The Dadds

A Christmas to Remember!

2012-01-01T20:11:00.000-08:00

This was definitely a wonderful Christmas and one to remember. It was our last Christmas in beautiful Colorado (for awhile at least :), it was a white Christmas, and my entire family was here to enjoy it with us! Read below for all of the fun we had....and with Christmas now comes Peyton's birthday as well!

Polar Express Train with Santa

So, in the spirit of trying to experience as many neat things as Colorado has to offer before we leave, I scheduled us to go on the Royal Gorge Polar Express train to the North Pole! We went the weekend before Christmas, and it was perfect...boys were healthy and no blizzards for the trip down! We put them in their PJs, got on the train, and had a great time! Lawson was pumped to be on a real passenger train, however Peyton was a bit restless :) But it was fine...we ate dinner, got cookies and hot chocolate, sang Christmas carols, and the elves read 'Twas the Night Before Christmas to all the kiddos. Then we picked up Santa at the "North Pole" and he came through our car to say hello on the way back! He spent a bit of time with Peyton & Lawson which was neat and gave them silver jingle bells. Then once we got back we got a picture with him, and good thing we were first in line because we were all a little tired by then!

Fantasy Flight

I don't have a picture, unfortunately, but I was able to participate in a really cool charity event put on by SkyWest called Fantasy Flight. Since I'm a part of the Junior League here, we partner with SkyWest to put this on every year, and basically 50 kids get randomly chosen from an underprivileged school here to go to the North Pole on a plane to see Santa! So many people work so hard to put this on, and I just had a small part, as I was able to be a chaperone for some of the families. It was so fun to see the excitement and the looks on the kids' faces when they got to board the plane, many for the first time, and go see Santa!

Christmas Eve

Playing with daddy in all the snow we got the day before!

Here is a picture of us at church Christmas Eve night...such a special time with our boys :) And Lawson participated with the candle lighting this year which he thought was really neat. We will miss going to our church next Christmas :(

Christmas Morning

We spent Christmas morning at home with just our family since my family didn't get in till later Christmas day. It was so fun to see Peyton open his stocking this year with Lawson and get into opening up his "presents" as he calls them. We took our time, had some yummy cinnamon rolls, and had a great time celebrating Jesus' birthday!

Lawson giving Peyton a sweet hug while Peyton's trying to feed his baby with the new baby bottle Santa gave him!

Lawson's new (& long awaited!) crane truck from Santa....this was definitely his favorite gift, as he's only been talking about it for at least 6 months!

Lawson playing the new guitar Santa gave him...and the mic really works which even surprised mommy and daddy!

Lawson with his new suitcase from Grammie....he can't wait to go to Texas soon!

With his new snow shovel....now he can really help daddy shovel the driveway :)

Christmas with the Family

So my family (Cici, Papa, Aunt Ashley, & Jason) got here later Christmas day and we did our Christmas the next day. It's always more interesting (and fun!) with little kiddos but we managed to get all of the gift opening done before lunch!

Blessed to be with family!

Had to show my new Joy to the World napkins...thanks CiCi & Papa!

Pretty tree and pretty gifts!

Look what we saw out our windows while we were opening gifts...beautiful!

Peyton loves his new chair from Cici & Papa...now he has one just like Big Bro!

And finally, the big hit was Cici & Papa's big gift to Lawson....the roller coaster! The boys played with this NONSTOP for days! Here is a glance of what that was like....

Peyton's 2nd Birthday

We had just a small get together at our house for Peyton's Birthday and it was perfect for him...he actually had lots of fun! It was a "Ball" theme so we had the ball pit out, as well as a couple other ball toys and plenty of just balls! So that along with the boys' new roller coaster and rocking horse, it was a fun time. Peyton also said his age and his name that day for the first time, as well as "cake"! We had no idea how much he liked cake since he's really never had any, but he ate the whole cupcake and continues to ask every day for a "cupcake" since we are still have frozen ones leftover....let's just say we had way too much dessert!

Party invite and Party menu....since it was a "ball" theme we had a cheese ball, watermelon balls, meatballs, and chocolate balls!

Thanks to Aunt Ash for decorating these cute cupcakes!

Peyton was ready to eat his cake! I don't think he's ever had cake before, but it was as if he knew what it was...he said "cake" right then for the first time and ate the whole thing!

Yummy mom...I love cake just so you know :)

The boys playing in the ball pit!

Peyton got a really neat rocking horse named Blaze for Christmas, and here he is teaching his party guests how to ride!

Thanks for coming everyone!

The "Party Planners"....so glad you were here Mom and Sis!

Fun party favors full of....you guessed it, all sorts of balls!

Chillin' out after the party watching some football with the guys...so cute :)

Skiing in Breckenridge

Before Ashley and Jason headed back home, we spent a day in Breckenridge skiing and having fun. The temperature was perfect, but it was incredibly windy...even so, we had a great time skiing and hanging out all day! Pics to come soon :)

New Year's Eve

Since my mom and dad were still in town, Steven and I got to go out for New Year's Eve again this year! We didn't do anything too fancy (and don't think we even stayed up till midnight :) but we went out to eat at a really good restaurant here called Nosh and had a great time!

See you next year!!!! Here's to a wonderful and joyous 2012!!!

First Half of December!

2011-12-20T13:09:00.000-08:00

This is turning out to be a very full month, so I thought I'd go ahead and post mid-month to avoid an overload of pics at the end! It's been a very fun and "typical" December...sending out cards, decorating, doing some shopping, having and going to some Christmas parties, running my annual Arbonne sale, etc....but we have also been blessed by some new Christmas activities! I don't think I've "officially" announced this news yet, but we are moving to Virginia this summer! Therefore, we are doing our best to enjoy everything we can here in Colorado before we leave. Here is what we've done so far this month....

O' Christmas Tree!

We were able to get our decorations up earlier this year, which is great by me so we can enjoy them longer! I always love looking at our tree :) And so far, the boys haven't messed with it at all...not sure why, but I'll take it!

Ski Trip to Vail!

This was a surprise last minute trip, but we are SO glad we were able to go and that my mom could go with us! She had a great time and it allowed us to do more since she was there to help :) We had 2 full days there, and the weather was cold but great for skiing & sledding! Lawson had his first ski school lesson and it was Peyton's first time to really play in the snow. We were so proud of Lawson for going to ski school all by himself and he loved it! We also went sledding both evenings we were there...we had a blast sledding down a nearby hill and then just walking around the neighborhood pulling Lawson along. Here are some pics from that fun weekend....

Eating out at The Red Lion the first night

We took Peyton to the "Pirate Ship" while Lawson went to ski school so he could run around in the snow...he loved it!

He's such a cutie all bundled up :)

In the picture above, Lawson was excited and smiling at me as the lady put his ski badge on. Below are pics of him that we secretly got while he was in "school"...it was so fun watching him

Sledding with our boys! After Peyton would go home, we would take Lawson around the neighborhood as the sun was going down. He would just sit there and put his gloves out in the snow as we walked along...he had the best time making "tunnels" in the snow

Relaxing by the fire after a cold day

CiCi reading Elf on the Shelf to her 2 favorite boys!

Steven and I went skiing the next day....super cold but lots of fun!

More Playing Indoors

This picture of Peyton cracks me up!

The Madrigal Banquet at Glen Eyrie

The Glen Eyrie Castle is a very beautiful and historical place right down the street from us right near Garden of the Gods. It is a hidden castle that was originally owned by General Palmer, the founder of Colorado Springs, and is now owned by The Navigators, a christian organization. This is where we took the pictures on our Christmas card :) They have an annual Christmas dinner that is like no other...it's so neat that it is hard to explain, but it is basically a dinner show where singers and dancers all play the parts of Renaissance era characters. From the King and Queen to the Page to the servants, it is all fantastic. It was a 5 course meal that lasted 4 hours and then we got to spend the night in the Castle! Such a treat :)

It's like the room was meant for me...how did they know what my maiden name was?!

Reading in our lovely room!

How we were greeted at the front door of the Castle

The beginning of the Madrigal before we went up to eat dinner

View from the dinner table....I think the servants were bringing in the salad to the King and Queen at this point :)

Updates on the Boys

Peyton

-Continues to do amazingly well! He is running around all of the time trying to keep up with his "Big Bro" and his speech is coming along great! Some of his favorite things to say right now are "milk peese" and "ho, ho, ho" He is picking up new words every day and is starting to put 2 words together here and there.

-He is getting RSV shots again this year, but once again, he has been super healthy so far this winter and we pray it continues. He's only gotten the sniffles once and that is it!

-We saw the eye doctor again, and it was a mixture of good and bad news. The good news is that his left eye hasn't gotten that much worse since the last 2 visits, but the bad news is that he expects it to get much worse in the future than we were anticipating. There are a couple options we have when he is a kid and even more when he is an adult and technology continues to improve in the optical world, so all we can do is pray and trust God that He will continue to provide for Peyton like he always has. We will also be patching him even more now since patch time at this age is so valuable for his brain and forcing him to use his left eye, so that is why almost every picture for awhile he will probably be wearing one!

