Our Trip to the White House

No, we didn't go to Washington, but to The White's House in Asheville, North Carolina! We left home early Tuesday morning for the longest road trip we've taken Dawson on so far (he did great!). We drove to Maryville where we dropped Bentley off with my parents and stopped for lunch at Something Savory, and then we continued the second part of our trip Tuesday afternoon. Since Interstate 40 is closed due to a rock slide we had to detour to North Carolina's scenic interstate which was very pretty and snowy at the top of the mountain (our Jeep looked like we'd been through a blizzard).
After a long day of traveling (over 7 hours actual driving time) we arrived at the White's house Tuesday evening. We had a great visit staying up there a couple of nights. Not only did we get to visit our good friends, Josh and Cassandra, we also got to see their house now that they've gotten settled. Cassandra and I talked baby stuff the whole time since she's expecting a little one this summer (yay!), and the guys talked sports and played Xbox Golf. While we were there we visited downtown Asheville, had breakfast at a great spot downtown called Tupelo Honey Cafe, played indoor putt-putt, played a movie trivia game, and raced go carts at the Asheville Fun Depot. We had a great time visiting, and we were more than happy to let Josh and Cassandra get all the "practice" changing diapers and feeding Dawson that they wanted. We were sad to go, but hope to see our friends again very soon. We made it back to Alabama Thursday evening.
Unfortunately I didn't get any pictures of all of us...most of them include Dawson as usual.

Above: John and I at the White's.
Above: Cassandra finds a great place to rest
while putting. :) Carrying a baby is hard work!

Above: John and I racing go carts at Fun Depot. (I won!)

Above: The guys racing.

Above: Dawson loving all the attention he was getting.

Above: Josh playing with Dawson and their

dog, Layla, got in the picture too.

Above: You never know what these two

are up to!

Above: Again, Dawson LOVED the attention....Josh and

Cassandra will make great parents.

Above: Dawson relaxing on my lap.

Above: Dawson in Asheville.

Above: During a pit stop on the way to Asheville

we let Dawson pull up and stand in the back seat

and he thought it was hilarious.

Our Trip to the Flying Monkey

On Saturday Dawson and I decided to go to the Flying Monkey with one of my friends, Melanie. The Flying Monkey is in the old Lowe Mill building which was built in 1900 and used as an old textile mill to make yarns and shirts. Later it was also used as a cotton warehouse, then a shoe factory (when boots were needed for Vietnam), then a warehouse for heating systems, and then it was abandoned for many years. In the past few years there has been a lot done to change Lowe Mill, and now it has two main floor where local artists have studios. So it was a lot of fun to see the inside of this old Huntsville building. Now local artists have studios in this building, and it is open to the public to come in, watch the artists work, and you can purchase their work as well.
So when Melanie asked me if I would like to go to the Flying Monkey on Saturday while John was working, I was excited to see somewhere new. I was worried that Dawson wouldn't do well, but he did amazing. He rode through all of the studios looking at art and all of the people there and was generally happy. To get from one floor to the next you have to take a really old elevator. Instead of doors it has gates that the operator has to manually raise and lower each time you get to a floor, and you can see the pulley and the entire elevator shaft from inside. I was worried this might scare Dawson (especially the noise), but he was content and just watched everything go by when we could see the brick inside the elevator shaft. I was so happy that Dawson seemed to enjoy riding around the studios in his stroller!
Before we went to the Flying Monkey, we had lunch at the Blue Plate Diner, a restaurant we've been wanting to try since we have heard so many good things about it. The Blue Plate is only open for breakfast and lunch and is set up like an old diner inside. We had a great waiter who talked to Dawson the whole time we were there. He even introduced Dawson to a younger baby girl sitting nearby and asked if I wanted to take a picture of Dawson with him for his baby book for his first time at Blue Plate (I almost took him up on this, as I love to take pictures of Dawson). Needless to say, with all of this attention, Dawson did wonderful at the restaurant too. This was the first restaurant where I have put him in a high chair and used the cover his Lolly made for him, and he did great! When we were using his old car seat, we always carried it in the restaurant and placed it in a sling near the table for him to sit. Overall, Dawson did great on our little trip to the Blue Plate and the Flying Monkey.
As a general update on Dawson...He has had turkey and chicken so far of his meats to try and really would prefer not to eat either because of their texture. Last night I discovered that he will eat his chicken with no fight if it's in apples, so that's how he ate his chicken last night! Tonight he gets to start his four days of trying beef.
He still isn't officially crawling on his hands and knees, but he can get around by rocking and lunging or 'army crawling,' so it's only a matter of time before he's everywhere! He's pulling up on everything now and loves to walk holding our hands.
As for John and me, we are doing well. John has still been staying busy with work. This past week we were happy to have a couple of his coworkers over. I've continued to stay busy taking care of Dawson, making baby food, and going to the wellness center. Last weekend I made Dawson 511 ounces of baby food, so hopefully that will last a month. I've never made that much at one time, and our freezer looks fully stocked, but I have a feeling I'll be making more before too long! I also found a great recipe to make homemade biter biscuits that only requires juice, flour, and baby cereal. I made Dawson 30 biter biscuits some in the shape of hearts for Valentine's Day and with our Z-shaped cookie cutter. So he's been gumming his heart and Z biter biscuits this week and loving them! We are very much looking forward to our upcoming trip to Asheville, North Carolina to see our friends Josh and Cassandra. And then John and I are looking forward to a ski trip we have planned as well when Dawson will be staying with his Nana and Grandad for a couple of days.
I have posted a few pictures below...

