3...2...1....Blast Off to a Busy Week

The past week has been busy and VERY fun for us! Last Wednesday, Dawson's friend Connor got to come over to play. They had a great time, and played together really well. Their favorite things to play with were the toy vacuum cleaner and recycling truck. I got some really sweet pictures of the two playing together.

Then on Saturday evening John had his work picnic at the Space and Rocket Center, and we all had a great time! Dawson loved looking at the tall rockets everywhere and playing in the kids area. Of course, he loved all the attention he was getting from John's co-workers as well! Dawson was so tired on the way home that he was just being REALLY silly in the backseat.

On Sunday we went to church. That evening our friends, Eric and Heather, had us over to cookout. We had a feast, and we all had a great time. Dawson got to play with his friend, Jack (22 months) while we were there. Their favorite thing to do together was watch their Dad's out the window grilling.

On Monday morning John had Eric help him finish our shelving project in the playroom closet. John and I did almost all of it ourselves, but the last few shelves were getting difficult with Dawson "helping" and not being able to do work on it while he was sleeping since the drill woke him. I am SO SO happy to have this project completed, and now we can store toys in the playroom closet so they're not all lined up around the playroom! I'm very pleased with the closet now! While Eric helped John complete the project Dawson got another opportunity to play with his friend Jack, and they enjoyed each other's company again!

The past week has been a lot of fun with our friends, and we're looking forward to all the fun in the coming weeks as we prepare for our beach trip!

Enjoy the pictures below...

Above: Dawson at John's work picnic at the Space and Rocket Center.

He's supposed to be in the astronaut suit! :)

Above: Dawson and Jack in the wagon!

They were having a great time until I stopped pulling the wagon

to take this picture. They wanted to GO!


Above: More wagon fun.

Above: Dawson and his friend Jack watching the

grillers (their dads)!

Above: Dawson looking sleepy in the backseat

after all the fun he had at the Space and Rocket Center.

Above: Dawson being silly in the backseat.

Above: The rocket up close.

Above: Dawson and I in the astronaut suit.

Above: Dawson playing in the "Mars Play Area"

at the Space and Rocket Center. (If you can't see

it, his shirt says "S is for Spaceship!")

Above: More fun on Mars.

Above: A slide on Mars?! Who knew!

Above: Dawson with Daddy playing.

Above: Climbing up all by himself.

Above: More Mars fun!

Above: Playing...

Above: Dawson and Connor playing with the

recycling truck.

Above: More playing...

Above: Dawson playing with his Weebles

van.

Above: Dawson playing with a hat.

Above: Dawson wanted Connor to enjoy

the hat too!

GO VOLS!

On Saturday we had some of our friends over to watch the Tennessee v. Oregon game! Some how we've managed to find several Tennessee fans here in Bama and Auburn territory, and we were excited for John to have a Saturday off for us to have them over and enjoy watching the game. Everyone brought delicious food, and we had a great time watching the game and hanging out. Even though the game ended in a loss for Tennessee, we still had a great time!
I wanted to share some pictures below from the Tennessee Party at our house!
GO VOLS!

Above: Our family decked out in our orange!
Above: This photo is obviously not from the game,
but we took this quick picture on Sunday morning
before heading to church.

Above: The cake I made for our Tennessee Party on Saturday.

Above: Some of the girls at our party.

Above: Dawson hanging out with the guys (and being silly)

during the game!

Above: Dawson didn't just have to hang out with

the boring adults during the game, his friend Connor

(23 months) was here to play too! The Cozy Coupe is always a

favorite toy with his friends (thanks, Logan!). Dawson

was always very concerned when Connor got a turn

to sit in the car! :)

Above: I made this coloring sheet for Dawson

to color during the game. We obviously only

gave him orange crayons. I was impressed though

as he's actually a lot more interested now in making

marks on the paper!

Labor Day & Bath Time Fun!