-He fell last week and hit his head so hard on the coffee table that he got a "goose egg" on his head....it scared us since we had never seen one before and since it literally got huge within a matter of seconds. Although you can really tell how big it was by this picture, here it is....poor guy :(

-Here are some pictures of Peyton at Gymboree.....!

This is him about to jump!

Playing with his good friend, Hope, after class :)

Just being cute and waiting for someone to pull him in the cart!

Lawson

-The main news with Lawson is that he continues to love his "school" and is doing really well there. We had our parent-teacher conference a few weeks ago, and it turns out that he knows way more than we thought! We are thinking we need to "up the anty" here at home! His favorite activities at school (besides running around outside, of course) are the ones involving numbers and maps. He is also starting to trace his name...here is a picture of his recent work as well as one with his teacher at the Christmas party....

He made a Gingerbread house and was pretty proud of it

-He is also still growing like a weed...he already wears a size 11 shoe and it seems like he is taller every day :) He loves his little brother...so much that he plays a little too rough with him sometimes. And he is super excited about Christmas this year! We have a calendar and he is diligent in counting down each day until Jesus' birthday....so sweet :)

Lots more to go for December! We visited Santa at the North Pole on a real passenger train, so we will tell you all about that in the next post, as well as all of the Christmas memories yet to come....AND Peyton is turning TWO on the 28th if you can believe it!!! Merry Christmas!

Happy November!

2011-12-08T21:28:00.000-08:00

November was a fun and busy month....so busy we hardly had time to take pictures! But we did capture a few! Here were the highlights of the month....

Fall is definitely here!

This beautiful buck visits our front yard fairly often and it was so neat to see him on this quiet white morning :)

The boys raking the leaves with daddy!

Kitchens with Altitude

This is a Jr. League event in Colorado Springs and I was on the committee, so it was a great time and such a wonderful event to be a part of! We basically organized a tour of 8 amazing kitchens in the Springs as a fundraiser. I was at a new home in the Garden of the Gods all day...it was a gorgeous home with an amazing view! Here are two of my friends from Jr. League on the back porch...the picture does not do the view justice at all. Thanks everyone for coming out to support this great event!

I turned Thirty-three!

Time keeps on passing by! Thirty-three is kind of a boring age in my opinion, but I'm just grateful to have had 33 wonderful years :) My mom came up the week before and since her birthday is on the 19th, we went out to eat to celebrate each other! Then she also babysat the boys so Steven and I could go out....we went to The Famous, which is one of the best steakhouses we've ever been to! We could hardly move we were so full...yummy! The boys also sang Happy Birthday to me, Steven (& Arbonne!) sent me flowers, and I got so many well wishes from friends...it was a great day and I am so blessed to feel so loved!

Peyton's 1st Haircut

I can't remember if I've shared this yet about Peyton, but he started pulling his hair at night as a "soothing" technique. We're not exactly sure why it is soothing but since he has never sucked his thumb or a paci, this has apparently replaced more "conventional methods." Although we were concerned at first, no one else seems to be and it is apparently a not-so-uncommon thing. But since he was pulling out all of his long curls anyway (sadness), we decided to go ahead and get him a haircut and to get it pretty short to hopefully rid him of the bad habit. Here he is in the cool car chair. With Lawson right beside him and a lolipop in his hand, he had no problem!

Thanksgiving

We stayed home again this year with no visitors for Thanksgiving....although sad not to be with family, we had another great time just the 4 of us :) I refuse to spend all day in the kitchen by myself, so instead of getting our meal from the grocery store like we did last year, we went to the Officer's Club at the Academy this year, and it was great! The food was surprisingly very yummy....only problem was that it was a buffet, so no leftovers :( I just wish my stomach could have held more! After lunch we headed over to the Chapel grounds...it was fun just walking around....the boys loved all of the planes and it was a beautiful day to soak in all of the beauty around us. We are so thankful for our country and all of the many men who have sacrificed to give us freedom!

Hanging out with my boys right before we were seated

Both boys loved the food and ate a TON! Peyton is saying "cheese" in the picture below :)

Lawson walking behind daddy rolling his train along :)

Look at all these neat planes daddy!

Wow, look at the beautiful Chapel!!!

Hanging out at home due to colder weather!

It finally got a bit colder in November, so we have been staying indoors more. Here are just a few random pics from this month.....

Have fun with all of the holiday excitement! See you next month and have a very Merry Christmas! We wish you happiness and joy as we celebrate our Lord's birth,
The Dadd Family

Octoberfest 2011

2011-11-18T21:09:00.000-08:00

October went by super fast, and a big reason for that was because Steven and I were on a cruise for the first 8 days of the month! Yes, we finally got to get away for a week long vacation, just the two of us, thanks to CiCi and Grammie who both flew up for the entire trip to stay with the boys. It was the first time we had been away since before Lawson was born, so it was a much needed vacation and we had a blast!

It was a New England cruise (and yes, we actually were the youngest couple on the ship!) that left from Boston and went to 2 cities in Maine (Portland & Bar Harbor) and 2 cities in Canada (St. John, New Brunswick and Halifax, Nova Scotia). It was a 7 night trip on a Royal Caribbean ship. We actually left the day before so we could spend a night in Boston....we stayed a couple blocks from Newbury Street, and although we had fun doing a little sightseeing, 24 hours there was definitely not enough! We did walk through a good bit of the town though, ran the freedom trail and around Fenway park, and rode the subway several times. Steven got a taste of Boston and definitely wants to go back again which definitely makes me excited because I love that city!

Walking down Newbury Street

Catching the subway....took these pics for Lawson since he loves the idea of subways!

Strolling through an historic and beautiful park in Boston

Eating at "Stephanie's on Newbury Street" and watching the Aggies win (the first half, that is :) before boarding the boat!

Steven with his new Boston Red Sox hat....hope to visit again soon!

Other highlights of the week included riding on a fishing boat to a quiant island in Portland to tour a 19th century fort, bike riding in Acadia National Park, seeing the reversing falls in St. John, visiting the Titantic cemetery & museum in Halifax, and relaxing on the boat and at every meal! This was our second cruise and we loved it just as much as the first! Here are just a few pics from that wonderful week....

Above is Fort Schammel, below is the other side of the island....after touring the fort, we got to have a lobster bake inside the home you see below...so fun!

This fort was amazing....the fact that they built this 200 years ago was incredible. It was built by the US government for defense purposes and then was used again in WWI

Our first Lobster bake! Good thing we sat next to Maine natives who walked us through the process....those boogers sure are messy!

View from our room balcony in Bar Harbor, ME

View from a dock in Bar Harbor...this was our favorite stop because the town was so cute, the scenery so gorgeous, and the food so yummy!

This was actually one of the prettiest days of the whole cruise which was perfect since it was the day we signed up for a bike ride. The fall foliage was a little late this year unfortunately, but it was already pretty here in Acadia National park!

Above is a very historic city market in St. John New Brunswick....fun place! The picture below was taken in front of the Reversing Falls there...a unique phenomenon that occurs due to the 25 foot rise and fall of the tides in the Bay of Fundy, the highest in the world. Basically the river flows into the ocean for half the day and then the other half the ocean flows back into the river. This picture was taken when they were changing directions...Google it and you'll see much better pictures

Above is the grave site of the real life Jack Dawson from Titantic. Below is Steven walking through the cemetery....the weather that day was appropriate for the occasion....cold and rainy. I have always been enamored by the Titantic tragedy, even at an early age, so it was pretty neat to be at the place where so much of the history lies....Halifax was the closest town to the tragedy so it was where all of the rescue/recovery efforts came from and where all of the victims and artifacts went immediately after. Most families couldn't afford to have the bodies shipped back home so they ended up being buried here.

Above and below are pics from the two formal nights on the ship. Dinner every night was one of our favorite things....to be able to sit and enjoy each other and our meal without any distractions, not to mention not having to cook or clean was divine!

Other highlights from October included.........

Going to the Pumpkin Patch

This year we went to a farm north of town and it was loads of fun. They had a big bouncy dome, a slide, pony rides, a train, tire swings, and a barn full of animals---what else could you want?!

Steven said this pig itself was worth admission and I agreed! It was hilarious...it was huge first of all and just came running through the barn like it owned the place. We found him later cooling off in this mud hole....so funny :)

A Visit from our Good Friends, the Shepherds

We hadn't seen them in 3 years since they left Las Vegas so they stopped by to say hello on their way up to Alaska, their next home! We each had another baby since we last met so it was fun to meet the new kiddos and see how much the others had grown....time sure does fly!

Cooking Class

I went to a cooking class with my friend, Jenny, which was a lot of fun. We went to the Healthy Living class and learned all sorts of good tips. That night we made grilled fish with seasoned quinoa and lemon zest asparagus---yummy!

Trunk or Treat

A few days before Halloween, we participated in the first annual Trunk or Treat at the AF Academy. It was fun and gave the boys a taste of trick or treating before Halloween!

There was a real fire truck there that night so we had to take a pic of Lawson with it :)

Halloween Party at Lawson's School

Lawson had a good time making caramel apples, playing pin the nose on the pumpkin, coloring a mask, and some other games. Here he is drinking gummy worm punch!