Above: When Dawson wakes up in his crib, he has

learned to push the bumper pad down and watch the door

for us to come in and get him out of bed. As you can

see in the picture he thinks it's funny that he can do this.

Above: Looking toward the door.

Above: Pushing the bumper pad down more, waiting for
Mama or Dada to get him out.

Above: In the process of pulling it down.

Above: Please get me out!

Above: Dawson in a restaurant high chair for

the first time. Although, I didn't take the waiter

up on getting a picture with him, I did sneak a

couple pictures of Dawson in the high chair.

Above: He loved being free to look around

at Blue Plate!

More Hockey Pictures

I got a few more pictures from a friend who had her camera at the hockey game last week.

Our group at the game.

Zorio Family Update

I realized I haven't updated our blog since Christmas, but mostly that is because we have not had anything exciting going on here in Alabama. So to update everyone on what little has gone on in the past couple of weeks...

John's parents, Dawson's Nana and Grandad, got to visit around New Year's, and we were very excited for them to come down to our house. Unfortunately, I did not manage to get any pictures while they were here, so I will have to do better next time! While they were here we visited at our house, and then braved the rain and cold to go to the Red Robin at Bridge Street for dinner.

For the past few months, Dawson has been getting a little frustrated in his car seat because it requires him to recline so much, and he's a big boy and wants to sit more upright. He doesn't cry in the seat, but he tries to sit up the whole time he's riding in it. He was still riding in his infant carrier which he could stay in until he's 32 pounds (although he's too heavy to use it as the carrier now, and we just leave it in the car as a car seat). I thought when we got the infant carrier/car seat we would have him ride in it until he reached 32 pounds to get all the use we could out of it, however, our little guy is ready so sit up in the car, so we're not going to hold him back! For Christmas Lolly and Pop gave Dawson the car seat that is the next stage up, which we were so excited to get! He still has to ride in this seat rear facing until he turns one, but he sits more upright in it. When he turns one we can turn it to the front and it will sit upright even more. After Christmas we made an appointment to have it installed so we could see the correct way to do it the first time, and of course, I took the camera along so we could get pictures of Dawson's first time riding in his big boy seat. It was so funny because he was so happy in his new seat (as you can see in the pictures below). He's much more content in the new seat so everyone is much happier in the car!