This week we were able to spend A LOT of time outside enjoying the beautiful weather. The temperatures have been perfect for playing outside. On Saturday evening Dawson's Lolly, Pop, and Uncle Logan (my parents and brother) came down for a short visit. They stayed until Sunday afternoon, but their main reason for coming to visit was to bring an outside play set for Dawson. On Sunday morning John, Pop, and Uncle Logan assembled the play set in the back yard, and Dawson has been playing on it ever since! We had fun visiting with them the short time they were here, and we're so excited that the next time we see them will be in the Tampa Airport when we go on vacation next month!

On Monday we had our small group over for a Labor Day cookout! We grilled burgers and hot dogs and had some yummy sides and cookies. We were able to spend the entire evening outside. The guys played corn hole while the girls chatted and Dawson ran around playing in the backyard. When Dawson got worn out, we brought him inside and after a quick bath he fell quickly fell asleep. He played hard all day, so I know he was worn out; he slept 12 hours that night which is rare, but it was wonderful! After Dawson went to bed, we got out the tiki torches and continued our cookout in the backyard. We had a great time celebrating Labor Day, and it was nice for John to have a holiday off of work too!

On Tuesday Dawson and I had several of his friends over for our weekly playdate. This week his friend Hayden (23 months), Ethan (25 months), Austin (25 months), Norah (21 months), and Jonah (3 years) were all able to come and play! Dawson had a great time after he decided to venture off of my lap to play. He is in the process of cutting two more teeth, so he has been a little fussy and clingy. He had a great time with his friends, though. Unfortunately, I didn't take any pictures of this playdate.

Wednesday morning Dawson and I went to storytime at the library, and he loved it as usual! He is always so entertained just watching the other kids. Now it seems like he is learning to sit while the librarian reads the story and then to stand up during the songs! It's funny because he knows exactly where we go when we go in the library to find the storytime room!

One other fun thing we've done several times this week has been FIZZY TUB COLORS! If you don't know about these, you're missing out! Dawson thinks these are the coolest! :) Basically you fill up the bath tub with water, as usual, and then drop one of the nickel-sized tablets in the water. They come in red, yellow, and blue, but you can also mix them to make different colors. I was able to take a some pictures of when we did the blue color and the orange color! He loves these right now!

Enjoy the pictures below...

Above: John & Dawson playing together in the

yard on Labor Day.

Above: Unfortunately, this is the only picture I got from
our Labor Day cookout. But as you can tell we had lots of
good food.

Above: Dawson new play set in our backyard.

Above: Dawson has learned to climb into chairs.

Here he is relaxing in the shade of his tree

in our backyard.

Above: On Saturday morning we let Dawson and Bentley

play in the cul-de-sac in front of our house. The both loved

running around!

Above: Dawson playing outside in his Tennessee shirt

before the first game on Saturday!

Above: Dawson eating breakfast in his pj's.

Above: So much fun!

Above: We threw the tub color in the water!

Above: Dawson in his blue bath!

Above: More of the blue bath.

Above: Sweet Dawson.

Above: Again.

Above: Dawson having fun in the tub!

Above: Dawson and Daddy made the tub orange! Go Vols!