Halloween Night

As you can see, Lawson was a fire fighter and Peyton was a Tiger :) They had a great time trick or treating this year. Lawson knew exactly what to do and Peyton watched him from the wagon, but then Lawson got tired and Peyton took over...he caught on really fast and would run down the sidewalk and up the next driveway while saying "GO!" It was so cute!

Below is a video we took of Peyton after we got home. He was wired so we tried to get him to show us what he did while trick-or-treating....watch for the "Go!" and then the cute run with paws flapping that follows.....

As for an update on the boys there is not too much to report this month...so far everyone is healthy and happy and doing well this fall! Here are 2 more random pics for you....the first is of Lawson raking leaves...he went and got the rake all by himself out of the garage and started raking so that he could jump in a pile of leaves. And the second is of the 2 of them being silly in the bath tub :)

See you in November! Happy early Thanksgiving!

September 2011...Fall is upon us!

2011-10-13T21:07:00.000-07:00

I'm not sure what happened to the summer but it is gone! The months keep flying by....I only update this blog once a month but it feels like once a week! We continued our quest to explore Colorado as much as possible since this is quite possibly our last summer here, so fun times again in September :)

Denver Trip

For our 3-day Labor Day Weekend, we went to Denver since we live so close and still hadn't seen much of it except the Children's Hospital and Airport! So we stayed downtown at the Embassy Suites and had a great time. The weekend's festivities included the Aquarium, the Denver Zoo, the Denver Children's Museum, and a couple fun dinners out---fun, fun!

Looking out the window of our hotel....they loved seeing how high we were and there was a city rail train below as well they could watch go by :)

Below are a view pics from the Aquarium...

Some pics from the zoo...

Here are Lawson & Peyton waiting to ride the carousel

Lawson wanted to ride the peacock, and Peyton rode the monkey with daddy...go Peyton!

Above is a real lion we saw at the zoo...we even heard them roar! Below is Lawson with a lion statue :)

Now he's on a hippo!

Awww, we have to look at the giraffes, of course :) And look at the cute baby!

Below are some pics of Peyton at the Children's museum. We went here the last day on our way home, so Lawson was apparently too tired and cranky to participate. So daddy took him to REI next door while Peyton and I hung out at the museum...Lawson missed out because it was a fun place!

Cheap fun...after eating dinner at the Cheesecake factory, the escalators were the highlight of the evening!

"Ride for Heroes"

The next weekend we did the "Ride for Heroes" which is a 28 mile bike ride around town put on by Chik-fil-A and many other sponsors to benefit the Wounded Warrior project as well as all of our local heroes. The ride included the entire Garden of the Gods loop, as well as 2 other really steep hills. It was somewhat challenging for me, so I can't imagine how hard it was for Steven who was carrying at least 70lbs of cargo behind him! The boys did great (besides the occasional whining), and we had a great time---it was a gorgeous day and I was having so much fun that I had no idea it took over 3 hours! They had a big "party" afterwards as well, complete with a fire truck bouncy house, real rescue vehicles, a helicopter take off, and Chik-fil-A of course!

Here are the boys decked out in red, white, & blue! We put flags on the bike trailer and they are in their "Hooray for the USA" shirts

Below are some big horn sheep native to the area...it was our first time to finally see them as they were up on the hill during the ride...so cool!

The boys hanging out at our stop...

Yay, we finished!!!!

First Football Game

That same day, Steven took Lawson to his first live football game...Air Force vs. whoever! Lawson lasted about a quarter, which was fine since Steven was pooped from the ride anyway...but you can't pass up free tickets!

Downtown Springs

Here are a couple pics from our little trip to Downtown CO Springs one day...we forget what a neat downtown we have sometimes!

Breckenridge

We had so much fun in Breckenridge earlier this summer that we got a deal and decided to go again! It's only 2 hours away so we can just go up for the weekend. We had fun just hanging out this time and looking at land for sale (just for fun)....Lawson really wanted to go up the gondola again but unfortunately it was closed for the season :(

"America the Beautiful" Park

Finally, we went one day for the first time to the "America the Beautiful" park here in the Springs. We were a couple weeks too late to enjoy the water fountain that sprays out of this sculpture, but we still had fun!

Lawson Update

Not much to update with Lawson...he is just a really happy, energetic, smart, and fun-loving boy. He continues to amaze us with his memory and by what he knows and says sometimes. He still gets in trouble daily but is becoming more and more disciplined and polite as the days go by...we are praising God for more good days! He has also started going to "My Gym" once a week and is doing really well. Here is a picture from this month of Lawson helping me make our protein bars...

Peyton Update

Peyton continues to talk more and more...his new words include all done, car, go, & down to name a few
He is loving his Gymboree play and learn classes each week...he participates so well and loves Gymbo the clown....such a sweet boy :) I need to get some pics of him there next month!
Although we were concerned about his last weight check since he had lost a little weight, it was all good news at the Pulmonologist this month. In just two weeks of giving him more fattening foods, his weight was the best it ever had been on the chart! Also, he sounded good, looked good, and his echocardiogram and scope came back PERFECT! Once again, they asked him "Are you sure you're a preemie?" So, unless he gets really sick this winter, she doesn't want to see him back until next May and then that might be his last pulmonology visit---praise God! Below are a couple random pics of this happy boy...

I think that is it for September...the rest of the month was spent preparing for our big cruise vacation! Both our moms came on the 28th, and we left on the 30th for an entire week! It was blast so can't wait to share about that soon :) Hope you all are having a wonderful Fall!

August...Another fun month here in CO....& MN!

2011-09-15T19:26:00.000-07:00

We continued to enjoy our summer here in August! It was another busy month, as we have to "live it up" before winter comes :)

First, I want to post pics from Steven's triathlon in July since I finally figured out how to get pics off my phone!

Bike Setup for triathlon at 6am in beautiful Broomfield, CO....check!

Swam 23 laps....check!

Changing to get ready for the run....and no Steven didn't get a tatoo, that's his number on his arm!

11 mile bike ride done and ready for a 5K run to come in FIRST in his age group....check!

Trip to Breckenridge & Keystone!

We went to Breckenridge & Keystone for just a weekend but it was perfect and we had so much fun. We did a 24 mile bike ride from Breck to Frisco on Saturday and it was such a perfect day with beautiful scenery! We stopped in Frisco at a park and ate a picnic lunch right by a pretty creek...it was perfect :) Then we ate dinner at a yummy brewery in Breck that night. On Sunday, we headed over to Keystone where we walked around their picturesque little town and had a wonderful lunch at a restaurant once again by a creek :) Then we headed back to Breck to ride the Gondola up to the top of the mountain. Lawson had a great time...he rode on the Alpine slide with daddy and he played in a really big bouncy house...one of his favorite things to do these days :) It was a fun-filled weekend and we can't wait to go again!

We went on the beautiful 24 mile bike ride from Breckenridge to Frisco and back!

The boys love to ride!

Not the best picture, but you can see our stroller....this was where we ate lunch at the park in Frisco...the little creek is right behind the tree---it was so pretty!

A gorgeous view from the car on our way back from Keystone

On the gondola on the way to the top of Breckenridge mountain

Steven and Lawson coming down the Alpine slide!

Grammie & Poppie's Visit

Grammie & Poppie also drove all the way to see us in August and we are so glad they came! We had a great time just hanging out with the boys. Steven also changed jobs in July (he is now at the AF Academy instead of Peterson AFB!), so we went and showed them Steven's new office after church on Sunday and we at brunch at the Falcon Club...yummy!

Poppie and Lawson in our front yard...you can't really tell but there was a beautiful sunset that night with the moon shining as well :)

Grammie walking around with Peyton after brunch....as usual he wanted to get moving!

Minnesota Trip/Family Reunion

We finally headed up to Minnesota for our family reunion in August! We had been looking forward to it for so long and are a little sad it's now over because we had such a wonderful time! We were there for about 6 days and they were fun filled days, let me tell you :) We were fortunate enough to stay just a couple houses down from my cousin and they live right next to the cute lakeside town of Wayzata. Talk about an "All-American" place to stay with beautiful homes, a lake, nice shopping, and even a train going through for Lawson. We played at the beach one day, we went to the zoo/amusement park one day, and then we just hung out and ate a LOT---it was a blast! Thank you to all of our family in MN for hosting us...we can't wait to go back!

Lawson reading his magazine (the SkyMall catalog) with daddy on the airplane ride...almost there!

A picture of everyone there....1 great-grandma (celebrating her 90th Bday!), 2 sets of grandparents, 5 cousins, and 8 kiddos under 6......check!!!!

3 generations of Pfeffer women....love it!

Nannie pulling Peyton around...priceless :)

CiCi pushing Lawson in the frog swing...fun, fun!

Aunt Ash up in the tree house with the boys....they loved eating up here and this is where they would go to watch the trains go by right behind my cousin's house :)

Great picture of Papa and Lawson that Ashley got

Peyton having fun at our picnic at the Como Zoo/Amusement park

Playing at Excelsior park right by the lake!

Minnesota sure is fun....thanks family, we love you!

Here are just a couple pretty pics from our house in August.....

We had rainbows in front of our house like this at least 4 times in August...picture doesn't do it justice, of course!

