10th Anniversary and Happy Birthday, Annalee!

It's 6 a.m. and I can't sleep.  And it took me forever to fall asleep.  And I woke  up a lot in the 6 hours I was in my bed.  You know, kinda like the night before Christmas when you were a kid.  Or, in this case, as an adult, the night before a big trip.  We leave in an hour for Hawaii...it's our 10th anniversary trip that Lee promised me he'd take me on when we first got married.  Can't believe it's finally here!  But, fulfilling Murphy's Law, something has already gone wrong.  We dropped off the boys to stay with Luke & Lindsy last night around bedtime (and the girls are staying with Tim & Terri), and Dawson, who has been sick ONCE in his 13 months of life, threw up all over Lindsy's entry way.  I felt horrible.  He had had a fever since about 2, but is also teething; so with that being his only symptom (up until that moment), I honestly didn't think he was sick.  Poor baby.  And poor Lindsy.

We had Annalee's birthday party last week...I can't believe she's 6!!!!  Here are my favorite pics of her from over the years...

4 months

1 year

2 years

3 years

first time at the beach (San Diego) - 4 years

5 years

last weekend at the Ft. Worth Zoo - 6 years 3 days

on her birthday

party!

On raising children in this world: been meaning to share this for a while

I have been trying my best since June 22, 2005 (Annalee's birthday) to raise her (and now her siblings) in a way that would honor God and give Him glory, and hopefully be a light in this dark world.  A lot of you who read this blog are on this parenting journey with me, and so I just wanted to share with you the books on parenting that I've read over the years that I'm a huge fan of...in case you're interested in reading any of them.

this is actually a series, beginning with Prep for Parenting and going on through the teen years

 

the one I'm currently reading...fabulous!!

next on my list:

 

One more thing I'd like to share with you is a blog called Clover Lane I read on occasion, although as a mother of 5, the author doesn't post very often (imagine that).  I find that I relate to her, her life, and her personality (which you can read more about in the "about me" section of her blog).  I don't agree whole-heartedly with everything she writes, but most of it I love; especially her most recent post, written back in March, about raising girls in this God-forsaken country that has changed so much (for the worse) just since we were little girls.  She puts into words so many things I agree with, that I feel like I could explode every time I read it (which is probably up to a dozen times by now), because I'm terrible at articulating my own thoughts but really good at recognizing them when I see them written out by someone else who does have that gift.  Anyway, if you want to know how I feel about this subject, read her most recent post, titled What About Our Girls? Childhood Cut Short. For that matter, she has a lot of posts that deal with the variety of issues and topics within motherhood and family life...just check out her sidebar for the most popular posts.

I hope you feel encouraged.

another year in pictures

I can't believe Dawson is already one!  I blinked and a whole year went by.  When Brady turned one, I did a post where I put up a picture of him from each of the 12 months of that first year.  Here is the Dawson version.  Enjoy!

just a few hours old...remember those frosted tips?

a few weeks old

1 month

starting to smile a lot at 2 months

3 months...he smiles with his whole face!

4 months and already trying to crawl

crawling at 5 months

6 months-first haircut!

7 months-first Christmas at Nana & Papaw's

8 months-trying to walk already and getting into everything!

 9 months-first steps!

 

10 months

 

11 months-his sisters thought it would be funny to put fairy wings on him.

 ONE YEAR!  Disregard the horrible sunburn.

All 19 of us sang "Happy Birthday" to him, and it scared him so bad that he cried off & on while he ate his first cupcake.

This is my favorite.

He opened his presents, and got several balls...all of which he plays with every day!

the past 10 days

Last fall, I promised Annalee that I'd create a butterfly garden for her when spring came.  Now that it's here, let the work begin!  The Voskamps came over with a tiller to get things going.  

And in true Lee & Travis home project fashion, something broke 5 minutes in...

 

It caught a brick and bent part of it; nothing a pair of pliers couldn't fix, though.

Megan and I did our best to keep Camper and the kids out of the way of the work going on. Not that we had to try too hard... 

 

 

Beacon & Dawson made sure the compost stayed put.

Dawson wasn't a fan of the loud tiller.

Megan did a good job comforting him.

 

 I LOVE LOVE LOVE that our best friends live right across the street!  They all play together so well, and it's so fun watching them each grow up and become such different and unique individuals.

My parents came in town last Friday so they could catch Annalee's double-header on Saturday.  Nana (my mom) made time to help the girls decorate Easter eggs.  I love this picture...the girls had been looking forward to hanging out with Nana for so long, and you can see the joy all over their faces!

 

I'm pretty sure Dawson is the messiest eater in Dunn baby history.  He is a sticky, colorful mess after every meal, but it makes for great pictures!

Now that Brady has mastered the 50 states, Pop Pops is making sure the learning doesn't end there.  He found this awesome magnetic world map that has about 100 teeny tiny pieces, and it's definitely a big challenge.  It will be a miracle if we still have all the pieces this time next week.

Finally, you must run, not walk, to the nearest bookstore and grab a copy of my new favorite book...

 

...and read it immediately.  It is a quick & easy read at only 150 pages. If you haven't yet heard of this #1 best-seller, here's a summary from the back cover:

"Heaven is for Real is the true story of the four-year old son of a small town Nebraska pastor who during emergency surgery slips from consciousness and enters heaven. He survives and begins talking about being able to look down and see the doctor operating and his dad praying in the waiting room. The family didn't know what to believe but soon the evidence was clear.

Colton said he met his miscarried sister, whom no one had told him about, and his great grandfather who died 30 years before Colton was born, then shared impossible-to-know details about each. He describes the horse that only Jesus could ride, about how "reaaally big" God and his chair are, and how the Holy Spirit "shoots down power" from heaven to help us.

Told by the father, but often in Colton's own words, the disarmingly simple message is heaven is a real place, Jesus really loves children, and be ready, there is a coming last battle."