The Busy Z's

Since we last updated our blog, we have done a lot! We have traveled to Tennessee to see family and go to my best friend's wedding, taken Dawson for his first hair cut, had friends over for a playdate, and spent a lot of time playing outside!
John's schedule has changed, so we are all trying to adapt to his new hours. Dawson and I have gotten in the habit of playing outside for at least an hour at the end of the day which helps the evening to go by faster without John here. Dawson L O V E S to be outside, so it's perfect for this time of evening because it isn't too hot and since he sometimes starts to get cranky near bedtime it helps this time of day be not so miserable for him. So, we have several pictures to share below of Dawson playing outside in the evening.
On Friday morning when John got off work we left to drive to Tennessee. My best friend, Lauren, was getting married on Saturday so we drove up for the wedding. Friday for lunch I attended her bridesmaids luncheon at Aubrey's (yum!), and then that evening was the wedding rehearsal and rehearsal dinner at Copper Cellar (another yum!). I was so honored to be her Matron of Honor, and I had a wonderful time with all of the wedding festivities this weekend. Saturday we all spent the day getting pampered while we got our nails, hair, and make-up done before her wedding that evening. Everything was beautiful, and I had a great time being in her wedding and seeing all of our friends back in town!
On Friday between the wedding festivities we took Dawson to have his first hair cut! We had been planning the first hair cut to take place when we were in Tennessee so that we could take him to Johnnie's Barber Shop. This is where my Dad (Dawson's Pop) and his brothers have gotten their hair cut FOREVER! My brother, Logan, (Dawson's Uncle Logan) also got his first hair cut here when he was little. Anyways, I had been trying to work Dawson's first hair cut around a trip to Tennessee, so I was excited it worked out. Dawson didn't have a ton of hair, but he had enough that he was getting the rat tail look in the back according to John, although I described it as cute little curls! :) Needless to say, it was time to have it shaped up, so we took him to Johnnie's Barber Shop. As you can see in the photos below, yes, Johnnie is a she. She did a great job, and Dawson was pretty happy considering he was restricted to a seat rather than getting to run around. He looks like such a big boy (instead of a baby) now that his neckline has been shaped up and all those random, long baby hairs have been trimmed. He was so brave. I saved the hair for the baby book, of course! I still cannot get over how much older he looks with his hair shaped cut. He's our big boy now! :)
While we were in Tennessee we spent time visiting our parents (Dawson's Grandad & Nana and Lolly and Pop), Uncle Logan, Aunt Em, Cousin Drew, Dawson's Great Mamaw, Great Aunt Carolyn, my cousin, Susan, and second cousin, Christian. Dawson, of course, LOVED all of the attention he got from everyone! Now that we're home, he's probably wishing he were back in Tennessee so that he would have more than just me and John to play with!
We drove back home on Monday, and Tuesday I decided Dawson should have some of his friends over to enjoy some of the new toys his Lolly and Pop had sent back with him. So we had a Weeble Play Date! Dawson's Lolly and Pop sent us home with a ton of Weebles, and Dawson loves them. His friends Ethan and Austin (twins, 24 months old) came over to play, and they all enjoyed the Weebles! Dawson stayed pretty close to me, as usual, but he did play with his friends some while they were here. Even though he doesn't always interact with his friends a lot when they're here, I know it's good for him and that he enjoys being around other kids.
As you can tell, we've been the busy Z's (which is how we like it!). Enjoy the pictures below...

Above: This picture says "I'm serious

about football."
Above: Dawson thought it was hilarious that
he was inside the back door and I was outside.

Above: More playing outside.

Above: More playing outside.

Above: This is our tree named Dawson. The

other tree we planted in May is named Bentley

which I think may have been in another blog.

Anyways, Dawson LOVES to shake his tree

for some reason. We constantly tell him "no," but

apparently there is something SO fun about it that

he just can't resist.

Above: A plane flew over and Dawson put his

right arm up (as you can see) and said "up."

This is what he always does now when a plane

flies over.

Above: Just so hard to leave that tree alone!

Above: Some of the bridesmaids.

Left to Right: Rachel (bridesmaid), Lauren (bride!), and

me at Aubrey's for the bridesmaids luncheon.

Above: Dawson having his hair cut by Johnnie.

Above: Dawson having his hair cut by Johnnie.

Above: More hair cut....look at that face!

Above: Hair cut time!

Above: Getting your first hair cut is serious business.

Above: Close-up during hair cut!

Above: The sign where Dawson got his first hair cut!!

Above: Dawson and Lolly playing with the

Weebles!

Above: Dawson playing with his cute

horse! This thing is so funny!

Above: Some bridesmaids at the Rehearsal Dinner.

Left to Right: Me, Ashlee, and Erin. All Sigma Kappa

sisters. It was great to see them this weekend too!

Above: John and I at the Rehearsal Dinner.

Above: Me with the beautiful bride getting

ready before the wedding!

Above: John and I at the reception at

Crescent Bend in Knoxville.

Above: Dawson playing with his horse.

Above: Dawson with his Mommy and Great Mamaw!

Above: Dawson at the play group we had

at our house this week!

Above: Dawson at our play group!