We have deer in our yard quite a bit, but this time it was several mommy deer and all of their kiddos! Here they are leaving our yard to walk across the street

Lawson Update

1) He ended his swim lessons with a couple private lessons. Although getting him in the water with the teacher was pretty difficult (lots of crying and throwing a fit), he was fine after 5 minutes and did a great job and had lots of fun. I thought about continuing them but think we'll just pick them back up in the spring.

2) Soccer came to an end as well....here is Lawson with his coaches on the last day. He had fun but might wait to pick this back up next year as well!

3) First Day of School....although Lawson went to his little home Montessori school this summer twice a day, he was only one of 3 kiddos. The actual first day of the school year was mid-August. He is now going 3 days a week and has lots of new friends at school, and he is a happy boy! Here is a picture of his first day, and below is one on the same bench last year...he grew so much! Happy tears :(

August 2011

August 2010

Peyton Update

1) Peyton continues to be more and more active every day...he is climbing everything in sight these days and truly has no fear. Wherever his brother goes, there he goes as well...his little legs mostly get him where he wants to go, but every now and then they can't take him fast enough; therefore, he always has at least 1 or 2 bruises or scratches on his head and or body :)

2) He is FINALLY off bottles....nough said!

3) His left eye actually got better! We went to a new opthamologist in Denver this month and his left eye actually went from a -8 to a -7! This is a huge praise as it was definitely expected to get worse. The doctor looked at me and said "This never happens"....that's the power of God I told him! We are praying this is a sign that it is slowing down or stopping and won't get any worse so that one day it can be fixed with Lasik. He continues to wear his glasses and patch fairly well, but he has his moments....as soon as he gets bored or mad, he immediately takes them off and throws them anywhere he can. It is kind of funny sometimes, but definitely gets old after the 20-30th time some days :)

4) Favorite word: "Baby" He definitely knows what a baby is these days! And it doesn't matter if it's a baby or a 4 year old, they are all babies to him. And since he can say it so well and it's one of his few "mastered" words, he will call lots of things babies. Although our speech therapist suggested we get a baby doll for him a few months ago, I never did. But while in MN the house we stayed at had many baby dolls and baby strollers. That was all Peyton wanted to play with, so we got him one of each when we got back home. He is such a sweet boy and he loves his "baby"!

See you next month!

PS....GO AGGIES!!!!

WHOOP!

July Festivities!

2011-08-15T20:54:00.000-07:00

I feel like so much has happened since the first of July and therefore I feel so behind in blogging, but I will do my best to recap all of July’s festivities...we were busy to say the least, and are loving every minute of our time here in Colorado!

July 4th

We had a blast this July 4th, as we were invited to spend it in Vail with our very dear friends. We spent 3 nights at a lovely condo and filled our time with as much fun as we possibly could....here are some highlights!

If you haven’t been to Vail’s bowling alley, Bol, then you haven’t quite bowled in style! This was Lawson’s first time bowling so he’ll have big expectations now. He loved it, and as you can see from the pics we’re not sure what was cooler....bowling or the ball machine! And Peyton liked the big balls too, as that is his favorite word right now!

I meant to take a picture of our car, as we definitely qualify now as true “Coloradians”...we now have a roof rack and Thule container like everyone else! We used it to put our bike trailer/double stroller in and it worked great. Then we also had our two bikes on the back of the car :) We are so glad we brought it all b/c it worked out so well to ride from our condo to Vail Village. We also went into the countryside some and it was beautiful, of course, with the creek right beside us almost the entire ride :) After our bike ride on Sunday, we also went to a really neat park by our place and to the pool---fun, fun!

On Monday, the 4th, we started the morning out by riding to the Village again for the annual 4th of July parade! What a great time we had hanging out with our friends and watching our kiddos have fun. Peyton and his buddy, Sam, weren't too big on the parade, but they sure loved eating and sitting in the stroller together (video of that coming soon :)!

Later that day we had a wonderful meal with our friends and watched the fireworks from a balcony in Vail....it was the closest I think I've ever been to a firework show and it was beautiful. Lawson seemed weary at first but then thought it was cool. He said most of them looked like worms coming out of the sky :) And then before we left on Tuesday we took the gondola up to the top of the mountain....it was not one of Lawson's best mornings (probably b/c he was up so late the night before!), but he managed to start behaving so he could ride the pony and jump on the trampoline....

The Maedgen's came to Visit!

We were so excited that our dear friends, Brody & Jordan Maedgen, came up to see us from Texas! They also brought their precious son, Carter, and daughter, Charlotte, so we had a great time! We went to the zoo, Carter played soccer with Lawson, we hung out in Old Colorado City while the guys golfed at the Academy, and we went hiking at Garden of the Gods! We unfortunately kept forgetting to take many pictures, but here are a few....!

The Maedgen Family

Riding the train at the zoo while Peyton, below, watched....poor Peyton :(

Garden of the Gods

Picture of the kids at the park...Peyton kept leaning over to kiss Charlotte...he has never done that with anyone else...too funny!

CiCi's Visit & Steven's 1st Triathlon!

My mom came up to visit again, which is always nice! We get some help and the boys get to hang out with their CiCi! She got to see Lawson at his swimming lessons (although one day he refused to participate....lovely!), we got to go shopping and I actually got to shop...a

lot (thank you mom!), we toured the Glen Eyrie Castle, and she was here to babysit so that I could go up to Denver with Steven for his 1st Triathlon (thanks again mom!).

It was so fun to go on a date, spend the night in downtown Denver, and then we got up super early to make it to the north end of town for Steven's 6:30am start time! It was his first and he did so awesome! He finished.... It was also fun to watch and inspiring....I definitely felt pretty lazy just being an observer, especially as the mom of 6 ran by! It kind of made me want to do one, but not sure how badly :) Way to go babe!

(Pictures to come....still trying to figure out how to download them from my new "smart" phone!)

The month's festivities also included a BBQ with several good friends at our house and Lawson's first round of mini-golf, but we don't have pics of either :( We did, however, get family pictures taken in May and then more of Peyton by himself in July, so here is the link to those if you want to see :)

http://daddfamily.shutterfly.com/

Lawson Update:

Lawson has been busy this summer with "school" 2 days a week, Soccer on Fridays, and we did swim lessons twice a week for 4 weeks. He did much better at soccer this summer, and what I mean by that is that he listened to his coach better! He also enjoyed swimming lessons...here is a picture of him acting goofy as usual :)

Peyton Update:

All over the place, can climb stairs by himself using the rail
Almost rid of bottles completely! It has been more of an issue for us due to the somewhat low tone of his "mouth muscles" and we don't want to just take it away b/c we want him to gain as much weight as possible!
Can say a few more words (cheese, kitty cat, mama) but is really imitating us more and more, and the most progress lately has been with his comprehension...it seems like he understands everything now and can follow a lot of commands!
His weight and O2 check looked good...they are monitoring him once a month since he is no longer on oxygen at night.

Here are a few pics of our neighbor showing him how to play baseball in our backyard:

Check in next month for more of this cuteness! Love ya'll!

June 2011...Let Summer Begin!

2011-07-03T21:17:00.000-07:00

June was a slower month...we were actually home the whole time! We are loving this summer in Colorado, as it's the first one that we have really been able to get out and enjoy! Here is the recap of June's festivities.....

Visit from CiCi

Although there are no pictures to prove it, CiCi came to visit and we had a great time! She helped me plant flowers since I couldn't seem to find the time to do it myself (thanks CiCi!), and she went with Peyton and me to Denver to see the pulmonologist....and we also made time to stop and shop on the way there :)

First Visit to the Zoo this Year

We've been telling Lawson for awhile now that we'd go to the zoo, and we finally got around to going! Our zoo here is great and we try to go as much as we can. And wouldn't you know it, the most popular exhibit there is the.....Giraffes! It is the best, and we got to introduce our little giraffe to the real things :)

Up Close & Personal with the Giraffes!

Hmm, maybe he's hesitant because it looks just like the big stuffed giraffe in his room....but this one's moving :)

Not sure if you can tell, but he is all decked out....Safari hat, giraffe on his shirt, and his pants are a bunch of little brown giraffes! Dressed for the occasion!

We got to pet a cute baby Wallaby :)

The Great Grizzly bear

Lawson and the Moose!

Birthday Parties!

Peyton got to go to his friend, Hope's, 1st birthday party, and Lawson got to go to his friend, Rockwell's, 3rd birthday party at the fire station! Both parties were lots of fun and we are thankful for such great friends!

Hope is Peyton's first friend....So cute!!!

Seven Falls

We did some hiking up at Seven Falls (it's an attraction here due to the....you guessed it, seven water falls that cascade down the mountain). There are quite a few steep stairs, so we both took our "kid backpacks" and headed up. Once we reached the top of the falls we kept going a mile or so to the peak that overlooked the city....it was gorgeous and pictures do not do it justice but we took some anyway........

Peyton just chillin' on mommy's back! He also chewed the heck out of that strap :)

Father's Day

Happy Father's Day to the best daddy ever! We had great time going to church and just hanging out. It was a great day :)

Doing what daddies do best...playing with his boys and rigged up the cozy coupe and wagon so that one is pulling the other....brilliant!