Thursday night we went with two other couples to a Huntsville Havoc Hockey game, an event John and I had been wanting to attend since we moved to Huntsville. We had great seats near the ice and we had a really good time. This was Dawson's first hockey game, and we were worried he would not make it til the end but he was content and entertained the whole 3 hours! Of course it helped that he was getting attention from people sitting around us!

Thursday was also Dawson's 8 month birthday! I don't have an update on his weight since we don't go back to the doctor for another check-up until he turns 9 months. We have continued introducing him to new foods. Thankfully, he isn't too picky and likes most everything we've given him. So far he has tried carrots, sweet potatoes (his favorite veggie), green beans, peas, zucchini, yellow squash, butternut squash, acorn squash, spaghetti squash, apples, pears (his favorite fruit), bananas, apricots, nectarines, peaches (another favorite), papaya, mango, prunes, avocado, and pumpkin (which he hates just like his mom!). I'm still having fun making all of his baby food at home. His appetite is continuing to increase, and I'm having to make a lot more food at one time to keep our freezer stocked. I have started increasing the texture of his food too which he doesn't really care for but is slowly getting used to.

Now that he's eight months old we can introduce him to blueberries, cantaloupe, kiwi, potatoes, watermelon, honeydew, chicken, tofu (which we will be omitting), veal, turkey, beef, pork, and some spices and herbs. I have turned the kitchen into a baby food factory this weekend in order to prepare these new foods for him to try and to get our freezer stocked up again. I'm interested to see how he does trying meat because I have a feeling he's not going to like the texture, but we'll keep our fingers crossed. I also found a recipe for homemade biter biscuits/crackers which he can start having now too, and I hope to get those made this week so he can try them.

He still doesn't have any teeth, but we keep thinking he is working on getting one because of all the drool and biting. Apparently, as a child I was a late teether so if he follows in my shoes then he may be eating his birthday cake with no teeth come May! I love seeing his gummy drooly smile so I'm in no hurry for him to get teeth.

He is attempting to crawl, but has not mastered the art yet. He can definitely get around by pulling himself on his belly or lunging for toys. His favorite thing to do right now is to hold on to mine or Da Da's fingers and walk around the house. He can support himself really well and loves to do this, of course, it's slightly back-breaking for John and me but we don't usually mind!

Dawson is still saying Mama and DaDa. He has also added "hiiiiii" for hi to his vocabulary. We have also started working on waving and clapping with him. He will clap more than wave but we're working on both. He still loves Bentley more than any toy (and more than John and I sometimes it seems hah!). When Bentley comes into the room he get so excited. She has decided that Dawson is ready to play and when he's trying to crawl she runs circles around him which he loves.

John is continuing to be a "weekend warrior" as we call it working weekends, and I'm still very much enjoying staying home to take care of Dawson. We looking forward to going to visit our friends in Asheville, North Carolina soon and to a skiing trip we're working to plan. Other than this we're just staying busy taking care of and playing with Dawson.

Above: Dawson in his room after church last week.
Above: Bentley decided to join Dawson in the picture.
Don't worry she's not actually touching his face, although
she's close. You can see how much he likes her.


Above: Dawson telling a story with Bentley.

Above: "Mom, can we be done with pictures, please?!"

Above: Dawson and Bentley look outside wishing for

warmer weather.

Above: Dawson loving his new car seat.

Above: The new seat.

Above: One more of how happy Dawson

was in his new seat.

Above: Dawson and Mommy at the Havoc Hockey Game.

Above: Dawson and Da Da at the hockey game!

Above: Dawson made friends with the people behind us at the

hockey game and wouldn't quit turning around to smile at them,

of course, they were playing peek-a-boo with him.

Dawson's First Christmas

John, Dawson, and I have spent the last week celebrating Christmas. Last Monday we traveled to Maryville to visit our families. Dawson has two wonderful sets of grandparents who make our lives much easier by keeping cribs set up at both of their houses for when we visit. On Tuesday morning Dawson had a 'first'. He woke up in his crib at his Nana and Grandad's house and we sat him up to look around. He immediately pulled-up to standing for the first time in his crib. Although, we were excited, we also knew this meant it's time to lower the matress in his crib(s) everwhere.

