so compliant. So sensitive and dependant on Mama, yet you are seriously one of the roughest kids I've ever met. You are mine, and I don't know how I got so lucky. Since the moment I met you, you had my heart, hook, line and sinker. I just love everything about you. Your amazing blue eyes (thanks to Dad), the way you twist your last 2 fingers just so while you suck your thumb. I love that you rub your eyelashes while rubbing your Silky. I love that you say "hi, HI!" every time you see me during the day, like you haven't laid eyes on me in weeks. I love that you lean your head on my back when I'm wiping up the floor. I love that I have to twist my arm and stretch to the back seat to hold your hand in the car, or while you're at the table eating - sometimes you just need a hand to hold. Maybe that's why I get you, because sometimes I just need some lovins too. You have fulfilled every possible need I've ever had to feel needed. You and Ella are the so perfect for me. Ella reminds me that I still have a lot to learn about this Mom thing, and somehow you remind me of just the opposite. You have a way of making me feel like I'm not half bad at it, that maybe I'm not so far off the mark. I need that sometimes. I wish that words could do justice, but they could never express what my heart knows or how deeply I love you. I still have a lot to learn about you, I daydream about who you will be, what you will become. My prayer is that you would grow up to love God with your whole heart, that you would love and have a servant's heart for people, that you would see things in light of eternity. These are all things I'm still trying to learn, so we will figure it out together. Now if you just happen to play basketball for the Zags, well, that would just be the icing on top of a very sweet cake.
I love you son, happy 2nd birthday!

Things you LOVE:
Mommy and Daddy
Thumb
Silky
Papa
Oreo cookies
Rough housing
Playing outside
Riding the 4-wheeler or mower
Helping me bake
ANYTHING with a motor

Things you HATE:
Haircuts (man, you seriously hate getting your hair cut)
The car wash
Getting your nails clipped
Monday morning when Daddy goes back to work
Sunday school (Mom leaves - or should I say tries to leave, not a good thing)

Favorite books:
Sheep in a Jeep - thanks D and Richie!
Can you Cuddle Like a Koala? - thanks Lofts!
The Bellybutton Book - thanks Siri and Chris!
Quiet Loud and Yummy Yucky - thanks Aunt Stephy!

What's in a Name?

5 months. I wish I could get away with that many rolls on my thighs. 8 weeks.

13 weeks.

12 weeks.

3 months.Lordy, he looks as big as Ella! 1st Easter. 8 weeks. These were jammies passed down from Ella, size 12 months, he's 8 weeks here. 4 weeks old.

Dawson's nickname is "Big D" (if you ask him what his name is, he'll say "D!"), and some may wonder why in the heck we call him that. When he went in for his 8 week check up, he'd gained 6 pounds, 8 ounces and grew 5 inches- WOW! The nurse at our ped's office said it was the biggest growth spurt she'd personally seen in that amount of time and proceeded to call him "Biggie" for the rest of the appointment. I think my sister Stephy actually coined the name "Big D". Now he's not so beefy, much to my dismay. I just love the chunky ones (Kel, I know you're the same way) but I think he's going to take after Daddy with his long and lean genes. Which is good I guess. Like his pediatrician told me during his months and months in the 95%, if he kept growing that way he'd be a hundred pounds by his first birthday. I didn't really want my son to be on Discovery Health some day as "Dawson, the 700 pound man." He's still up there for height, but I don't think we can count on the J.P. Batista bod we were hoping for him to have. Here are some of my favorite pictures of Dawson from fat camp.

The Stats

Due date - January 14th, 2007

Born - December 26th, 2006 at 0041

Weight - 7 pounds, 4 ounces

Length - 20 1/4"

Potential names:

Ava, Natalie, Claire

Mitchell, Luke, Matthew

2 months:

13 pounds, 12 ounces and 25" long

6 months:

18 pounds, 2 ounces and 27 1/2" long

One year: oops, this isn't in his baby book, I'll have to look this one up in his medical file.

18 months:

27 pounds, 35"

I'm dreaming of a white Christmas

We got some MAJOR snow this week, setting records for the biggest snowfall in 24 hours, and it just keeps on comin'.... It's absolutely gorgeous, it feels like we're living in a snow globe that never gets set down but just gets shaken up every few minutes. I honestly don't think there's been more than a few hours here and there this week that the sparkly white stuff hasn't been falling. Todd and I have spent a lot of quality time together - shoveling. And we've had fun sledding behind the 4-wheeler with the kids. It works out perfectly because Ella and I love the wild ride from the sled, and Dawson is happy as a clam helping Dad drive. Since the snow is always coming down it kinda pelts you in the face, so here are the kids all decked out in goggles. Ella in my ski goggles and Dawson in the safety glasses from his tool bench. We're improvising here, but it worked. Our nieces and nephew came over for a little while today to enjoy some snowy fun. It's not fun to drive in, but it's sure fun to play in!

2.5 months

Thanks for the picture Ella! According to my handy dandy book on all things baby, this is what the newest Rufflings look like, just muliply this picture by 2:-) I forgot to post a 2 month prego picture, so here's a picture a little past 10 weeks. I'm interested to see how the ones to come will compare with my monthly pictures of Dawson's pregnancy, could get scary here in a couple of months. I really need to get some maternity clothes, I can't imagine my jeans are going to fit too much longer...