Lawson Update

-Graduated the "Cottontails" Soccer Class & started the "Hoppers" class outside and without mommy....such a big boy now! However, we are still working on our listening skills when it comes to following the coach's directions :)

-Pretty much potty trained....finally!

-Playing outside alot! Below is a picture of him playing with his new water and sand table from Cici & Papa

Excited that he just built a big tower all by himself!

Can't believe that big boy in the shades is my baby!

Lawson with his soccer coach and good friend, McKenna!

Peyton Update

-New Glasses! As you might have already noticed in the above pics, Peyton got new glasses! These are much more kid friendly and way more practical....and we think they are cute too :) He continues to keep them on pretty well...he only takes them off when he's bored or mad :)

-Walking more than Crawling...finally! He is all over the place these days, and with that comes more falling as well, but so far no major injuries. It doesn't help that we have 4 sets of stairs!

-He is saying new words! Here are the ones we understand as of now: Dada, Mama, Baby, Bebe (for his buddy bear), Ba (for ball) , Gaga (Dog)

Where are those glasses, Peyton Christopher?! This is a phrase you'll hear at our house quite often right now!

Bye Bye for now!

Back to Texas...one year after we left!

2011-06-05T20:38:00.000-07:00

May was such a fun month because the first 8 days of it were spent back home in Texas with our wonderful family and friends! I shared pics from Peyton's party on the last post, but we did a lot more on our trip as well....

The day after Peyton's party was a wonderful day as well because we had Peyton dedicated at Sharon & Don's church, Bethel Presbyterian, the same church Lawson was dedicated at. We have always loved their church, but it became even more special to us last spring since they were so supportive when we were in Houston....they prayed for us, brought us meals, and I went to the women's Bible study every Tuesday which was a huge blessing since it was really my only outlet. Thanks to everyone who stayed to see Peyton dedicated..it was a very special morning indeed!

After the dedication, my best friends all came over for lunch. We were supposed to all get together Christmas of 2009, but that never happened because of Peyton's surprise arrival, so we finally got together again! One of them wasn't able to make it at the last minute due to her boys having fevers, but she was there in spirit! The reunion wasn't near long enough, but what a blessing it was to just hang out with my best friends and their sweet kiddos...one of them I met for the first time that day, and the others had all grown so much!

Here are Lawson and Reese playing together on the bed....they are long distance buds :) And here they are hugging when Reese had to leave...so sweet!!!!

On Monday, the very next day, we had 2 doctors appointments lined up and we went back to the NICU to visit old friends :) It was totally unplanned but it turned out this was May 2, a year to the day that Peyton was discharged! So neat to be back exactly a year later...as we got off of the elevator it felt like we'd never left! I guess once you spend 125 days somewhere, it feels sort of like home in a weird sort of way....let's just say you become very familiar with the place! Here are some pics of Peyton hanging out with some of his old nurses, doctors, & therapists. They loved seeing him and were amazed with his progress....praise God!

We also had appointments with the High Risk Infant Clinic there since Peyton is in a preemie research study of theirs. It was a great visit and once again the doctor was amazed at how much he had grown and how well he had done this past year.

Next we went to the Opthamologist who did his laser surgery. We knew she would probably tell us Peyton needed glasses since we knew his left eye was getting nearsighted, but it turned out to be a lot more nearsighted than we thought :( She also took pictures of his retinas (poor Peyton never likes her visits....we had to leave for 30 minutes b/c she said they cry so much while they do it), and we were able to see where the laser had burned the blood vessels on the back of his retinas and why the left eye was going nearsighted, a side effect from the ROP & surgery. We got glasses for him as soon as we got back to Colorado, and we have to patch his good eye 2 hours a day so that the left eye is forced to work and doesn't go "lazy." Here is a picture of him in his glasses, although we are getting him new ones soon that are plastic and have a headband so that they are more practical :)

Although we had mixed emotions about the whole thing, as it's not the first thing you want for your 1 year old, but yet we feel so blessed at the same time that he can see and that this is all he is having to deal with considering his history! We are definitely starting to get used to them now, and so is Peyton....he does a good job at keeping them on most of the time. In fact he didn't fuss at all when the guy put them on him...the man couldn't believe it and said "they always fuss!" Not Peyton--he's never fussed about them, but is sneaky about it instead; he'll take them off as soon as you walk out of the room sometimes!

Then Tuesday, it was on to our "Texas Tour" as we call it! We went first to see "Grannie" (Papa's mom) in Georgetown. It had almost been 2 years since our last visit....she was also on the schedule Chistmas '09, but God had other plans. And then we never saw each other while in Houston because I had to stay in Houston, and Grannie was undergoing radiation treatments for breast cancer, and thank the Lord she is doing great now! We had a wonderful visit, and I feel so blessed to have such a wonderful grandma....wish we could visit her all of the time.

On Wednesday, we stopped in Temple to say hello to Steven's grandparents, Dell & Burt. They hadn't seen Peyton before either, so it was good to see them! They took us out to eat some fried chicken for lunch---Lawson loved it and Peyton even loved the mashed potatoes---he wanted them much more than his baby food! No pictures of this visit, unfortunately :(

After lunch we headed a little further to Gatesville, where my other grandma (Cici's mom), "Nana" lives. We had so much fun at her house, as usual. I couldn't wait for the boys to play in her big backyard and sure enough they loved it! My cousin, Tara, also came the first day with her 2 precious daughters, so we all had a great time. Nothing better than being home with family and grandma's food :) Nana got to see Peyton in the hospital, but what a change since then...here are some pics of our wonderful visit!

While in Gatesville, we also got invited to see a good friend and fellow VP with Arbonne, Jessica, who now lives in Gatesville as well. Her, her husband, and their daughter live on a wildlife preserve of all places, so we were able to drive around and see all sorts of different wild animals, such as a huge elk and even zebras! Here is a pic of all of us at their wonderful log cabin home. Lawson also loved their big yard and swing!

On Friday, we hit the road again and stopped in College Station on the way back to relive old memories! It was so great to be back at A&M after all these years...neither one of us had been back for at least 6-7 years, so a lot had changed, but yet a lot was still the same. Oh, the memories!

Then we left good ole' College Station and made one more stop before getting home. We spent the night at "The Ranch"! Our longtime friends, Molly & David, invited us to stay with them at their family's ranch, and we are so glad they did....we just wish we could have stayed longer! It's a wonderful getaway and the kiddos love it b/c there is so much to do and so much open space

Finally, it was on to Papa & CiCi's house to spend our last day and night in Texas. We had a wonderful day outside in my parent's big yard....Lawson loved walking around in his boots and riding the lawn mower. Grammie & Poppie came over to exchange cars, celebrate Mother's Day, and say bye. Aunt Ash also joined us and we had a great dinner together. It was a great ending to a great trip!

Lawson loves his "Amazing Airplanes" book and always talks about the "flight deck" and now he got to sit in a real one on the way home! Thanks Captain!

Now for the Rest of May......!

Snow in May---what?!
Ran the Jr. League 4K run with the fam...don't be deceived....I ran the whole way, but not with the double stroller :) Just running it was a stretch since I literally haven't run in the past year and a half!

First Sunday back to go to church in awhile....Yay for the end of RSV, flu, & cold season!

Lawson helping daddy rake the dead grass :(

Lawson and his new "fake" smile :)

The morning after he fell down the entire flight of wooden stairs for the first time...thank God he just had a cut on his right eye....however it was only 2 days before we took some professional pics...gotta love that timing!

Peyton lookin' cute in his new glasses and trying to walk! He is getting a lot better at walking on his own and tries to walk wherever he can now. That is a big change for this month, as well as a surprise trip we made to the dentist. I noticed the enamel on 2 of his top teeth was just coming off! Turns out that it is called "enamel hypoplasia" and can occur in preemies. He will probably have to have kid crowns in a couple years or so because of it. And hopefully it doesn't affect his permanent teeth but it can. Another preemie surprise but thankful that once again it is something that can be taken care of :)

That's it for May....some videos to come in the next couple of days :)

April Showers...actually Snow here in CO!

2011-04-25T20:18:00.000-07:00

April Blog Update, Take 2! I was actually done with this “longest blog post ever” almost 3 weeks ago, and then right before we posted it, Blogger had a disruption that totally erased my whole blog entry! Apparently almost everyone has gotten their info back, but not us! So I am really behind now, but will attempt to rewrite what I already did....sorry for the wait!

April was another month full of activity here at the Dadd house....it was complete with 2 Birthday parties, a minor surgery for Peyton, Easter, and more! Fun, fun!

Lawson's Birthday Party

Lawson's Birthday party ended up being a huge hit and everyone had lots of fun! It was at the Focus on the Family welcome center, which is a really neat place. The theme was "Bob the Builder," of course, and we had the party in their "firetruck room." We found out that day that if you give 3 year olds a cool slide and a realistic plane, they could literally play all day!

Peyton's little Surgery

We finally got Peyton’s skin tags removed from his left ear. He was born with them and they were a big reason the doctors were concerned about his kidneys while he was in the NICU (any deformations of the ear can indicate kidney problems since they are formed at the same time). It turned out that his renal issues and failure then was due to immature hormones, not the actual kidneys themselves. They have also been worried about his hearing, but he passed his hearing test with flying colors, praise the Lord!