That Tuesday we celebrated Christmas with John's parents, sister, and our nephwe. We had a great time celebrating with them and watching Dawson open the first of his first Christmas gifts. Although we took lots of pictures, we didn't end up with any of Dawson with his Aunt Em or Cousin Drew (we will have to fix that on our next visit!). We had some a delicious dinner and a lot of fun exchanging gifts with everyone.

The next day, Wednesday, we got to celebrate Christmas with my parents and brother. "Chef Pop" fried the fish that John, Logan, and he caught deep sea fishing in October on our family vacation. The fish was really good and there was a lot of it thanks to the great fishermen! :) After lunch we opened gifts. We unfortunately were not able to get any pictures of Dawson with his Uncle Logan since Logan was sick. We hope he feels much better soon, though!

Wednesday evening we met our friend, Kealan, who went to high school with us and was in our wedding. We had dinner at Aubrey's with Kealan and his wife, Sarah. We usually don't get to see them when we're in town since they just moved back to Knoxville from Cincinnati, and we actually haven't seen them since their wedding in July. We got to visit over dinner for a couple of hours while Dawson stayed with his Lolly and Pop.

On Christmas Eve we visited my Mamaw (Dawson's Great Grandmother) and loaded the car to start home. When we got home on Christmas Eve night we all opened one gift of pajamas, a tradition we started this year with Dawson. Then Christmas morning we got up to celebrat Christmas at our house. We spent the day relaxing, watching a movie, and playing with Dawson.

We hope everyone had a Merry Christmas. Enjoy the pictures below...

Above: Our Christmas tree.
Above: Christmas decorations.

Above: The stocking's were hung by the chimney with care.
From left to right the stockings belong to: John, Dawson, Me,
and Bentley. Lolly and Pop gave Dawson his musical Elmo stocking,
and he LOVES it. When he's in the living room he looks for it and waits
for us to press the button so Elmo will sing. He was more interested in
the stocking than the gifts Santa left in it!

Above: Bentley in the living room.

Above: Bentley in the car on the way to Tennessee

for Christmas.

Above: Dawson piled up with toys to entertain him

in the car on the way to Tennessee for Christmas.

Above: Dawson and Bentley in the car on the way

to Tennessee for Christmas.

Above: Dawson grinning after pulling up for the first time

in his crib.

Above: Dawson right after he pulled up the first time in

his crib at Nana and Grandad's house.

Above: We took his Johnny Jumper with us

because it's always entertaining for him.

Above: Dawson with his Nana (John's mom).

Above: Bentley watching Dawson try to eat

the paper off of one of his gifts at Nana and Grandad's.

Above: Dawson with Nana.

Above: John opening a gift from his parents.

Above: Dawson taking a ride in a box one gift

came wrapped in.

Above: Dawson opening a gift on his

Grandad's (John's dad) lap.

Above: Dawson in the exersaucer at Lolly

and Pop's house.

Above: Me, Dawson, and Bentley in front

of Lolly and Pop's tree.

Above: Dawson with his Mommy.

Above: Dawson showing off a stuffed animal to Bentley.

Above: Dawson trying to eat a bow off a gift

on Pop's (my dad) lap.

Above: Dawson with his Lolly and Pop opening

a big box of toys.

Above: One of the toys out of the box from Lolly and Pop.

He is pulled up the the table on his own.

Above: My parent's golden retriever, Abby, with her reindeer

antlers.

Above: Bentley with her nose in her stocking.

Above: Dawson at our house on Christmas morning.

Above: Dawson having fun with the gifts still wrapped

on Christmas morning.

Above: Dawson wouldn't quit talking for the picture.

Above: Dawson and DaDa in their Christmas pjs

on Christmas morning.

Above: After all the gifts were opened.

Above: I was trying to get a picture of the back

of Dawson's Christmas pjs. They have a flap

that opens on the back and above it says My

First Christmas.

Above: Christmas morning. Dawson with the cap that

went with his pjs.

Above: John & I on Christmas morning.