So, originally, this surgery was going to be 2-3 hours long due to it being coupled with a hearing test and a scope of his airway. The hearing test got canceled b/c I asked the right questions and got them to do one while he was awake, and then the surgeon canceled the scope minutes before surgery b/c we told them he wasn’t choking on his milk anymore and his voice is plenty loud now, indicating to us the his vocal cords (which were partially paralyzed from the heart surgery) were doing just fine now!

Here are some pics of him pre- and post- surgery. I couldn’t get enough of him in his little hospital gown---so cute! And although the anesthesiologist made us concerned due to his history that he might need to stay the night, he recovered in just a couple hours and was back to his old self in no time!

Easter

Well, let’s just say Easter this year was a bit different....it was freezing, it snowed, and we didn’t go to church due to RSV season still being in effect...but it was still a wonderful day as we celebrated the Good News that Christ is Risen! Praise God He has forgiven us all and has risen from the dead, giving us all eternal life as well if we choose to follow Him.

Aunt Ash surprised the us with a super cute and yummy cookie bouquet for Easter and in honor of Peyton's 1 year corrected birthday. Lawson loved his digger cookie :)

We attempted to go to a Easter egg hunt in Old Colorado City, but it was a bit of a let-down...it was freezing and we waited for 30 min for Lawson to get 1 broken egg to summarize, so we headed down to the Rocky Mountain Chocolate Factory to get a chocolate bunny but Lawson refused to get one, and then asked for one the rest of the weekend! We took a picture there before we left just to have one :)

Peyton excited above, and Lawson not looking too excited below to dye Easter eggs. We did have fun though making our Veggie Tales eggs and hunting for the "special eggs" or resurrection eggs that tell the Easter story!

The Easter bunny hid eggs inside this year!

Found one!

Peyton’s Big Day!

We spent 10 days in Texas (Apr 28-May 8), and we kicked it off April 30th with a party for Peyton! We wanted to celebrate his miraculous first year and thank everyone who lifted us up and prayed for him. Almost no one had ever even met him yet since we had to return to Colorado, so it was truly a blessing to see everyone and for them to finally meet Peyton. God has done amazing things through our little guy so we hope all of you who came could see that and we pray it encourages you! Thank you to everyone who came and for all of the generous gifts you gave to Peyton, Lawson, and for the contributions you gave to the March of Dimes in Peyton’s honor---we are so grateful for your friendship! I want to highlight one very special gift...my friend, Allison, (who I met last year in Bible study and who I don’t even know very well but we bonded b/c she & her family have gone through similar trials and more of them), made an entire book for us of our entire blog. It is amazing and is a true blessing, as we never know what can happen to our online blog...proven by what just happened to my recent post! She made it on blurb.com if any of you are curious. Thank you so much, Allison, for this truly thoughtful and meaningful gift!

Here are a few pics for now...I might post more later once I get more pics from our friend, Sonia, who took the “professional” ones---thank you Sonia!

The above picture of Peyton was the one on the front of the "program" we made for the party. It is a summary of everything that he's been through since birth and ALL of the miracles that have taken place. It's truly amazing once you see it all at a glance and we made it so that anyone can see that miracles DO happen and that God is definitely involved in the details of our lives. I wish I knew how to post it so you could see it, but I would love to send you a copy if you want one, so just let me know!

And for those of you who don't know or remember, Peyton's "Giraffe theme" comes from the fact that he was in the Giraffe Pod while at the hospital and Topper, the giraffe, is also Memorial Hermann's mascot. I also walked by the big stuffed giraffe he now has in his room every day at the hospital gift shop. So it just stuck!

Peyton having fun with the balloons and giving Sonia "the photographer" a break!

Peyton with Grammie!

Cici, Lawson, Aunt Ash, Peyton, and me!

Some of my wonderful friends who drove hours just to celebrate with us!

I also want to recognize and thank a couple more people who gave so much of their time to make this day so special. Thanks, Roxanne, for helping us create & edit Peyton’s program...it was perfect! Also, thank you to my family (Cici, Papa, Ashley, Grammie, Poppie, Dave, & Kim) for all of your help with preparations---we couldn’t have done it without you!

Lawson Update:

Lawson has now made his own construction site in our backyard! He could play for hours with his diggers...so cute and ALL BOY!

The day of his Birthday party we gave him his BIG BOY BED, and he has done great with it! Here is a pic of part of his room now....very different but we are all liking the change :)

I got a Lil’ Kickers Groupon for 10 soccer classes, so Lawson is now in soccer! It’s just an age appropriate soccer class that mainly teaches the kiddos how to follow directions, and we can’t get enough help with that right now! He is really liking it and it’s fun to see him learn and play with other kids. After the first class, we were walking away, and he all of a sudden let go of my hand, turned around and waved saying “Bye Team!” I didn’t even know he knew what a “team” meant, so I thought it was so precious...not sure he will be a soccer star, but he sure does have a big heart!

Peyton Update:

Here is his 11 month pic on Topper the Giraffe! Lawson also wanted in on the action, so he rode the giraffe as well :)

He loves to get into everything these days...here is a picture of him getting into his favorite drawer upstairs and then one of his favorite cabinet downstairs!

He is getting to be a pro at going up and down the stairs now....here is a funny video of him backing up to go down the stairs!

Lots more to come on Peyton....since our trip from Texas in May, he now has glasses, took an unexpected trip to the dentist, & is now walking by himself a lot. Will update again soon!

March Madness at the Dadd Household!

2011-03-26T18:51:00.000-07:00

Our 9th Anniversary

For the first time (at least that I can remember...it has been 9 years now!), Steven was gone the week of our Anniversary & his Birthday. For those of you who may not know or remember, we got married on March 2, which is also Steven's Birthday! Here are the flowers & card he sent me---roses & tulips, my favorite! And we went out to a really neat restaurant here when he got back called "Nosh"---very yummy, so we can't wait to go back!

Steven's Birthday

The day before Steven got home, Lawson helped me make some Birthday cookies for daddy. It was an all day process and he helped with all of it! First we made the sugar cookie dough, then we separated it and made it different colors, and then we rolled it out and made the cookies. We also used some new cookie presses I recently got, but unfortunately the cute designs went away once they were baked :( If anyone has advice on preventing this the next time, I would love to hear it! And I just realized I didn't get a picture of them....hmm, maybe there's a reason for that! They ended up looking like Easter cookies (round & pastel colors), but oh well, daddy loved them! Here's a video of Lawson making the cookie dough...sorry it's sideways!

Lawson's 3rd Birthday - a 3 week Festivus!

Lawson turned 3 years old on March 15th, and what a celebration it's been! He'll end up having 3 celebrations by the time it's over... 1) His actual Birthday with CiCi 2) The week after with Grammie 3) And his Birthday party isn't until April 9th! (I can explain :)

1) He just started at a new Montessori School the day before his birthday, so we were thinking about keeping him home at first, but he seemed to like it so much that I took him for the whole day & took some cupcakes so he could celebrate with his new friends! It also gave me time to pick up CiCi from the airport and for us to wrap his gifts :) He had a great day, and was so excited to see CiCi when he got home. He loved his cupcakes and his gifts. CiCi & PaPa gave him his very own big boy towels with his name on them & a picnic table. And he now has his own kitchen with food and dishes! He really likes it and can't stop playing with it; however, he told Grammie on the phone that he got "trucks" for his bday, so maybe that's what he wishes he got! Here he is serving up a snack for Peyton:

2) Two days before CiCi left, Grammie flew into town! Lawson was excited to have both of his grandmas in town, & it was good for me too since Steven left the same day for a week long conference in Chicago :) Grammie was a big help, especially with potty training! I think we're finally making some progress--praise the Lord! We waited till daddy got back to open gifts, and boy was he excited because this time he got a bike, a truck (a bobcat to be exact :), & a golf club & golf balls....what more could a boy want?! Thanks Grammie, Poppie, & Uncky Dave!

3) Details from his actual Birthday Party to come....it's on April 9th because we are having it at the Focus on the Family center....it's a popular place, as this was the first date they had available even though I called almost 2 months in advance! That's ok, Lawson loves birthday parties, so he'll love it even though it's a little late :)

Peyton pics & update

Peyton continues to thrive, and we have several updates for you!

He continues to pass all of the developmental tests for his corrected age...one of the most noticeable things lately is that he has started clapping! See the video below....
He has been saying "dada" for awhile, but he finally started saying "mama" as well! He's back to not saying it again, but at least we know he can!
He continues to make progress toward walking on his own, but still not quite there yet. He has taken a couple steps on his own though!
A HUGE praise....he passed his hearing test with flying colors! The ENT doc has wanted to do a hearing test on him from the beginning due to his prematurity and the skin tags on his left ear. They were going to do one while he is "under" for his upcoming surgery, but I didn't like that he would have to be "under" for an additional hour to perform the test. So I called and asked questions and it turned out that he was old enough for a "behavioral hearing test." So my mom went with us, and 2 Audiologists performed the test....I wish I had taken a picture, but he just sat on my lap for about 30 min while they performed a subjective & objective test. They basically made all sorts of different sounds to see if he would turn toward the sound. I knew he was doing well, but there were a couple times I wasn't sure, but as soon as she came in, she said his hearing is PERFECT! PRAISE THE LORD ONCE AGAIN!!!!!
His surgery to remove the skin tags from his ear is coming up this next Wednesday, the 13th. They will also do a scope while he's under to make sure his vocal cords, etc look healed. Please pray that all will go smoothly, as I am already nervous about him having to be intubated again....bad memories :) Here a few recent pics of our handsome man!

More Lawson pics & updates

Potty Training...praise the Lord, we think we can finally see a light at the end of the tunnel!

After talking to other moms, I seriously think Lawson has been one of the hardest children to potty train, but we are finally making some progress! He was actually pretty easy to train back in October...picked it up quickly and did awesome for about a month.....then his independent/hard headed nature kicked in and he "decided" he wanted to be a baby again...ugg. After another month of fighting it, we finally gave in and decided to wait till he was more ready...we thought since he'd already done it that this day would come sooner! We finally started training again as his 3rd Birthday was quickly approaching, and boy has it been fun! :) Most "tricks" that worked before didn't work now because he is now too smart! You name it, we've tried it! But he is doing much better the past couple of weeks, so we are hopeful for continued progress in the right direction in the coming weeks...yay!

Construction Sites

Lawson is quite "obsessed" with any sort of construction site or truck these days....we can't go anywhere without him constantly pointing out different types of trucks. From a flat bed truck, to a cherry picker truck, to a bobcat, he knows them all! So, I think the below pictures are precious and truly show what I am talking about....here's the story....there is a lot of construction going on not too far from us, as they are widening and making an overpass at a popular intersection. We now pass the site everyday on our way to his new school, which I'm pretty sure is the best part of his day :) So one day while he and daddy were out running errands, daddy decided to pull in to a nearby parking lot and "tailgate" right by the site. For 45 minutes, they just sat in the back of the car watching all of the construction---so fun for this sweet little boy!

See you next month! The Dadd Family

2011-03-07T22:09:00.000-08:00

February 2011

Introducing THE "Major Dadd"

Yes, you read it right and we're not talking about the 1990's TV show! Steven was promoted to Major on February 1st and I couldn't be more proud of him :) We know how to time big events, so his promotion ceremony was no different....Grammie & Poppie and PaPa both drove from Houston to be here for the big event, and it turned out that February 1st was THE COLDEST DAY in CO Springs for the past 15 years! The show went on, but it was definitely interesting getting everyone out in weather where -2 was the high! The highlights included a frozen kitchen sink & dishwasher pipes for 3 days (which also indirectly caused a hairdryer emergency & Lawson getting his hands stuck in sticky mouse traps!), a much lower than expected turnout for the ceremony, and our parents having to drive home with icy Texas weather. Even so, the weather didn't hamper our celebration of Steven's big accomplishment, and we were blessed that nothing worse happened and that everyone got home safely. Congratulations Steven on your hard work & it will definitely be an unforgettable day!

Steven with his brother, Army Captain David Dadd, who also came up for the special event!

Peyton's Sleep Study & Eye Exam

Because Peyton is still on a bit of oxygen at night, we finally did a sleep study at Denver Children's hospital. Back in October when his overnight test looked so good, we thought he'd be off the O2 by now and that we wouldn't have to do the sleep study, but since he hadn't gotten any better since then, we decided to go ahead with the overnight study. I had been warned by other moms and I knew he wouldn't sleep great, but nothing prepared me for the reality of this test! Poor little Peyton...they connected him to more wires than you could even imagine....here a couple pics after it was done...he was so exhausted due to the time and from crying that he fell right asleep. The only problem is that since he had so many wires coming off of him, everytime he moved he would get tangled in them; therefore, neither he nor I slept much at all that night :) The good news is that they got what they needed and there were no surprises...it pretty much confirmed what they already thought was happening, which is that he is having "pauses" in his breathing at night due to the high altitude here and lack of O2 in the air, coupled with his "chronic lung disease." We have him on a 2 month breathing treatment now that will hopefully boost the lung disease enough to decrease the pauses and get his O2 saturation where it needs to be at night. So we are praying that is the case and that we can say goodbye to this darn O2 once and for all in the near future!

I thought they were done, and then they put O2 cannula and this sensor that hung over his lip! Poor little Boy!

Peyton also had a follow up eye exam, but unfortunately, the staff was not on their "A-game" that day and really messed up the visit. Therefore, they were not able to tell for sure what was going on...she said she "thinks" it looks like the left eye has gotten worse and the right eye is still perfect. So, we will just see the doctor who performed his laser surgery when we are back in Houston and get her opinion....we are praying that this doctor in CO is wrong and that the left eye has not gotten worse and that he will not need glasses soon. Although, we know if he does need them, that will be fine too!

Other than those 2 issues (lungs & eyes), Peyton continues to do remarkably well! He is still trying to walk (getting closer every day!), is talking up a storm, and continues to stay healthy and pass his developmental screens for his corrected age---PRAISE JESUS!!!

Here are a few random pics of the boys in February....

First time daddy took both of his boys in the bike trailer/jogging stroller...Peyton looks really uncomfortable in this picture, but he actually seemed to love being close to his big bro and enjoy the ride!

9 month (corrected) Pic with Hopper :)

Just being silly in their matching shirts from Aunt Kim & Uncle Jeff

Air Force Ball/Valentine's Day

Finally, Steven and I were able to go to the Air Force Ball this year & made it our Valentine's date :) It was at the Broadmoor Resort, and we had a "Ball!" The food was wonderful, the entertainment was amazing (didn't know the AF had 40ish airmen whose sole job is to entertain, but they could definitely give any broadway show a run for their money---wow!), and it was neat to be in the presence of so many military men & women and to be reminded of the sacrifices so many of them make for our country...pretty humbling and inspiring. Here is a pic of us when we got home....

Stay tuned for a March update soon, as it's our busiest month! Lots of fun with Anniversary & 2 Birthdays! Thanks again for your friendship and for keeping up with us. Hope you are doing well!

The Dadd Family

2011-01-16T22:04:00.000-08:00

January 2011 - Bring on the New Year!

New Years

We rang in the New Year with a night out to a nice restaurant (The Cliff House) in Manitou Springs and had a great time! It was super chilly and snowy (with a little ice), but that didn't stop us....Cici & Papa were in town so it's not too often we have free babysitting! We are excited about a new year and hopeful for what 2011 will bring....Happy New Year everybody!

Cotton bowl

For Christmas, Steven got a ticket to the Cotton Bowl! Although the Aggies lost, it was lots of fun to go to an A&M game again, be back in Texas, and to see old friends. And the game was worth it alone just to see that amazing stadium!

GTC

I took a trip in January as well and went to Arbonne's annual Global Training Conference in Vegas for a few days. It was so fun to go again, but it was also the first time being away from Peyton. Luckily, daddy stayed home with the boys so they were in good hands :) The conference was a blast and I feel so blessed to be a part of such a wonderful company...lots of new & exciting things going on with Arbonne this year!

Friends & teammates Jenni & Becky

My wonderful sister, NVP Ashley Castle

My wonderful friend and teammate Lynn!

Vail

We ended the month with a wonderful trip to Vail for a 3-day weekend. We are so grateful to have such wonderful friends that let us stay in their house :) It was a perfect getaway, but just not quite long enough! We went skiing, my first time in 4 years, and had a blast...the weather was perfect, the slopes were perfect, and it was just fun to hang out, just the two of us :) Other highlights included walking around Vail Village, seeing the ice polar bears in the village, eating side by side at the house, and throwing snowballs at daddy. Can't wait to go again!

Peyton loves his silver rattle and loves to take it up the stairs even more!

Just being sweet and cute :)

"I'm gonna get you daddy!"

FYI on this video....they were having so much fun sitting together and playing that I decided to get out the camera, but of course they stopped as soon as I got it. So, everything you see here is totally unscripted...Lawson decided to break out the ABC's and Peyton put on a little show of his own as well!

Lawson had blast throwing snowballs at daddy....if we did this once, we did it 30 times!

Lawson Update

Lawson is still loving school and is a great "big bro" to Peyton. You can catch him on any given day saying things like "No, no Peyton" or "Get out of there, Peyton!" You can also find him protecting Peyton from the stairs, sneaking him a veggie straw, and even kissing him goodnight. He really only gets upset at Peyton if he messes up his train set or plays with one of his toys...but as soon as we tell him to share, he usually gives it right back :) He is a really good boy, but definitely head strong and "whiny" these days...hopefully the 3's will be better than the 2's, however, we hear that it's the opposite!

Eating Ice Cream in Vail

Big Bro & Little Bro---our 2 cute little puppy dogs!

Lawson loves his Bears!

Peyton Update

Peyton is doing great! He is starting to stand unassisted just a little bit and getting more & more mobile every day....on Jan 16 he stood for about 10 secs by himself! His favorite things to do are being with his "big bro" every chance he can get, throwing objects down the stairs, climbing the stairs, walking with his dinosaur, and, of course making sure everything goes into his mouth as quickly and as often as possible. He is really doing so well with his development in every area, and he has stayed unbelievably healthy so far this winter...he's just had the sniffles a couple times, but that's it. Our winter (or sick season) doesn't end until April though, so we still have few months to go! Our concerns continue to be his eyes and his lungs....we will see an eye doctor when we go back to Houston to see how soon he will need glasses and he will have a sleep study very soon to see if there is any other reason that he is still on some O2 at night besides altitude and "preemie lungs." We would love your prayers for both of these issues, that they work themselves out and that Peyton will continue to thrive and stay healthy.

Warm & Cozy inside with this nice doggy coat CiCi gave me!

Don't you think this Mum-Mum is kinda big for me mom?

Walking with his "friendly dinosaur"!

1 Year (8 mos corrected) Picture with Hopper :)

Braving the cold!

Wagging goodbye now...at least for January! This month has been a busy month as well, so we will update soon :) Thanks for following our blog and we hope to talk to you soon!

Blessings, the Dadd Family

Christmas 2010

2011-01-11T19:23:00.000-08:00

December Fun...& Lots of it!

December was a wonderful month for many reasons...I tried hard to break it down into 3 reasons, but it's still a lengthy post..December was a full month!

1) December Excitement & FUN!

Who knew that we lived so close to the North Pole?! Yep, that’s right, we got to visit Santa at the North Pole this December! Lawson had tons of fun riding all of Santa’s rides, and Santa even sent him a personalized letter---so fun! Peyton also had fun meeting Santa...he even dressed up like him for the special occasion!

We finally had some good snow while CiCi & Papa were still here. We took Lawson sledding in the parking lot and playground behind our house and he LOVED it! Check out the video of him sledding down the hill ;)

2) Christmas with the entire family in Colorado!

We weren’t about to go anywhere this Christmas (still gun shy from last year :), so everyone thankfully came to us! What a wonderful time we had with Grammie, Poppie, Uncky Dave, CiCi, Papa, Aunt Ash, & Jason! Highlights of the week included:

Christmas morning, as Lawson now understands the true meaning of Christmas, and of course, Santa Claus! The stockings were full of fun surprises, and his big gift was a tool bench...our house will never be the same! Hours of fun followed with lots of “work to do” & “getting the job done”---both examples of Lawson quotes that he’s picked up from good ole’ “Bob the Builder”! Now, see if you can find Lawson & Peyton in the picture below....

Hiking at Garden of the Gods---good exercise and beautiful scenery! And who knew the Bob stroller can go “off-roading” like it did that day?!

Trip to Breckenridge--Daddy and Uncle Dave went skiing while Mommy & Grammie took the boys along to have a fun day in Breck. Soon after arriving we were questioning our decision to tag along....online the weather looked great, but with below freezing temps and snow and ice on the ground everywhere, including sidewalks, I think we were one of the only strollers there! Although we were a bit worried at first, it turned out to be a great day. We had a wonderful lunch and then found a childrens’ museum that was a life saver---Lawson loved it (although a bit overstimulated :), and Peyton even had fun...even though mommy had his hands covered the entire time to prevent germs of any kind...poor Peyton :( Then Lawson got to see all of the kids in ski school and met daddy at the bottom of the mountain---fun times!

Multiple Christmas mornings....we have found that it definitely helps to spread out the presents when it comes to a 2.5 yr. old boy...less overstimulation and more fun for everyone! Santa Claus even came to visit us for the 3rd year in a row!

Finally, you can't beat just hanging out with family, relaxing by the fire, and lots of yummy food!

3) Peyton’s 1st Birthday!

Once again, we were so blessed to have both of families overlap their stays in order to be there for this special occasion. What a blessing it was to celebrate Peyton’s 1st Birthday with our family who was there with us a year ago when he was suddenly and unexpectedly born. Because Peyton’s corrected age is really just 8 months, we just had a very low key celebration....we had hamburgers and all the fixin’s, watched a touching picture/video DVD that Steven made of Peyton’s first year, and had a yummy Giraffe cake and ice cream! Peyton also got some really sweet cards, and Aunt Ash gave him a darling giraffe outfit and stuffed animal...so sweet :) We will have another celebration in a few months to celebrate Peyton’s homecoming from the hospital and that’s when he will be developmentally 1 yr. old as well....then he will actually be able to eat some cake!

Update on Peyton

-He is now “cruising” around the house and can almost stand unassisted

-He loves walking back and forth with his new dino-wallker from CiCi & Papa!

-He can crawl an entire flight of stairs all by himself...we are there spotting him just in case, of course, but he doesn’t even need us 99% of the time!

-He continues to avoid getting sick, and we hope this continues! He is also receiving monthly RSV shots, so between that and the breastmilk, we think it’s helping!

-He now weighs 18 lbs!

-Really the only negative thing is that his oxygen test on Dec 15 was the same as it was in October, so he is still on 1/8 Liter at night. He’s so close to getting off, but still just can’t quite shake it. He will have another test at the end of this month, and if it still isn’t good enough, he will have a sleep study done in February to see if they can find any other answers besides just prematurity and altitude.

That about sums it up for this month! Happy New Year to ALL of you, and once again, THANK YOU from the bottom of our hearts for all of your love and support in 2010! We are so grateful and blessed to know you, and we hope Peyton’s story of what God can do continues to inspire you in the years to come!

Thanksgiving 2010

2010-11-26T17:05:00.000-08:00

Happy Thanksgiving Everyone!

It’s been a pretty busy couple months since we last posted, so we have lots to update and lots to be thankful for this Thanksgiving!

So far, it’s been a much milder winter than last year---it’s only snowed once so far and it was just a couple inches and gone the next day. Besides the fact that it’s SO dry here, we really like it----the fall leaves are beautiful, the snow never stays that long, and the deer are so much fun to watch. We have had up to 9 deer in our yard at one time...they just come everyday to hang out and munch on the trees....here is a picture of a huge buck that likes sitting right outside our front window!

Halloween was really fun this year because it was Lawson’s first time to go trick-or-treating. Our neighborhood is great, so we had a fun time watching Lawson say hello to all the neighbors....he would say hello and goodbye louder than trick-or-treat and would then proceed to welcome himself in on several occasions. He loves people and therefore thought he could walk right in...we had to keep reminding him that he can’t do that if it’s not his house :) We also went to a friend’s Halloween party which was a great time...Lawson is still asking to go back! He was one of his favorite characters, “Bob the Builder” and Peyton was a giraffe, of course! We actually got this little giraffe outfit at the hospital gift shop in Houston when he was only about 3 lbs. I couldn’t imagine then that it would actually fit come October, but what do you know, it did!

The big “festivus” (Jaime’s Birthday) was this month as well, and we celebrated by getting away for a nice dinner---it was so fun and a much needed date together! Steven also surprised the B-day girl in October by getting her Glenn Beck VIP tickets! Not sure if you even know who he is, but we are big fans at our house, so getting this surprise as we walked out the door felt like going to the Oprah show or something! Plus we got to meet him, thank him, shake his hand, and take a picture! We had a great time!

Lawson continues to enjoy going to school and is a great big brother to Peyton. He talks more and more everyday and always amazes us with his memory. He also loves helping his daddy do anything and everything! He was just about fully potty trained for about a month, but has now decided he wants to be a baby again (we think it’s finally hitting him that Peyton is now the baby), so he has regressed some, but hopefully he will change his mind again soon! :)

And finally, we have lots of great news to report on Peyton. He is now 11 months old (7 months corrected), 17lbs 2oz and he is up to lots of wonderful things....He is now:

-Sitting up really well for long periods of time
-Crawling on his hands and knees
-Eating more and more solid foods and loving it all
-Teething and got his two front bottom teeth in
-Getting his baths in the big bathtub and loving it

And for the biggest news, he is now pulling up to stand on everything! For over a week now, we cannot keep him down...he loves to stand and will pull up on just about anything and is starting to even cruise just a little. He is already getting a lot better at it, but still takes some pretty hard tumbles on our hard floor....he’s a fighter though so it doesn’t phase him at all! You can just tell that he wants to walk so badly....it’s cute to watch him look at his big brother....he already wants to be just like him :)

As for his health update, he is only 3% points away from being off of oxygen at night....in fact, they could have taken him off after the study in late October, but decided to keep him on at night just little longer to be on the safe side. So, we are really praying that he’ll be completely off by the next study in mid-December in time for Christmas and his 1st Birthday! He has stayed really healthy so far (praise the Lord!) despite putting his mouth on everything and having a big brother that goes to preschool twice a week. He got his first RSV shot the other day and will continue to get them once a month till April, and he got his flu shot so hopefully these will help him to remain healthy and out of the hospital this winter. Because he is doing better and better with the oxygen, we decided to cancel the sleep study at Denver Childrens later this month, as well as the ENT procedures the next day. Hopefully he’ll never have to have the sleep study (assuming he gets off the O2 in Dec), and we will just do the ENT procedures in the spring when he’s a little bigger and stronger.

I think that is it! We continue to be amazed at what God had done through Peyton and because of your prayers. Thank you so much for keeping us in your prayers, and we hope you have wonderful and joyous December! Stay tuned for Christmas and Birthday updates....can’t believe he’s almost a year old....what a difference a year makes!

In Christ,
Steve, Jaime, Lawson & Peyton